MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Winners announced

[Pavel Nebesky]

Hello all,

thanks to @BenjiRage for the feedback and the oportunity to submit my mix for R2. Furthermore, it was a commendable and great effort to provide such prompt feedback to all contestants.
As requested, here are the corrections applied to the first version:

- more visibility to synth (eq correction with volume boost)
- corrected absence of guitar melody line
- corrected vocals

Here is the link to my entry for the second round:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/av0edrcq ... nx3t1&dl=0

Once again, thanks to all involved, have a great weekend.

Cheers, Pavel

[JeroenZuiderwijk]

Hi Ben,

Here is my mix for round 2:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ahp8xH6KRIfbgwF0lNW ... 4?e=SXS6Ha

I didn’t want to loose any of the energy I already had in the mix. So a revision always feels kinda tricky in this case because there is no client feedback and the upload is final ;-) But I felt that my mix could shine some more so I decided to make some extra effort for this second round, constantly checking with my first mix to hear if I was indeed improving things.

Leadvocal:
Removed the waveshaping distortion from the LV and turned up the volume and did some extra volume automation. I re-adjusted the fx on the LV because of the risk with the higher volume that the vocal would float on top of the mix instead of sitting in the mix. But I liked the more ‘in your face sound’ with the vocal turned up and I therefore kept de LV fairly dry.

Snare:
Slight boost at 440Hz with a classic EQ emulation on OHshell track
Midfreq exciter at snr track to bring out a bit more ‘snare’ sound.

I created an extra track with a reverb for the “ohshells”. This was a bit of an experiment…. I have an old t.c. electronics MOneXL hardware reverb unit that, with some creative use, can give some amazing vibe to a drumtrack. But it is easy to overdo. I found an ambient reverb setting I really liked on the snare to give it some character. This had the effect of bringing some of the natural sound with a beautifull top end and some extra ‘snap’. That I enhanced with a 1073 style eq high shelf boost. I think it is an improvement because in my first mix the snare sounded loud and angry but missed some tonal flavour. I hope you agree. This didn’t work for the rack (toms) by the way….so I had to volume-automate the FX send for the ohshells track on the MOneXl verb.

GTR Tom_1
I reduced the volume of the guitar ringing out..in the verse, to give the part of Gtr Ash1 some space. This also gave it a nice step up when I brought back the volume full force ;-)

GTR Tom 3
Extra volume and some extra dirt

Synths
Everything more ;-) ….just turning up the volume was not going to give the synths an equal space next to the guitar. That is why there is more saturation, more stereo enhancement (to make it sit better in the mix with the extra saturation)….and (some) more volume…..

And last but not least I checked and double checked the TruePeak on the loudness meter to make sure it stays below -1.0 dB. In fact the true peak is at -1.3 dB max now.

Hope you like it.

Cheers,

Jeroen

[Piranha]

Hi,
for this review I implemented all of Benji suggestions, in particular:

• Enhanced Snare transient attack whilst making it take less space in the mix.

• Kick and cymbals presence increased.

• More hi-end to guitars after selecting the more musical boost (Acustica Eminence 7k node).

• Bass tone slightly reshaped.

• Vocals level increased.

• Synths tone reshaped and volume increased.

My mix R2

[sthauge]

Once again thank you so much to everyone who has submitted a mix, it's been a pleasure listening to them all. Choosing the Top 15 was quite a challenge in itself, the final few places were really really hard to decide on and had a last minute change.

As promised, here is the feedback on all mixes. I've tried to keep things reasonably brief and not waffle on too much. If you'd like me to elaborate on any of the points I've noted on your mix, please feel free to PM me and I'll try to go into more detail if I can.

This is a massive job @BenjiRage. Thank you very much for taking the time to give everyone a personal feedback. Impressive

And to @Mister Fox, thank you for all the work laid down arranging these contests.

[trackerjack]

Hi guys,

Link to mix revision: https://drive.proton.me/urls/WHQS0QBRZR#TaznPZLucMa1

I've tried to lighten up the drums and give the snare some more crack.
Slightly beefed up the guitars too, still trying to leave space for the synths and bass.
The vocal delay is more sparse now, wasn't sure if I should leave it in, but fine perhaps as a more subtle thing.
I felt the background vocals had to be brought up just a tiny bit.

Thanks again for all the effort, great challenge. Good luck all.

Cheers.
Tom

[Pitta]

Hello good people!

There goes mine:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/118R6j3 ... sp=sharing

Up with the Synths. Filtered to highlight them around 2K (Synth1). Took a bit on some guitars around that.
Second Synth, raised, mostly the hall reverb it is going to.

A bit more highs on guitars, and a lit less on overheads to compensate.

Tamed vocal FX.
A little more lows on bass.

Hope it's enjoyable
Cheers

Pitta

[Mister Fox]

It's the 05th November 2023, 01:50 (UTC+1) - the 2nd Mix Round has officially ended.


STATISTICS

• Everyone has sent in an edit, we therefore have no disqualification
• We have 2 Wild Card uses to advance into the next round (@DanialDevost, @JeroenZuiderwijk)
• We have 0 participants that decided on not to advance through the use of a Wild Card (none available this month)
• We have 0 submissions after the deadline
• We have 0 submission that could not be downloaded by the time of this post and are therefore disqualified (re-checked 05-NOV-2023 1:50 UTC+1/CET)

Additionally:
There is once more one entry that did not adhere to the given filename template. Mix Round 2 does not mean, you can ignore the Rule Book.

I will reach out to @BenjiRage and forward all entries/statistics sometime later today (Sunday, 05-NOV-2023). Please have an eye on this thread for more feedback and a possible Mix Round 3, or an announcement of the final results.



I'm now opening up the room (again) for Q&A's and giving each other feedback (which is highly encouraged)

Please check out all other games on the community. Most notably Songwriting Competition 075 (genre: Progressive Metal), and the Sample Collection Thread for SWC077 January 2024 (Community Scramble).

Please also consider becoming a Song Provider. Our Song Pool is empty!. No more material means no more Mix(ing) Challenges.


See you on the flipside.

[BenjiRage]

Excellent mix revisions there everyone, that was a very tough call trying to pick a Top 3. I've tried to judge it more subjectively this time, based on a combination of how much I think the mix has improved over the Round 1 submission and how much I enjoyed listening to the track overall.

So without further ado, the winner's podium is as follows:

► Show Spoiler

1st Place: 45Garage
A fantastic effort and a massive improvement over the first mix, everything is clear, audible, well balanced and punchy. Great work!

2nd Place: m_tree
Just a great mix in general, love the drum sound and nice subtle improvements in R2 to give it that extra sweetness.

3rd Place: Christoph_K
The R2 mix is a definite improvement over the first round, clearer and sweeter with more dynamic range and a good energy profile.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you so much again to everyone who's taken part in this month's challenge, I'm still amazed and stoked that over 80 people entered! While it's been a lot of work reviewing all the mixes, it's been very worthwhile and I've loved listening to them all.

Finally, of course, thank you once again to Mister Fox for all the work you do keeping this great forum running.

See you all in the next challenge

[Mister Fox]

First and foremost, congratulations to the winners!
We are ending the game here and do not go into Mix Round 3.


The winners podium consists of:

1. @45Garage .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2)
2. @m_tree .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2)
3. @Christoph_K .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2)

We perform with the usual - in order of the winners podium, please select one license out of the pool and mention it in this thread, then (important) get in touch with me via PM with your full name, email address and your plugin selection. If one company has been selected, it is not available for the rest of the podium anymore.

I'll update the "winners podium" thread shortly.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	Important Information: The NOS Audio license sponsorship with sadly end this November. (the collaboration is still valid for MC093 / August 2023 and MC094 / October 2023) This is the last chance to pick up the NOS Audio Roomer Reverb Plugin.

Thanks again for your participation. You can leave the thread alive if you want to exchange tips/tricks, edits, etc.
And thank you @BenjiRage for the final words of feedback and encouragement.


Please check out Songwriting Competition 075 and the Community Scramble Sample Collection Thread.

See you on the flipside.

[Pitta]

Congratulations to the winners! Well done.
Cheers