Mix Challenge

Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 36 - September 2017


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.



With this month's Mix Challenge, we're taking a closer look at a Techno production. The track is written by "Adam Firegate". The song is called "Shok".



Please take note of the following

• IMPORTANT: please take note that the rule set was slightly altered. It is now mandatory to provide WAV files (FLAC bar minimum on low internet bandwidth), files need to be accessible/downloadable, try to work within suitable work levels, document your edits (as simple or as detailed as you like)
  IMPORTANT: please use the following naming convention from now on: MC000_-_ArtistName_-_TrackName_-_ContestanttName.wav/mp3 and MC000_-_ArtistName_-_TrackName_-_ContestanttName_R2.wav/mp3 for Mix Round 2. The order of the tags might change in upcoming challenges - though this is up for debate

Also please take note of the following

• We're desperately looking for new source material for future Mix Challenges. Please follow our official campaign. No new tracks mean no more challenges! Please reach out!
• our Twitter account can be found via the handle @MixChallenge - throw us a Tweet and we add you to the participant lists
• our Facebook account doesn't have a handle yet, just follow the Facebook link
• you can now support us with a voluntary monthly donation on Patreon (will mainly cover server and social media maintenance fees). Some interesting bonus perks await you there. All patrons will be listed on the Donation / Hall-Of-Fame page and get a special rank on the forum

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 36: Winners announced

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Friday, 01st September 2017 to Thursday, 21st September 2017 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-09-2017, 11:59pm CEST/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: Adam Firegate
Song Name and Length: Shok, 5:11min
Song Information: 125 bpm / Signature: 4/4, Key of G
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: Techno / House (90s)


Preview of the Song:
[mediares=530,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRIIXblgRNQ[/mediares]



A word from the song provider:

Adam Firegate wrote:I made a very simple track balancing between house and techno.

I can see two directions you can go with mixing:

1. making everything bigger but staying true to the original, maybe with some volume and filter automation added as extra

2. complete rework including heavy effecting and automation, but please don't add or subtract from the original stems, use all tracks from the package

I'm also okay with a blend of both.


Although there is not much exact connection, you can get some inspiration from the techno label Drumcode, and other artists called Jay Lumen and Robert Babicz. You can find their musics on Youtube and Spotify. Listen to their tracks from the last 5 years for getting ideas.

Thanks, Adam

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

Staff (Mister Fox) wrote:Back to oldschool Techno for this production. There is really not much to say than "be creative with what you've been given".


Two sources I can recommend to not only get inspired, but also to educate yourself with the topic...

The old, but still great "Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music":
http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ (needs a Flash Player!)

And once more the 1997 released video game soundtrack:
Ghost in the Shell: Megatech Body, Co. (1997)

Both cover the Techno and (Detroit) House Genre from late 80ies to mid 90ies, to which this production clearly falls into.


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.

Special Add-On Rules:

• try to create a mix that complements this production (in your own style)
• Clean / Alternative versions can (and should) be used if you need more flexibility over a certain sound (if present in this production)
• No rearrangement of the song structure, with the exception of the following add-on rules
• PRODUCTION RELATED: currently no add-on rules
• 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! (especially with this production!)
• try to not(!) pre-master the track (please no overuse of mix bus treatment, no loudness adjustments / limiting)

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Source Files:

Main Mix Package - Mirror on the Mix Challenge Homepage (142,76 MB, LZMA compressed)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 946,00 MB, packed 142,72 MB (ZIP, LZMA)
In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs:

Macintosh:
The Unarchiver - 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 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



Ghostwave Audio (Vincent Bastiat) is kind enough to donate MixRight (a Reaktor Ensemble) to the winner (until further notice)
License won't turn into NFR, you need Native Instruments Reaktor 5.8+ for this
More info on Ghostwave Audio: http://ghostwaveaudio.com/



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



Nyrv Systems offers AGENT incl. all currently available NyrvDevices and free update to at least v1.5 of winner's choice (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info about Nyrv Systems: http://www.nyrvsystems.com/



Sound / Graphic Designer, and Mix Challenge staff satYatunes is donating one commercial product of winner's choice (until further notice)
More info on satYatune's page: http://www.satyatunes.com/



Tone2 is kind enough to donate either a bundle consisting of AkustiX Enhancer and WarmVerb, or a license of Ultraspace to the winner (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Tone2: https://tone2.com



Two Notes Audio Engineering is kind enough to donate one license of Torpedo Wall of Sound III to the winner, loaded with 57 cabinets (equivalent to "Torpedo WoS II") (donation until End of 2017)
License will not turn into NFR
More info on Two Notes: http://www.two-notes.com/en/



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!

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 14 days left to submit your mix

Okido,

so I'm first

Nothing added, but almost everything is filtered, distorted and delayed...

DAW: Studio One Pro
Plugins:
Softube Tape
Acustica Audio Nebula 4 (AlexB Elysia XComp u.a.)
Acustica Audio Cobalt (EQ + Comp), Lime, Sand
D16: Devastor
Blue Cat Audio: Late Replies
Cableguys: Filter Shaper, Time Shaper
Exponential Audio: Phoenix Verb
Plugin-Alliance: Indent 2
Melda Productions: Unison
...and more.

Update: Screenshot


Last update 09/19/2017

WAV 44,1/24Bit:
https://profi-satz.box.com/s/5mcolyl9gu ... 0ffbm0se1w

MP3 320k:
https://profi-satz.box.com/s/u9rsu4wfhp ... 3pofpet1f5

Quick -12LUFS Mastering maybe better to compare with orig. Mix:
https://profi-satz.box.com/s/z4x8a74bt5 ... zhj08e2p3z
...if I can trust my cans.

Cheers from Hamburg/Germany,
Bianca
(Ungifted)

Hello everyone ,
Wav 24/44 : Download link here
Mp3 320k : Download link here

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 7 days left to submit your edit.

Now is the best time to check your mix again, do final tweaks if necessary, and then submit it.

At this point, I'm starting to get worried. Usually, we have 10+ mixes around that time. Yet we only have two so far.
I really hope this is just a minor hiccup...


Including today, still 5 days left to mix.

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 17, 2017 00:38 CEST

At this point, I'm starting to get worried...

I can help a little bit with my entry

I did not make drastic changes to my mix in comparison with the original one. I only changed two sounds intentionally. The Kick and the Mid-Pad.
I did not like the abrupt ending noise tail from the kick. So I cut this with a gate.
And I wanted to have the sound of the mid-pad wider and fuller. Therfore I used reverb, delays and chorus to transform it to my taste.

MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/97h5qhrxvnbzu ... c.mp3?dl=0
WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/om0y62xru714x ... c.wav?dl=0

Reaper v5.33

Drums: ThrillseekerVBL, TalReverb 4
Kick: Transpire, ReaGate (to reduce the abrupt ending noise tail), ReaEQ
Snare: Transpire, ReaEQ, Tal Reverb 4, ThrillseekerXTC
Ride and Chimes: ReaEQ
Top1&2 and Bbox: ReaEQ, Tal Reverb 4
Bass: I used Bass and Bass2 and panned them to stereo, with mono below 180Hz, ReaEQ, ReaComp, ThrillseekerXTC, GStereo
Mid-Pad: This sound was too thinn for my taste, so I changed this sound with following. ReaEQ, DD Auto Pan, Classic Chorus (two instances in serial), Tal Reverb III, ReaDelay
Mid-Synth: ReaEQ, Mid Side Mangler (more side for widening), ThrillseekerXTC, Tal Reverb III
Vox1: ReaEQ, ReaComp, ThrillseekerXTC, Tal Reverb 4, ReaDelay
Vox2: ReaEQ, ReaComp, Tal Reverb 4, ReaDelay
FX noise: ReaEQ, ReaDelay, TAL Reverb III
FX pulse: ReaEQ, ReaDelay, TAL Reverb 4

Master: MO57, TDR Kotelnikov, SPAN

DR=12

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 17, 2017 00:38 CEST

At this point, I'm starting to get worried. Usually, we have 10+ mixes around that time. Yet we only have two so far.
I really hope this is just a minor hiccup...


Including today, still 5 days left to mix.

I had trouble downloading the files, it would stop completely at around 50mb, I tried multiple times over the course of several days without luck. I managed to download the files only once but when I tried to extract them it would tell me about an error, like if the files where empty or maybe corrupted, so I gave up
I don´t know if anyone experienced anything similar to this? maybe it´s my old laptop

You scared me for a minute.
I could download the file just fine. And I could also extract it (with 7zip).

Did you try in another browser maybe (I tried an old version of Google Chrome and a the most recent FireFox beta version)?
Or a download manager (which should work on this server)?


Else... if you happen to run into troubles,then please tell me. Else I can't investigate what's up.