Recording Review Contest Ideas?

[lolgreg]

I'm down for a mixing contest. I'd even be willing to supply the audio files.

-Greg

[MetalDave]

I see alot of members saying this isn't fair because some of us have all this equipment and software.... Heres the thing... We don't have to record anything, these tracks are going to be pre recorded for us. All you will need is an editing software. Like what you can download free here?
Free Audio Editors, Free Audio Editing Software or here?
Audacity: Download or here?
QuickAudio audio editing software or here?
GarageBand Anywhere - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com Or there are some trial versions here...
Adobe Audition - Download or here....
Download Cubase, Cubase 4.1.0.726 Download or just search On your favorite search engine for sound editing software...
There now it is fair.

[Ibanez_shredder]

true, if you have the necessary background/education/what have you, you'd be better off with the free software than someone who know's nothing and has all of the expensive shit, it's a classic story.

[brandondrury]

Well humans,

I sent in my contest proposal on Friday. I hope they can get back to me fairly soon. It looks like this first contest is going to be straight up mixing of available tracks. However, I went ahead and made the decision that a person can alter anything they want. If a person wants to retrack it, so be it. If a person wants to turn it into a techno song, great! If they want to re-sing the song. So be it! With that said, I expect most people will stick with the tracks they are given. I'm going to include all MIDI and DI tracks (I'm reamping this one) in addition to all wav files I have.

This site is about cranking out intense music. I'm a firm believer in the philosophy that the music dictates the great engineers and not the other way around. So the people who can truly add their spin to make a tune the most powerful will be the ones that succeed.

I'm going to track this thing as I think it should be and we'll go from there.

The song we are doing is a song me and a buddy wrote. I did this for deadline purposes and to avoid any debates about what song we are going to do. In the future, I'd like to have a songwriting contest first, track it, and then have a mixing contest, but thats down the road.

When I hear back from the sponsors, I'll let everyone know.

I'm hoping to attract some more sponsors who are interested in giving something to the top 10 mixers.

A big part of this contest is for the people who don't expect to win. I think that even if all you have is Audacity and some free plugins, you can download the tracks, go to town and compare your work with the more experienced dudes on the forum and ask "how did you do THAT???". This is when mega learning can take place.

Since I mix in the box anyway, the only gear difference is in the plugins. Fancy plugins do help, but it's the human element that ultimately makes the difference.

[String7th]

So, I got an issue. I'm the equvalent to a monkey and a doorknob when it comes to MIDI and BFD/EZdrummer. I'm getting really good at tracking and mixing live drums, but I suck when it comes to programming drums on a machine or MIDI.

But it still sounds fun.

[davisonp]

Sounds like fun !

Pete.

[thesilentdrummer]

DUDE!!!! I am so excited that this is actually happening!

[Ibanez_shredder]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Well humans,

A big part of this contest is for the people who don't expect to win. I think that even if all you have is Audacity and some free plugins, you can download the tracks, go to town and compare your work with the more experienced dudes on the forum and ask "how did you do THAT???". This is when mega learning can take place.

This made me stop and think for a minute. The entire time I've been following this contest idea, I never thought of it as a way to learn. as it is a contest I instinctively deduced that I would have to pull a rabbit out of a hat to mix something I would call "finished work". I am curious if this is just my competitive nature causing me to be so self centered do others have the same initial thoughts? I am very much a beginner everything that takes place after I'm done playing a real instrument. and as a "home recording" musician I am very interested to (mix/master/ect.) work on a track, and compare and collaborate. as the comparing, collab. help, ect, is the very purpose of this community I think that maybe "contest" is giving the wrong impression?

I mean everyone wants to win, but I don't take a part in this community to win "stuff" to make me better. I do it to learn how to better use these skills so that I may get a little closer to creating the visions of music I wish to share with the world..

sorry to ramble on, but I had a self awareness epiphany...

[thesilentdrummer]

Originally Posted by Ibanez_shredder

This made me stop and think for a minute. The entire time I've been following this contest idea, I never thought of it as a way to learn.

Exactly. I don't think many of us outright thought that we would be learning, but I know that every time I work a new mix, I learn so much. I would be tempted to say my knowledge has doubled after each of the last mixes I have done. I haven't had an opportunity to work with legitimate raw tracks yet though (due to poor tracking techniques the first major mix, then poor musicians the second time... I think my next project will improve on both of those). The way I see this though is as an internship, to some degree.

For example, I got a really kickass internship as a systems engineer at a computer company this summer. It gave me access to tools and projects that I couldn't obtain/do by by my own means. I had no clue how to install apache and php on my local computer, let alone figure out how to do it myself. Also, I used to write code in notepad (oh yah...). Who knew there were programs (expensive ones) that helped you write code in a organized way? So this job hooked me up, helping me do something I love by giving me the write tools and guidance to learn. Basically, it forced me to get off my ass and start coding.

Maybe that's all this has to be for you. I am not planning on writing the next best iPhone invention (someone else at work already has that) and to get paid a zillion dollars (though they are being very generous towards me), my main goal is to learn. Here we are getting good tools (well done prerecorded tracks) and guidance (Brandon and many other members here are brilliant). For many of us, this is a taste of "professional" mixing. Are we necessarily going to win the contest? Probably not. Are we going to learn a lot? Definitely.

[brandondrury]

is the very purpose of this community I think that maybe "contest" is giving the wrong impression?

No, because it is a full blown competition. If all goes well, we'll be giving away an $800 piece of gear. It's just a competition that (like "White Men Can't Jump") if you lose you actually win.

If I really wanted to call it "Mixing Class" I probably could. A) That name sucks. B) It ignores the fact that this IS a competition. That's the other side to this thing..... C) I have plans for a more formal mixing class thingy as my next product after my recording book.

Going back to B. The idea is for this site to continue to grow and be a more productive community. Real competitions with real prizes will hopefully bring in my people to ReviewReview.com of all talent levels, especially on the top end. I think it would be nice to get a few more regulars who have the kind of skills that we could all learn from.

Brandon