The "Overview of Submissions" PDFs have been uploaded.
You can check them through the
upper post (post #083).
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, not to mention triple checking files and time stamps, 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
Statistics Addendum:
⚠ | Moderation Message from Mister Fox | |
We have a disqualification rate of 19,15% for February 2024 (47 entries, 9 disqualifications, 1 "Out of Competition" submission not counting).
This is the lowest value since June 2022 (which was 13,95%). As usual, many of these disqualifications are due to carelessness errors: wrong sampling rate, loudness specs, and files that were non-accessible (also see the provided "TL;DR Rules.txt" file).
On average (29 months of tracking), we currently have a disqualification rate of 25,58% (compared to last game's 25,80% avg), the rate is slightly declining still. The disqualification rate over the course of the last 12 games (April 2022 to February 2024) is about 25,15% (previously 25,42%), and is back on an slight decline.
I strongly recommend all participants to pay more attention to details in future games. It is still a shame to see entries being "tagged OUT" for the fact that they can't be accessed. |
A commentary on this month's entries:
Yet another very warm welcome to all new participants who have found their way into our little community. I do hope you enjoy your stay, had fun, and could learn something from this experience. It saddens me a bit however to not see the usual amounts of regulars - despite sending out more newsletters thanks to the new engine. Maybe it was the genre, maybe it was something else. Either way, I am not giving up on
acquiring new source material for future mixing games. I have a feeling, we will still hear and get access to outstanding material.
I actually had the statistic Sheets ready on 22-FEB-2024 -- however there were some things I wanted to get sorted out first with our kind Song Provider, before I posted the PDFs.
One of the things we talked about, and ultimately decided upon, was giving
@FromAtoZMix a "grace period". This entry was initially "tagged OUT" due to the entry being posted 3min after the deadline (you know the rules!). However, the file was uploaded prior to the deadline. So we consider this to be an unfortunate
"server glitch" and kindly ask everyone
to not post entries at the very last minute. Each Mix(ing) Challenge offers you 21 days, please use your time wisely.
We also had long chats about the accessibility of the files. This is mostly related to those users that utilized OneDrive (Microsoft).
We had various issues accessing the files. Firefox sporadically decided to fully access them during one hour of the day, then the next it requested a login. Same with Google Chrome of various versions. We could manage to get all files - however, we did have to pull every trick in the book: reset our browsers (try multiple versions even), flush cookies, utilize logins. In fact,
@onecake2's entry still has the sporadic "something went wrong, try again later" error message, while the entries by
@LowlandsWave,
@Dodgingrain and
@DIVESPANNER eventually worked out. We do not know why this happened, or why this is still the case. However, we send out a warning that third party file storage providers can change security settings overnight that are suddenly incompatible with browsers, effectively locking you out of access. We let this slide this month -- at the same time,
I am investigating possible solutions for future games as well.
On similar behalf, we are also addressing warnings to
@Mellow Browne and
@Gius, as these entries were not directly accessible. In case of the former, GoogleDrive refused to let me access the WAV file and forced me to download a ZIP file (which resulted in a file date from 1980!). In case of the latter, I could access the WAV file - but I had to select the correct file first. Looking at the entry by
@juhu - I almost missed that one, since I didn't notice that Firefox tagged the download as "not secure" and refused to download without me confirming that everything is fine (I noticed this while triple checking all entries). Our Song Provider
@Jorgeelalto had to do similar on MacOS (he had to use wget in the command line).
Unfortunately
@AlexAlba has been "tagged OUT" due to the fact that GoogleDrive insisted on asking us for a log in, and once we did that, it asked for a "file access request". The user in question made the file available on 22-FEB-2024. I did run a statistic analysis for that entry as well (see "Out of Competition" section on the Statistic Sheet). This is also the only entry, where the filename template wasn't properly used.
@Mr sj actually posted twice (possible server glitch?), and both entries lead to a folder stating "file has been deleted". There was also no documentation posted. So that entry is also fully "tagged OUT".
@denismusic2023 kind of completely ignored the well established
rule book. Not only was this entry uploaded to Soundcloud (neither allowed, nor full credits given in the description) - I could only acquire a copy in MP3 form, not in WAV. Therefore, "tagged OUT". The entry also exceeds the loudness specs (in fact, this is the loudest entry at -8,0 LUFS ILk), and there is no documentation either.
And the last "tagged OUT" is actually from
@wkanegis -- unfortunately, that entry was submitted 1,5 hours after the deadline (and my "closing" post, actually). Pity, as this entry doesn't have any "file issues" -- if only the
Global Countdown was taken into consideration.
However, as you can see on the Statistic Sheets, we could access nearly all files - and have been very lenient. Please be careful in the future - we're still simulating a "Client to Business" scenario... if the "client" can't access your files, they will stop doing business with you.
The rest are the usual small mistakes that merely result in a "tagged disqualified". Funny enough, only one entry didn't use the provided filename template. Nearly all entries that are still in the game also have some form of documentation (some more, some just barely scratching the surface). Else, usual things like wrong sampling rate, and signals overshooting. Although we have a couple of entries are are actually shorter than the provided demo mix (which is still not a disqualification criteria!).
To close this out.
Both
@Jorgeelalto and I are happy with the overall participation. We hoped for more entries (again: see the new newsletter), but who knows what will still happen in 2024.
A huge thank you to everyone that invested time with this month's game. I hope you had fun.
See you in the next one.
.
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).
We (as in: the Song Provider and I) will keep you updated, and of course send out appropriate reminder newsletters!
EDIT: 24-FEB-2024 09:40 UTC+1/CET - initial post