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[tanov]

Is there any places (virtual   ) where sound engineers
can upload their mix works for competition?

For example:
Someone puts a rough material (drum tracks for instance)
and others mix them in their own work style  

I used to work as a sound engineer, but now my job is
related to software development.There is software portals
where software developers puts their parts of a common project
(something like a virtual software company).

Are you interested in this  

[PookyNMR]

tanov wrote on Fri, 19 November 2004 00:14

For example: Someone puts a rough material (drum tracks for instance) and others mix them in their own work style   Are you interested in this

I think that would be very interesting.  Maybe not so much as a competition but to hear the different sounds and mix styles of different people.  

Nathan

[djui5]

If someone does a competition let me know...cuz I'm down...sign me up.....bring it on fokkers...

[tanov]

So,
You like the idea?

Lets start it    

But we have to find a server where to store .WAVs

Maybe the final product will reach the MTV  

[eightyeightkeys]

We did 2 Mixing Contests over on the Music Player forum.

It evolved into an entire forum in its own right called The Mix Posse.

It was a whole lot of fun and really interesting. I think everyone benefitted.

I'm in.

[Jay Levitt]

You might want to check out www.raw-tracks.com.

[J.J. Blair]

djui5 wrote on Fri, 19 November 2004 23:47

.....bring it on fokkers...

Is that a big motor Fokker or a little motor Fokker?  

(Some aviation humor for you.)

[Alécio Costa - Brazil]

not a competition but for learning purposes. Brad´s room has the womp and at RO they have a similar project concerning mastering.
How many tracks would be the ceiling?
I would like to participate also.

[Level]

I got checked out in restored Fokker D-VII once. What a machine!!!! What a MACHINE!!

Those were the days...my friend..







...Needless to say, the one I flew was one of my Dads fabulously detailed 56" wingspan scale models..

(had y'all going for a second eh?)

[Fletcher]

tanov wrote on Fri, 19 November 2004 02:14

Is there any places (virtual   ) where sound engineers can upload their mix works for competition?

Yes.

It's called "the radio".

He who sells the most records wins.

[Greg Youngman]

Fletcher wrote on Sun, 21 November 2004 05:13

tanov wrote on Fri, 19 November 2004 02:14 Is there any places (virtual   ) where sound engineers can upload their mix works for competition? Yes. It's called "the radio". He who sells the most records wins.

But not necessarily the best!

[bobkatz]

Various contributors wrote

Is there any places (virtual   ) where sound engineers can upload their mix works for competition? Yes. It's called "the radio". He who sells the most records wins. And someone replied But not necessarily the best!

Yes, one of the most horrible-sounding recordings of all time is currently very popular on the radio and has earned some awards for the music. But the record is so poorly recorded that the lead vocalist sounds raspy on the radio, and on any reproduction system it is terribly distorted, overmodulated and has no life or dynamic range. Which goes to show how little the sound of a recording has to do with its success.

This is at least a $250,000 budget production, too, which goes to show what happens when the focus-group mentality of corporate decisions takes over. I'm really disgusted with where it's going. With marketing research and focus groups, all the reality has been pulled from popular music. Did Berry Gordie use focus groups to decide that the Temptations had a number one hit in the making? I don't know, but the bottom line is that one man was the leader and that made a vision. A modern-day equivalent would be Steve Jobs of Apple Computer---that company appears very together and very unified because it has a visionary at the top.

The solution in music has got to be to put the producer and the artist back in charge and with no interference from the rest of the organization. Of course, it has to be a responsible producer and a responsive artist, but you get the idea.

I suggest you all go out and buy Mark Anthony (with Jennifer Lopez) "Amar Sin Mentiras", as a lesson of where this is all turning. Play it for your clients who feel they have to smash their sound so they will know what the logical extension of "make it loud" is.

Throw up very quickly at the sonics, and write your congressman, or someone at Sony. A very bad production. Was it the mastering? The recording? The mixing? The production? Artists' tantrums? All the names involved are tops in their field and should know better.

And Mark is one of my favorite artists, so I'm doubly sad. I've worked with some of the greatest Latin artists, and it hasn't always been this way. I've mastered $25,000 productions in the Latin field that sound much better at home and on the radio... because the artist and the producer know what to do and have not been tied by some focus-group mentality.

[bobkatz]

To continue on this vein. What would happen if the mastering engineer said, "no" if the record company said, "make it as hot as the hottest hit out there."

I know the typical answer, "they'll just go to another mastering engineer who will do it." But if the mastering engineer was respected and has a voice, don't you think someone will listen, or at least think twice? Money is driving this business, and it makes a lot of us make some very stupid decisions that it's time we start reflecting over.

Bob Ludwig can afford to lose a job now and then. Ted Jensen. Doug Sax. And, they have a reputation so the corporate suits may think twice when they learn from the masteing engineer that there's a problem. (Another problem, of course, is squashed mixes, but let's leave that for another time)

What would happen if the mastering engineer spoke up and said, "No, this is not good for this record. You need to do this differently", when the client asks, "make this as hot as the hottest pop record out there."

At least made more than lip service to this important topic. The loudness race is killing our music and everyone knows it, but few are doing anything about it. Education, education, education.

BK

[Bob Olhsson]

The problem is the disconnect between music fans and the demographic numbers that the middle management of today's corporate advertisers are demanding as a means of covering their asses in case they can't manage to sell their new widgets.

If anything is REALLY to blame, it's the consolidation of American business in general. If anyone is to blame, it's today's generation of politicians. We've all GOT to start looking at this stuff within the big picture in order to even hope to make any changes. American music has got to be set free from the insecurities of advertisers or it doesn't stand a chance of surviving.

We created an Industry forum in the MARSH so people can share ideas and begin to rebuild our industry into something that provides fertile ground for a new generation of great performers who are supported financially by their fans rather than stifled by the demands of corporate patronage.

If you care about where music and audio quality is going, PLEASE come over and help us create a conversation about how to rebuild a music industry that is free once again from the chains of Madison Avenue and Wall Street.

[Loco]

bobkatz wrote on Sun, 21 November 2004 10:40

Yes, one of the most horrible-sounding recordings of all time is currently very popular on the radio and has earned some awards for the music. But the record is so poorly recorded that the lead vocalist sounds raspy on the radio, and on any reproduction system it is terribly distorted, overmodulated and has no life or dynamic range. Which goes to show how little the sound of a recording has to do with its success.

Funny you said that. There's a new single coming out for a new artist and the label had the nerve to put me on the credits as "mixing". A real mixing session happened long after they heard the original mixtape. For the mixtape I went for a crappy-DJ effect (is that an oxymoron? Or not oxy?) to give them the impression they were listening to some talent-handicapped disco player was putting some records on the radio. So for the rough mix I made sure almost everything was clipping, added vinyl noise, placed two limiters in series, and printed to CD. It turns out that the executives liked better the rough mix than the actual mix. Of course, they just took the rough mixes for two songs and added them to the album. Not sure if any mastering actually happened later on.

Even one of the executives (not related to the label) had the nerve to say he liked the natural raspiness of the singer on that song. The same one that likes to schedule late-night friday sessions so you can't verify a PO# with the label. The same one that has threatened me twice to hire "some full sail students asking for your job for less money" if I don't lower my rate to half. I still have my pants on and the hard drives on my hand, if you need to know.