Mix Challenge

Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 78 - July 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.



This month, you have the chance to work on an interesting "Funk / Rap" production, with both Arabic and Polish vocals. The multi-tracks are kindly provided by "Sun Follwers" (represented by returning song provider @Los_ady), and the song is called "Droga".

Please take special note of the attached TXT files (Technical Details section in "Words by the Song Provider") and please read about the details and special requirements for handling this mix further down below.




Please take note of the following

• IMPORTANT: Please consult the official "Rules and Guidelines" for the Mix Challenge regarding principles of the game, recommendations and upload/submission guidelines, the concept of documenting your edits, and maximum loudness values (see Rule Book - post #6)
• Please only provide WAV files, files need to be accessible/downloadable from your preferred cloud storage pace (no SoundCloud!), name the files properly to distinguish your edit from all others, please do not forget to document your edits
• 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: MC078__Sun_Followers__Droga__ForumUsername.wav
• It is highly encouraged to ask questions and/or give constructive 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 completely! 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
Mix Round 3: <no Mix Round 3>
Results of the Mix Challenge: Winners announced

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Thursday, 01st July 2021 to Wednesday, 21st July 2021 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-07-2021, 23:59 UTC+2/CEST (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: Sun Followers
Song Name and Length: Droga, 3:18 min
Song Information: 104 BPM / Signature: 4/4
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: Funk / Rap


Preview of the Song (Demo Mix):



A word from the song provider:

Los_Ady wrote:And here we go again!

Welcome to our second mix challenge with Hit The Road Music Studio, I appreciate that you are here!

Sun Followers is a unique collaboration between Moroccan and Polish artists who created a full LP together with El Cabu, Ayoub Houmana & Dawid D'Light. The LP has been recorded in 3 different Studios in Poland and I got hired to produce it. Tasks ranged from picking the best takes, editing, changing song structures, fixing, adding elements like Guitars/Piano to mixing & mastering.

I send you the stems with the final approved structure & Elements, incl. AdLibs but without effects!

Tricky are the parts like the outro, as the Band jammed along, you can make transitions smoother with Delay effects, Raisers or anything else

Get creative with the AdLibs and elements in the mix as they are repeating. That's one of the big lessons I learned in Hip Hop mixing: That additional production to spice things up is appreciated and often needed/taken for granted.

I love to play with transitions from Verse to the Bridge like in the final Master: I go to a Mono Overdrive Pedal & more Reverb/Delay (Using OneKnob Drive & CLA Epic) so the Chorus will sound automatically bigger when the full frequency spectrum is back.

Tip: Consider how you start the mix, with which element. Usually in Rap, the focus is on the Vocals, Kick & Snare.

All the other things can be build around



(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

Mister Fox wrote:This month offers an interesting blend of two genres, with old-school Rap Vocals (double tracked and ad-libs). Doesn't sound ground-shaking off hand, but as with every Mix(ing) Challenge, there is always something unique to a production.

I highly recommend to read the lyric translation, as this gives you an insight on what this song is about (therefore you can better portray the desired "feel"), why there are specific vocal parts highlighted and/or doubled.

Mix wise: As mentioned by our Song Provider, adding the occasional transition effect (through FX usage, not samples!) might spice things up. Maybe even the use of dub-type delays, if you think this fits the narrative. This is the "experimentation" part of the game. See where the road is taking you.

I really can't give you any definite references this month, only maybe some hints at where to look. And that is Rap from the late 1990s to early 2000s. In Germany, groups like "Die Fantasischen Vier"(especially the "MTV Unplugged" album from 2000), and Hamburg Hip Hop groups like "Fettes Brot" and "Der Tobi & das Bo" (also known for "Fünf Sterne deluxe") instantly come to mind. Although I should maybe also mention Berlin group "Seeed", as their unique style of Funk, Dancehall and Hip Hop was quite interesting during the early 2000s. I can also think of Turkish group "Cartel". For Poland maybe "Pięć Dwa", "Paktofonika" and "Waco Hemp Gru". In Arabic, maybe check out "El Rass" and "BiGSaM".

Overall, I can say is - don't rush things. Please read the lyrics, maybe take a dive on your go-to streaming platform to get some inspiration. Then go by your gut instinct.

Have fun, everyone!

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)
• 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.
• 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!
• render the edited material in the same sampling rate and bitrate as originally provided (MC078 / July => 44/24)
• ADD-ON RULES - PRODUCTION RELATED:
  • no (more) add-on rules specified

Please consult the official Rules and Guidelines for a more detailed set of rules, including how to document your edits, maximum loudness values and delivery formats (see Rule Book - Post #6). Failing to adhere to the rules will result in disqualification. There will be no additional reminders given.


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Source Files:

Main Mix Package - Mirror on the Mix Challenge Homepage (279,17 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)
IMPORTANT NOTE: file unavailable after 21-JUL-2021


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 794,61 MB, packed 279,27 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/



NUGEN Audio is kind enough give away one license from the depicted tools (see image) to the winner
License will turn into NFR
More info on NUGEN Audio: https://nugenaudio.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!

Question:
The provider says we may need to add risers. Can we get clarity on what is allowed and what isn't.

I'm not clear on if we can:
- move an element around to create a riser, aka, take a part from another section, chop it up, and use effects to turn it into a riser. Is this allowed?

I assume we cannot:
- add samples
- create risers with synths, vsti's, external instruments, etc.

Thanks,

Getting in touch with @Los_ady on that topic. We will get back to you ASAP.

Yo Yo Yo Whats up everybody?

Sorry I was so busy and couldn't answer earlier! At first thanks everyone for tuning on another Mixing Challenge, appreciate your interest and can't wait to hear your killer mixes!

Thank you for the question @Dodgingrain !

With the Risers I let @Mister Fox decide as he makes the rules, there is one Riser provided for the Intro, maybe you can play around with it and take samples from the Track!

In a real life situation, your creativity would be required to make this track more interesting & smooth, so I would think any method is ok.

For learning purpose I would stick by the rules and create risers with provided elements and play around with them (Time stretch, pitch shift, reverb, reversing them, what ever comes to mind)

So it's up to you Mister Fox

I am of the same opinion, that you can do a lot with the given material still, without moving/copying around anything. Please do not use any additional additional samples or synths, leave the arrangement untouched. But please do be creative with effect usage.

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 30, 2021 06:41 CEST

...

Mix wise: As mentioned by our Song Provider, adding the occasional transition effect (through FX usage, not samples!) might spice things up. Maybe even the use of dub-type delays, if you think this fits the narrative. This is the "experimentation" part of the game. See where the road is taking you.

...

Hint: even a cliche reverse reverb can act as a "riser". And I mentioned "dub-delay" above (words by the staff) as well.

Keep in mind, if things stray too far, you might be asked to revert what you did going into Mix Round 2. Either way, if you're proud of your edit/sound design, please share what you did, as this adds to the learning experience on our community.

Have fun, everyone!

I assumed that was the case but I didn't want to be at a disadvantage if I was wrong. Thanks for clarifying.

Thanks to Sun Followers and Los_Ady for the fun track. Looks like I'll start us off. I'm really curious to hear where everyone else went with this one.
Mix: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqpB-RLndYJrkOUeZCj ... w?e=nPscUU

Lufs: -16.2
true peak: -1.02

Pretty straight forward mix, and the song is a lot of fun. I went with a little bit more of an American rock-funk approach where risers and other effects wouldn't make sense so I didn't add anything in that regard. The biggest challenge was adding some dynamics into the mix, the stems felt a bit flat and lifeless as is.

Drums:
Mostly gates, distortion, eq and compression. The biggest problem I had was controlling the crashes in the overheads without dulling the snare to much. I did add a gated snare effect to try and give the drums more depth. On the kick I had to take out some of the far low end to get a tighter punchier sound and the kick is setup as a sidechain input triggering a compressor on the bass bus. The overheads are hard panned.

Bass:
I used both the DI and non-DI tracks, I ran the bass bus through a REDDI and added an exciter after that. Beyond that it was just eq and a bit of compression.

Horns:
I panned the saxes to the left and trumpets to the right. These have a big high pass cut on them taking out the low end junk. After that each horn track had some attack added with a transient designer, some compression, eq, more reverb than the rest of the tracks, and an ADT effect to make then feel less mono.

Guitars:
Solo: Used a fast peak compressor and a slower compressor to get a more even level and more volume. I also added an exciter and an echoplex to make the solo more interesting. This one is panned just slightly off center.
Rhythm: Panned to the right but it has an eq send panned left to make this one wide. Used a trasient shapper to add some attack and an exciter for more harmonics.
The guitars low end is ducked out when the bass is playing and there is some standard eq and compression.

Keys:
Added some distortion to the organ and piano. Both have compression and eq cuts, the organ has a rotary effect while the piano is going through an imager to make it wider. The piano also has an exciter to give it a little more life.

Riser at the beginning:
This has a little bit of distortion, a big high pass cut, and a widener to make it a little bigger.

Vocals:
Hopefully I did ok here, I wasn't sure how much de-essing I could do as I don't speak those languages, hopefully it came out ok. All of the vocal tracks have a high pass eq boost around 1-1.5K and 2.5-5.5K to give them more life. Each vocal also has some compression, typically in the 3-6db reduction range. All of the vocals have a parallel track that is heavily compressed and mixed in low to keep the vocals clear. The vocal bus is also a sidechain input on a dynamic eq on the instrument bus to make sure there is enough space when the vocals are playing.

Master bus:
Pretty standard treatment here, a bettermaker is adding/attenuating some low end at 30hz. Then the song routes into a tape effect and into an ssl bus compressor after that.

Thanks @Dodgingrain Wow you are quick, curious what you did with it! More than happy that you had fun, too mixing it

Cool track, had fun getting some groove out of this one!

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

DRUMS: SSL Channels on all drum tracks. Slow attack on kick, medium attack on the others. Gates on kick and snare.

BASS: Focused on getting a little more grit and growl by cutting some mud and boosting 1.5k. 1176 compression.

GUITAR: Created a send with fuzz and hi/lo cut to sit better in the mix. 1176 comp, nothing crazy.

KEYS: Cut lower mids and balanced with the organ to blend.

HORNS: Paralleled with tape and multi FX for coloration

VOCALS: 1176 compression. Went with a LO-FI 10bit sound with hi cut to add texture to the ad-libs.

MASTER BUS: SSL G Compressor.

Thanks!
Peter.