Mix Challenge

Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 52 - March 2019


This is the introduction post, where we directly link to the challenge corresponding files (source files, submission information, sponsors), start of the evaluation process and the first post for re-submissions for Mix Round 2.



This month we have the chance to work on an experimental electronic/trip-hop production by Songwriting Competition regular Olly Audio. The song was originally created to showcase a soundset made for the Synapse Audio Dune 2 synthesizer. The song is called "Illusion of the Sand World".

Important note: The Song Provider is not fluent in English. Which means the feedback after the evaluation process could be fairly limited and not as detailed as you're used to. Please be kind and understanding. We're an international community - everyone is welcome.

Read more about the production below, and in the bundled TXTs.




Please take note of the following

• IMPORTANT: It is mandatory to provide WAV files, files need to be accessible/downloadable, try to work within suitable work levels (the focus of this game is "mixing", not mixing and finalizing), document your edits (ideally with screenshots), name the files properly to distinguish your edit from all others.
  IMPORTANT: please use the following naming convention:
  • MC000_ArtistName_TrackName_ContestanttName.wav
  • MC000_ArtistName_TrackName_ContestanttName_R2.wav for those that go into Mix Round 2
• please only upload to cloud storage spaces from now on (DropBox, GoogleDrive, etc). Please consult the official "Rules and Gudelines" regarding Upload and Submission Guidelines
• It is highly encouraged to give feedback to each other, to share tips and tricks. Ideally, this should happen after Mix Round 1 has ended, to not influence each other during the main competition round

Also please take note of the following

• We're looking for new source material for future competitions. Please follow our official campaign. Your only investment is time in turn for a free mix by our very talented participants. No new tracks mean no more challenges! Please reach out!
• Social Media accounts can be found via the handles @MixChallenge (Twitter) and MixChallenge (Facebook). Please spread the word!
• if you like what the Mix Challenge (community) has been doing in recent months, please consider supporting us.

This post will be updated with the corresponding links as we progress, and of course the suitable thread headlines. So please watch this spot:


Submission Period: General Information, Source Files, Sponsors
Mix Round 2: Global Feedback and Round 2 Participant Announcement
Results of the Mix Challenge 52: Winners announced

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Friday, 01st March 2019 to Thursday, 21st March 2019 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-03-2019, 11:59pm CET/GMT+1 (Germany) - until further notice.

Want to find out if you're still within the deadline, please consult the following options:
The Global Countdown on it's dedicated page or the countdown on the home page. You can also consult the World Clock at the top of the forum or alternatively the following tool - in this case please select "Berlin (Germany)" as location 1, and your location as location 2: Time and Date - World Clock Meeting Planner. We do post reminders via our Twitter account and Facebook page.



Song Provider: Olly Audio
Song Name and Length: Illusion of the Sand World, 3:26min
Song Information: 100 BPM / Signature: 4/4, Key of F#
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: Trip-Hop/Electronic


Preview of the Song:




A word from the song provider:

Olly Audio wrote:(the song provider isn't fluent in English, this is a summary of the conversation in my words - Mister Fox)

This production started out as a preset demo for the Synapse Audio synthesizer DUNE 2. Please don't treat the production as that, see it as it's own entity.

I'd love to see more details on the individual signals. There is sometimes a clash of instruments that you need to take care of without muting. Please do not add/change any of the sampled material (drums).

As possible references, please let yourself be inspired by: "Massive Attack - Angel" or "LAAKE - Introspective"


(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote:This month's production is very experimental. It might seem like a simple mix. But you really have to pay attention while listening to the demo mix. You do need get acquainted with the back and forth between the individual sounds.

Due the experimental nature of the provided song, this leaves the door open for a lot of creative work. Like varying degrees of time based effects (delay, reverb), a lot of filtering and automation.

There is not much more to add from my side this time around. Try to find a balance in terms of recreating the production, while adding your own spin to it.

Be creative.

Please also consult the TXT files that are bundled in the source files package below. There you can find more information about the individual files and changes to the time signature.

Special Add-On Rules:

• try to create a mix that complements this production (in your own style)
• Clean / Alternative versions can be used if you need more flexibility over a certain sound (if present in this production)
• No rearrangement or pitch shifting of the song structure, with the exception of the following add-on rules
• PRODUCTION RELATED: make the best out of the provided audio material (EQ, compression, transient tools, etc), no "drum sample replacement"!
• summing bus processing is allowed, as long as the dynamic range (average signal strength to maximum signal strength) doesn't suffer - use of this method is artistically!
• try to not(!) pre-master the track (please no overuse of mix bus treatment, no loudness adjustments / limiting) - read: NO MASTERING

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Source Files:

Main Mix Package - Mirror on the Mix Challenge Homepage (190,63 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 1336,12 MB, packed 190,63 MB (ZIP, LZMA)
In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs:

Macintosh:
The Unarchiver - get it here
Keka (open source) - get it here

Windows:
7zip - Installation / Portable


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Please take note of the official rules - they can be found at the following thread:
Mix Challenge - Official Rules and Guidelines

Please address any OT question in the official Gossip thread:
Mix Challenge - Gossip and Discussion

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SPONSORS (Prizes):

Prizes for Mix Challenge participants:

Note: All licenses are NFR (Not-For-Resale), except where noted.
Changes to available prices on short notice may be possible and will be announced separately.



Acon Digital is kind enough give away a single plugin of winner's choice.
License will turn into NFR
More info on Acon Digital: http://acondigital.com



Hornet Plugins is kind enough give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on Hornet Plugins: http://www.hornetplugins.com



Metric Halo is kind enough to give away a single plugin of winner's choice.
License will turn into NFR
More info about Metric Halo: http://mhsecure.com/metric_halo/



MuTools is kind enough give away one license of MUX Modular 7 of winner's choice (until End of 2018)
License will turn into NFR
More info on MuTools: http://www.mutools.com/



NOS Audio is kind enough give away one license of NOS Roomer to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on NOS Audio: http://www.nosaudio.com/



Tone2 is kind enough to donate a license of Ultraspace to the winner (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Tone2: https://tone2.com



THANKS FOR THE LICENSE DONATIONS!
And also a thank you to all former contributors as well.

If you want to sponsor content (please have a focus on mix plugins, bundles and the likes), please get in touch with the Mix Challenge staff.

Please spread the word of the challenge on social media.
For example with our dedicated Twitter Account or Facebook Page

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Good luck to all participants.
And most importantly, have fun!

I want to wish everyone a successful fight.

The sounds are brutal in this one, its gonna be tough to figure the puzzle out.

Dodgingrain wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2019 00:40 CET

The sounds are brutal in this one, its gonna be tough to figure the puzzle out.

Difficult task reveals skill.

Hey ollyaudio, thanks for the tracks. Great to get some that are more open to experimentation, will be very curious to see what everyone does with this.
Pretty hard for me to document this mix properly, was very much a case of throwing effects on tracks, printing it as soon as I liked it, and then moving on.
Every track had FF Pro, Slate Virtual Channel, Decapitator and/or Devil Loc and Slate Tape, RBass and C4 on kick and bass. There's delays and verbs on all the other tracks, Echoboy, Tal Dub 2, H Reverb and Little Plate, all heavily automated along with plenty of volume rides on the synths. Tremolator on one gtr part, Crystalizer on a couple of the synths, filtering was with Filter Crusher and the stock Ableton one. Kramer Pie on the drum/perc buss. Other compression was usually the Slate Distressor, Kramer Pie and lots of MV2. Mix buss had Nova TDR on the bottom end, Slate CS Lift, Bomber, Distressor and Virtual Console. KClip.
WAV
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a8eshd4jtnzy7 ... v.wav?dl=0

stu b wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2019 11:14 CET

Hey ollyaudio, thanks for the tracks. Great to get some that are more open to experimentation, will be very curious to see what everyone does with this.
Pretty hard for me to document this mix properly, was very much a case of throwing effects on tracks, printing it as soon as I liked it, and then moving on.
Every track had FF Pro, Slate Virtual Channel, Decapitator and/or Devil Loc and Slate Tape, RBass and C4 on kick and bass. There's delays and verbs on all the other tracks, Echoboy, Tal Dub 2, H Reverb and Little Plate, all heavily automated along with plenty of volume rides on the synths. Tremolator on one gtr part, Crystalizer on a couple of the synths, filtering was with Filter Crusher and the stock Ableton one. Kramer Pie on the drum/perc buss. Other compression was usually the Slate Distressor, Kramer Pie and lots of MV2. Mix buss had Nova TDR on the bottom end, Slate CS Lift, Bomber, Distressor and Virtual Console. KClip.
WAV
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a8eshd4jtnzy7 ... v.wav?dl=0

This is a very interesting solution for bass. I like it. It's unusual. I listen with pleasure. Very good pitch - bass pronounced.

Hi all,

That was by far not an easy mix. I had to find out what sounds plays which role in the track. What is bass or what is lead is not so obviuos sometimes. Also the dry tracks in the alternative folder are often not the same as the corresponding ones. There is different content in it, sometimes dissonant in my oppinion. So I often automated those tracks so that I change between the dry track and its mate.

The original mix was very bass heavy and very low in the mids. I tried to make a more balanced mix. Maybe this is not correct and against the genre. We will see!

MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjp2rl2hbd2nc ... c.mp3?dl=1
WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vwmznapeb7wva ... c.wav?dl=1

Mixed in Reaper v5.51
Drum-Bus: FerricTDS for satturation and compression, ReaEQ
Kick: Transpire to increase the attack, Green Eugene for satturation, ReaEQ, ReaGate to shorten the sound
Snare Marshe: ReaEQ, ReaComp, Transpire to make it more snappy
Snare Synth: ReaEQ
Hats: ReaEQ
Percussions: ReaEQ, Green Eugene for satturation

Bass Rev: GStereo to mono the sub-bass, Transpire to increase the attack, ReaComp for Sidechaine with Kick and Bass Dry
Bass Dry: GStereo to mono the sub-bass, ReaEQ, ReaComp for Sidechaine with the Kick
Metalic Bass: GStereo to mono the sub-bass, ReaEQ, ReaComp for Sidechaine with the Kick, QX24 for satturation, Classic Chorus, NastyDLA
Synth Drive: ReaEQ, Green Eugene for satturation, ReaDelay to make it stereo, NastyDLA

Athmo Texture: ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
Pad Synth: ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
Lead EFX : ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
Guitar Emu: ReaEQ, NastyDLA
Lead Guitar: ReaEQ, NastyDLA

Flute: ReaEQ
Flute Dry: ReaEQ

SFX Noize: ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
SFX Up Driver: NastyDLA

Master_: MQ57, Presswerk, SPAN
Reverb: Acon Digital Verberate

An additional folder is an alternative version of the track. At the very beginning, the music was written as a demonstration of sounds for the synthesizer Dune2.

Photonic wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 03, 2019 17:12 CET

Hi all,

That was by far not an easy mix. I had to find out what sounds plays which role in the track. What is bass or what is lead is not so obviuos sometimes. Also the dry tracks in the alternative folder are often not the same as the corresponding ones. There is different content in it, sometimes dissonant in my oppinion. So I often automated those tracks so that I change between the dry track and its mate.

The original mix was very bass heavy and very low in the mids. I tried to make a more balanced mix. Maybe this is not correct and against the genre. We will see!

MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjp2rl2hbd2nc ... c.mp3?dl=1
WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vwmznapeb7wva ... c.wav?dl=1

Mixed in Reaper v5.51
Drum-Bus: FerricTDS for satturation and compression, ReaEQ
Kick: Transpire to increase the attack, Green Eugene for satturation, ReaEQ, ReaGate to shorten the sound
Snare Marshe: ReaEQ, ReaComp, Transpire to make it more snappy
Snare Synth: ReaEQ
Hats: ReaEQ
Percussions: ReaEQ, Green Eugene for satturation

Bass Rev: GStereo to mono the sub-bass, Transpire to increase the attack, ReaComp for Sidechaine with Kick and Bass Dry
Bass Dry: GStereo to mono the sub-bass, ReaEQ, ReaComp for Sidechaine with the Kick
Metalic Bass: GStereo to mono the sub-bass, ReaEQ, ReaComp for Sidechaine with the Kick, QX24 for satturation, Classic Chorus, NastyDLA
Synth Drive: ReaEQ, Green Eugene for satturation, ReaDelay to make it stereo, NastyDLA

Athmo Texture: ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
Pad Synth: ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
Lead EFX : ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
Guitar Emu: ReaEQ, NastyDLA
Lead Guitar: ReaEQ, NastyDLA

Flute: ReaEQ
Flute Dry: ReaEQ

SFX Noize: ReaEQ, TAL Reverb III
SFX Up Driver: NastyDLA

Master_: MQ57, Presswerk, SPAN
Reverb: Acon Digital Verberate

You managed to balance the track well.