Adrian Rogowski wrote:
This is a really good point. And one that I feel we have too often neglected. The voting should be based on the quality of the composition and not how well the mix was, cause then yes, it will drive away those less experienced in good EQ and compression techniques etc. However, having said that, I too was one of those who was less experienced in those fields, and only recently (and thanks to this forum) have I stepped up my game with regards to production quality. However, despite the difficulty, we need to focus on the challenge themes and not how good the mix sounds
It's a bit of both, I think. I've learned a lot about writing, recording and mixing a track through some of these challenges. I like to think I've gotten better at it, so there is that.
Is it "unfair" to vote for an entry which was clearly recorded in 60 seconds, once-off, with no processing and sloppy playing but which has great ideas and communicates with you personally? Over another entry which somebody obviously put hours of work into, but is just a bit more generic-sounding overall? Or how about entries where there are other musicians / band members contributing to the track, against tracks put together by a single person?
Like Don says, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. Just opinions. And when there are only 3 entries out of a significantly larger active membership, you don't want to get too picky about what people should or shouldn't be doing in their contributions.
