Mix Challenge

I will kindly ask everyone to please stop updating/re-uploading their files. If this continues to happen, and therefore cause unnecessary extra maintenance work, I will straight up disqualify your entry. Please adhere to the Rules and Guidelines - once the song collection has been posted, no more edits (looks like I will have to make that more clear with SWC032)!


Soundcloud is currently overrun with bots spamming random tracks with posts along the lines of "great stuff, you should consider promotion/I want to promote you, click the link in bio". This has been happening (again!) for a couple of months at this point, and this is Soundcloud's problem to solve.

This is not a reason to reupload - especially not without prior permission from the staff (currently me).

So please stop doing that.




Let us please get back to the feedback and voting process, which ends on Wednesday, 01-APR-2020 23:59 GMT+2/CEST

To be frank, at the moment I have no idea what is this "Chill Out" -genre of this competition. Is it subgenre of EDM or is it any relaxed music? When I started to make my submission I interpreted as any relaxed slow music, but now, when it's too late, I'm not sure anymore. For that reason - my ignorance - I'm not voting from the point of view of genre. My voting is based on just what I feel. So, not to be taken seriously.

This voting process is very difficult. As this is songwriting competition I decided to use this kind of evaluating categories, each 0-5 pts:
- Song: melody, rhythmic choice and progression
- Arrangement
- Other values: performance, mix, sound, etc, recording


Although I tried to be logical in my evaluation process I had to admit that actually I have no clue, and my decisions are quite artificial.





TrojakEW: Alone_Together
Nice start with whispering
Drums go together perfectly with the melody line.
Overall sound is unique and coherent.
Nothing to add.

Song: 4
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 5


=======

DocJon: BackToBird
Love this reggae. It's not easy to do a positive sunshine song. This one succeeds in that very well.
This was the only song, to which I gave full points for the song part.
Bass is maybe too busy. Maybe you could drop some notes here and there from the main beats. It would give deeper reggae feeling.
Overall sound of your mix has some synthetic elements, but skillful pro-mixer could fix them easily
Otherwise I have nothing to add.

Song: 5
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 4

=======

erictracks: walklikeaking
Starts like a record. Nice bass riff, and good use of effects in guitars.
Song develops nicely with small and elegant chances. It's giving nice new candies all the way through.
I like the fact that band plays together all the changes, not just each player in solo. Band has clearly a good conductor that has a vision for the musical message, but still gives nicely freedom to each player.
Nothing to add, but I feel that this is a mix without main artist. Maybe you muted the vocal track by accident.

Song: 3
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 4

=======


canese: Filow
Well done lo-fi sound. Very meditative atmosphere.
Melody line simple and hypnotic.
Some of the background noises or delays disturb the rhythm here and there. (Maybe it's meant to be so).
Good use of speeding effects. Actually I listened more them than music. The use of effects and arrangement ideas overshadowed the song part.
Nothing to add.

Song: 3
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 4

=======

Green-Dog: Margarita tells gossip
Cool opening riff. Very promising. But around 0:35 I feel that something more should happen. (Maybe I'm just too hasty)
1:50 nice change, weird sound that works very well in this context.
3.00 now comes in melodic line that I would have liked to hear around 0:35.

With second listening I change my mind and I start to feel that his song has strong basic idea that carries quite well all through. Well done.

Song: 3
Arrangement: 5
Other values: 4

=======

ontrackp: Chill-Out Final

0.30 nice melody line, with experimental tone

Overall feeling of the arrangement is quite good but the sound is a bit restless. Or maybe it's a problem of mixing. It feels a bit overcompressed, and main melody line is masked or disturbed by side elements.
I feel that drum parts and percussion elements don't make a coherent and unified groove. As if they are not playing together, but each one is competing with others.
Around 2:00 I start to feel that something new should come in. Maybe you run out of time.

Song: 4
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 3

=======


becsei_gyorgy: Madre_Tierra
Very relaxed Mediterranean feeling.
Nice use of violin.
It feels that lady singing is a bit pitchy.
Drums start to feel too monotones. Maybe it dominates too much?
Melodic development or song structure is not optimal yet.

Song: 4
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 3

=======


gruskada: RelaxedProblem
Nice atmosphere.
Great use of reversed (guitar) parts in intro.
Main guitar sound is not delicate enough yet. Maybe you could reamp the recorded line through a real amp in a real room. And tape delay could be a good choice for the main guitar.
02:00 cool Whooh-sounds.
Bass is excellent, it's the glue of this arrangement.
2:25 I like the rhythmic change. But it gives an expectation of something that didn't come
Drums feel a bit separate from the rest of band.
Good potential to be much more than it's now. I would love to hear more nuance difference between different parts.

Song: 3
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 3

=======

Jillian_ApoAlypt0: Let Me
I like the lo-fi piano sound. Intro melody line is interesting.
Weird drum sounds, love it and hate it.
Bass comes nicely in with steady pulse.
It would be nice to hear whispering a bit more clearly. On the other hand I like those ping-pong delay effects that mask the main whispering.
Overall: a bit too experimental to me, but still I hope you continue with these weird experiments that you have submitted. The next one your songs may blow up my mental fences, and make me discover new musical dimensions.

Song: 3
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 3

=======

LeonardBowman: Moonlight
Opening is a bit chaotic, maybe with purpose.
1:18 I would like to hear the spoken part more clearly. That's a part when I woke up and found: hey this works very nicely.
Otherwise the song is a bit undefined and chaotic. Maybe caused by those bright tremolo synths that take the role of melody carrier although the melody is perhaps somewhere else.
Overall I have a bit mixed feeling: there's no clear melody line, but still to me the spoken part was one of the best parts in this months competition.

Song: 2
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 4


=======

VCA-089: Carried_Away
Cool cave feeling. It feels like an atmospheric movie track.
I wish to hear more progression in this song. Now it's one place and one feeling all through. As there's no clear melody part but mainly arpeggio chords, in my mind it belongs to category "well done ambience". But as such it's very good, and I can see it in my head, that it fits perfectly with movie's demands.

Song: 1,
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 4


=======

SimaGT: BadChick
Quite strong song. Melody line very good, but, like you said, you had taken it from somewhere else, it's merits belong to somebody else. From that point of view this doesn't belong to songwriting competition. But if this were an "arrangement competition" (which would be very interesting) I would consider this as a winning candidate. Had it been your melody, you would have been among top positions in my votes.

As I already said, I like the arrangement very much. It develops nicely and is coherent.
Effect with this opening guitar makes it feel that something is out of tune.

1:54 Vox fits nicely to other sounds. Overall mix-sound is also a coherent.

The out of tune effect with guitar starts to disturb my listening as the song goes on. On the other hand, it gives this song a unique character.

Song: 0
Arrangement: 4
Other values: 4


=======

MarkS: Late Night
Very nice percussion opening.
When the piano comes in, I start to wait for the melody or focus point, but song turns into ambient music, and not so much a song.
I like how the birds are part of the groove, but now it's too short loop. It might be better if they disappeared every now and then. That way they would have a bigger role as they would be noticed more often.


Song: 2
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 3


=======


ollyaudio
Main melodic line is a bit unclear. Each part flows nicely but it lacks the clear hook points. So it's difficult find a structure for this song.
Maybe it would be easier to listen, if the piano weren't mixed so widely. Now it's left hand on the left, right hand on the right. (I'm listening with headphones). But the end part is easier to listen when there's a clearer focus in the center.
Overall feeling of arrangement is a bit monotonic. The arrangement could create a bit a bigger differences between parts.

Song: 3
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 2


=======

Tj-Shredder: Holy Metal Music
Hard to say if this is a song at all. It doesn't have any melody nor rhythm. (Also, I guess a bit too long as a competition submission.)
I would call it an ambient sound design work. But as such it's great. This would work perfectly as a soundtrack to some movie or documentary scene.

Song: 0
Arrangement: 3
Other values: 4

I really enjoyed listening to the submissions this month. There were some really great ones, and the theme was perfect.

ollyaudio
- really like the vibe and the sounds
- mix is good
- beat is a little disjointed, which messes with the flow. Maybe having the chords sustain right until the next one would help, too

j i l l i a m
- love the reverb on the piano
- kind of reminds me of Porcelain by Moby
- beat a little too aggressive for chill
- whispering is effective on verses, but doesn't work as well in chorus
- love the marimba-type sound midway through
- lo-fi violin (or whatever that is) is cool, too

TrojakEW
- nice buildup at the beginning
- beat is so cool
- reversed parts are great
- 1:28 guitar is perfect. Right amount of reverb, great tone
- sounds professional
- great job

becsei_gyorgy
- great pads
- nice violin sound
- vocals are great
- acoustic guitar fits in well
- very moody - I like it
- tape stop effect at 2:46 is cool
- individual elements combine really nicely into a relaxing song

Green-Dog
- beat is perfect
- like the tremolo effect
- nice "slow-burn" development
- great breakdown part. Nice guitar sound
- like how it is then brought into the rest of the song at the end as well
- sounds great - nice mix and instrumentation

Leonard Bowman
- kind of disjointed
- I like the synth effects
- not a fan of the vocals, though I like the panned octaves
- the different tuning is too much for my tastes
- good sounding mix - lots of space

Doc Jon
- this is a great song - very catchy
- mix is fantastic, instruments sound great
- background vocals are a weak spot, though. Sounds fake, and don't fit well
- not really a chill song, though
- regardless, it's now on my SoundCloud playlist. I really like it

SimaGT
- I like the old radio effect at :54
- nice job working the song around the vocal
- breaths on vocal don't sound natural. Metallic resonance, or something.
- really cool effect at 3:32

erictrack
- too much of an easy-listening vibe for my tastes
- nice guitar sound
- not enough of a middle section - gets repetitive
- 2:20 part is cool
- nice wide-open mix
- descending chords near the end sound like an easy listening version of and old King Crimson's instrumental. Pretty interesting, actually.

ontrackP
- Getting the easy-listening vibe with this one as well
- Moog-like synth makes this sound like it's straight out of the 70's (not necessarily a bad thing)
- I really like the change at 1:22. Nice bass line to compliment the guitar as well.
- 3:40 - this part is really cool. I wish you had this vibe for the whole song

Ollie H
- not really a chill song in my mind, but I like it
- nice job keeping it interesting while not changing chords
- nice vocals and lyrics

VCA-089
- arpeggios get too repetitive
- helicopter part a little much for chill
- calms down by 1:10
- nice sounds overall
- I wanted a drumbeat, but I never got one...
- some of the chord changes are nice

MarkS
- too long of an intro
- disjointed ideas
- still, pretty relaxing, and there's something about it that is appealing
- nice drumbeat

TJShredder
- some nice sounds, but no development
- sounds get a bit too much as well
- would be cool to take some of these sounds and use them in a more developed track, though

canese
- a little disjointed with the drumbeat
- great piano sound
- like the bouncing/rattling effect
- 1:18 pitch slowdown here works well
- nice vibe, with the sax sound

YuriyKolosov (no vote)
- nice pads and sounds overall
- beat sounds like a metronome or click at the beginning
- nice sequenced keys
- reminds me of "Sounds of Distant Earth" by Mike Oldfield - really good stuff
- too bad you weren't able to submit on time

Hello everybody!

I felt very glad when I noticed that so many persons wanted to participate this month . I had planned to participate myself this month, as well as the previous one. But first I caught the calici virus disease, and a couple of weeks later I had to visit a hospital once again, due to something else .

But it looks like – at this point – there is no need for me to try to write some kind of commercial/advertisment and publish it in the Swedish Hemstudiogruppen (a group for people with rather advanced recording studios in their own homes). That group has 9.960 members, and another group I'm a member of has 3.056 members – all of them musicians. But as I said: I think I'll wait for a month or two and and see what happens.

I thought I had a real good composition going on that month when the theme was love/hate. I almost managed to finish that song during march, maybe it would have been possible to look upon it as a chill-out tune. Anyway, it hasn't been published anywhere yet, so if the theme for next month will be anything like love/hate (which isn't to rare within this business ), maybe I will finally will be able to use it as an entry, here?

Keep up the good work, everybody. The times have never been better for composing music, sitting alone in our apartments. (How come so few girls participate? )

Enjoyed listening to all the tracks
Bonus points for tracks with vocals and those which made me feel chilled

ollyaudio
Some interesting sounds in this, I liked the way the piano was spread right across the stereo field. The vocals coming in at 2:20 were great and led nicely to the music coming back in for the final section. Overall I would have liked a little more variation throughout the track. Bass sound could have been a little stronger and clearer

JILLIAM
Nice distorted beat, whispers worked well in the context of the track. The breakdown with the piano and whispered vox was very original, very atmospheric but almost a bit creepy like a good horror movie soundtrack! I liked the addition of percussion after this point. Not sure if it made me feel completely chilled but it certainly gave me chills! Good mix and nice production

TrojakEW
Very nice, lovely choice of classic chillout sounds and those haunting vocals worked really well in the track. I’m always a sucker for ethereal vocals so this track stood out for me. Loved the laid-back handclap percussion and the guitar sound. Track developed nicely as it progressed. Bonus points for vocals and great chill feel. Excellent mix and production

becsei_gyorgy
More classic chillout sounds but this time with a spaghetti Western feel created by the brass and vocals, very original, and augmented even further by the appearance of the lovely Spanish guitar. Nice laid back groove with that laid back beat. I enjoyed this track a lot as it was such a great mix of styles. My only criticism would be the tape stop effect at 2:48 which I normally love but I’m not sure that it worked in the context of this track. Nevertheless, a great track and one of my favourites of the month, bonus points for vocals and maximum chill feel!

Green-Dog
Cannot get much more laid back than the intro here, very nice start to the track. I was waiting for some new elements to appear from about 1:45 and sure enough the Stylophone style noise appeared right on cue and did not disappoint! Great guitar in the breakdown section. Nice mix and production. Made me feel well chilled, would have loved some vocals with this!

gruskada
Nice minimalistic percussion which worked well against the guitars although I thought the timing was perhaps a little too loose in some of the phrases. Nice wandering bassline. All very nicely mixed and produced

Leonard Bowman
Very interesting track with some bold vocal choices, I thought the moonlight phrases worked well but did become a little repetitive by the end. Not too keen on the choice of bass sound. I did like the original discordant middle section with the delayed vocals, definitely chilled and all very well put together and produced

SimaGT
Great opening section with nice laid back beat and guitar loop. Really well constructed track, great overall arrangement and also nice little touches like the vinyl spindown effect at 0:33, the little breaks at 0:55 and 1:22, the vocal cuts at 3:22 and the reverse effect at 3:35. Vocals fitted really well, all very nicely mixed. Really good track, nice arrangement and such a lot of attention to detail, bonus points for chill factor and vocals

erictrack
Very nice track with some skilled playing. I would have brought the drums a little higher in the mix. Really wanted to hear some laid back jazzy vocals over the top of this!! Overall an enjoyable listen

ontrackp
Great opening section with some nice classic chill sounds, guitars worked well. By about 2:45 I was wanting some more variation and new elements in the track which did appear at 3:40 but I would have preferred these to have been introduced earlier. Very nice choice of bass sound and nice percussion in the final section

Olli H
A proper song. Definitely bonus points for vocals here and a nice laid back delivery with a gentle ‘round the campfire after dark’ feel to the whole track. A nice stripped back arrangement and the understated production suited the whole track very nicely. Great stuff

VCA-089
Great intro with some stunning synth sounds and a lovely wide soundscape, great use of helicopter sound! Then we’re into familiar chillout territory although I was almost expecting a kick-ass beat to appear at about 1:50 from the way the track was building which I think would have really underpinned the second section nicely. Overall build and progression was gentle and slow and I loved the panning synths, all very well mixed and produced

MarkS
Pretty minimalistic track, reminded me of Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden, which is a good thing and did make me feel chilled

Tj Shredder
A nice ambient drone style track although I must confess it is not normally my type of music. The ambient percussion in the middle section did introduce some variation but by the end of the track I was still wanting more new elements. Great soundtrack music

Nicolas Canese
Fantastic intro, most laid back groove of the month. I liked the radio vocal break in the middle and the vinyl spindown effect at then end fitted perfectly. Nicely constructed track, mix was a little quiet but no problem, I just turned the volume up and all was good!

YuriyKolosov
Classic chillout style track, authentic feel and nicely produced
Definitely made me filled chilled, very nice track
Would have been in my top 5 if eligible for voting

My voting process is going in few stages.

First I download all tracks and make playlist to listen without looking who made what. When there is something that is interesting for me or opposite, something that I don't like I switch to player see what track is it and make a note about it. First thing was that there were few loud tracks that really scare me and I need to lower volume on playback and then again raise for another track. That -14LUFS average is good way to make all participants track have similar loudness so it will not "destroy" your neighborhoods or not cause you heart attack.

I'm more technical junkie so I always in second stage load tracks one by one to listen and carefully analyze them. First by my ears and then to pinpoint problem also with other tools. So I included some basic statistics for all tracks so you can compare the numbers with other tracks.

Last stage is listen again while looking at my notes and observations from previous stages.

---------------------------------------
ollyaudio - Glass birds Outro
It seems the composition is cluttered. I can't find the main line of the theme. Track have kind of artificial feel and it really sounds like as it was generated with some automated composition system. The first break at 2:16 was a rescue from this randomness but it is not enough. If this was what you want then good. Most of instruments are glued together too much and vocal is almost inaudible. I do not hear any expression in any instruments and this even rise that mechanical feel of track. Velocity per note is your friend. I'm also do not fan of that fadein style intro and outro.

There is too much bass and whole track sound muffled. Almost everything above 16kHz is removed. It is almost like mp3 version of track.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -11,2 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -13,0 LUFS
Integrated loudness -15,0 LUFS
Loudness range 10,9 LU
True peak L -0.67dB
True peak R -0.63dB
DC offset L 0% (-117.9dB)
DC offset R 0% (-113.5dB)

---------------------------------------
J I L L I A M (ApoAlypt0) - Let Me
Idea is there but same as ollyadio you need to use more dynamics for instruments. It sound that piano is on the same velocity on every note during whole track. There is no way to play piano like that in reality and this make it sounds synthy and artificial. This less expressive and less organic sound doesn't support composition. If you used more dynamics on instruments the whole feel of the track will change or rather said improve drastically.

Mix sounds hollow and boxed. That boxed sound sounds like it is coming from reverb. It have kind of metallic feel that don't sound nice. Looks like you were trying to make some stage and place instrument so they can breath more and that is good. Not sure what you use for panning that main piano because it have a lot of phasing issues and playback in mono make it sound weaker and and lead melody becomes a background texture.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -8,9 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -10,2 LUFS
Integrated loudness -13,2 LUFS
Loudness range 6,9 LU
True peak L -0.50dB
True peak R -0.67dB
DC offset L +0.009% (-80.9dB)
DC offset R +0.007% (-82.8dB)

---------------------------------------
becsei gyorgy - Madre Tierra
Nice track with some nice parts especially like that acoustic guitar. Composition is nice. I do not like that drum track sound (kick, snare) it doesn't fit here. Also in some part that vocal sounds strange and out of tune. Overall nice track.

Mix sound balanced regarding frequency and tonal balance but it looks like some of instruments have some phasing issues and playback in mono sounds different regarding levels of instruments. Drums are completely in mono and they stay at the same level but other instruments volume change quite drastically. For example check in mono and compare ending part starting at 3:30.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -11,8 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -13,2 LUFS
Integrated loudness -16,3 LUFS
Loudness range 4,1 LU
True peak L -0.51dB
True peak R -0.22dB
DC offset L 0% (-155.8dB)
DC offset R 0% (-156.5dB)

---------------------------------------
Green-Dog - Margarita tells gossip
Nice rhythm and composition. Good choice of instruments and sounds. Can't say anything bad about it ,just maybe just to add more gossip. I mean some more upfront main melody lead line but still it is great as it is. I like also the mood.

Mix is great. Good clarity and tonal balance and nice stage.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -12,3 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -14,2 LUFS
Integrated loudness -17,4 LUFS
Loudness range 8,6 LU
True peak L -1.55dB
True peak R -0.95dB
DC offset L 0% (-155.6dB)
DC offset R 0% (-144.4dB)

---------------------------------------
gruskada - Relaxed Problem
Great atmosphere. Reversed guitars , looks like we had same idea. In some parts track feels cluttered for example at 3:22 when guitar, but also piano trying to lead at the same time. Then on the top of that another electric guitar step in. Sometimes less is more. I think bass is too dominant and it take all the attention. It almost feels it lead the track. Like the part with solo viola.

Mix sounds good only as I said that bass is too loud.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -8,6 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -11,2 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14,9 LUFS
Loudness range 8,6 LU
True peak L -0.95dB
True peak R -0.96dB
DC offset L +0.012% (-78.7dB)
DC offset R +0.009% (-81.4dB)

---------------------------------------
Leonard Bowman - Moonlight
Nice jazzy track. It have kind of weird mood but I like it. Woman vocal even add more strange fell to it. That voice over starting at 1:20 is bit distracting. I think without it it will be better. Ending part is even more crazy with voice bit of out of tune.

Mix sounds good. Everything have its place. Maybe that drum kit should be also position differently not just center. Yea I know that crash is slightly on left but rest of the kit is pure mono.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -10,4 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -11,5 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14,9 LUFS
Loudness range 5,4 LU
True peak L -0.19dB
True peak R -0.40dB
DC offset L 0% (-124.2dB)
DC offset R 0% (-126.3dB)
---------------------------------------
DocJon - Back To Bird
Great track but it make me want to move more then chill out. Too energetic, beach party. Otherwise it is great.

Mix sounds great but, it is really too loud. I downloaded all tracks put them in list and play it and few track pop out because they were too loud. Yours is one of them.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -5,4 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -6,6 LUFS
Integrated loudness -8,6 LUFS
Loudness range 9,5 LU
True peak L -0.18dB
True peak R -0.21dB
DC offset L +0.001% (-97.9dB)
DC offset R +0.001% (-97.6dB)

---------------------------------------
SimaGT - BadChick
Great track. Can't say much about it just that I like it. Vocal suits the track really well and composition is nice. Good job.

Mix sounds good with nice stage. Tonally it sounds balanced but I prefer more airy mix. More sparkle in high can enhance stage. I dare to made some quick changes in order to hear what I mean. I have slightly decrease bass volume about -3dB and vocal about -2dB. EQed high to add more air. Hope you don't mind a have played a bit with your track since I do not have your permission. I will delete track when competition ends or anytime you want, just tell me. It is really quick edit to add some air.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=17nh0y ... WqcaMxRDXA

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -10,0 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -12,0 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14,6 LUFS
Loudness range 5,2 LU
True peak L -1.03dB
True peak R -1.15dB
DC offset L 0% (-121.6dB)
DC offset R 0% (-115.7dB)

---------------------------------------
erictracks - walklikeaking
Nice composition and cool guitars. Like the theme but I wish there was more upfront lead. The guitar you have here is glued with the rest of the track too much for me creating more just background melody. But great stuff.

Mix sounds nice but I see you removed most everything above 16kHz. This may cause some loss of clarity. I have "recreated" your missing frequencies and it really sound different. I do not have your permission to mess with your track so hope it is not problem. Same as with SimaGT I will remove track when competition ends or anytime when you said.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hOF3I ... zFE4HVCAXn

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -8,5 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -10,8 LUFS
Integrated loudness -15,0 LUFS
Loudness range 5,2 LU
True peak L -0.21dB
True peak R -0.26dB
DC offset L 0% (-118.8dB)
DC offset R 0% (-125.0dB)

---------------------------------------
ontrackp - Chillout
Good chilling track with nice sounds. Nice drum patterns. Great bass pad at 3:40. What I do not like is fade out end. Not a fan of this type of ending. Kind of looks like you do not know how to end this track.

Mix sound balanced with great stage, but it sound a bit squashed, overcompressed. Maybe more then a bit. For me that compression is audible. Some clipping also occur there.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -7,0 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -8,8 LUFS
Integrated loudness -10,9 LUFS
Loudness range 2,9 LU
True peak L +0.50dB (58 clipped samples)
True peak R +0.47dB (73 clipped samples)
DC offset L -0.006% (-84.8dB)
DC offset R -0.006% (-84.9dB)

---------------------------------------
OlliH - I Knew What I Was Searching For
Nice track but it feels more like pop track. Yea it have that chill feel but that singing and composition is more toward traditional pop song. Track is otherwise really great. Voice is nice but it looks like you (not sure if it is you who are singing) can't handle higher pitch and it sounds bit uneasy. I mean that chorus line at 1:07 and then at 2:41.

Mix sounds great. Great stage and clarity.

Statistics (mp3):
Max momentary loudness -10,1 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -11,5 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14,0 LUFS
Loudness range 3,9 LU
True peak L -1.58dB
True peak R -1.70dB
DC offset L 0% (-121.4dB)
DC offset R 0% (-110.4dB)
---------------------------------------
VCA-089 - Carried Away
Nice atmosphere with chill out mood but it turn to kind of space exploration type ambience later on starting at about 1:50. It is nice track with with nice elements.

Mix regardng tonal balance is good. Even with only few instruments you made good stage. What I do not like is overcompressed sound. Too little dynamics changes and everything sounds it plays on almost same volume/amplitude whole time if we are not counting start and end phase.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -6,9 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -7,5 LUFS
Integrated loudness -9,0 LUFS
Loudness range 6,1 LU
True peak L -0.05dB
True peak R +0.23dB (2 clipped samples)
DC offset L +0.003% (-91.7dB)
DC offset R +0.002% (-92.9dB)

---------------------------------------
MarkS - Late Night
Interesting track with nice sounds. Problem is that some sounds end abruptly without any decay. For example tat pad at background that ends at 0:32. It is nice theme and idea behind but you should do more variation to those percussion's. It is same loop over and over. Piano and that synth lead battle for lead especially when they are both positioned similarly slightly on left side. You should try to put one on those on other side. Piano should have more expressive part. Here it is sound everything is on same velocity level.

Mix sounds otherwise good.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -15,2 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -17,4 LUFS
Integrated loudness -22,5 LUFS
Loudness range 10,2 LU
True peak L -2.40dB
True peak R -4.51dB
DC offset L +0.171% (-55.4dB)
DC offset R +0.263% (-51.6dB)

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Tj-Shredder - Holy Metal Music
This is unique track. It have really chill out mood but it is more kind of evolving ambient texture. I do really like it but ... For this competition you should make it shorter and choose the best and interesting parts, also ....

Mix is muddy and same time muffled. Some parts have really bad resonation that makes it really hard to listen. It is almost ear damaging. What is worst that you hide some beauty behind bad mix. I have played with dynamic EQ and some spectral stuff to remove that bad resonances and it reveal really really really beautiful texture. It is really incredible sound and regarding this it is my favorite sound in this round. Too bad I have to play with it to hear that. Do not have your permission to edit your track so let me know if there is problem and I will remove the link immediately otherwise I remove it when competition ends.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LB9t9 ... wcQo8oS9kw

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -5,1 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -8,4 LUFS
Integrated loudness -14,0 LUFS
Loudness range 11,6 LU
True peak L -0.92dB
True peak R -1.41dB
DC offset L 0% (-115.9dB)
DC offset R 0% (-124.2dB)

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canese - Filow
Nice beat but it somehow feels to repetitive. Don't like same drum patterns that sounds bit off like the one at 0:49 to 0:51. Wish there were more elements to fill the mood and make composition more interesting.

Mix is not bad but it looks like some of sample have noise embedded (maybe that kick) and it sound weird with that ducking noise. I do not mind noise that can add some kind of imperfection in track but not this way. Everything above 14kHz is removed and my question is why?

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -15,9 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -20,6 LUFS
Integrated loudness -23,0 LUFS
Loudness range 8,1 LU
True peak L -5.14dB
True peak R -5.48dB
DC offset L 0% (-218.1dB)
DC offset R 0% (-204.0dB)

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YuriyKolosov - When They Find Us
Theme is nice but that 4 minutes feels really the same and it make track really repetitive.

You have some problems regarding phase. Many sounds, instruments sounds really different in mono and some of them are almost lost. Also missing some air or rather said sparkle in mid and high frequencies.

Statistics:
Max momentary loudness -9,7 LUFS
Max short-tem loudness -10,9 LUFS
Integrated loudness -13,1 LUFS
Loudness range 4,1 LU
True peak L +0.69dB (24 clipped samples)
True peak R +0.77dB (48 clipped samples)
DC offset L 0% (-145.4dB)
DC offset R 0% (-145.2dB)

---------------------------------------

i am sorry to tell you all, and i mean it honestly, that i need to remove my entry from the competition. The reason is that lately, i have been feeling very anxious because of music production and, i need to get rid of that anxiety that feels like a heavy burden on my shoulders.. I hope you can understand. I am just going to delete all my tracks from my computer, all my projects, the daw itself and than, sell my korg stuff and my mic. I hope ill be feeling much better than. ALso, i want to stop visiting all these music forums, because now i know it is the best decision for me.

I am really sorry that i decided for it just now, but i 've been holding the anxiety inside of me for too long and i cant take it anymore. No matter how crazy it might sound.

sorry and take care

Well - this is unfortunate to read. But this explains the constant back and forth in recent months.

If I were you, I'd not sell your equipment. Maybe move it out of line of sight for the time being. Then start fresh sometime down the road. Once you're feeling better, you're always welcome back to the community.

Get some rest, and see you soon.



EDIT (14:58):
Got a backup of the entry thanks to a fellow forum member. Thank you.

TrojakEW wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 29, 2020 21:44 CEST

OlliH - I Knew What I Was Searching For
... Voice is nice but it looks like you (not sure if it is you who are singing) can't handle higher pitch and it sounds bit uneasy. I mean that chorus line at 1:07 and then at 2:41.

Thanks! That’s me.
I’m aware of the problem, but unfortunately my eagerness to create music is much too big in comparison to my singing skills. But I have to choose between ”shall I torture other people and myself” or ”shall I stop participating in these competitions” ... But when it’s a genre where I feel that I have some chances to be in better positions, then I will send an instrumental, so that I won’t spoil my chances with my voice.