KVR MIX CHALLENGE - MC05 October 2014 - Winners announced.

[satYatunes]

Hello and welcome to the KVR Mix Challenge 05 - October 2014.

This is the introduction post, where we link directly to the challenge corresponding files (source files, submission information, sponsors), start of the voting and maybe even the first post for resubmissions.

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

Feedback and selected contestants for second round - Feedback and resubmission

Winners - Winners announced.

[satYatunes]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Wednesday, 1st October 2014 to Thuesday, 21st October 2014 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-10-2014, 11:59pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) - if you want to find out when that is the case at your place, please use the following tool and and select "Los Angeles" as location 1, and your location as location 2:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html


Song Provider: Photonic
Song Name and Length: Funky-Junkie, 4:46min
Song Information: 95bpm, 4/4, <key of the song not known>
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 16bit

GENRE: funky Instrumental-Pop

Preview of the Song:
https://soundcloud.com/photonic-1/funky-junkie

A word from the song provider:

Photonic wrote:Please take note of the preview track - no remix and therefore no rearrangement of the song structure. Muting of tracks or automated fade in/out of the respective ones is allowed, which I also executed in the preview.

The tone should be full and orchestral. Therefore the acoustic instruments also need to retain their character.

Special Add-On Rules:
- no rearrangement of the song structure
- absolutely no drum replacement
- the acoustical instruments like Guitars and Orchestra sounds need to retain their sound/character


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Source Files:
Source files on Song Provider's space
Mirror on Studio Compyfox (214MB, LZMA compressed)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 739MB, packed 214MB (ZIP, LZMA) to 246MB (standard ZIP)
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:
KVR Mix Challenge - Official Rules and Guidelines

Please address any question in the official Gossip thread:
KVR Mix Challenge - Gossip and Discussion


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SPONSORS (Prizes):

Prizes for mix participants:

Month Exclusive Sponsor (October 2014):

MuTools is kind enough to donate a license of MUX (currently Engine 5).
License will turn into NFR
More infor on MuTools: http://www.mutools.com


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


JRR Shop will give away either one of the following plugins:
SONiVOX Wobble, Pulse, Vocalizer, or Twist (until further notice)
More info about the plugins on SONiVOX: http://www.sonivoxmi.com
More info about the sponsor: http://www.jrrshop.com/



Camel Audio is kind enough to donate either Camel Space or CamelPhat to the winner (until further notice)
License will turn into NFR
More info on Camel Audio: http://www.camelaudio.com



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



KVR user Karten (CEO of Ghostwave Audio) 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/


THANKS FOR THE DONATIONS!
And also a thank you to all former contributor 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 headmaster of the competition.


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

[Compyfox]

Keep in mind, that you can follow us on Twitter with the trend #kvrmixchallenge to always be up to date with everything resolving around the KVR Mix Challenge.

[photonic]

Hi all,

This month will be a very special one for me. It is the first time, that another one is mixing my music! I am really curious how the mixes will sound.

I know, that due to the new voting system I will become the most hated guy in the forum
But I agreed to use the new voting system with my track. This is the normal situation in real life that one client likes your mix or not. I will try to be as objectiv as I can be. Beside some helping analysing tools I will listen to all tracks on different headphones, speakers, in the car and even on my kitchen radio. But in the end it will be a decision of taste too.

I hope you have fun with my music.
Good luck to all

[No_Use]

Nice track ! (for my taste anyway).
Thanks for providing it for the MC. I think I'll be in this time again (if time allows).

[satYatunes]

I love the track. I don't know about other systems but my mix will sound great on your kitchen radio .

[Compyfox]

I know, that due to the new voting system I will become the most hated guy in the forum

No you won't. This is why we decided to go the route - the song provider has the final word.

You provide a track for us to mix. The participants basically are in the game for fun and play (they do get access to great mixes after all), show their skills while in turn learning form others and getting a chance to win stuff in the process.


The "winners by popular vote" resulted in a huge outcry with MC03 especially, that "listeners and bystanders can't decide on the best mix, since they don't know it". And this is correct - and either decision is actually based upon personal preference (subjectivity). However the only one that can ultimately declare what is the best mix to him/her, is the song provider after all.

It is his/her/their product, but was/were lost on mixing. Hence the challenge offering to see the production in a new light, and maybe even build up some connections for possible future collaborations.


Can't get any more realistic towards the real world, IMO.

[satYatunes]

I agree with Compy totally. This is the best way to decide which one is best and I don't think you will be "Most hated" guy in the forum. A little bit may be but not most hated.. haha..

Well, by experience I know that every artist doesn't take criticism positively. So some will hate and some will like the feedback and learn from it. It is what it is, lets just go with the flow and have some fun.

[Uncle E]

However the only one that can ultimately declare what is the best mix to him/her, is the song provider after all.

Agreed! Satya and I had to participate in the MC ourselves to realize this. Plus, like Satya said, we're trying to make this be something fun and not so cut throat.

Nice track, Photonic!

[camsr]

Okay here's mine.

Unclick the box before download, free hosts trying to give you bloatware.
MP3: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/4562f9c4
WAV 24/48: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/3ec944db

MIX NOTES
Starting the mix with a good arrangement was a real pleasure and I immediately dove into it. I started by bussing rhythm and melody apart, mostly, and setting up some sends for stereo effects. Since the arrangement is packed, I decided to not use a lot of grungy distortion like I usually do, but rather attempt to balance what was already there. I used a little bit of saturation on the rhythm bus. There is minimal EQ and compression on the individial stems. Most of the compression occurs on the two busses, where I used jsCompShaper for the rhythm and TDR Feedback comp for the melody. I didn't pan anything, instead relying on stereo effects for space, I do it this way because I prefer it in headphones. The master bus contains Dust EQ, SoftClipper, Fruity MB comp, and SaviorOfSoul's linear phase LP filter (to remove shoddy ultrasonic content). The mix is NOT limited despite using a clipper and MB comp, the mids are wide open and only the most extreme peaks are compressed. MB was more for texture and breath than loudness. I also used the master bus processing to correct what I've learned doesn't translate, so hopefully this sounds good to you guys.

[Compyfox]

That is a record, we didn't even crack the first 24 hours yet.

[camsr]

Yeah I saved some time by using Reaper's batch convertor instead of doing them one at a time in FL Edison, where I would usually preview and take notes on each stem.

Actually I spend most of my time dialing in tone usually. This time was the exception because I didn't do my normal thing, experimenting.

[Compyfox]

That's the spirit - try something different once in a while, work as you go.

Keep in mind though - no resubmissions unless you're selected for "round 2". (see new rule set)
Else, and only if you feel like it, after the voting.

[camsr]

Now if I could change something it would be that ridiculous EQ I used on the kick drum. Beater sounds terribly artificial in the car. On the monitors it sounds a little edgy, the headphones it sounds peaky.

[Compyfox]

Just a friendly reminder:
Still 13 days left for mixing/submitting, so far we only have one entry.

Take your time, but not too much.



Oh, and for those that didn't see it:
We now have "Metric Halo" as sponsors of the KVR Mix Challenge!

The winners can choose either plugin from their available software set.