The Remix Competition is Live!!
First, if you haven’t gotten the STEMs yet for the remix competition, what in the world are you waiting for?!?! This remix competition is bigger than ever, with amazing prizes from our sponsors who I’m going to be discussing later…..but mainly, this track is absolutely AMAZING!
The story behind Nikmind’s track is incredible. 8 months of work went into this one, and when it was finished, it was a stunner. The synth work was definitely profound, from the FM stabs that sit beautifully in the mix, to the flying lead that delays and flouts throughout the break and the drop. The quality of work here is evident in every piece of this song.
There are an infinite number of ways that you can take this remix, and we’re looking forward to all of the different iterations we get to listen to, and this judging session is going to be TOUGH. You all blow me away constantly with your talent, and this showcase is going to be more of just how amazing this community truly is, with phenomenal musicians. Best of luck to everyone!!
Please support our sponsors
Without the support of the sponsors, we wouldn’t be able to put together these prize packages, that are truly incredible. Winning just one of the prizes, is going to greatly increase the tools that any producer has available to them. This competition is MASSIVE! We are so lucky to have companies willing to partner with us and give their support to CVR and our label’s goal, to help educate and promote artists who just need that shot or someone to tell them they’re doing the right thing.
In order to keep these competitions happening, we need to give back to these companies, by supporting their products, and making sure they see the benefit to working with us. I’m going to be doing reviews of each of the prizes in the coming weeks here, but I implore you to go get on the mailing lists, sign up for the newsletters, and follow the social media accounts for these companies, and if you are looking for an additional tool to work on a track, I’ll make a couple suggestions on my favorite releases from them, that are not included in the prizes at this time (maybe in the future?)
Who are our sponsors
The Big guy!
IK Multimedia jumped on board with a tremendous offer, to allow us to send a hardware synth, anywhere in the world to the winner, but they aren’t just a hardware manufacturer. I personally jumped on their 25th anniversary group buy, and so I own just about every plug in and sound bank that they currently make. I also am the proud owner of the Uno Synth Pro, which has found its way into my workflow, by being an incredible sounding paraphonic instrument, that makes all the GRRS and Bleeps and Bloops you could possibly want. Their group buys offer profound discounts on incredible software that they offer.
Syntronik 2 competes extremely well with the likes of UVI Vintage Vault or Arturia Collection. It’s an absolutely stellar collection of synth sounds, that’s massive in its depth, but easy to navigate. If you don’t have an IK multimedia plug in, they offer a free version of both Sample Tank, in Sample Tank CS and Syntronik with Syntronik CS. For free, you can grab some great presets and sounds that will immediately fit into any production. The quality of the samples is top notch.
Keep an eye out for regular give aways of their tools like Black 76 and Classic Clipper, which I use all the time when I need compressors or clippers for getting my sound to that competitive level. Classic Clipper is one of my favorite plug ins, and commonly is found multiple times in my mixing sessions.
Our Veteren Sponsors
Cherry Audio has done a tremendous job of emulating the analog warmth of old models of synths. We’re excited to give away Elka-X, which is a rare synth to recreate. My personal favorite model of theirs is the Dreamsynth, with some absolutely unique features, that make the workflow easy to understand and incredibly powerful for any genre, from Tech House to Techno to Trance and DnB, it’s easy to make a sound that will fit in all the genres in between, and at $40, you could spend a LOT more on a different synth, and get less features. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to add to their synth arsenal without breaking the bank.
If you want to try out something free, and find out why people love Cherry’s UI, and have any interest in learning modular synthesis, VM Nucleus is right for you. The world of modular synthesis is vast, but VM gives you a quick introduction into CV controls, and clocks and LFOs in an easy to understand format, that can be fun just to sit and experiment when you have a few minutes and need inspiration.
D16 group has been with us from the beginning, and their generosity in regards to helping us launch this remix series, makes me one of their biggest supporters!
Their FX silver series of processes sound INCREDIBLE, while offering a clean and efficient UI that is pleasing to the eyes, and easy to understand what and why things are happening. The free Frontier limiter gets great press and reviews from multiple places on the interwebs, and if you don’t already have this in your toolbox, it’s an easy way to understand why so many people are raving about D16’s work, and excited to see what they come up with next. Go grab this free tool now.
Baby Audio’s plugins are typically very simple, yet hide a complex inner working, that help you get your sound exactly to the level you want it.
Their free tools are a must own in any DAW, as the magic switch instantly makes chorus’s fun, and full sounding. If you want to add some randomization into your workflow, hit the Magic Dice, and see what weirdness you can get by a push of a button.
Baby Comeback allows for interesting delays to happen in your production, with just a few quick flicks of a knob or switch on the front. Delays are one of the best ways to add space to your sound, and this baby has an adult size understanding of what it takes to make those spaces sound good.
The Newcomers
Abstrakt Music Lab was formed by Leo Lauretti, with the same goals as CVR. Leo is a master at sound re-creation with his youtube series, where he shows you how to achieve a similar sound to your favorite artists, but beyond that, he has tools that are available for any producer, including a weekly blog post, and 1on1 lessons that will help you get to that next level you want to be.
Get on his mailing list and get tips for growing your music career from someone who’s been in the industry long enough to show you the ropes. Watch his youtube channel and learn from one of the best at his craft today.
Label Radar is, at least in my opinion, the BEST way to submit your track to labels for their consideration. No searching for emails, no needing to track down the A&R person, just submit on the platform, and get instant access to the people you need to grow. They have a free subscription service, where you get 1 submission a month, and NOT taking advantage of this, means you’re missing out for no reason at all.
The Special Guest
Artistry Audio is a company I discovered when I was looking for fun and interesting Kontakt instruments, and boy have they not disappointed me. Their release, Scorpio, has an amazing library of sounds that come at you with power, and resolve, to blow away your listeners, with how raw, and dirty, yet refined granular synth engines can be.
There is no way that using this library is going to disappoint you in any way, I can personally guarantee it.
The reason for putting them as a “special guest appearance” is they were gracious enough, to let us give away a copy of their next release, that is bigger, badder, and better than ever! We’re not even allowed to talk about it yet, but once you hear the sounds that are coming out of this library, if it doesn’t blow you away, you have a serious case of hearing loss, and you should definitely see a doctor for that!
When I opened it for the first time, I never thought they would be able to make something 3 or 4x as good as Scorpio, but boy have they done it. It’s easily my new favorite soundback for Kontakt, and I’m not even allowed to say its name!!!!