MIX CHALLENGE - MC084 February 2022 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 084 - February 2022


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 posts for re-submissions for Mix Round 2 and (possible) Mix Round 3.

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Bonus Info

This month, you have the chance to work on a (modern) "Classic Rock" production by The Buddy Blake Band (represented by @tmort1277). The song is called "Time Capsule". We once more have an unusual drum kit setup to work with, and nearly all tracks are basically "printed to tape" (recorded "as is", no DI tracks available). There are also more tracks than you actually hear in the final mix, and the production has a more "live" feel than perfectly recorded to a click track. As usual, it is your task to add your own twist to the mix compared to the original version. Piqued your curiosity? Then 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.

IMPORTANT: Before you get started, please consult the official "Rules and Guidelines" for the Mix Challenge regarding principles of the game, upload/submission guidelines, the concept of documenting your edits, and maximum allowed loudness values (see Rule Book - post #6). Interaction is highly encouraged, including asking questions for the song provider. Giving and receiving constructive feedback to your entry, and sharing tips and tricks should ideally happen after Mix Round 1 has ended, to not influence each other during the main competition round.

⚠	Moderation Message from MIster Fox
	IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THE GAME MECHANICS: As of February 2022, the tolerances for the maximum Integrated Loudness limit changes from the previously used +-0,3 LU to a +-0,2 LU tolerance (+-0,2 LU tolerance from -16,0 LUFS ILk max). This is to unify the tolerances for all games (see the Songwriting Competition, which also uses +-0,2 LU tolerance from the maximum allowed loudness level). The tolerances for the allowed maximum signal strength in Decibel True Peak remains the same (+-0,05 dBTP tolerance from -1,00 dBTP max). Additionally to that, the "Mix Challenge - Addendum: Wild Card Mechanic" thread will be overhauled and turn into "Mix Challenge - Addendum: Statistics Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic", also explaining the allowed limits and offsets. (due mid February 2022)

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: <not this month> <optional>
Results of the Mix Challenge: Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Tuesday, 01st February 2022 to Monday, 21st February 2022 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-02-2022, 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. There will also be short reminders on Social Media.



Song Provider: The Buddy Blake Band (@tmort1277 )
Song Name and Length: Time Capsule, 3:53 min
Song Information: 112 BPM (varying) / Signature: 4/4
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: (modern) Classic Rock


Preview of the Song (Demo Mix):


INFORMATION: This version is a demo and might sound different from the provided multi-tracks.



A word from the song provider:

The Buddy Blake Band is a four piece rock band from Northwest Florida.

We write and record and occasionally play a party or corporate gig. We are Blake Bell - Vocals and rhythm guitar, Buddy Bolter - Lead Guitar, Bob Matteson - drums and Tom McMillan - bass.

Our recordings always start with the band live in the studio. We built a vocal booth inside the live room, but from the sounds of this, it is pre-vocal booth. This is the vocal track from the original tracking session so there is bleed, it is edited to eliminate as much as possible.

When we track, Buddy plays lead and rhythm just as he would when we play live. At mixdown we usually use two tracks of Buddy’s live performance, use clip gain (in ProTools), to create a rhythm only and a lead only track, which allows for some different treatments, it makes it more manageable, only a suggestion though.


We are lovers of the classic rock era and while we don’t try to sound like anyone, we can’t help our influences (The Who/Townshend, Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty, R.E.M., Southern Rock, etc). I can’t recommend any obvious references so feel free to infer. The (demo) mix is not mastered, but is printed loud without a limiter on the mix bus or master.

We are really eager to hear what fresh and different ears do with our material.




(more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs)

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

This production has a lot of character, as the focus was "feel", not being super tight on the click. So the track will definitely drift in terms of BPM.

Another thing to point out - the tracks are already "printed", technically even the bass (which comes out of a bass amp's DI output). One big challenge this month will definitely be to build upon what has been given to you. Though please note, the demo mixes are exactly that - demos. They have been enhanced with drum samples. However, our Song Provider(s) opted to go with the raw material, to see what you can do with your mixing skills.

Another thing of note, is to re-create the production (lead vs rhythm guitars) in a suitable manner that it makes sense, and is not overpowering each other. Please carefully read how the band usually handles this (see above).

There are no definite mix references this months. I can however recommend to take a dive at your go-to steaming platform, and listen to material from mid 1970s to late 1980s, maybe with a focus on the sound that came out of the United States. This is what the original mix aimed for. But please don't forget to add your own touch to this mix.

Enjoy mixing!

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", neither any changes to the arrangement (copy/add/move/remove parts)!
• please only provide WAV files, files need to be accessible/downloadable from your preferred cloud storage space (no SoundCloud!)
• render the edited material in the same sampling rate and bitrate as originally provided (MC084 / February => 44/24)
• ADD-ON RULES - PRODUCTION RELATED:
  • Filename Template: MC084__The_Buddy_Blake_Band __Time_Capsule__ForumUsername.wav
  • re-create a similar lead/rhythm guitar interaction as presented in the original production, with your own spin on it (so that things makes sense), but without guitars overpowering each other (e.g. through volume automation)
  • 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 - full package (462,78 MB, LZMA compressed, zip)
IMPORTANT NOTE: download window might show a smaller file size, file unavailable after 21-FEB-2021


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 934,12 MB, packed 462,78 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!

[White Punk OD]

Beautiful song, interesting project!
I see a little contradiction though, and beg for opinions.
Like everyone in third millenium, the band uses drum samples to complete the production and sound scape.
So, if we are not doing this here, results may sound very vintage, and we have to adapt the sound of most other recorded tracks to harmonize with that.
Is this welcome at all, can someone meaningfully be picked as rank 1,2,3, and having relevance _today_ at the same time?
You know, I am always taking my strategy: why touch a project at all, when I am not expecting results to be relevant, at least for me.
The path must lead to an end.
So, what will you do, what can the client benefit from our efforts?

Tom, thanks so much for giving us these tracks!
We want to return you some benefit for this, but what would it be for you and the band?
What would be a happy outcome and consequence to you?

[_StillBorn]

...neither any changes to the arrangement (copy/add/move/remove parts)!

So I can't make that guitar @ 1:08 enter at the first beat instead of slightly after? They did move it so it wasn't untight in the org mix as well ... it's really annoying to the ear if it doesn't hit on the downbeat tbh.

[Mister Fox]

I'll make our Song Provider(s) aware of this topic (especially the slight guitar offsets), so please be patient for a proper response from the production side of things.



However, I can respond to the topic of "game guidelines":

@White Punk OD
If you consider not touching a project at all, then you're definitely missing your chance on this. As the name of the game implies, it's a "challenge". I listened to all raw tracks alongside the used drum samples (triggered from known tools) while doing the Mix Pack Integrity Check, and they were as generic as one would expect. So we decided to go with the original drum kit sound and see where you folks might take it with whatever other tools are at your disposal.

Remember, you still have access to: EQs, transient designers (transient shapers, gates, compressors), parallel processing, proximity and phase alignment tools, sub bass enhancers, saturation devices, etc. You can drastically shape the sound with just these alone.


In fact, here is an example of me just messing about for 20 minutes on small speakers (writing this text took almost three times as long). Far from perfect, but to prove a point:

No processing:

phpBB [media]

Processed:

phpBB [media]

In this case, I've only used one third party transient designer (which wasn't a great choice in hindsight, at least for the kick as it resulted in unwanted sustained ghost notes), and a subtle reverb. Everything else is stock from my DAW (Cubase). And that is just scratching the surface. There are sheer endless ways this could go (I didn't even use drum specific clean-up software yet).

This is what I've been trying to teach with the Mix(ing) Challenge throughout the years... it is not down to certain specific tools you're using, as in "everyone in this millennia is using drum samples" and you should do so as well (which, to me, often make things lifeless and boring - also... there are a lot of ghost notes here causing trouble). It is about how you use your knowledge. In most cases, you really don't need drum shell replacement/enhancement.

So please.. only take the provided demo mix as exactly that: a demo. Notice what the Song Provider(s) wrote regarding "overall sound" (as in: "time frame / era" of the production), then try your own spin on this. This is part of the challenge after all - not just 1:1 copying.





@_StillBorn

While working on a quick drum demo, I also took a look at the guitars. You're right, the lead guitar's intro note at 1:08min can be considered slightly offset by about 1/32th of a bar at most. In fact, that's not the only time the lead guitar "drags in" a bit late and then stays on beat. The second time this could be considered is at 2:57min.

The "no changes to the arrangement (copy/add/move/remove parts)" rule comes from previous participants drastically altering the production. As in: "Did you really need to move everything one bar further back? Did you check that your material is aligned?". Or copy/pasting something and adding it where it wasn't there before (like percussion elements). Basically acting as a producer, not just a mixing engineer.

I need to double check in with the Song Provider, but I think this particular topic (this one note slide-in) can be considered "time alignment", as can be read in the FAQ (see FAQ - Q/A11 - Can we time-correct offset vocals/instruments?). So if you shift that one note back a bit to be "more tight" on the rhythm rather than loose as it is now, I'd let it count. But you should always ask yourself "when does the editing in favor for ultimate perfection end?"

[White Punk OD]

from my viewpoint, well nothing speaks against this project, I mean I left out others,
... just discussing how we can do something really good about this one, given the premises.

Thanks for checking out sound examples.
For my mix, I would even focus on the sound of the unprocessed stem, just make it sit well, not too bright, with some amount of old mechanic plate reverb. But also more transparent than it used to be back then. Some engineers said their kids are listening to The Cream, just discovering cassettes or vinyls in the basement. So, perhaps anything goes but also we need to set deliberate goals what to do.

--
I did some timing tricks several times.
often just a volume boost of a dB or two just for the first attack of a guitar strum at the 1 of a chorus (or chorus repeat) does wonders.
sometimes I did kind of mute all guitar tracks until the very millisecond where the grid line sits, that starts this song part. there was blurry stuff all over the place which sounded very poor otherwise.
sometimes I moved whole tracks a few milliseconds, sometimes I moved only a couple of guitar, piano or drum notes to where the other instruments were at that point. in some cases there is a groove and the grid is not helpful.

[Mister Fox]

Given the premises, I can recommend to go over to Spotify or Youtube, take a dive at Classic Rock productions from 1970s to 1980s, get inspired (this is why I mentioned this in the "words by the staff" specifically). After that, listen to the production by "The Buddy Blake Band" again, then start working.

How you mix this production, how you elevate it into different heights, is up to you.
There is really nothing else to be said here - no need to unnecessarily over-complicate things.



I am working on getting the Song Provider(s) into the thread ASAP.

[ProgressiveHoschi]

Here`s my mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xu7l-K ... sp=sharing

Thx for the tracks and the challenge.

Hope i`m in the rules this time....

[alavault]

Hello,
Mix : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZJDePO ... sp=sharing
I tried to keep the mixing time under 3 hours, to see what I can do "under pressure"

• Drums :
  • Kick : gating, EQ, comp, clipping. Sent to a parallel comp.
  • Snare : gate, EQ, comp, clipping. Triggered noise for ambiance (short, medium and 00eeeelong verb)
  • Toms : EQ, limiter (hard panned). Sent to parallel comp. Sent to short and medium verb
  • Cymbals and percussions : fast attack comp and EQ. OH sent to short and medium verb + parallel comp.
• Keys: distortion and EQ. Automation all around. Synth sent to pitch shifted reverb.
• Rhythm GTR : EQ and comp. Limiters on Acoustic GTR. Sent to short verb, flanger and parallel GTR comp.
• Lead GTR : EQ, comp, widener. Sent to circular delay, plate and short verb and parallel GTR comp.
• Lead Vox : EQ, comp (1176 style), limiter. Sent to 1/4 delay and plate verb + vocal crusher. Delay throw on certain words after the middle of the song
• BG Vox : lufitkus for maxing the "air" out. EQ, comp and limiting (like the lead). Hard panned. Sent to long verb and vocal crusher
• Master : Kotelnikov into Tessla into EQ limiter

[Mister Fox]

A short update:

I asked the Song Provider(s) to keep an eye on the thread. I hope future questions will be answered within a timely fashion.

On the topic of offset guitars, we agreed that shifting one note ever so often would count as "time/timing alignment". But as noted, perfection can be a never-ending project. If possible, and agreeable with your conscious, please keep the editing at a minimum.


Sound wise, the "clients" still want to hear what you make out of the material, without any clear pointers given. I've updated post #2 regarding what bands were influential for the overall sound of "The Buddy Blake Band", but this does not count as a clear / definite reference for you (participant). Please do your own research, listen to material from that time period (most notably 1970s and 1980s), then please find your own groove and put the mix into new heights.


Have fun, everyone!