Old 11-07-2018, 09:07 AM   #1
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Default REAPER CONTEST - NOVEMBER 2018 (FEEDBACK)

REAPER CONTEST - NOVEMBER 2018
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MIXING: 7-20 November
VOTING: 21-28 November
RESULTS: 30 November
FEEDBACK: 1-4 December


NOVEMBER 2018 PROJECTS
REAPER CONTEST ANALYTICS



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This month we have something different: Grass decided to let us all mix one of his songs called City of Forgotten Faces. He won't join this month, so if any of you want to climb the ranking this is the right time to do it

As always you can download the multitrack from the website or clicking on this link.

Happy mixing!
Dave

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Old 11-07-2018, 09:08 AM   #2
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The multitrack will be uploaded on the website at 7 PM (GMT+1).
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Old 11-08-2018, 11:27 AM   #3
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Thanks for sharing, Grass! I love these member-submitted months.
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Old 11-11-2018, 09:46 AM   #4
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I agree!
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Old 11-11-2018, 10:22 AM   #5
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Sent in - really interesting tune! Funny not knowing the language, but sometimes I'd hear a french word or two
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Old 11-12-2018, 11:22 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Not_Here View Post
Grass -

I gotta say, this is a beautiful song.
Thank you! I made translation of the song. This is only sense)

Verse 1.

The City of Forgotten Faces sending birds.
Everyone has been waiting for an answer for a hundred years.

Verse 2.

You revel in a dream, in which there were children under the window.
But now it's only silence and the moon dissolves the dream.

Coda.

You leave a mark on the glass by a trembling hand.
You turn off the light and cover emptiness with a blanket.
You write a secret on the wall by a naughty hand.
And then you fall asleep so easily for so many years.
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Old 11-15-2018, 05:44 AM   #7
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the devs just moved this subforum at the very bottom of the main forum page, this sucks...
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Old 11-15-2018, 06:49 AM   #8
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mail them why the contest is placed at the bottom of the forum page

like the november song a lot ...looking forwared what the others made of it

greetings from holland
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Old 11-16-2018, 03:21 AM   #9
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I won't neither mail them nor complain because I see no point in moving sections again, but it's a bit disappointing though.

That being said, guys check out this plugin because it's the best eq that possibly Reaper has ever had. It's as close as you can get to a Fabfilter Pro-Q2 without paying for one: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread....85#post2058185
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Old 11-19-2018, 05:56 PM   #10
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With all the dynamic range in the song I'm having a hard time hitting -14.1 integrated LUFS without squashing the hell out of the final chorus with my limiter. Like, my short term LUFS is around -9 during the final chorus and I'm not even to -14.1 integrated for the whole song yet.

Thoughts?
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Old 11-19-2018, 11:06 PM   #11
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I had the same problem, tried to fix it with slight volume automation on my master bus -but before the limiter. So I could reduce the dynamic range without hitting the limiter too hard.
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Old 11-20-2018, 12:11 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grundton View Post
I had the same problem, tried to fix it with slight volume automation on my master bus -but before the limiter. So I could reduce the dynamic range without hitting the limiter too hard.
Yeah, that’s what I ended up doing too. Still not totally happy with it so I’m going to revisit it tomorrow before I submit.

I had such a nice groove going on with some gentle compression and when I try to bring the volume up into the limiter it just murders it.
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Old 11-20-2018, 12:13 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Not_Here View Post
At this point I'm just turning in a mix to see some feedback.
Hah - been there, done that! Several times, in fact!
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Old 11-20-2018, 02:41 AM   #14
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When I was mastering my band's EP I had one track with like 9 dB of dynamic range and managed to make it sit at -14 without any problems. I kept adjusting the threshold, exporting and checking the loudness with the SWS Loudness Tool until I got it right. That's how I do it.
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Old 11-20-2018, 01:55 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveKeehl View Post
When I was mastering my band's EP I had one track with like 9 dB of dynamic range and managed to make it sit at -14 without any problems. I kept adjusting the threshold, exporting and checking the loudness with the SWS Loudness Tool until I got it right. That's how I do it.
Yeah that's what I do to, but I had a lot of trouble getting it up to -14 without audible artifacts. Anyway, submitted!
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Old 11-21-2018, 04:57 PM   #16
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phewwww I managed to do a quick mix. Hope it doesn't suck like last month!

@Dex I had troubles too this month hahaha I ended up with like 15dB of dynamic range! LOL The chorus is a bit squashed but couldn't care less

THE SUBMISSIONS ARE ONLINE, YOU CAN GO VOTE!
(Let's hope someone sees this at the bottom of the forum )
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Old 11-21-2018, 10:39 PM   #17
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Dang, only 7 entries this month? Such a shame, for such a beautiful song. Some of these entries are really good, too.

Hopefully we'll get more than 7 people voting this month.
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Old 11-22-2018, 12:39 AM   #18
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Hey Grass, thank you for this beautiful song, for me it was a joy to mix.
Now that all mixes are published, would you share your mix of this song?
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Old 11-23-2018, 04:38 AM   #19
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Thank you guys who participated in the contest this month!

I wanted to get a different sight at the song, the result is really very interesting!

Ok, I'll send my current version. In fact, the song was recorded at the end of October of this year, so I do not have the final mix.=)
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Old 11-23-2018, 05:12 AM   #20
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The final mix will be yours or by some other mixing engineer?
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Old 11-23-2018, 05:14 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dex View Post
Dang, only 7 entries this month? Such a shame, for such a beautiful song. Some of these entries are really good, too.

Hopefully we'll get more than 7 people voting this month.
I think people are in general more keen to join this contest if there are “standard” rock/pop songs. When you start getting in the realm of ambient and “experimental” music people tend go away for lack of interest. Or that’s at least what I’ve noticed.
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Old 11-23-2018, 11:56 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grass View Post
Thank you guys who participated in the contest this month!

I wanted to get a different sight at the song, the result is really very interesting!

Ok, I'll send my current version. In fact, the song was recorded at the end of October of this year, so I do not have the final mix.=)
I guess I'll make a rough mix, and another engineer will finish it)
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Old 11-28-2018, 09:37 AM   #23
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I would suggest re-recording the guitar Grass.

Also for future piano recordings, do not use a piano stool that is noisy
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Old 11-29-2018, 02:15 PM   #24
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Still a few hours left to vote if you still haven't
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Old 12-01-2018, 07:51 AM   #25
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Hey guys! Here I am with the results!

This month the contest was won by...

GRUNDTON!



Congratulations Please choose a song for December from here

Updated analytics (click it)

November 2018 ranking:



New Top 10:

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Old 12-01-2018, 11:14 AM   #26
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Congrats grundton. Your mix was great.

There was a bit of background hiss in the vocal and acoustic guitar recordings, which was difficult for me to work with since I couldn't preprocess the files.

I rank the entries overall in this order (and voted 1 > 7 > 3):

1 - Has hiss, but otherwise superbly executed.

7 - Has only the tiniest amount of hiss. Excellent up until the final chorus, which didn't really grab me.

3 - Has a lot of hiss. Interesting idea with continuing to tuck in some vocals in under the mix when the music box comes in. Hiss cuts in and out throughout the song, which is very distracting. I thought the bass was a little too loud.

4 - Reverb/delay on lead vox is too much. I like that you went for something different but I don't quite think it works. Maybe it would work once or twice for an effect, but not throughout. I thought there was too much verb overall, and the bass is nice but too loud.

6 - Very narrow stereo image and not enough high end.

2 - EQ balance very off. Too "telephone"-y. Volume balances are fine up until the final chorus, but then the backing vocals take over everything else including the lead vox, which has too much reverb.

5 - Mine
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Old 12-01-2018, 01:33 PM   #27
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Thanks for your votes guys and thanks Grass for providing this beautiful song.

Here are my quick notes:

#1 my mix

#2 interesting guitar sound, don't like the stereo effect on the vocals too much, sometimes the sound is overcompressed,
interesting ending but you can hear the edit in the backings

#3 to me the effects in the beginning are irritating, room for vocals could be bigger, good mix overall

#4 the vocal delay should be more in time and it would benefit from a lowpass, overall a nice mix

#5 vocals a bit too dominant in 1st verse, i like the guitar sound

#6 balanced sound, there is some deep rumble in the 1st verse, the mix is a bit dull overall

#7 very good mix, i would like a bit more shaker in the ending


i voted 7-4-5
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Old 12-01-2018, 06:04 PM   #28
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1 5 7



1. nice reverb on the main vox I like the space it creates. the bk vox float nicely. Nice Kick sound
Great mix overall. I like your choice of panning for each instrument and still maintain a nice stereo balance. I liked the music box and the shaker worked nicely too.

2. thin sounding or maybe a bit heavy in the upper mids... Gets a little better in 1st verse once the bottom comes in. I Like the main vox stereo panning. The guitar sound could actually sound cool llike a filtered sort of effect. I like the airy push like quality to the bk vox too. Almost like the final mix is tilted to the wrong end?

3 MINE
I couln't get rid of that anoying tape like noise without getting rid of what I was trying to accomplish mixwise... So just waiting to see feedbak and hope it contains some type of advice on what might be done if I encounter this prob in the future where I'm only able to use stock plugs.

4. nice reverb creating space for the whole song to sit in, gtrs start out with a nice sound.nice bottom with the kick. great mix, though i wish it sounded a bit more crisp(?) The dly on main vox, maybe just a tiny bit loud or needs a little different eq (?) , gettin to close the the "Jason" sound FX (kill kill kill...) during some parts. I do really like it over all though. something cool about all the little fx floating about...

5. Like the stereo spread on the synth and gtr parts. nice gtr sound though, sits ok with the rest of the instruments. kick is nice (a little dance mix sound) and solid but does it cover up other bass and keyboard, or were they turned down more to empahsize kick? Like how the bk vox sit. Gtrs seem a bit cleaner than I was able to get.

6 main vox a little loud and seem to fight with the bk vox? sounds very close and live right at the beginning. Something intersting happening, I think.. the way his vox stay front and loud and everything else seem to be held back... different but I like the concept. Great fade in gping into last verse.. nice touch.

7. LIke the gtr coming in on just L side. Piano on right adds nice balance. I like the rev/dly on vox, but maybe eq a little of the hf out of the return? Nice mix behind the main vox. realy like this mix at end of 1st verse. the mood of the song comes through nicely.
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Old 12-02-2018, 01:30 PM   #29
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Default Feedback on November 2018 mixes

I did not get a chance to cast a vote this month but I did listen and type up some feedback:

1. Good mix. Everything sounds very balanced. I love the automated panning during the music box part (at least that’s what I think I’m hearing, and it’s working very well). I can’t really find anything to criticize.

2. This mixer clearly wanted to take a different kind of approach with the EQing of some of the parts. I don’t have a problem with that, but… to me the acoustic guitar part sounded good as recorded, so it’s a shame to hear it hollowed out like this. Also, when the backing vocals come in, they drown out the lead vocal.

3. This mix sounds good overall except for two things: (1) There is something happening with the acoustic guitar part, especially in the first half or so of the song, maybe a gate or something, that seems to be making the part cut in and out; (2) the lead vocal is a little far back at times.

4. To me the defining feature of this mix is its high level of ambience. There’s so much ambience that whether you like the mix probably depends on whether you like a lot of ambience. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I feel like there might be a risk here where you create a love it or hate it situation.

5. Good mix. If I had one complaint it might be that the lead vocal is pretty dry. I thought that mix #4 was too ambient, whereas this one has just the right amount of ambience – except that the lead vocal stands out as the one dry part. But I’m nit-picking here; good mix.

6. A few things bugging me about this mix are (1) the acoustic guitar sounds a little hollow, (2) the bass part is panned left rather than up the middle, and (3) the backing vocals that come in for the final minute or so seem to be panned close to center (which makes the whole mix center-dominated at that point).

7. My mix. Looks like I got a few votes. Thank you.
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Old 12-02-2018, 10:34 PM   #30
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5. Like the stereo spread on the synth and gtr parts. nice gtr sound though, sits ok with the rest of the instruments. kick is nice (a little dance mix sound) and solid but does it cover up other bass and keyboard, or were they turned down more to empahsize kick? Like how the bk vox sit. Gtrs seem a bit cleaner than I was able to get.
The other bass was too low. I'm still learning the bottom few octaves and working on my monitoring situation. Good catch!

Quote:
5. Good mix. If I had one complaint it might be that the lead vocal is pretty dry. I thought that mix #4 was too ambient, whereas this one has just the right amount of ambience – except that the lead vocal stands out as the one dry part. But I’m nit-picking here; good mix.
Thanks! That was the intent - I wanted the main vocal to be fairly close and intimate at least during the first verse - but I can see how not everyone would want or expect that!
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Old 12-03-2018, 09:44 AM   #31
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Gonna upload all the sessions and my feedback tonight (also for October, sorry for the delay! )
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Old 12-03-2018, 09:46 AM   #32
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Thanks Dave! Looking forward to it.
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Old 12-03-2018, 02:58 PM   #33
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Hi, guys! thank you for you mixes! Here is my feedback.

ID 01. Very good mix. Good balance and sound. Maybe vocal delay is some dirty, you can try to add a low pass filter for the delay.

ID 02. Interesting mix, like the sound of an old record. It would be great if the song went to a more modern sound in some part. It's a bit hard to listen throughout the song.

ID 03. Good mix, i like the sound. The voice is a little lost throughout the song, I have to strain my ears.

ID 04. I like the balance, good sound! Delay on the vocal can be a little cut off the top, the delay prevents me from understanding the words.

ID 05. Very good mix. I like everything except the chorus, in it the voice is a bit lost and the reverb on backs is too heavy for my taste.

ID 06. Good balance, maybe vocal is too warm, some muddy mix, but i like this atmosphere.

ID 07. Very good mix, good stereo spread. Delay on the chorus voice is some dirty, maybe a low pass filter will help.


Here is my current version. I would be glad if you wrote some feedback)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1StM...ew?usp=sharing
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Old 12-03-2018, 05:38 PM   #34
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Here's my feedback:
  1. Very nice sound overall and very well balanced. Very good usage of stereo spread. Chorus is a bit "weak" sounding. Comes to taste I guess.
  2. You know what? Not bad! But the chorus is too filtered and not well balanced. I think you also made some cuts and small edits which were a bit off-putting.
  3. Classical guitar is out of phase at the beginning? The rest is decent even though it could be better balanced. The main vocal doesn't cut.
  4. Mine
  5. Nice intro. Nice balance. Nice mix!
  6. Nice intro sound but the kick is way too low (in general), also it's weird to have the cello panned left. The chorus doesn't hit.
  7. Nice mix, nothing to complain except maybe for the kick which was slightly too low.
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Old 12-08-2018, 01:43 PM   #35
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Thank you Grass for posting your Version. As always it is mixed very well.
I like the change from narrow in the verse parts to full wide stereo in the
chorus parts. Guitar in the beginning sounds very intimate, I like that.
How did you manage to get rid of the hiss without getting a dull mix?
Very good mix, are you finished or is this work in progress?
I would like to hear more of your music, this is a beautiful song (think I
said this already)

Greetings
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Old 12-16-2018, 06:21 AM   #36
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Thank you Grundton! Your mix is very good!
I usually use a little de-esser on vocals, then I also write an automation.
Sometimes, if I lack the brightness of the vocals, and the equalizer adds unpleasant sounds,
I make a parallel track with the vocal copy with a Low Cut filter and leave everything above
2 kHz and compress it strongly. Also for me, the use of subtractive equalization before compression,
and additive after, works well.
In general, to get rid of dirt, I try to leave high frequencies to a small number of instruments
so that high voices can be heard well. On the effects (delay, reverb), most often I use a
low and high pass filter so that the sibilants are not muddy.
Sometimes I use desser for vocal effects.
Sometimes I use different saturations on the effects so that with a smaller
amount of the effect, the feeling of space remains the same.
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Old 12-16-2018, 11:32 PM   #37
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Those are some nice tips. Thanks for sharing!
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