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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Submissions until 21-04-2023 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 14:10 CEST
by JeroenZuiderwijk
Wohooo3000 wrote:
Fri Apr 21, 2023 23:09 CEST
Hi all,
thanks for these tracks @JeroenZuiderwijk! It was fun to mix! :smile: :clap:
Which effect did you use to simulate the bass sound?

Hi Wohooo3000 (nice name ;-) )

The bass sound comes from an effect that is part of the Boss BR80. In a mix it can be convincing enough.

Thank you for participating! I'm working on my comments and will post them as soon as possible.

Jeroen

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 17:23 CEST
by Punchipum
Hi, @JeroenZuiderwijk

Since you will also generously criticize my mix although I am disqualified 😞 I would like you to include if possible if you had put me in the top 15. Thanks 👍

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 18:26 CEST
by JeroenZuiderwijk
Punchipum wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2023 17:23 CEST
Hi, @JeroenZuiderwijk

Since you will also generously criticize my mix although I am disqualified 😞 I would like you to include if possible if you had put me in the top 15. Thanks 👍
No problem
I'll include all the info.

Cheers, Jeroen

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 22:15 CEST
by nebukatnessar
I don't seem to be allowed to open the PDF's. So I'm not sure if I'm still in the game?

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 22:36 CEST
by BenjiRage
nebukatnessar wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2023 22:15 CEST
I don't seem to be allowed to open the PDF's. So I'm not sure if I'm still in the game?
Don't worry, I don't think they've been finished and published yet!

MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 06:23 CEST
by Mister Fox
nebukatnessar wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2023 22:15 CEST
I don't seem to be allowed to open the PDF's. So I'm not sure if I'm still in the game?
BenjiRage wrote:
Sun Apr 23, 2023 22:36 CEST
Don't worry, I don't think they've been finished and published yet!
Correct - the "Statistic Sheets" for MC091 are not published yet.
I will handle that update later today (24-APR-2023).

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 13:56 CEST
by satchboogie
Hi !

I know that my mix bleeds from several wounds but mostly oversaturated, 'mid-range'-ey and compression issues in the vocals.
I did not use any eq on the masterbus to leave it for mastering purposes. I just wonder if the listening process also takes master eq-ing into consideration when evaluating the song?

Thank you for the opportuinity,

satch

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 15:47 CEST
by zed999
satchboogie wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2023 13:56 CEST
Hi !

I know that my mix bleeds from several wounds but mostly oversaturated, 'mid-range'-ey and compression issues in the vocals.
I did not use any eq on the masterbus to leave it for mastering purposes. I just wonder if the listening process also takes master eq-ing into consideration when evaluating the song?

Thank you for the opportuinity,

satch
They have 70+ songs to assess, I don't think they would want to eq to listen, it would kinda spoil the point?, though no doubt will comment.
You have a point though. I mix this with nothing on the mix bus and come out at 12 LUFS naturally. It sounds good to me. Then I have to go back and make adjustments. So I end up either with a mix that if you limited 3-4dB and clipped another dB brings the guitars out, smoothes the bass and sounds right (to me) or one that sounds ok but if you limit it the guitars get too much.

I think it's safe to assume these mixes, as described by Mr Fox in the first post, should aim to be "finished" ready to get get a couple of dB limiting if it improves the mix but most likely listened to as they are. Our ultimate goal would be for the mastering engineer to do very little, just subtle changes.

On genera note, Once the hard graft is done, mixing is the subtle art of attracting the listeners ear from one thing to another to keep their brains interested throughout the song without them realising? Little instrument highlights, a dB and some widening in the chorus, if there's a couple of nice guitar chords, bring them out and tuck something else in for those bars. Too many guitars? automate them in and out to suit each section. This song surely has the content for that. I didn't give enough time to this crucial aspect, nor did I get good guitar tones to do it with. Ah well!

Hopefully round two will yield some "story telling".
Apologies if your subtleties escaped my attention so far - they must have worked! Possibly part of why when I listen to some mixes I think "great guitars". Hats off to you. :)

MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 19:01 CEST
by Mister Fox
zed999 wrote:
Mon Apr 24, 2023 15:47 CEST
I think it's safe to assume these mixes, as described by Mr Fox in the first post, should aim to be "finished" ready to get get a couple of dB limiting if it improves the mix but most likely listened to as they are. Our ultimate goal would be for the mastering engineer to do very little, just subtle changes.
Correct. The aim or focus of this game is to learn how to edit/mix in such a way, that there are barely to any after-touches needed during the mastering process (finalizing for distribution). At most, just fade in/out, loudness adjustment and safety limiting.

You don't "fix it in post".

MIX CHALLENGE - MC091 April 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 23:13 CEST
by Mister Fox
:arrow: The "Overview of Submissions" PDFs have been uploaded.
You can check them through the upper post (post #101).



The Statistic Sheet is used to give an overview of all entries, and whether or not they are within given parameters (loudness, sampling rate, bitrate, proper filename). This is adding to the overall learning process of the "Mix(ing) Challenge". Please take note that creating this sheet is not a fully automated process. I am using Wavelab 10's "Batch Analysis" tool (EBU R-128 specs / equivalent to ITU-R BS.1770-4), but the overall layout and highlighting issues/mishaps, is time consuming. If you do not find yourself on this list, please let me know.

Please keep in mind, your mix being "tagged disqualified", does not mean "you're out of the game" (exceptions do apply). For more information on the Statistic Sheet and the "Wild Card" Mechanic, please consult the following addendum thread:

Mix Challenge - Addendum: Statistic Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic



:arrow: Statistics Addendum:
 ⚠ Moderation Message from Mister Fox  
We have a disqualification rate of 26,03% for April 2023 (73 entries, 19 disqualifications, 1 "Out of Competition" submissions).

This is still about 1/4th of all participants, but a drop of about 10% compared to MC090 / February 2023 (new users, stronger rule book enforcement, etc).

On average (25 months of tracking), we currently have a disqualification rate of 25,76% (compared to last game's 25,75% avg), the rate is on a slight increase still. The disqualification rate over the course of the last 12 games (September 2021 to April 2023) is about 23,64% (previously 23,18%), and is also on an increase.



:arrow: A commentary on this month's entries:

I would once more like to reimburse my warm welcome to all new participants that found their way on to our small community. We had such a huge influx of new users the last two games. And I am really starting to wonder, where you're all from. To be honest, I do not trust search engines alone for spreading the word. Yet I still hope you enjoy your stay, had fun, and could learn something from this experience.


Before I talk about the usual known "elephant in the room", I must say that I'm positively surprised by how many users actually adhered to the given filename template. There is also nothing "tagged disqualified" for submitting in the wrong sampling rate. Almost everyone (except one user prior to the game's deadline) even wrote some form of documentation. Which could still be a bit more refined in my opinion, but we're getting there.

This tells me, that I should have added a "TL;DR Rules" text file sooner. The most work I had to do this month, was with triple checking that I got all files, and reading though the documentation again. Everything else was such an improvement to set up. Thank you for paying attention to detail.


Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that everything went without a hitch.

My initial excitement was unfortunately downgraded to the usual "why, people?!" during layouting the statistic sheet. The biggest small issues were once more with the loudness specs, and in fact the bitrate of the delivered file. Some users also still wrote the filename how they think it's correct, instead of using the provided template and just adapt the name (it really is just copy/paste). And yes, the given limits and/or parameters were actually mentioned in the "TL;DR Rules" text file. Fine details yet again. All of these entries are "tagged disqualified" - so they still have a chance to advance through the help of a Wild Card, should the Song Provider select your entry for Mix Round 2.


However, I sadly also had to fully disqualify a handful of users.

For example @FlyingKnuckle and @nebukatnessar neither used the provided filename template, nor did they add their username. Therefore, one can not associate the entry with the corresponding forum post, which results in an "entry out of the game".

I am also mentioning this now... I might be considering another month's grace period for learning how to properly use the filename template. But by MC093 / August 2023 absolute latest, I will tag all entries that do not use the filename template as "OUT" (out of the game). I will update the Mix Challenge Addendum thread for the Statistic Sheet / Wild Card Mechanic in the coming days, and will also announce this in a timely manner in the News Section. I am currently working on a big update prior to the 9th Anniversary (June 2023) anyway.

We also have two entries that were re-submitted. I don't know why that happened, but I legit have two different versions of @Andreas_Ko's entry on my HDD. One posted on 19-APR-2023 (I downloaded that entry within 2 hours of the forum post), and one dated from 20-APR-2023 (seen and downloaded on 22-APR-2023, after triple checking all downloads). And there is unfortunately also @Punchipum's entry...

Which brings me to the topic of "Drum Sample Enhancement/Replacement". Maybe our kind Song Provider @JeroenZuiderwijk finds somebody else that went for that route. However, we had two participants which ignored that particular rule. Those being @Punchipum and @lupobuonino. This is handles as "tagged disqualified" criteria still. So unfortunately, @Punchipum forfeit the chance to advance to Mix Round 2. Apologies for the inconvenience.


:arrow_right: Please keep in mind - as announced by the Song Provider with post #074 and post #108. Every participant will get some form of feedback this month. So even if your entry is fully out of the game, there will still be some final words of encouragement.


Overall, I am happy about the participation (73 entries prior to the deadline). I am also positive, that the recent change in thread layout and the addition of the "TL;DR Rules" in the Mix Pack, worked in favor for a more enjoyable experience. Now I'm curious what the future will bring for all games on our small community. Although, the future for the Mix(ing) Challenge is still in jeopardy (please, do reach out). Rest assured, I am not giving up in trying to acquire more material.

I hope you all enjoyed this month's game. See you in the next one. :headphones:
.




:arrow: I now (re-)open the field for everyone to give each other feedback (highly encouraged). This will be independent to the client feedback however. Though please note - criticism on the rule set and angry posts will be deleted without further notice.


Please watch this spot for the client feedback and Mix Round 2 participant announcement.
This will ideally happen sometime within the next 14 days (starting tomorrow).