MIX CHALLENGE - MC073 February 2021 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 73 - February 2021


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.



How is everyone doing? I hope you could enjoy the annual 1-month vacation, and you could find some quiet and/or relaxing days.

Let us start off 2021 with a track by Latvian band "Treeeye". We have the chance to work on an instrumental "Post-Rock" production. The song is called "Selga".

Some of the the specialties of this month, are shifting time signatures, and working with a certain predetermined ("printed") sound. Yet there is still a lot of room for your own personal creative spin on this mix. It is highly recommended to consult the attached TXT files with the Mix Package.

Please read about the details and special requirements for handling this mix further down below.




Please take note of the following

• Please consult the official "Rules and Guidelines" for the Mix Challenge regarding principles of the game, recommendations and upload/submission guidelines
• IMPORTANT: please only 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, name the files properly to distinguish your edit from all others.
• please use the following naming convention (Contestant Name = Forum Username):
  • MC000_ArtistName_TrackName_ContestantName.wav
  • MC000_ArtistName_TrackName_ContestantName_R2.wav for those that go into Mix Round 2
  • Example: MC073__TREEEYE__Selga__ForumUsername.wav
• please only upload to cloud storage spaces (DropBox, GoogleDrive, etc), not SoundCloud - and check that your material is downloadable
• 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

Please also take note of the following

• Our Song Pool has dried up! Future Mix Challenges are in jeopardy. 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!

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 1 Statistics/Data Sheet: Overview of Submissions - is your entry within given parameters?
Mix Round 2: Global Feedback and Round 2 Participant Announcement
Results of the Mix Challenge: Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Monday, 01st February 2021 to Sunday, 21st February 2021 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-02-2021, 23:59 UTC+1/CET (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: TREEEYE
Song Name and Length: Selga, 5:14 min
Song Information: 142 BPM / Signature: 3/4, 4/4
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: Post-Rock, Instrumental


Preview of the Song:


Alternative preview link:

phpBB [media]

A word from the song provider:

We are a 5 piece band TREEEYE from Riga / Latvia and this is our song called "Selga" which means in Latvian 'Deep place (in the sea, in a big lake, in a wide river) far from the shore'.

Thanks in advance for your interest in mixing our song!

We recorded this song earlier this year (2020) in the studio but it has never been mixed down or released. Now we decided to give you an opportunity to use your creativity in this contest for the song mixing challenge.

All the instruments that are "printed" may stay "as is", as it is our artistic vision and we do not want to mix(ing) them from the "clean" tracks. Rest of the tracks that are "clean" can be edited freely and everyone can add plugins/effects that he would like from his own creativity.

Maybe with your great help and endeavor this song would find it's release one day. Enjoy the process!

We do not give any references as we want to give you room and space for your own creativity and it is up to you in which direction it would go, but please remember about the name of the song and it's meaning

The only reference is to our only album released in 2016 on Spotify:
Treeeye - Treeeye 2016

https://open.spotify.com/artist/105EbEm ... 8uoG5oy18Q



(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

The biggest challenge this month is handling various "printed" guitar tracks, not to mention finding a good balance between those guitars, and the beat section.

As example: the rhythm guitars use two microphones. Listen closely to how these mics behave. Are they sounding "close" or "distant"? This should give you an indication of how to blend them - if want to.

Beat wise, it is either/or. If you go with the individual tracks, then you have to do a lot of sound design to get to a similar sound. If you go with the stereo mix-downs, you might need to think a bit more creative to bring things together.

Take the demo mix as inspiration, but do find your own groove. Even if you think that this production is fairly limited in terms of sound design, there is still room for more. This is where your creativity comes in.

Have fun!

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.

Rule Summary / 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 for this production)
• make the best out of the provided audio material (EQ, compression, transient tools, etc), no "drum sample triggering / replacement"!
• summing bus processing is allowed, as long as the dynamic range (average signal strength to maximum signal strength) doesn't suffer - artistic use only!
• the focus of this game is "mixing" - NO MASTERING. Edit/Mix in such a way, that barely any after-touches other than loudness adjustments and final limiting is needed in a possible follow-up mastering step.
• render the edited material in the same sampling rate and bitrate as originally provided (MC073/February => 44/24)
• ADD-ON RULES - PRODUCTION RELATED:
  • you can use either the premixed beat section, or recreated the "premixed" sound from scratch with the clean versions. Do not use both, as mixing both versions would introduce severe phasing issues
  • the MIDI file only acts a guide, and for loading time signature changes. Do not recreate any synthesizer tracks

Please consult the official Rules and Guidelines for a more detailed set of rules. Failing to adhere to the rules will result in instant disqualification


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Source Files:

Main Mix Package - Mirror on the Mix Challenge Homepage (410,62 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)
IMPORTANT NOTE: file unavailable after 21-FEB-2021


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 1747,67 MB, packed 410,62 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

If you like what the Mix Challenge (community) has been doing in recent months:
Please consider supporting us

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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 (exception: Verberate Immersive)
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/



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
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!

[Alex Van mixland]

Hello,
Here is my entry:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2btlffgx6eqd0 ... d.wav?dl=0

Drums: I mixed intro and chorus drums one more time, because i think it needed some changes in balance and eq. I add some high end on kick drum and cut low rumble. Snare i almost leave the same. Some hihats are wide in my mix.
Guitars: I cut harsh frrequecys and add high end on solo guitars.
Bass: Cut midrange
I added reverb on some instruments.

Cheers!

[stefanos]

Hello and kudos to the band.

Hopefully i got the feeling of the song.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

[jh.sample.hero]

an unmastered mix
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XYR1w9 ... sp=sharing

[studjo]

Hi everyone

here's my take on this song. The song gave me a hypnotic feel. So I tried to work on the mood. It wasn't easy since I'm not a fan of programmed drums although these were very nice thought out. I didn't use the stems - actually I forgot they're in there somewhere.
The sound I wanna highlight might not be the most obvious one but it brought me a lot closer to the finish line. It's the bass. I used duplicated the bass track twice. The first dub got another SVT plug in (PA free plug in), although the bass was recorded through one. I felt the bass needed a touch more distortion. MId mix I struggled to get the "chorus/ending" part lift a step up from the quieter parts. So I took the second bass dub with the same SVT plug in and put an overdrive in front of the amp to get a really distorted amp sound. It was way better but now I wanted that fuzz sound to go to the sides so I used a chorus plug in (Arturia Juno6) after the chain. At the end I wanted some form of volume modulation and I put another plug in on that heavy distorted and chorused bass track (don't remember what it was but I can look it up if you guys wanna know). Now it was too stereo so I just narrowed the stereo field a bit with that pans ... boah all that stuff ...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YhQSi3 ... sp=sharing

[Mister Fox]

A very warm welcome to all new forum members.


Please take note of the following -- I'll only post this once, since this has been mentioned plenty of times in the first and second post.

I will also not post about this anymore as of MC074 / March -- everything is explained in minute detail for every game during the first two posts. We have rules for a reason. Even if you're new, you have up to 21 days to participate. Take your time and get acquainted how the games usually proceed.

!

Bonus Info

Please consult the official "Rules and Guidelines" for the Mix Challenge regarding principles of the game, recommendations and upload/submission guidelines Your submission is final until you might have been selected for the next Mix Round, so please pay attention to detail. Try to work within suitable work levels. The focus of this game is "mixing" - NO MASTERING. Edit/Mix in such a way, that barely any after-touches other than loudness adjustments and final limiting is needed in a possible follow-up mastering step. Document your edits - bar minimum, focus on sculpting one particular sound you're proud of. This community is all about learning from each other, not just post "here is my result, I hope you like it", and then moving on. Please check in with previous Mix(ing) Challenges regarding possible ways of documentation. Name your file(s) properly prior to uploading to distinguish your edit from all others, and make sure that they're accessible/downloadable. Failing to adhere to the rules will result in instant disqualification

All that have submitted their entries up until this point (03-FEB-2021 - 16:35 UTC+2/CET) are allowed to edit their posts, but you're not(!) allowed to edit/re-upload your entry. By posting on this forum, you've agreed to the established rules.

Thank you.

[stefanos]

Describing every aspect on a mix, for me its not really possible, there are so many things and micro moves that it would not make any scence for me, so i can only upload some screen shots if that is aplicable or i really cant participate in any challenge.

[Mister Fox]

For everyone new to the forum, please check in with previous Mix(ing) Challenges regarding documentation.

Again, you don't have to go super detailed, just focus on one particular sound you're proud of editing/creating, and explain how you went there. It is all explained in the Rules and Guidelines

[stefanos]

I really like how i end up with the effect on the chorus solo guitar.
The chain was a flanger into a monomod witch spread it to the stereo field and then a bit of that send into a hall reverb.