Mix Challenge

Asking for next time - how would one know they'd been tagged as disqualified, I was expecting a list of entries so that if I was one of the 17 disqualified entries I would actually know. This time, yeah, I did resubmit (quickly, you're on the ball!) so I know I was justly disqualified, but if I hadn't done that I'd now be wondering if I was one of the 17.
Thanks for your hard work.

post #97 in this thread wil give you two links. One of them gives you the list of disqualifications.

LowlandsWave wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 13:41 CET

post #97 in this thread wil give you two links. One of them gives you the list of disqualifications.

Thanks! I thought I'd looked hard enough but obviously not.

can anyone please help me to stay within the accepted loudness?
I use cubase 7.5 - If I stop to use a mixbus compressor will it be enough or should I also avoid the limiter on the snare (the only one I used)?

thank you in advance

onecake2 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 18:18 CET

can anyone please help me to stay within the accepted loudness?
I use cubase 7.5 - If I stop to use a mixbus compressor will it be enough or should I also avoid the limiter on the snare (the only one I used)?

thank you in advance

Hey!

you have to lower the volumes.
check with a metering plugin like the free Youlean metering (https://youlean.co/) to stay within the levels playing the whole song and looking for the integrated value.

mixedbyadn wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 18:37 CET

you have to lower the volumes.

Hey

Just lowering the faders volumes? I am not sure that is the way.

Thanks

In Cubase the control room has all the meters you need to see where you're loudness is at. The control room is also great for setting up the que mixes as alternate mixes/production roughs to compare with quickly instead of headphone mixes. Typically, I put the production rough on 1, a mix reference on 2, and reserve 3 and 4 for mixdowns as I go that I use to compare the current mix against. If you setup this way its one button click to check your mix against the references/production rough/etc.

As far as getting there its is mostly lowering the faders and using minimal limiting on the master bus. For me when I do commercial releases they are generally louder, around -9 but if I remove my limiters I'm close to -16 anyway. For the most part the only difference between my normal process and mix challenge is how much I use the limiters on my master bus.

onecake2 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 01, 2022 01:04 CET

mixedbyadn wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 18:37 CET

you have to lower the volumes.

Hey
Just lowering the faders volumes? I am not sure that is the way.
Thanks

onecake2 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 18:18 CET

can anyone please help me to stay within the accepted loudness?
I use cubase 7.5 - If I stop to use a mixbus compressor will it be enough or should I also avoid the limiter on the snare (the only one I used)?

thank you in advance

Could be - your peak level is ok, your integrated is too high. The youlean meter is excellent for judging this. I would try a bit less compression as you have room for more "dynamics" though simply turning down your master fader will retain the sound of your mix so might be your best option.

Hmmm well my mix is quite correctly ruled out and TBH was not very good so nothing lost there, but it was fun to try and I've enjoyed listening to everyone else's. If nothing else I've learned how to stay within the rules for next time and it's been a positive experience to hear some of you tame the untameable and still have lively mixes. Not easy.

Thanks again to Mister Fox for the hard work and setting up this competition forum with sensible rules.
On the subject of guidelines It's been quite interesting to see how far some have pushed the mastering limitations and got away with it. Next time...

Oh, well. Seems like I was disqualified as well. It was fun while it lasted and good learning experience as well. Will try to make sure I stay within the limit next time. I hope I can still get some feedback on my mix.