MPV and McDSP REMIX Contest: SongCraft: Producing Lauren Balthrop : Ask.Video

(NOW CLOSED) MPV and McDSP REMIX Contest: SongCraft: Producing Lauren Balthrop

Rounik Sethi on Thu, May 10th 47 comments

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Win McDSP Emerald suite ($1495 US value) & other great prizes in this MPV SongCraft Remix Contest! Simply log-in / sign-up for FREE, download the stems, remix and submit before June 11th. Good luck!

THIS REMIX CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON.

THANKS FOR SUBMITTING YOUR REMIXES & GOOD LUCK :)

macProVideo.com and McDSP are proud to present'¦(drum roll) MPV's first SongCraft Remix Contest! Flex your remix muscles and create your own track using the stems from Lauren Balthrop's song 'It All Comes Down to You' created in the latest MPV & Dubway SongCraft tutorial series: Producing Lauren Balthrop.

MPV McDSP Remix Contest: Remixing Lauren Balthrop

Watch the video tutorial and learn how the original version was mixed in Dubway Studios, New York. Then download the stems and remix the same song. See if you can make a better mix or find a completely new direction to take the track in... The choice is yours!

Prizes

There's fantastic prizes (over $2250 US) thanks to world-class plug-ins provided by our partner, McDSP.

1st place winner gets a Emerald Pack Native v5 from McDSP + a 1 Year Online Subscription to macProVideo.com.
2nd place gets Classic Pack Native v5 and
3rd place gets 1 Year Online Subscription to macProVideo.com.

Whether you win or not, here is your chance to show off your musical mastery and share your sounds with the world!

Contest ends on June 11th, 2012. Results will be announced on The MPVHub shortly after! Good luck!

How to Enter

1. Download the stems and get remixing!

2. Upload your finished remixes using the SoundCloud submissions box below. (You'll need a free SoundCloud account).

Send us your sounds

3. Listen to and vote for your favorite remix entries in the player below.

... and Lauren Balthrop will personally select 3 winners. Winners will be announced on (or soon after) June 11th, 2012!

About the SongCraft tutorial

One song AND only one day to professionally produce a song! Can it be done? Are we crazy? Find out as the pros at Dubway Studios in NYC take you on a recording and mixing adventure this first edition of our new Docu-Tutorial series we call SongCraft!

Sit back and watch as Ben Arthur and team nurture Lauren Balthrop's song to life from dawn to dusk, tracking keyboards, bass, drums, guitars and vocals; all with our expert MPV camera team in tow, documenting the whole process every step of the way. And, as the day proceeds, the team somehow finds the time to teach you lots of recording tips and tricks.

SongCraft: Producing Lauren Balthrop

You'll learn all about studio production, microphone techniques, arranging, mixing and plugins from McDSP, Waves and Lexicon by seeing the song take life right before your eyes and ears!

So, if you're looking to learn about the recording process and see the pro-studio workflow in action, this tutorial, SongCraft: Producing Lauren Balthrop is a must see!

About McDSP

Our partner for this remix contest, McDSP, need little to no introduction to musicians and audio engineers. Their popular audio plug-ins are used by industry professionals in studios worldwide, and with good reason too! If you wish to invest in plug-ins that'll help bring your mixes to life, check out the Emerald and Classic from McDSP (iLok required).

McDSP Emerald & Classic Packs.

About macProVideo.com

macProVideo.com is a high tech, online video education community specializing in everything music from recording, mixing and music theory to expert training on world's leading audio software including Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Ableton, Native Instruments, Reason, Cubase, and more! Our entire library is available online, 24/7 so you learn what you want, when you want. macProVideo.com. What would you like to learn today?

Terms and Conditions

Entries must be submitted to the Soundcloud Dropbox above. You'll need a free Soundcloud account to participate. We advise that submitted tracks should be set to 'public' but the download option should be disabled.
The closing date for entries is midnight on June 11th, 2012. We reserve the right to alter the stated competition dates and the announcement date of the winning entries.
Winners will be selected by Lauren Balthrop and/or Dubway Studio team. The judges decision is final.
McDSP prizes require an iLok which is not included as part of the prize. No cash alternatives can be offered for prize winners.
All trademarks and logos are protected. All rights of the producer and the owner of the recorded work are reserved.
Entrants must warrant that their entries are original work and do not infringe intellectual property and privacy of a third party. You are free to use sounds that were created by you and/or royalty free loops.The submitting party bears full responsibility for their use of any 'uncleared' content. 'Uncleared' content is defined as a sample, loop or audio file which you didn't create, or which you do not own the copyright of.
All entrants to this contest will be deemed to have accepted the rules and terms and conditions.

Now that the legal speak is out of the way'¦ Go create amazing remixes!

Rounik Sethi

Rounik is the Executive Editor for Ask.Audio & macProVideo. He's built a crack team of professional musicians and writers to create one of the most visited online resources for news, review, tutorials and interviews for modern musician and producer. As an Apple Certified Trainer for Logic Pro Rounik has taught teachers, professional musicians and hobbyists how to get the best out of Apple's creative software. He has been a visiting lecturer at Bath Spa University's Teacher training program, facilitating workshops on using music and digital media tools in the classroom. If you're looking for Rounik, you'll most likely find him (and his articles) on Ask.Audio & macProVideo.com.

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Comments (47)

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Dizzyfingers

Can I add new tracks of my own instruments or vocals for this remix contest?
- 9 years ago
- By: Dizzyfingers
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Dizzyfingers, You most definitely can! It's completely up to you whether you go for a more traditional approach and try to re-do the mix for the song... or go wild and remix the song into a different style. Whatever you choose, happy remixing & good luck!
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Ameyah

hmm is there a way to get the dry vocals? i prefer to add my own reverb settings to vocals. thank you nice track.
- 9 years ago
- By: Ameyah
Reply
Jared N.

What is the song's key and BPM?
- 9 years ago
- By: Jared N.
Reply
Ben Arthur (SongCraft)

Thanks, Ameyah. Lauren is pretty awesome. The key is c-minor, and the BPM is 79. I've uploaded the dry vocal at the link below. If the link dies, let me know and I'll put it back up. Btw, someone mentioned yesterday an issue with Part #9, and just wanted to say thanks for the heads up. We took care of the issue, and it should be fine now. -Ben http://www.mediafire.com/?hat33daihgmihng
- 9 years ago
- By: Ben Arthur (SongCraft)
Reply
Jared N.

Thanks Ben. That's a big help.
- 9 years ago
- By: Jared N.
Ameyah

hey ben, i appreciated the link for the dry vocal. and thank you for the other info. Ameyah
- 9 years ago
- By: Ameyah
Reply
Ben Arthur (SongCraft)

My pleasure. Looking forward to hearing your remix!
- 9 years ago
- By: Ben Arthur (SongCraft)
Reply
Robbie Dee

Hi Ben. quick question, can I submit more than one version?
- 9 years ago
- By: Robbie Dee
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Robbie, That's a good question and one I didn't address in the contest rules... We haven't stipulated number of entries allowed... I'd suggest submitting no more than 3. Thanks & good luck!
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Darren

Hi, Ive checked the tempo of the audio tracks in Logic and Melodyne, and I'm getting 158 BPM. is 79 BPM correct? Or am I doing something wrong? Has anyone else tried to work out the tempo from the wave files? Cheers Darren
- 9 years ago
- By: Darren
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Darren, That sounds about right. If you divide 158 by 2 you get 79, which is the original tempo of the song. 158 would be the Garage/Drum N' Bass version :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Aaron

Just uploaded my remix! I'm really stoked on it! I spent a lot of time on the mix and master it, let me know what you guys think. This has been a fun contest/ remix to be a part of. Thanks MPV and McDSP!!! :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Aaron
Reply
Ben Arthur (SongCraft)

Thanks for putting your heart and soul into it, Aaron. Can't wait to hear it!
- 9 years ago
- By: Ben Arthur (SongCraft)
Reply
mockrock

Hi Just noticed your song and I am leaving it a bit late to start on your remix, but I only have patial download (just the intro guitars) on part 5 electric guitars. Also the link for the dry vocal has it expired? Many Thanks Ron
- 9 years ago
- By: mockrock
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Ron, It's never too late :) The downloads all work fine here. In the Sound Cloud downloader in this post... click on the name of the stem, e.g. "All Comes Down Bass" and then click the Download button, repeat this process for each stem you'd like to download. The dry vocals link: http://www.mediafire.com/?hat33daihgmihng downloads fine here too. Do try again :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
FurryToes

Can the remix be shorter than the original (3:40)? I might not need to make it shorter, but I was just wondering, incase I get to the deadline and I've got 2:40 done, would it be OK to make my arrangement cut where it fits? ;-) I would understand if it had to be the whole song - I just wanted to make sure.
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi FurryToes, Sure! The remix can be as long as you wish it to be. You can choose to follow the original arrangement closely and mix it differently, or create something completely different using some parts of the stems you like! Take a listen to some of the submissions above to get an idea of how others are interpreting the original song :) Good luck!
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
FurryToes

Thanks, I'd listened to a few but hadn't listened to Aaron's - which sets a high standard, I think. He took the vocals and ran with it - and made it over 5mins... so that's the sort of freedom I've decided to go with.
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Mike M

I've read to rules but just want to double check. Are there any restrictions on your level of experience, ability, or equipment? THanks, Mike M
- 9 years ago
- By: Mike M
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Mike! No restrictions at all :) Everyone is welcome to submit a remix regardless of experience, ability or equipment. Even if your entry doesn't win the grand prize we hope you learn and enjoy the remixing experience :) Cheers! R
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Muvicue

Hi there everyone! I just had to totally agree with that last comment! I don't normally write in the style that I did my remix in at all (I'm more a piano and vocals girl). The song ideas and melodies just came out of nowhere for me a couple of weekends ago and I just tried to go with the flow :) Because it was so new to write outside of my comfort zone, I learnt so much and had so much fun in the process....so thanks so much to everyone for putting this remix comp together!! :) Cheers Kat :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Muvicue
Reply
FurryToes

Still, note that the judges are the original band! This is not an insignificant thing to consider if you're looking for a place! - or even just participating, I suppose. Obviously these judges are musical and open to any sort of creativity but consider the original style of the piece, watch some of the videos and see what they like and what they appreciate (eg they left some human error in the original piano part to keep the "feel"). This would suggest, it does to me anyway, that even if you run away with an electronic dance-beat version, that you will probably need to make them feel like you've done their song justice. That taking away the human performance element, using none of the original chord progression etc may still win of course, but probably won't sit quite as well as something that, in a sense, "honors" their song. My mix is almost finished, and while I've completely taken it to a different place (changed chords, notes, replaced style, ripped whole sections out) it can be recognized as the same song... in a weird/fun kind of way. I felt that was important. Feel free to ignore these thoughts, it's still a great learning experience in any case. But that was my philosophy in re-mixing this, and I thought it was worth mentioning.
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Reply
beyC

It's funny I was just told that my intro sounded like Beat International - Dub be good to me 1990! I never heard that version of the song before:) Now that I have checked it out on youtube it is true!:) Oh wow! that's really interesting... That's what I would call "the collective unconscious" in music!
- 9 years ago
- By: beyC
Reply
FurryToes

Is all the judging done in one go at the end or incrementally? The reason I ask is, I know some competitions don't permit deleting of entries or updating them once submitted. Since, if the entries are judged as they come in, the judges can't keep track of changes. But it looks likes it possible in this one. I don't think I'd do it, as I'd lose all the views and confuse people, but it's probably worth me asking ;-)
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Reply
FurryToes

Just to be clear on that question. I'm asking, can we delete something we submitted and upload it again? In my case, I just made a few minor changes to sounds and made the volume a little louder overall and I probably would upload again, if possible. But I don't want to do it without permission ;-)
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Reply
FurryToes

I went ahead and "replaced file" in Soundcloud as I didn't realize you could do that! But even if you judged my original, it wouldn't matter to me anyway. I just wanted to make sure the levels were right for future reference. I didn't make any changes that almost anyone would notice.
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Mike M

I posted my roots rock version on Sound Cloud a couple of hours ago (11am Central Sat.) but don't see it on this page. It's in the group file in SoundCloud.com, but not here. Is there something I haven't done or am I not able to see/hear my own version on the MPV page? Just checking to make sure I did this correctly. Thanks, Mike M.
- 9 years ago
- By: Mike M
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Mike M, your remix is displaying fine here... :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Mike M

Got it thanks. I'm guessing it's a Safari issue as it works fine on Firefox. M.
- 9 years ago
- By: Mike M
Ben Arthur (SongCraft)

I hadn't checked on the remixes for a bit, and just wanted to say I'm totally blown away. We've already had 42 entries, and there are still another couple of days till the contest ends. Just fantastic work, all of you. Thanks so much for putting your heart into this. I'm thrilled, and I imagine Lauren is, too!
- 9 years ago
- By: Ben Arthur (SongCraft)
Reply
Aaron

Well, it's the day before the deadline and Like Ben said above, I'm blown away! All the remixes are really good, and it's amazing to me how different each one is even though their based on the same track. It just goes to show you how one song affects and inspires people in a different and emotional way. I think everyone is a winner in this contest but it goes without saying, good luck to everyone! :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Aaron
Reply
Jared N.

Just submitted my track. Finally! All Comes Down To You (Shallowgrey Remix). Had a real fun time with this.
- 9 years ago
- By: Jared N.
Reply
Jared N.

So I've uploaded my mix, and I can see it on the group soundcloud page, but not in the player of the contest page.
- 9 years ago
- By: Jared N.
Reply
LargerLife

Hi Iam a little late in the party, afer 4 days of producing mixing and mastering my Internet connection is bite me in the ass, especially uploading to sound cloud. I will put here a dropbox link, maybe is it not against the rules in this special case, maybe dropbox is faster than soundcloud upload. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8675979/Lauren%20%20Balthrop%20-%20All%20Comes%20Down%20%28HArtLife%20Remix%29%20Master.mp3 thanks, and follow me on twiterr @laszlo_galosi
- 9 years ago
- By: LargerLife
Reply
LargerLife

Yes dropbox was much faster, soundcloud is still stalled at 2%. Sorry for breaking the rules, but I wanna show this work to you guys.
- 9 years ago
- By: LargerLife
Reply
Michael

Really enjoying this! How strict is the "no more than 3" rule? I have a fourth idea, that I'd like to finish this evening. Btw, the contest ends at midnight, right? What midnight do you mean? I'm in Germany and midnight is 14h away... :-) Thanks!
- 9 years ago
- By: Michael
Reply
LargerLife

Finally Got the upload, after 1 hour the official due date. Enjoy.
- 9 years ago
- By: LargerLife
Reply
Rounik Admin

closing date for entries is midnight PST = 8am on 12th June BST. Good luck everyone!
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Michael

OK. Thanks!
- 9 years ago
- By: Michael
Hodyxia

Hey Guys & Girls Just to say good luck to everyone. I just wanted to say thank you again to all concerened for making these stems available. I'm new to this coming from many years of tub thumping in live bands. I get very little chance to track, overdubs etc so having these has really taught me a lot and got me off to a good start. It's been facinating to get a soundcloud account and listen to all the different takes on nicely produced song to and hook up with some of the mixers/Muso's. I think this could be the start of a different approach to my love of making music. [email protected] London
- 9 years ago
- By: Hodyxia
Reply
Rounik Admin

Hi Nigel! That's great to hear and exactly what we hoped to see happen through offering this remix contest! Big shout out to Ben Arthur and all at DubWays for providing the stems and concept, Lauren for taking the time out to listen to and judge the entries... ... and of course McDSP for providing these awesome prizes and all of those behind the scenes, including Steve H, Kim and Jackie for pulling strings that have made this all possible. We've enjoyed listening to all the amazingly creative and diverse remixes... so although there can only be 3 "official" winners in this contest... you've all made this a massive success!! We'll let you know as soon as possible who the winners are... and stay tuned to MPV and The Hub for more remix contests coming up! Thanks to everyone :) Rounik
- 9 years ago
- By: Rounik Admin
Reply
Mike M

Best of luck to Lauren and all who are judging the amazing entries. There are so many varied and incredible approaches I'm not sure where you would start. Maybe narrow it down to 10 or so and pick names out of a hat? Or make categories and pick winners of each category and then put them up against each other, kind of like a dog show. I do know one thing, this will take more than a day or two. Enjoy! MIke M
- 9 years ago
- By: Mike M
Reply
Pini

I had a great time with this and thank everyone for letting us enjoy this process...I don't have the best studio so mixing good tracks helps me improve as a mixer. I hope their are more contest to come! Aloha!
- 9 years ago
- By: Pini
Reply
Music4Contact

Hi guys! Well, I'm still really enjoying listening through the mixes!! How amazing that one song can be remixed in so many original and creative ways! Just wanted to ask....did I miss the link to the video that was going to be posted showing some of the favourites or is it not online anywhere yet? Very much looking forward to the next contest!
- 9 years ago
- By: Music4Contact
Reply
Ben Arthur (SongCraft)

Sorry to take so long to respond, but wanted to say that the response video is indeed up: http://www.macprovideo.com/hub/mpv-news/mpv-mcdsp-songcraft-remix-contest-reaction-video Also, in response to FT's question, yes, feel free to post your mixes on YouTube. We'd just ask that you credit Lauren and MPV :)
- 9 years ago
- By: Ben Arthur (SongCraft)
FurryToes

It might be too late to ask in here, but would it be within the copyright reservations for me to make a youtube video of the mix I did - with appropriate acknowledgements etc. I suppose if I "monetized" it, that would be classed as commercial use and then would be out of bounds...?
- 9 years ago
- By: FurryToes
Reply

Producing Lauren Balthrop

SongCraft 101