Mix Challenge

This month, I learned quite a bit about a different genre I had never produced before(but still have a TON to learn), the different sub-genres, and the basic structure of jazz-blues. I'm very passionate about music production.
I just want to say congratulations to all the competitors this month! All of the entries were wonderfully crafted with a high degree of "listen-ability". Which, in turn, has made critiquing your tracks, as well as giving constructive feedback all that much more difficult. However, I will try my best to do so.

Feedback: Top Five:

My experience this month:
I experimented with delay this month and sent some of the instruments to Ableton's ping pong delay. It seems to influence the position in the mix more than just reverb. As I was short on time again, I had not enough time left to check the mix on different (simulated) devices. If I had more time, I would take a break of at least two days between writing and mixing the song in order to gain a different perspective.

Feedback:
Please don't take my feedback too seriously. I'm not an expert neither on writing nor mixing songs. Writing and publishing a song is one thing, but giving feedback always pushes me far more out of my comfort zone.

Chasey24 - The Stroll
This blues tells a story. I like that you incorporated different 12 bar blues sections in your song.
For the beginning, I would have preferred a guitar sound instead of the saxophone, so it would have sounded even more like a classic blues.
Around 1:18,1:19, something sounds off-key, but I like the melody of the part that starts around 2:06.
Concerning the mix: The muted trumpet could be louder and more in the middle when it takes over the melody around 2:37, like the trumpet player taking a step towards the middle of the stage for their solo, but that's just an idea.
I also like the call and response between guitar and saxophone in the following part.
At the end, I would expect a blues to end one bar later on the base note of the song.
Good work, it sounds like you had fun exploring the genre.

DocJon - Natures Therapy
I like the instrumentation with the flute at the beginning. The strings in the background with the piano tough sound a little too cheesy for my taste.
The harmonies remind me of the Beatles, and I can imagine psychedelic flowers blooming in a video to this song. I just miss somehow a bridge or a C part in this song.
The mix sounds really professional. Even though there is a lot happening in this song (guitar arpeggios, piano arpeggios ...), the instruments still have enough room in the mix.
As a band musician, I'm not a fan of fadeout endings: How are you supposed to end the song when you play it live?

Elcubano - Leave
I like the wide reverbs on the guitars and think you did pretty well with Synth V so far.
Maybe you could have panned the voices more to the left and right. The distorted guitar behind the voices makes the mix a little busy in the centre. It gets better when you have two different distorted guitars panned a little to the left and the right.
The guitars and the bass sound great.

EsteveCorbera - Passejada Tots Tres
I don't like the pumping effect on the sample or instrument at the beginning.
The samples sound great, but I can't help it, the song feels a little half-hearted. It gets better when the trumpet starts, because it introduces some melody over the chord changes that dominate the song.

PonySho - Blacktop Road
This song ROCKS! I really dig the sound of the guitars and the straightforward riffs.
I like the steps at the beginning going into the rhythm of the song. It would have been nice if the footsteps would be blended over the drums, at least at the beginning, but that is just an idea that might or might not work for the song.
Small thing: The drums sound a little out of sync around 2:04 when they start again after the bridge.
All in all, a straightforward song in a good walking pace

TrojakEW - Light in a dark
I think your experiment succeeded. You kept my interest almost over the entire length of the song. Only at the end, the tension drops a little when the instruments stop playing one after another.
I missed the voice and the synth from the beginning, I thought they would be reprised towards the end.
The guitar melodies are very relaxing, I like them a lot.

VCA-0889 aka infravolt - I Walk Alone
Really good sound and a really good mix, but quite a fast pace for a walk.
What I miss a little, are more memorable motifs in the melody.
I like the punchy bass sound and also the swells and the synths beginning around 0:54 and around 1:20
What kind of bass guitar did you get?

-dsf- aka Jan Novak - Under Gas Light
I like the peaceful atmosphere of the song and the call and response between the different instrument groups.
What I would change though is the instrumentation around 0:30: The strings on the left have a very slow attack so that shorter notes get lost. We all have to work with the instruments available to us, but in this case, I would have simply used the same strings as on the right side again.
All in all a beautiful piece of music.

My Top 5 this month:
I ranked the songs on how much I would enjoy listening to them on a late evening walk. It's a purely subjective choice and doesn't reflect my opinion of the quality of the songs that didn't make it into this Top 5.

I learn that I should go more for simple tracks in order to improve. Also learned that no matter how fast you are able to create something you always need some time a break form the track. After time you have to return to it in order to hear what is missing or what you have to change. Sitting and listening too much over and over the same track will affect your perception and you can end with bad results.
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DocJon - Natures Therapy
Very positive and happy mood in the track. You can almost feel it directly like the listener is the one taking the walk. Interesting composition and I like the changes and breaks through the whole track. Starting from the intro to the next part with bass and just after few second again nice transition to more relaxing part. This short passage give feeling like something interesting show during the walk but the transition back just give the feel that there is more to explore and see during the trip. All the transition have similar effect in the track and make track tell story about exploring. I like that. Not a big fan of fadeout at the end. You have so many nice transition in the track and you fade the end out? Nooo. I do like instrument choice too maybe except bagpipe. It is not that it not fit there as instrument but the way you play it is kind of not fitting fort instrument itself. Like playing flute melody with bagpipes. It just sound bit strange. It really feels like you want to do something different but you just replaced flute that you used previously with different instrument. Mix sound good and balanced with good stage. Maybe I will want hear bit more sparkle and air but just my opinion.

Elcubano - Leave
The idea and vocals are very nice. Also choice of instruments and the basic idea of composition is good. There are part that really fits the theme especially the beginning of the track but it then transition to more toward "just music" track. I'm not saying it is bad idea it just I have feel it leaves the interesting idea from start behind and go in bit different direction. Now what I think is not very good is mix. Not sure if the bass you used is by default "broken" or you used some spatial enhancer to make it wide. For me it is issue because of two things. First, there is a lot of phase correlation issues that that makes the bass less impactful in certain playback scenario like mono playback. Level of the bass decrease tremendously. It crates unbalance between instruments. Second is that even the sound itself is wide it does not have audible widening effect like you wanted. I would rather user double track for guitar to make it wider and leave bass in center. That distorted lead guitar is played in freq range that is better suited for widening effect and this means that effect if more audible for human ears. Speaking of that solo guitar, it interfere with vocals too much. It almost like it fight for leading position and I'm not sure with should I concentrate to. So if you double track that guitar, it will leave space on stage for vocal in the center. Centre channel will be also occupied with bass that will reinforce it and not interfere with it because they are played in different frequencies.

KukoBass - Summer Evening Walk
Simple but nice theme that fit quite well this month theme. Another break without drum, similar to intro will fit quite well after build up 1:26. It will make break that will slightly alter the mood without introducing anything new in the track and will make composition sound more complex and bit less repeating. Issue in the track is mix itself. Simply put instruments need more balance in volume. That acoustic guitar is very dry sounding compared to the rest. This way it sticks out too much and it sound like the guitar player is standing right before you while the rest of instruments are almost like in back of the room, especially drums. Similar to Elcubano tracks, it sound you use some spatial effect on the guitar to make it sound wider. Same as for him it is same for you, that it cause huge phase correlation issue. Simple panning is often better then any funky effect. Well because of this the mix sounds better in mono because levels between instruments are balanced better in mono. In stereo balance is broken. Guitar is not just wide, but also too upfront together with that epiano. Rest of instruments are less audible. There is need to make all the instruments like they sounds they are in the same room. There is no issue if the mix is more dry as whole but huge difference in wetness make it sounds like the patterns are playing from another music that is played at the same time on same room. You should always check mix in mono, in order to hear inablance and in order to make the track sound almost identical on different system in regards of instrument balance.

EsteveCorbera - Passejada Tots Tres
That is some strange mood in the track. This is especially due to to reversed sounds there that it give this chilling atmosphere. It is more ambient style of track. It is simple but it give good vibe that fit very well. Thanks to some additional sound here and there it makes it enjoyable whole time without getting boring. Also this trumpet fit here very well with good amount of reverb to fit the rest of instruments and add another layer to the track mood. My only is that even you may later the samples/loops they are still loops. Mix is not bad but there is still room for improvement. I will add bit boost to freq range between 5 to 16 KHZ with especially at 10kHz and also some boost at 60-120Hz to give it some more power in low end. Sometimes you have too many sound occupying same frequency range that make it sounds cluttered like for example at 3:20. The end of track feel bit forceful with that kick and that reverse noise effect. It sound you have quite trouble with idea how to end the track.

VCA-089 - I Walk Alone
Right from the start it is scary. This more like running streets away from from evil. But based on the track name it sound more like you, the walking person is evil himself that radiate fear and this is reason you are walking alone. Composition is nice. Interesting changes and breaks that makes listener engaged whole time. For sure interesting idea that is really different then the rest of the tracks. Mix sounds hollow and also muffled and at the same time in some parts there is too much bass that cause loss of clarity. There is definitely need high boost in frequencies around 400 up to 1KHz. Even audio is wav it sound more like mp3 with frequencies above 16kHz cut off but at the same time not much happening there even if you go for lo-fi track. So there is also need to add some boost from 9kHz and above. In regards of too much bass good example is the end of the track 4:03. It feels like this pad you have here is quite rumbling making all the other sounds and that pad itself sounding like rumbling.

PonySho - Blacktop Road
Well this is nice track indeed but for me it is more suited for pop charts then for this theme. Yes lyrics are fitting and vocal is nice but still the track itself and composition is pop track. Cool that you have played most of things yourself, so thumbs up for that. I wish I could do that but I do not have any talent for any real instruments. Usually for me there are three types of tracks. Instrumentals where the instruments itself tell us the story. Then we have modern pop music where the lyrics is used to tell us story while the music itself is more like basic background/noise/loop and there are third type where not just lyrics but also music itself support each other. This last one is hard to make. For me your track fits the second type. Mix sound bit raw. Not sure if this was your goal bit it is kind of dirty. It is not unbalanced but I miss some clarity here. But no matter what I say track is good but I'm biased because I kind of hate pop music.

Chasey24 - The Stroll
I do like jazz but one thing for sure you miss in your track for jazz is dynamics. Every instruments in your track sound over compressed. Almost same level for everything, for every instrument. This is how it is done these days with modern music but jazz is different. Expression of player is reflected through dynamics in the track. Every instruments because of compression if fighting for the dominance. At first I was thinking that the base it too upfront and dominant but I quickly realized that the issue is not bass but approach to mix. No matter the mix your first attempt to do jazz music is quite good. There are some nice passages and with different approach to mix it should sounds even better. I think for first jazz track good job. Bigger issue is the the theme in the track itself does not work for me as much for this month theme. Maybe that mix issue also plays big role in this because it feel more like "march" to me and not walk. This is why I said the dynamics is important because how hard you play the instruments affect the mood of the track. High dynamics is more aggressive and because everting here is aggressive it give different feel. Track is good just the overall feel does not fit theme very good.

And now voting.
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What I learned:
It was an interesting project in that I never write songs and I can't sing. But I can play guitar and bass, so I started by composing an instrumental, then added vocals. Maybe that's not the best method.
But it allowed me to try out voice synthesis with SynthV and realize that voice placement is really complicated and laborious, especially when you can't sing.
But it was interesting to harmonize 2 voices together, but I have a really strange sensation of manipulating the voice, it's not the same as drums or other virtual instruments, the voice is more personal.
It could be really a great tool for backing vocals or doubling vocals.

My Feedback : My top 5

Good night,

Thank you all for participating. Thank you Mister Fox for organizing this competition.
Thank you all for the comments and votes you have given me so far.
This month I want to thank the two colleagues who commented that they were inspired by the jazz theme I did the previous month. It was a very big and different challenge for me, to do something like that. And I see it was worth it.
This month I learned a technical detail. I did my track in a different environment, just with the laptop and headphones. I've found that the sound I can get is very different than what I would have done with the sound interface I have, which despite being very basic, makes Reason sound very different.

Thank you

I leave you comments about your works:

TrojakEW - Light in a dark
Great start: Very motivating, makes me pay attention immediately, I immediately want to know how it develops... I like the distant sound of the guitar.
But after listening to the whole track, I find it missing something. You create a high expectation that in the end you do not develop. Maybe we should repeat the magic voices and initial synthetic sounds at the end of the track? To begin and end with magic?
Anyway, I thought it was a good topic.
The mix looks good to me. Perhaps the placement in the space (reveb) of some instruments would work a little more. But that's a matter of taste.

DocJon – Natures Therapy
I like this classic and bucolic approach. Wow the part that starts at 0:39, with those piano arpeggios, it's a shame that after a while they stop playing and you don't play them throughout the song. They are very optimistic.
Cool choice of bagpipe sound, Mike Oldfield came to mind. It transports me to other countries. And the effect of moving it away with the reverberation is also very good.
A simple but beautiful theme.
You are a great creator.

Elcubano - Leave
Nice attempt at creating a song with lyrics. I'm not used to it either.
But I think the subject lacks cohesion. There are moments when I have the feeling that there are several layers (guitars, vocals, drums...) that each go their own way. Guitars too loud, could the drums need some reverb? I wouldn't know how to describe it better. But it could also just be a feeling of mine.

KukoBass - Summer Evening Walk
(Thanks for commenting on my jazz theme from last month)
Good start with suggestive sounds. I like the distance of the drums but, for me, the guitar is too close to the listener. I would put more reverb on it. And I like the background synthesizer that creates a distant sound environment.
The melody is good, it evolves little by little and the emotion rises.
To give more prominence to the guitar melody, perhaps the sound reminiscent of a rhodes could be hidden a bit to highlight the guitar.

VCA-089 – I walk alone
Here you have taken a walk through a futuristic environment. Very different subject to the rest of this month's colleagues. Listening to your theme, I can't imagine a quiet walk.
Good combination of futuristic sounds and very good rhythm. Great soundscape and musical atmosphere. Very 80s. Good job.
But I find the sound too distant, too dark, too muddy. This is the only flaw I can find.

PonySho - Blacktop Road
Good song, with good lyrics and good interpretation. Very good voice for this kind of song.
It shows that you have a level when you describe all the instruments you have used.
I like the opening and closing passages, they open and close the theme well.
I feel the mixture well. Maybe too loud guitars and too loose drums (but that's just my opinion).

Chasey24 - The Stroll
(First of all, thank you too for commenting that my jazz theme from last month was the inspiration for this month's theme. I've never been told that, and this but there are two of you)
Amazing track, with this jazz/blues touches that the finale adds some very different final guitars. You do better than me. The sound of the saxophone is much better for you than for me, even though there are colleagues who comment that the sound looks like MIDI, for me it's very OK.
Good work with the rhythms, pianos, saxophones, trumpets.
Little to criticize, I like it a lot.

-dsf- (JanNovak) - Under Gas Light
Too bad you withdrew from the competition. I would rate you high.
I really like this approach you take at the orchestral level.
Several things, first the levels are too low. You have to adjust them.
The orchestra sounds great, good job.
The melody is also good and all the orchestrations underneath are very interesting.
When the piano appears, in the orchestra there is the use of a scale that creates a bit of a sense of anxiety or unease, I guess you did that on purpose.


(translated with google, sorry for the imperfections that the translation may contain)

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your feedback and cast your vote.


Please check post #021 regarding the feedback and voting mechanic. Giving feedback is mandatory (the only criteria to become disqualified). Please don't let yourself be put at a disadvantage by not participating (fully). The Songwriting Competition lives from the given feedback towards each other. Don't just "collect" and then move on - this is unfair to all other participants.

Outside feedback is welcome, of course.

That was a tough month. Still getting used to my new gear and fine tuning my approach to production. Also, playing and recording a physical instrument gives a lot of new experience, feeling a bit like I've returned to my early ages of music making where I was learning solely on my own mistakes.

My feedback:
Voting:

It's the 02nd September 2024, 0:10 (UTC+2/CEST) - the Voting Period has officially ended.

All participants have submitted final feedback, we therefore have 0 disqualification.


Please no more changes to your feedback from this point forward.
I will post the results, plus a "client vote" and some final words of encouragement within 3-4 workdays. (this is not an automated process)


Please have an eye on this thread

Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the results of Songwriting Competition 084

The winners podium consists of:

1. @PonySho (37 pts)
2. @Doc Jon (30 pts)
3. @TrojakEW (30 pts)

Apologies for the waiting time, this is not an automated process.

<4 participant rule is not in use (staff comments and votes, my vote would count as bonus)
We have 0 disqualifications (due to lack of feedback / a final vote)
We have 1 withdrawn entry (but counts as submission within the deadline, yet couldn't be voted for)
We have several users still in the game that tied

• The following ties on the chart happened due to various reasons
  • Doc Jon -- participation vote is 18pts, but this results in a tie with TrojakEW. However, the entry was awarded 1x5pts, 2x4pts, 1x3pts -- the participant has otherwise all bonus points
  • TrojakEW -- participation vote is 18pts, but this results in a tie with Doc Jon. However, the entry was awarded 1x5pts, 1x4pts, 1x3pts, meaning less overall "high points" compared to Doc Jon -- the participant has otherwise all bonus points
  • EsteveCorbera -- participation vote is 17pts, but this results in a tie with Elcubano. However, the entry was awarded 1x5pts, 1x4pts, 1x3pts -- the participant has otherwise all bonus points
  • Elcubano -- participation vote is 17pts, but this results in a tie with EsteveCorbera. However, the entry was awarded 0x5pts, 1x4pts, 3x3pts, meaning less overall "high points" compared to EsteveCorbera-- the participant has otherwise all bonus points
• no (more) users that tied

"Sole (License) Winner" rule does not apply - 3-position Winners Podium (>= 9 participants prior to the deadline)


STATISTICS SHEET:
Overview of Submissions (PDF - updated: 04-SEP-2024, full sheet)

!

Bonus Info

Short info: I am using Wavelab 10 for batch analysis, then I manually port the CSV export to a Microsoft Excel/Open Office Calc sheet with custom layout (this is not an automated process). As pointed out in this post from SWC047 / July 2021, Wavelab has different tolerances for dBTP max analysis compared to tools like iZotope RX, Youlean Loudness Meter, NUGEN Audio VisLM, etc. To find a common ground, I've implemented "allowed tolerances" (just like with the Mix Challenge). These are based upon allowed offsets mentioned in the white papers for EBU R128 and ITU-R BS.1770-4. Since no measurement tool is the same, to be on the save side, please export at -14,1 LUFS ILk max, and -1,1 dBTP max. As usual, I did list/analyze alternative releases (MP3s and FLAC). If you've submitted your entry in multiple file formats, the statistic sheet will focus on the uncompressed material first (WAV), then FLAC, then MP3. The higher the quality, the less possible loss on bonus points for "Loudness Specs" due to offsets introduced by a used CODEC. In this case, FLAC and MP3 are merely for information purposes.

Here are the results as chart in image form:



Thank you so much for your participation.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	INFORMATION: As of January 2023, I am adapting the same voting mechanic as most other International Songwriting Competitions utilize. Nearly all of these games use(d) a 01 to 05 points system (top 5 entries) in some shape or form. The main difference to our game: these ones don't offer bonus points or penalty points, neither are they tiered (depending on the participant amount). I hope to get that properly sorted out in form of an extensive Rule Book update in the foreseeable future (serious apologies for the waiting time). Breaking up a tie: There was no unbreakable tie that needed to be addressed. The fall-back mechanics were used. An explanation on the bonus points and penalty points: Due to exceeding the loudness specs, the following users could not acquire all 4pts bonus -- only @Chasey24 exceeded the loudness limits this month (-14,0 LUFS ILk). I sadly had to withdraw 1pts bonus from @PonySho for not using the filename template properly. Please check your white spaces and double-underscores in the future. The download had a different filename than the SoundCloud title (which can still use whatever you prefer). I hope you all had fun and learned something new in the process. I hope to see more participants in future games, which only adds to the learning aspect of our small community. See you folks in the next game.

License selection:

We will now perform with the usual. Selecting of licenses is handled in public. In order of the winners podium (top spot to lowest), and only if you want to, please select one license/company out of the pool and mention it in this thread, then (important) please get in touch with me (via PM) with your full name, email address and your license selection.

As usual - you're not forced to pick up anything. You can pass and therefore offer more to select for the next person in line (if there is a spot existing / not available for "sole winner" mechanic). Just let all participants/winners/the staff know in a timely manner (within 5 days of this post). Once one company has been selected, it's out of the pool for the next person on the podium.

Since SWC084 has a 3-position Winner's Podium, we can also continue to test a new game mechanic that offers "low placed participants" a chance to pick up a bonus license - if somebody from the Winners Podium passes on a selection. You can read more about this in SWC083 - post #067.

!	Bonus Info
	As part of a new collaboration with Hornet Plugins, you are allowed to select either 2 plugins at a maximum value of 20 EUR MSRP for both, or one individual plugin of choice from the whole available plugin range (bundles are exempt). Due to time constraints, I could not make a bigger announcement about this yet. Apologies for the inconvenience.

I re-open the field for talking some more about each others' productions. If things drift a bit too off-topic, please use the General Gossip thread, or Discord.



See you in in the next challenge!



Songwriting Competition 085 (September 2024) is still in full swing.

Every September, the Mix Challenge audio community brings awareness to the topic Mental Health. The theme is called "Silent Screams", the focus is "just make music", the genre is free to select. So far there have been 0 entries.

See you there as well.

Congratulations to the winners!!!
I'm back in 4th place, thank you very much for your votes and your comments!!