Guitar Tone Competition IV!

[ahjteam]

Files: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1338211/GuitarToneCompetition4RawFiles.zip
edit: mirror, thanks LeSedna: http://www.inheritance-studio.com/stockage/GuitarToneCompetition4RawFiles.zip

THE COMPETITION HAS ENDED, MAGO WON!

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...8-guitar-tone-competition-iv-final-round.html

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...958-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-1-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...960-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-2-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...961-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-3-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...962-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-4-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...963-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-5-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...964-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-6-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...965-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-7-a.html
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...966-guitar-tone-competition-iv-round-8-a.html

Results:

Announcement of the winner
Setups (Part 1)
Setups (Part 2)



-------------------------


Hello, welcome to the fourth Andy Sneap forum guitar tone competition!

In case there is something you want to ask, don't hesitate to contact ahjteam: ahjteam@gmail.com


GENERAL INFO
-------------------------

The competition is hosted by ahjteam.

The composition and drum programming are made by ahjteam, guitar DI's by lolzgreg, bass DI by colonel_claypoo and drum processing by Shadow_Walker.

The submission deadline is July 10 2011 (so you have 10 weeks to submit, should be enough for everybody), and the voting will take place in July 2011. If you submit, please vote on all the possible rounds you can, and especially on the finals. There will be 8 finalists.

The competition is sponsored by Wolfe Amplification and LSD Drums. The winner gets Wolfe Stinger*, a 10w recording amp (winner pays for shipping and taxes). The 8 finalists get a special 3 kicks and 3 snares package from LSD drums. See their websites at:

* see post #3

http://www.wolfeamplification.com
http://lsddrums.bigcartel.com

Everyone registered to Ultimate Metal forums are welcome to participate, but do note the number of participants is limited to 200 (because no-fucking-body wants to listen to 1500 submissions, you know), so if you weren't one of those 135 who signed up early, act quickly as when I have total of 200 submissions, you are not allowed to compete. The ones who signed up early have a spot reserved for them, but if they do not submit in time, their spot will be taken over by someone else.


WHAT DO I HAVE TO SUBMIT?
-------------------------

- File 1: Mixdown which has the drums, bass and guitars. The whole thing.
- File 2: Mute the drums track, and do a mixdown which has only the guitars and the bass
- File 3: text file (.txt, .doc, .pdf, .rtf) with description of the signal chain. Add pictures of the rig and/or screenshots of the DAW if possible for educational purposes
- File(s) 4: a screenshot of the DAW with mixer view that shows all the used plugins and also the master bus. Note that this is required. To take a screenshot in OSX: press cmd + shift + 3 and a file should appear on your desktop (unless you have disabled the keycommand). To take a screenshot in WIN: press printscreen button on keyboard, open an image editor (for example MS paint), paste and save file. jpg and png formats allowed.
- Submission format is 24-Bit 44.1 KHz interlaced stereo wav, no exceptions. Failing to meet this requirement leads to disqualification.
- Compress all the files into one file (only .zip and .rar are accepted formats)

Naming the files:
- the audio files "username_mixdown.wav" and "username_guitars.wav"
- text file: "username_info.txt/doc/pdf/rtf"
- images "username_picture000.jpg/png" and replace 000 with the number of the image according how many there are
- the archive file "username_guitartonecompetition4.zip/rar"


SUBMISSION
-------------------------

- Submission deadline: Sunday, July 10 at GMT 23:59 ( see http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com ). Only submissions by Ultimate Metal forum members are accepted.
- Send your submission to email address ahjteam@gmail.com with topic "Guitar tone competition 4: username"
- Files archived and hosted on the web (we recommend http://www.dropbox.com ). Rapidshare, Megaupload and other "wait to download and see our lovely ads" sites ARE PURE SATAN AND SUCK A MASSIVE COCK and they should NOT be used to submit the submissions.
- Only one submission per member, so make it count! This means no fixes either.


WE WILL SUPPLY YOU WITH:
-------------------------

- A pre-processed stereo mixdown of the drums
- 4 guitar di-tracks and 1 bass di-track for reamping.
- This text document with the rules, deadlines etc.
- The tempo of the song is 175BPM


YOU ARE ALLOWED TO:
-------------------------

- Process, pan and automate the guitar and bass tracks in any way you want. All the tracks must be used and audible in the submission.


YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO:
-------------------------

- Modify the composition or edit the performance on the supplied di-tracks.
- Edit or process the drum track in any way. You have to make the guitar and bass tones fit the supplied drums.
- Add any additional instruments or elements.
- Use any master bus processing.


WHAT TO DO WITH THE FILES:
-------------------------

- Put the drum track to a stereo track, panned hard left and hard right
- Set the fader level of the backing track and master bus to unity gain (+- 0dB)
- You are not allowed to raise the volume of the drum track, or process the drum track in any way, or use any master bus processing
- Mix the guitars and bass to fit the volume of the drum track, not the drum track to fit the guitars
- Do not let the mixdown clip, the maximum allowed peak on the master bus is -1.0dBFS
- Do not normalize the bounced tracks
- Bounce the whole bar 1-41 length of the song. Do not start or end early or late.



FINAL CHECKLIST BEFORE YOU SUBMIT:
-------------------------

- Failing to send the submission in time results in instant disqualification. The deadline is on Sunday, July 10 at GMT 23:59 (see http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com ). So if the date shows July 1, you are late.
- Check that the fileformat is 24bit 44.1khz interleaved stereo. No mp3's or other bitrates or bitdepths or separate left and right channels allowed. Results in instant disqualification
- Check how the final submission sounds, if it sounds bad check what might be wrong with it. Results in instant embarrassment
- Do NOT attach the files to the email. Either host them on your personal paid webspace or as a free alternative we suggest dropbox. Rapidshare, Megaupload and other "wait to download and see our lovely ads" sites ARE PURE SATAN AND SUCK A MASSIVE COCK and they should NOT be used to submit the submissions. Results in massive hate towards the submitter
- Compress all the files into one file (only .zip and .rar are accepted formats). If we fail to open the file, it results in disqualification
- Check that you have all the required files and info on the email. Failing to include all the required data will lead to disqualification
- Have all the files available online until the deadline and the beginning of the voting period in case something happens.


DROPBOX (FREE WEBSPACE):
-------------------------

If you don't already have a dropbox account, you can register one here (you get 2GB when you register, but if you use this referral link, you also help me and we bot get 250MB extra space)

without referral (2GB space): http://www.dropbox.com
with referral (250mb extra space): http://db.tt/55lNqaQ

Yes, I'm a whore.


Have fun!

 

[LeSedna]

A whore is a big word

Competition is on.

 

[Wolfeman]

Just to make sure everyone knows, the amp being given away will not be done by the time the competition is over, and I will not even be in the country(leaving for Afghanistan in July). You will however get an 'IOU' for the amp when I return, which will be around August 2012.

So don't be mad, I have no control over the matter. But I assure you, your prize will get to you eventually. I'll have an invoice for the winner though You'll need to hold on to it and show it to me when I return to claim your prize.

 

[LeSedna]

Mirrored link to the raw files : www.inheritance-studio.com/stockage/GuitarToneCompetition4RawFiles.zip

 

[JeffTD]

Can we get some info on the gtr/bass used and which pickups were in the instruments? I know it "shouldn't matter" but it'll give (at least me) some peace of mind when I'm trying to figure out why the low end is loose or the top end is too scratchy and it turns out there was a MIM strat pickup and a Duncan Distortion used or something like that.

 

[ahjteam]

Can we get some info on the gtr/bass used and which pickups were in the instruments? I know it "shouldn't matter" but it'll give (at least me) some peace of mind when I'm trying to figure out why the low end is loose or the top end is too scratchy and it turns out there was a MIM strat pickup and a Duncan Distortion used or something like that.

Guitar is the Les Paul with JB's (as voted) to Countryman 85 DI to API pre and to quote Greg "if anyone complains about the DIs they can suck my balls".

Bass is a custom made 5 string with active EMG P/J's to Radial JDI to RME Babyface

 

[theforgotten]

Wish I win LSD Drums!Good luck with competition to everyone!Cheers!

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I will not even be in the country(leaving for Afghanistan in July). You will however get an 'IOU' for the amp when I return, which will be around August 2012.

If you return... if you return...

 

[ahjteam]

If you return... if you return...

I don't think that's funny.

 

[SimonTaddio_Qc]

^
Me neither, but I'm sure Wolfe knows what he got himself into way more than any of us...

On the competition:

 

[kernelxsanders]

only thing i want to know is you require no master bus processing, yet you ask for a screenshot of the master bus. is this to show that it is indeed empty?

 

[cobhc]

One thing I would like to clarify with you, can I process the bass through my BDDI and then mix that in with the DI track of the bass?

 

[Wolfeman]

If you return... if you return...

I don't think that's funny.

Haha no I it's all good, I was going to make the same joke myself. I take sarcasm well

As long as I return with both hands still intact, I'll be a happy camper.

 

[ahjteam]

One thing I would like to clarify with you, can I process the bass through my BDDI and then mix that in with the DI track of the bass?

You are allowed to process, pan and automate the guitar and bass tracks in any way you want.

only thing i want to know is you require no master bus processing, yet you ask for a screenshot of the master bus. is this to show that it is indeed empty?

You got a problem with that?

 

[cobhc]

You are allowed to process, pan and automate the guitar and bass tracks in any way you want.

Thanks, that's good to know

 

[mickrich]

Thanks for all the hard work!

From the text file instructions:

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO:
-------------------------

- Modify the composition or edit the performance on the supplied di-tracks.

Are we not allowed to "adjust" the timing of the DI tracks?
I think a bit of editing would make for a tighter mix

 

[lolzgreg]

I thought it would be nice to have a little bit of swing on the DIs so it actually sounded a bit on the natural side rather than slip editing to the grid.

 

[Trevoire520]

Thanks for all the hard work!

From the text file instructions:

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO:
-------------------------

- Modify the composition or edit the performance on the supplied di-tracks.

Are we not allowed to "adjust" the timing of the DI tracks?
I think a bit of editing would make for a tighter mix

The problem with this is it then becomes a "editing and guitar/bass tone competition" and is adding in more factors, making it more difficult to judge. The way it is now basically means that it's a case of the best combined guitar/bass tone wins.

Imagine a commercial scenario. If someone sends you guitar tracks to reamp and you decide to edit them aswell (not what you were asked to do) then whoever you're working for is not likely to be happy.

 

[FIXXXER]

DI's and everything else sounds awesome, well done everybody involved!

 

[KBMoser]

screenshots? why?