reaMIXed: The Reaper Mixing Contest - August 2021 - Saudade Do Teu Beijo

[darjama]

REAPER CONTEST - August 2021
(ONLY REAPER PLUGINS ALLOWED)



OFFICIAL WEBSITE: reaMIXed.com


MIXING: 1-16 August
VOTING: 20-26 August
RESULTS: 28 August
FEEDBACK: 29-31 August

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This month's track, chosen by last month's winner LCM, is Saudade Do Teu Beijo by Egda Carolyn courtesy of Cambridge Music Technology website. The Portuguese language song's title translates as 'I Miss Your Kiss.'

Please remember:

-NO GLUING OF FILES
-ONLY NATIVE REAPER FX -or- non-Native JSFX files that you include with your submission.

Also, I'd recommend taking advantage of the new normalization settings in the reaper rendering dialog to meet the LUFS and dbFS requirements. My suggested workflow would be:

1. Normalize to -14 LUFS.
2. If your mix peaks at or under -1 dbFS, you're done!
3. If your mix peaks over -1 dbFS, rerender it normalizing to -1 dbFS.

You can download the multitrack from the website or clicking on this link.

Again, no prize this month, aside from the customary track-picking privileges for the next month's contest.

Happy mixing!
-Daryl

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IMPORTANT

• Please use the reaMIXed.com website as the main resource for the contest.

[MisterGTR]

Downloaded the files 5mins ago and wondered if everyone has the glitch on the second line of the vocal

Zoomed in you can see the gaps / dropouts. And it's very audible.

Also the accompanying text file says it's tempo of 60bpm but when i import at 60bpm it doesn't line up. So i've just imported using Time base. Is that correct or do i need to speed it up to 60bpm?

[REDTone Studio]

I'm hearing the same thing with the vocal cutting out, so it isn't just you MisterGTR.

I also didn't get it to line up at 60bpm, I think stretching it isn't necessary it seems to be at a good tempo as is.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by REDTone Studio

I'm hearing the same thing with the vocal cutting out, so it isn't just you MisterGTR.

I also didn't get it to line up at 60bpm, I think stretching it isn't necessary it seems to be at a good tempo as is.

Thanks...i'm usually bring up the rear in these contests...but i might as well try to get it right!

[LCM!]

The glitch is there indeed. But we have the same line in the second part of the song, so... copy and paste will work pretty well, I think.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by LCM!

The glitch is there indeed. But we have the same line in the second part of the song, so... copy and paste will work pretty well, I think.

I thought we weren't allowed to do that?

Edit: i glued tracks once after doing strip silence so maybe that's what i did wrong.

[Dex]

Copy and paste all you want, since that doesn’t change the underlying files that your project file points at.

Just don’t glue anything.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by Dex

Copy and paste all you want, since that doesn’t change the underlying files that your project file points at.

Just don’t glue anything.

Thank you.

I guess that means I can strip silence too?

Just makes it easier to see where parts are coming in.

I think I get it now - if I look in the audio file folder. It should be the original files. Nothing else?

[darjama]

Originally Posted by MisterGTR

Thank you.

I guess that means I can strip silence too?

Just makes it easier to see where parts are coming in.

I think I get it now - if I look in the audio file folder. It should be the original files. Nothing else?

Yup, stripping silence is fine, just don't do anything that would generate new audio files.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by darjama

Yup, stripping silence is fine, just don't do anything that would generate new audio files.

Thanks.

Appreciate all the help.

[westie07]

Hey Guys, I've shied away from entering this competition for years because of a lack of talent and confidence. But after hearing the tracks for this month I thought I'd have to give it a go. What a cracker of a little song.

When I first got REAPER the standard Plugs confused the heck out me, and after all this time they still don't inspire me but now is the time to learn them.

rob

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by westie07

Hey Guys, I've shied away from entering this competition for years because of a lack of talent and confidence. But after hearing the tracks for this month I thought I'd have to give it a go. What a cracker of a little song.

When I first got REAPER the standard Plugs confused the heck out me, and after all this time they still don't inspire me but now is the time to learn them.

rob

You can't be as bad as me...even the the guy/gal who bounced the track at the wrong tempo beat me last month

Plus so far nobody has turned up at my door to laugh...so far!

[REDTone Studio]

Jump on in Westie the water is fine!

I've learned a lot so far in the last 4 or 5 months I've been participating. I always think I am turning in a top 3 performance, but get humbled pretty quick on results day. I'm slowly heading up to the top half each month though so I feel better about my mixing now than I did when starting.

I've never had too much problem with the Reaper standard plugins, there is a bit of learning curve, knowing what you are trying to do as far as EQ, Compression and others helps a lot!

[westie07]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I have no idea what to expect, I don't know if its just mixing or if there is some producing involved. I guess I'll soon find out.

rob

[Dex]

Originally Posted by westie07

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I have no idea what to expect, I don't know if its just mixing or if there is some producing involved. I guess I'll soon find out.

rob

The lines between mixing and producing can be a little blurry, but the idea of the contest is to focus on mixing. Imagine the song has already been produced and you’ve been hired to mix it. Using the mute button is fine. Rearranging the song is frowned upon. Hope that helps clear things up a little. You can also check out the top mixes from last month to see how much variation there is from mix to mix.

[eq1]

Originally Posted by MisterGTR

You can't be as bad as me...even the the guy/gal who bounced the track at the wrong tempo beat me last month...

hey hey, that was the right tempo. The original was way too fast, it was driving me crazy.

[westie07]

@Dex
Thanks mate, that has cleared things up a little. Mixing it is.

[Avocet]

Well, I've just uploaded my entry! I've been following the contest for some months but this is the first time I have tried doing a mix--and indeed the first time I have tried mixing anything more complex than my own 3-piece band. So I hope this is not going to be too painful a learning experience :-)

[darjama]

Welcome to you and to the other new entrants this month, always great to have new participants.

[Wallaby]

I did a cheap quick raw mix and wondered if I can register the song for me.
Unfortunately that exact song project exist already finished and published on Youtube.
Our Remixes are probably better everyone.
https://youtu.be/nqOsaQu-xIc

[LCM!]

Just submitted. Here we go and good luck for everyone.

[westie07]

Hey Guys, I just submitted my first entry in the competition and just realized that I included a file in the .rpp that I should not have.

Is there anyway I can cancel this entry and submit it again?

rob

[darjama]

Go ahead and resubmit, thanks

[Freiin]

I'm very happy because i'm brazilian. Thanks! Brazilian music is very good indeed. The singer is awesome too.

[Dex]

Just submitted my mix too. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of you handled this one!

[FarBeyondMetal]

I had fun mixing this, first time entering. I had to re-upload my mix because it peaked too high on my first submission, hopefully this is okay. I am sure there are many great submissions so I am looking forward to hearing everyone else's mixes.

[darjama]

Waiting for a few missing files, I'm going to delay voting for a day.

[darjama]

Voting is open, let me know if you have any problems or questions.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by darjama

Voting is open, let me know if you have any problems or questions.

I missed it this much due to boring health related stuff....but i'll take a listen and vote.

Looking forward to hearing the mixes.

[FarBeyondMetal]

Hope you feel better MisterGTR. Was my first time submitting a mix so I didn't know what I was up against. I thought I did a fairly good job but after listening to everyone's mix I heard quite a few things I wish I did with my own. Some great mixes in here, kudos to everyone who submitted an entry.

[westie07]

Another first timer here, so I felt a little uncomfortable passing comments on others, but it was a good experience.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by FarBeyondMetal

Hope you feel better MisterGTR. Was my first time submitting a mix so I didn't know what I was up against. I thought I did a fairly good job but after listening to everyone's mix I heard quite a few things I wish I did with my own. Some great mixes in here, kudos to everyone who submitted an entry.

Thanks - got the all clear from my scans for another 3 months...so i'm back on it!!

It's such a great way to learn - and even better is downloading the best projects and seeing what moves they made etc.

I'm amazed more people aren't doing this to learn to mix. I just wish i was a faster learner!

Best of luck

[westie07]

@MisterGTR
I wonder if some people are deterred by using default REAPER Plugins. I know there is some reluctance to using them, I know I balked at using them.

Like you, I'm interested to d/l winning mix to see what I am missing.

rob

[PVinKC]

My submission, which we emailed about doesn't seem to be included?

I had some metering/analysis plugins from iZotope in there that I forgot to take out. Rendering either with or without them would have made absolutely ZERO difference.

Tonal Balance Control 2 just gives an average response of 4 parts of the spectrum and I use their EQ with it with absolutely no adjustments just so that I can feed the EQ to Tonal Balance Control and have both Tonal Balance and a spectrum analyzer in one display.

Finally Insight 2 and Relay are plugins that play together across your tracks. Basically you put Insight on the master buss, and then put Relay on the vocal buss, the kick, the snare, etc... and they send information to Insight that shows you where frequencies may be masking each other. Basically although it does a lot of different meter things. I use Insight for the "Intelligibility" feature. I make, say the Vocal the dominant item for Insight and then I get a meter showing how intelligible the vocal is in the mix.

I should have removed all the plugin instances, and no idea why I didn't before sending. But I sent it far in advance, so hopefully I didn't get left out?

However, I didn't get or respond to your email until Yesterday I believe. When you have a job like mine it's tough to get time to do anything outside work and sleep...so I apologize if I didn't respond quick enough.

[MisterGTR]

Originally Posted by westie07

@MisterGTR
I wonder if some people are deterred by using default REAPER Plugins. I know there is some reluctance to using them, I know I balked at using them.

Like you, I'm interested to d/l winning mix to see what I am missing.

rob

Totally. It's like AirWindows. After spending a lot of cash on plugins, i realise if you can use the stock plugin or for example the AirWindows stuff you're a better mixer for it. Mixing with your ears rather than your eyes is the cliche. But it's mostly true. VU meters etc obviously help.

NB - I can't!

[REDTone Studio]

I voted!

I built myself a new desk in between the time I mixed and voted. I heard a lot I wanted to change in my mix. We'll see if everyone hears the same new things I did.

Goes to show the studio setup and monitoring plays a huge part on the mix!

Great job by all this month, hard to pick a sure winner!

[darjama]

Originally Posted by PVinKC

My submission, which we emailed about doesn't seem to be included?

I had some metering/analysis plugins from iZotope in there that I forgot to take out. Rendering either with or without them would have made absolutely ZERO difference.

Tonal Balance Control 2 just gives an average response of 4 parts of the spectrum and I use their EQ with it with absolutely no adjustments just so that I can feed the EQ to Tonal Balance Control and have both Tonal Balance and a spectrum analyzer in one display.

Finally Insight 2 and Relay are plugins that play together across your tracks. Basically you put Insight on the master buss, and then put Relay on the vocal buss, the kick, the snare, etc... and they send information to Insight that shows you where frequencies may be masking each other. Basically although it does a lot of different meter things. I use Insight for the "Intelligibility" feature. I make, say the Vocal the dominant item for Insight and then I get a meter showing how intelligible the vocal is in the mix.

I should have removed all the plugin instances, and no idea why I didn't before sending. But I sent it far in advance, so hopefully I didn't get left out?

However, I didn't get or respond to your email until Yesterday I believe. When you have a job like mine it's tough to get time to do anything outside work and sleep...so I apologize if I didn't respond quick enough.

Paul, I never got your response. Sorry, I often don't have time to check files until the last minute. I've got some changes to let people check their project files automatically on the website for glued files and non-native effects before sending them, hopefully I'll have that implemented for next month. I did check your project to see if it nulled with the flac without the Izotope effects and it did not, otherwise I would have included it.

[darjama]

About 9 more hours to get your votes in...

[LCM!]

Congratulations Dex! Good work.
Digging into your project. Can I ask you something? I wonder what are you meassuring when putting the JS oscilloscope in the perc track; I don't use meter pluggins and I'm afraid I could be missing some useful data.
Interesting the three pitch up tracks for the refrain voice. Slight and nice difference.
And finally, last month you did ask me about the Time Delayer. I do the same this time (but in a different place): why are you ussing it on the plate verb track before ReaVerb with this high values?

[darjama]

Congrats to Dex, and Grundton and LCM! as well, it was a close one this month!



See comments and download projects from:
https://reamixed.com/results