Possible additional references: Steely Dan, Creedence Clearwater Revival (their more acoustic material). As usual, do not add anything that wasn't there/subtract what originally belongs. Tip: take frequent breaks, re-evaluate your creation, does it "get a certain feel across?", "is it still intimate?", etc. This can go various way: 1960s type sound (more reverb and openness), to modern singer-songwriter (more dry). Such a production definitely offers a "the sky is the limit" type deal. (hint: check the frequency spectrum!).Īlso important: the original mix features a fade out - please create a suitable one as well! You can try re-amping, but you can't go "distorted rock bass". So you will have buzzing, double stops, slides, etc. It is also played like an "upright bass". Due to the way how you handle such a bass, a slight offset pitch is normal. Time aligning of the performance (in this case, chorus vocals) is allowed - but keep a natural performance in mind.Īnother focus should be the bass.
the vocals have many side-noises and slight repeated syllables). Paying attention to detail is therefore of upmost importance as there are many intricate details that can add, or take away from the emotional impact of the story.Īside from reading the lyrics and checking out some of the provided references for inspiration, I once more highly recommend to listen to each individual track first, clean them up (e.g. Mister Fox wrote:This is a very minimalist production with merely 7 tracks. (more technical details in the Mix Pack bundled TXTs) Beyond that, please flex your creative juices to bring out the emotion of the song.
Artists who have influenced this style of song in my songwriting include Iron and Wine, Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop, Jose Gonzalez, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, and extending to The National, Fleet Foxes, and Lord Huron.įor the mix, I would like the mix to bring out the emotional immediacy of the song, and also to achieve a sound that is generally in the same sonic universe as the artists above.įeel free to re-amp, double, slightly shift tracks in time to increase or decrease alignment, add effects, or whatever else you have in your toolbox to reach the desired sound. The style of the song falls somewhere within contemporary singer-songwriter and contemporary Indie Folk. Like the return of the sun in the springtime after a long dark winter. In this song I tried to capture the feeling of returning to the world after a long hibernation. Visiting with him felt like hope coming back into the world along with the COVID vaccines. John Henderson wrote:I wrote this song on a trip to San Diego to visit my 13 month old nephew, who I had not seen in over a year. Results of the Mix Challenge: Winners announced Mix Round 2: Global Feedback and Round 2 Participant Announcement Mix Round 1 Statistics/Data Sheet: Overview of Submissions - is your entry within given parameters? Submission Period: General Information, Source Files, Sponsors This post will be updated with the corresponding links as we progress, and of course the suitable thread headlines. Giving and receiving constructive feedback to your entry, and sharing tips and tricks should ideally happen after Mix Round 1 has ended, to not influence each other during the main competition round. Interaction is highly encouraged, including asking questions for the song provider. IMPORTANT: Before you get started, please consult the official " Rules and Guidelines" for the Mix Challenge regarding principles of the game, upload/submission guidelines, the concept of documenting your edits, and maximum allowed loudness values (see Rule Book - post #6). Piqued your curiosity? Then please take special note of the attached TXT files (Technical Details section in "Words by the Song Provider") and please read about the details and special requirements for handling this mix further down below. All while trying to retain a natural sound and offering your own twist to the mix compared to the original version. Additional twists result from not ideally recorded/edited takes (noises), maybe unusual dissonances thanks to the use of a fretless bass, and you can experiment with time aligning vocals. The biggest challenge this month, is working with a sparse arrangement of only 7 tracks. This month, you have the chance to work on an "Acoustic / Contemporary Singer-Songwriter" production by John Henderson (better known to us as forum regular Thank you for kindly providing multi-tracks as final Mix(ing) Challenge for 2021.
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 posts for re-submissions for Mix Round 2 and (possible) Mix Round 3. Hello and welcome to the Mix Challenge 83 - December 2021