Debra Soule Remix Contest

Winner:

 

Prizes

The winning remix will receive a copy of Vegas Audio and one year's membership in the Loop Subscription Series. Sunhill Records will also provide a copy of Vapor as well as other goodies.

About the Contest

Vapor's producer, Chris Bintliff, has incorporated a load of unusual and multi-layered production tricks in the album, including backward play, human drum rhythms, swirling echoes, opera-rock blends, and distorted guitars. The mix they were looking for had depth of field, vocal clarity, punch, and tonal balance. Overall, the album needed to balance its high-tech components with its gritty, heartfelt emotional elements. And that's the task awaiting you, ACID remixer. Take the loops from Amen and create your own spin on the track, but retain its core elements. Remember - the Hypersound crew is very particular with what they want. Treat this remix contest as you would a professional demo submission, as per the label's specifications.

How to work your remix: if you don't already have ACID, download the free XPress version of ACID. Just click on the TOOLS tab to download ACID XPress, the free ten-track version of ACID, our award-winning loop-based music creation tool. Then download some loops - as many as you need to get started. In ACID, simply click on the sound you want, and paint it into your mix. There's no easier way to create real remixes than with ACID.

Once you've finished your mix, return to this page and click the "Upload My Remix" button. Submit your track and you've entered the contest.

About the Artist

What's a nice pop songstress doing in a place like ACIDplanet?

Here's the story: Debra Soule is one of the most sought-after radio and TV voices in the country. She's also knocked around with a few successful regional bands. But it's on her debut CD, Vapor, that she really cuts loose.

Vapor, on the Sunhill Records label, was put together at Hypersound Music & Audio Design, a St. Paul based commercial audio production company. They had plenty of experience recording commercials, but albums were something new. And, as Vapor came together, they realized they were onto something big. As their ideas for the album grew, so did their technical requirements. Small to mid-sized studios in the area couldn't handle it. The big studios were booked out months in advance, and cost too much.

So what did Hypersound do? Turn to the Internet, of course. It's s.o.p. in commercial production. Post your project requirements in the appropriate audio newsgroups, and make contacts. After only a few posts, Hypersound received inquiries from hot shots who had engineered Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilerra, the Beach Boys, and others. Some of the pros that mix late-night TV wanted in on the action, too. Seemed like this album was going to be hot.

Vapor's tracking was done in Vegas. Hypersound figured whomever they selected to mix the album would be a Pro-Tools guy, but no problem. Vegas plays well with others.

Hypersound narrowed the field to seven candidates. Each mixer received the raw tracks from the first few minutes of Amen, the track featured here. Hypersound knew what they wanted in a final mix. Amen has a dusty, gospel vibe but is backed with funky drum loops. Whoever would be selected to put together the final mixes had to retain this sound.

The demos came in. The Hypersound crew blind taste-tested them all, and chose one that really nailed the sound they were looking for. Get this: six of the submitted demos were done in Pro-Tools. One was done in Vegas. The winning mix? The Vegas one, 'natch. When put head-to-head with the same content, the pros feel that Vegas performs as well - or better - than the other guys.

You might know the winner - Rip Rowan, who runs prorec.com. He's a Vegas user from way back, and has been a dedicated advocate of our stuff for some time. Rip's Vegas chops really showcase the product effectively.

Which brings us back to Debra Soule. She's been compared to Sara MacLachlan, Tori Amos and Paula Cole. The early buzz on her debut disk is hot. Consider this an extensive preview of a fast-rising star.

So play like the big boys…download the loops to Amen and see what kind of mix you can put together. Take advantage of the Vegas Audio special we're running concurrent with this remix competition. You'll see that with Sonic Foundry tools, you don't need a multi-million dollar studio to create a track that sounds like a million.