Mix Challenge

Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 55 - June 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 see yet another return of client fajebru and get a chance to work on another German Pop Rock production by the band/project "Rahel". The song is called "Kann schon sein" (Could it be), which is a part of an EP release called "Zitrone".

The EP has been recorded at the ArtEZ Conservatorium in Enschede, Netherlands. Lyric translations have been provided. The material will confront you with the task of cleaning up vocal takes that have been recorded in different environments, and to make them sound consistent throughout.

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 (DropBox, GoogleDrive, etc), not SoundCloud. 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 55: Winners announced

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Saturday, 01st June 2019 to Friday, 21st June 2019 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-06-2019, 11:59pm CEST/GMT+2 (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: Rahel (via Baker Productions)
Song Name and Length: Kann schon sein, 2:22 min
Song Information: 125 BPM (avg) / Signature: 4/4, Key of Eb min
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: Pop Rock (German)


Preview of the Song:




A word from the song provider:

fajebru wrote:This production was never meant to be released, so ultimately there were some problems that occurred that had been accepted instead of solved.

The guitar sounds for example could maybe add more to the production than they do now. The vocals in the first verse have a very noticeable room sound to them. Get the balance of this song right. Achieve a drum mix that sticks out in the solo, even if there isn’t as much sauce in the mics as it could have been.

Get the vocals upfront and the guitars wide. Solve the problems with the vocal room difference so that the listener feels comfortable. Maybe reamp the guitars if you have nice amps or amp plugins. Last time I was client, I got back some mixes where the DI signals were audible. For those who are not familiar with DI tracks, maybe do some research beforehand.



May the mixing begin


(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote:I highly advise you to read the translation of the vocals, if you're not familiar with the German language. This will give you an idea of what the song is about, and how to shape your sound.

As "guide tracks", I can once more recommend to listen to German Pop Rock by bands like "Juli" (esp. their album's "Ein neuer Tag", 2006 and "In Love", 2010), "Wir sind Helden" and "Silbermond" (esp. their debut album "Verschwende deine Zeit", 2004 and their follow up album "Laut gedacht", 2006).

To the newcomers - if you want to re-amp, then please read up on DI tracks (Direct Inject buffer box recording) and Re-Amping.

Examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DI_unit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-amp


Please pay attention to detail regarding the vocals. They can be(!) cleaned up still. Plenty of modern day tools on the market. Just have a lookout for artifacts (garbled sounds).

Other than that, be creative and good luck..

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 triggering / replacement"! Failing to adhere to this rule will result in instant disqualification
• 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

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


Source Files:

Main Mix Package - Mirror on the Mix Challenge Homepage (332,30 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 786,26 MB, packed 332,30 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


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

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

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


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



IK Multimedia is kind enough give away one license of T-RackS ONE to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on IK Multimedia: https://www.ikmultimedia.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 further notice)
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

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

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

Heyho,

am I blind or is Kick In missing?

Mork wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 01, 2019 22:53 CEST

Heyho,

am I blind or is Kick In missing?

It is missing. The Kick-out has a healthy amount of top end though, so I don't see it as a problem.

Another thing – the tempo is not 125 bpm as advertised, it's 130 and it speeds up by about 2 bpm during the solo. 130 should be good enough for all time-based effects, but if anybody here is a nerd like me, the exact tempo map in my DAW is: 130 – 131.6 (solo) – 130. Cheers!

Mork wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 01, 2019 22:53 CEST

Heyho,

am I blind or is Kick In missing?

You're blind.

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Mon May 20, 2019 00:47 CEST

...
Song Information: 125 BPM (avg) / Signature: 4/4, Key of Eb min
...

Tempo is 130 BPM. Measures 54-62 are 131.7 BPM.

You are not blind, the kick in is missing but to me it is not an issue. The kick out is good enough.

There are no files missing from the set - it's what I got provided and simply forwarded. The BPM could be off, I need to check. But in this case, this is also what I got as information and simply forwarded.

Please work with what you have at your disposal. It should be more than enough to create an outstanding mix.

Such a great mixing challenge this month, i enjoyed it.

A lot of work was fixing the vocals, the guitare and bass sound and checking phase on drum.
So i used de-verb on vocals and reamped guitars and bass with my axe fx 2.

Mixed in PT 12.8.1

Plug ins used:

Drum : DBX 160, decapitator, bx E channel, cla 76 and Q3

Guitar : Smart eq 2, q3 and MB

Bass: Saturn, L1, Q3 , bx E channel

Vocals: waves de-esser, Q3 C2 and MB, puigtech P1 with bx ssl E channel

MP3 : https://www.dropbox.com/s/xngzm0zahuapc ... e.mp3?dl=0

WAV : https://www.dropbox.com/s/rptb6c9xn3kk7 ... e.wav?dl=0

Screenshots : https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8u1jp9ztx9wu ... s.zip?dl=0

Hello, this is my mix.

HQ MP3
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/ri403qg25pqsr0 ... B.mp3?dl=0

HQ WAV, 32bit
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vg8bf7ziige6h ... B.wav?dl=0

No special steps were necessary. I didn't re-amped anything. The vocals are a bit filtered, compressed and with effects. The drums and bass are also compressed and EQed. The guitars are just EQed. In the mix bus there is only tape saturation.

Have fun listening

Al B. wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 03, 2019 23:20 CEST

Hello, this is my mix.



Have fun listening

Total When the Levee Breaks vibe on the drums. Awesome!