KVR MIX CHALLENGE - MC16 November 2015 - Winners announced

[Compyfox]

Hello and welcome to the KVR Mix Challenge 16 - October 2015.


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 we're diving into the EDM genre again. To be more precise: a mix of EDM/Soundtrack and UK Breaks. We're also working with another One Synth Challenge regular again - this time it's Animehaus.




Please take note of the following

• the official Guidelines thread will be overhauled in the next weeks to simplify certain rules.
• as of MC16, it is not(!) mandatory anymore to post what you did production wise in written form. Though if you feel like it, share what you did. If possible, post at least a screenshot
• as of MC16, we're not doing any time frame extensions anymore, unless there is absolutely no way around it. The challenge now goes for 21 days. But please don't post at the very last day and worry us (the hosts and the song provider).

Please also help us out with the following

• We're still looking for new source materiall for future KVR Mix Challenges. Our pool is in constant fear of running dry. Please follow our official campaign for this in the Music Cafe. Spread the word!
• Please also spread the word on your preferred social media platform. Our Twitter Account is already a good start
• Please give us feedback to a couple of questions (Gossip Thread), which helps us improve the challenge on the long run.

The more user participation, the more likely that the challenge can continue.




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 16: Winners announced

[Compyfox]

CURRENT CHALLENGE - GENERAL INFORMATION

Time Frame: Sunday, 01st November 2015 to Saturday, 21st November 2015 (21 days)

Challenge submission will end on 21-11-2015, 11:59pm CET/GMT+1 (Germany) - until further notice. If you want to find out when that is the case at your place, please use the following tool and and select "Berlin (Germany)" as location 1, and your location as location 2:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html



Song Provider: animehaus ([url=hhttp://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?m ... e&u=309591]KVR Profile[/url])
Song Name and Length: Talisman, 3:11min
Song Information: 136 bpm, time signature 4/4, in C# min
File Format: WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

GENRE: EDM/Soundtrack, UK Breaks/Big Beat


Preview of the Song:
https://soundcloud.com/animehaus/animehaus-talisman



A word from the song provider:

I'd love to hear "Talisman" with a very modern, punchy EDM mix, but not too squashed.

Contestants are free to use whatever FX they want, but I want the basic arrangement to remain the same. I wouldn't like to have the vibe of the track totally changed: let's say, adding so much distortion that it would sound more like a rock track than an EDM one.

The ending of the demo mix was created on purpose to create an interesting twist. I'd love to see changes like that, as long as they are not overdone.


Interesting material to listen to:
https://soundcloud.com/marek-ku-mierz/l ... uency-flow
https://soundcloud.com/h0ffman/uns027a-hoffman-savannah
https://soundcloud.com/asl-soundlab/neurovision-vol-3

A few words by the Mix Challenge staff:

I can recommend to listen to so called "Demoscene" music from recent years (Youtube is once more your friend).

But also soundtracks from the video game company "Epic Games", famous for using so called "Tracker Music" for their video games (most notably Unreal Tournament) before a compressed audio format for CD mixes was common place. And if you want, even music by Sonic Mayhem (best known for the OST work on Quake and Quake Arena). And to some extend, once more the "WipEout" Video Game Soundtracks.

This should be a fairly straight forward EDM mix, with a little twist here and there. So use as many effects as you seem fit to create a pumping yet epic atmosphere with the song, but don't overdo it.

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:
- create a punchy EDM mix
- creative effect usage allowed, as long as it's not overdone
- No rearrangement of the song structure
- no drum replacement
- try to not(!) pre-master the track (please no overuse of mix bus treatment)


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Source Files:

Mirror on Studio Compyfox (148MB, LZMA compressed)


The provided files were packed as ZIP with LZMA compression.
File size extracted: 1130 MB, packed 148 MB (ZIP, LZMA)
In order to extract the files, we can recommend these programs:

Macintosh:
The Unarchiver - get it here

Windows:
7zip - Installation, Portable


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 OT question in the official Gossip thread:
KVR Mix Challenge - Gossip and Discussion

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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.de



Ghostwave Audio (KVR User Karten) 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/



JRR Shop will give away either one of the following plugins:
SONiVOX Wobble, Pulse 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/



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/



Sound and Graphic, KVR user 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 Q1 2016)
License will not turn into NFR
More info on Two Notes: http://www.two-notes.com/en/



THANKS FOR THE 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 the challenge staff.

Also, please spread the word of the challenge on social media.
For example with our dedicated Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/KVRMixChallenge


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

[Dee.P.Tree]

I am directly coming from OSC discussion page.

Nice to know that such kind of competition is being held at KVR Audio. I did not know that before.

If I get some time... I will surely try this month. Learning is the intention here.

Thank you. Best of luck to participants.

[Compyfox]

Thanks for the interest and welcome aboard.

[photonic]

Hi all,

I play the ice breaker again
Here is my mix of Talisman. This genre was new to me. I tired to make the mix punchy and driving, but without loosing too much dynamic. The mix has a DR of 11, which is for sure more than usual.

MP3: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/717 ... otonic.mp3
WAV: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/717 ... otonic.wav

Drum Bus – FerricTDS, ReaEQ
All beat, fill and kick tracks – ReaEQ, ReaComp
Beat01 – additional Acon Multiply to create stereo claps

Bus for the tracks: Perc, Helix arp#2&3, Lightspeed and Pumpkin – FerricTDS (bus compression and saturation)
Perc: Bittersweet for stronger attack, ReaEQ highpass 200Hz and boost around 2kHz, Tkdelay
Helix arp#2 - ReaEQ highpass 400Hz and heavy boost around 5kHz, Reacomp for stronger attack, Acon Multiply for stereo chorus
Helix arp#3 - ReaEQ highpass 250Hz and boost around 6kHz
Lightspeed - ReaEQ highpass 150Hz and boost around 3.3kHz
Pumpkin - Bittersweet for stronger attack, ReaEQ highpass 100Hz, cut 500Hz and boost 8kHz, Tkdelay, QX24 for saturation

Bus for all Aataak1 tracks – ReaEQ for low pass automation, FerricTDS
Aataak1#3 – ReaEQ highpass 80Hz, cut 500Hz and boost 3kHz, Tkdelay
Aataak1#2 – ReaEQ highpass 100Hz, boost 500hZ, flat low pass above 2kHz, MAutopan for Stereo FX
Aataak1#6 - ReaEQ highpass 150Hz and boost around 4kHz
Aataak1#7 – ReaEQ highpass 200Hz, boost 800hZ, flat low pass above 2kHz

E_Drop and G_Fall - ReaEQ highpass 150Hz and boost around 8kHz
Helix trance#3 - ReaEQ highpass 300Hz and boost around 1.5kHz
FX and Impact – ReaEQ boost 100Hz and cut 400Hz

Master – MQ57, TDRFeedbackCompressor, SPAN
Reverb – Acon Digital Verberation, Tone2 Ultraspace

[Compyfox]

I play the ice breaker again

You should get an award for that.

Here is my mix of Talisman. This genre was new to me. I tired to make the mix punchy and driving, but without loosing too much dynamic. The mix has a DR of 11, which is for sure more than usual.

Just out of curiosity, what does your RMS meter show you as max avg. signal strength?



And I am surprised to not see any glitching tools in your setup. Did you listen to the original mix (the end part)?
Though this is why the rules said "creative FX usage is allowed" - add your own twist to the track.

[photonic]

Just out of curiosity, what does your RMS meter show you as max avg. signal strength?

And I am surprised to not see any glitching tools in your setup. Did you listen to the original mix (the end part)?
Though this is why the rules said "creative FX usage is allowed" - add your own twist to the track.

Hi Compyfox,

Normally I just look at the meters in Reaper and sometimes to the TT Dynamik Range Meter or the Sleepy Stereo Channel meters during mixing. After that I do my MP3 conversion in Wavosaur, where I look at the RMS, peak and DC offset. I tried now to figure out the max avg. signal.
Wavesour only gives me a RMS, and this is around -18.7dBFS
TT Dynamik Range Meter has a RMS peak, but nor over the complete track. Only a average over some seconds. Here I see -12.xdBFS as max value, where the thin green line is.
Then I tried the meter in Limited-Z, which is with around -16dBFS obviously lower than TTDRM.

Is this answering your question? Why did you ask? Something wrong with my level?

About the glitch FX: honestly, I never used them in my music and so I do not have such plugin in my tool box. I did not understand that this is mandatory! If so, and I have a second chance to submit a new mix with glitch FX, I will look for some free tool and give it a try. If not, because I did not read the rules carefully, it also OK for me.

My early mixes are a real trial baloon for everyone

[animehaus]

Glitch FX are not mandatory, but are definitely welcome, specially in the last section of the track, as they play a important role there in the original mix.

[Compyfox]

TT Dynamik Range Meter has a RMS peak, but nor over the complete track. Only a average over some seconds. Here I see -12.xdBFS as max value, where the thin green line is.
Then I tried the meter in Limited-Z, which is with around -16dBFS obviously lower than TTDRM.

The average level is important, not the max if you're judging loudness.

Is this answering your question? Why did you ask? Something wrong with my level?

Nothing wrong, just curious. A dynamic range of 12 on the TTDR Meter (or the newer bx_meter) already implies that you not only have a huge dynamic range, but also a fairly moderate loudness. Just wanted to check where your average level is.

About the glitch FX: honestly, I never used them in my music and so I do not have such plugin in my tool box. I did not understand that this is mandatory! If so, and I have a second chance to submit a new mix with glitch FX, I will look for some free tool and give it a try. If not, because I did not read the rules carefully, it also OK for me.

My early mixes are a real trial baloon for everyone

As Animehaus mentioned, not mandatory, but adding to the production.
Which is why we wrote as rule "creative FX usage is allowed".

dBlue's Glitch v1 can still be found on the web, it's 32bit only however. But can add a lot of chaos. Read the manual to trigger Glitch via MIDI notes.

And yes - update your track if you want. You're once more the ice-breaker. But this must not turn into a constant thing (you know, submission is fixed until the next mix round)! Especially if we take time to write down special rules and offer demo mixes for reference. Else it will be a disqualification.




Public service announcement (and a small warning):
- please read the rules!
- listen to the provided audio demo! (see mix pack)
- please read the rules again!
- create your mix and add your own twist

Roughly two weeks left to mix.

[photonic]

Thank you Compyfox!

I allready found Glitch 1.3 still downloadable from the developer website.
I will add those glitch FX. And this will be my last re-submission in the first round. If I overlook something in the next rounds, I will keep it as it is. And I will read the rules mor carefully

[Compyfox]

A friendly reminder:
10 days left to mix. And please don't forget that the time zone is not PDT/PST anymore, but CET/GMT+1

[photonic]

Hi again,

I have added some FX with Glitch 1.3. Not too much, but they should be noticeable.
The links from my first posting remain the same. Please update them, if anyone has allready downloaded them.

[Bigerax]

Hello all! I just found the site about a week ago and have been enjoying it greatly. Here is what I came up with:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0zcU ... VRxZVBGa0E
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0zcU ... 1llWG1tY1k

I am working in Reaper and a lot of the plugins a use are the stock Rea and JS stuff. I also used a few free plugins including: the Valve filter plugin we received for participating, Bark of Dog, DC1A2, Defacer, DensitymkIII, Luftkis Eq, Mbitfun, Saturation Knob, SlickEQ, Kotelnikov, Transient, and nasty VCS. Also used Glitch 1.3 and corkscrew.
I got quite aggressive with effects on a few channels and hope the changes aren't too severe for the spirit of this challenge. I am trying to learn and improve so please do not hesitate to give feedback. Thanks all

[Compyfox]

Welcome aboard, Bigearx. On both KVR and the Mix Challenge.

[Bigerax]

Thank you for the welcome. I fixed the links so they should work now.