MIX CHALLENGE - MC37 October 2017 - Winners announced

[Coiled_Ear]

Sorry, fese, but i thought you should give us this instruction ( Call it vintage, if you like. Not too bright and modern) at the start of Challenge, not (a big spacious sound without being artificial, a lush but natural sound). Vintage sound never was spacious and lush. However - nothing personal) We are all different people.

[fese]

PS: Could i post my mix as part of my portfolio on Soundcloud ?

I have no problem with that. The collaboration (starting with the lyrics) was released under a "All rights reserved" license on kompoz, but I asked my collaborators for permission to use it for this contest, and they were OK with it.
So I think if you make clear that the song was part of this mix challenge and put a link to the challenge and the original project page on kompoz (https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/659459) it should be fine.

[fese]

Sorry, fese, but i thought you should give us this instruction ( Call it vintage, if you like. Not too bright and modern) at the start of Challenge, not (a big spacious sound without being artificial, a lush but natural sound). Vintage sound never was spacious and lush. However - nothing personal) We are all different people.

I kind of have to disagree that vintage cannot be lush and spacious - go listen to Dark Side of the Moon
But I agree that my description was maybe too open to interpretation, I'll make a mental note that I figure out what I want before the competition starts and try to describe more precise next time! Which I find isn't that easy even in my mother tongue...

[Arthur Labus]

PS: Could i post my mix as part of my portfolio on Soundcloud ?

I have no problem with that. The collaboration (starting with the lyrics) was released under a "All rights reserved" license on kompoz, but I asked my collaborators for permission to use it for this contest, and they were OK with it.
So I think if you make clear that the song was part of this mix challenge and put a link to the challenge and the original project page on kompoz (https://www.kompoz.com/music/collaboration/659459) it should be fine.

Thank you fese !
Of course - all credits and links will be there.
I'll send you the link to Soundcloud too.
Let's spread the word !

[HerbFelho]

Happy to be in round 2, thanks!
And also thanks for taking the time and critiquing, all good and valid points, I try to incorprate that for my R2 submission...

- the bass sounds too much like a Stingray to me, too much like a rock bass with the hi end slide sounds

that´s funny, in fact I play a Stingray 5 Bass for more than 20 years now! So don´t blame me on that, I can´t help it...

Cheers,
Herb

[OctopusOnFire]

OoF
- level and frequency balance seem good to me.
- main acoustic more panned
- AGuitarSolo a bit too piercing in the hi end
- as are the tambourine and shaker, more to the background.
- there is something in the lead vocals which bugs me, but I am not sure what. Maybe less 200-300Hz? A bit boomy?

Very glad to be in 2nd round!

Thanks for the feedback, I've got to clarify one thing, though:

- The main acoustic (not the solo one, I suppose), I widened it to open up space for the solo acoustic and voice, but it's panned dead center. I was envisioning a singer/songwriter playing the guitar and singing in the center. If you want me to pan it 50% left or right, for example, I'll have to make more adjustments. I have no problem doing it, just wanted to let you know exactly what kind of processing it has. If you just want me to move it "out of the way", I can try different approaches.

[EDIT] I'm not at home now, but later I can include a screenshot with the exact processing of the acoustic guitar, in case it helps.

Everything else is crystal clear. I'll play around a bit with the voice, because reverb and distortion is a big part of the voice's sound, so it's probably not just a matter of removing 2db at 250Hz, but something else, as you pointed out.

[Photonic]

Hello fese,

thank you very much for choosing me for the second round!
I followed all your commends. It was interesting to read that you hear a flanging sound on the acoustic solo guitar. I used no flanger, but the chorus option of the NastyDLA. So I removed this chorus and I reduced the amount of delay. And I reduced compression and shaped the transients a bit smoother. It should be more natural now.

MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qfwzk6t50b9so ... 2.mp3?dl=1
WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cydmtjp70ce8k ... 2.wav?dl=1

Good luck everyone!

[davemcisaac]

Hi fese,

I addressed all the issues you suggested in your critique - I "tucked" the lead vocals into the mix better, brought down the electric guitars & brought up the female bg vocals in the chorus, pulled down the bg vocals in the final verse, and toned down the acoustic lead a bit.

I also read through your other notes and applied more panning ("picked/strummed acoustic a bit panned" & "the electric guitars I think are best panned"), along with giving it a more "round and warm ... vintage" sound. I hope you like it.

Mp3 - https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code ... RVVuWb0IKy
Wav - https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code ... ev8m0btKPy

[fese]

Thanks for the feedback, I've got to clarify one thing, though:

- The main acoustic (not the solo one, I suppose), I widened it to open up space for the solo acoustic and voice, but it's panned dead center. I was envisioning a singer/songwriter playing the guitar and singing in the center. If you want me to pan it 50% left or right, for example, I'll have to make more adjustments. I have no problem doing it, just wanted to let you know exactly what kind of processing it has. If you just want me to move it "out of the way", I can try different approaches.

The "singer/songwriter approach would be totally valid, I just noticed that I liked the mixes where the picked/strummed acoustic is not dead center, I felt it distracted less from the vocals that way, especially during the chorus.

Everything else is crystal clear. I'll play around a bit with the voice, because reverb and distortion is a big part of the voice's sound, so it's probably not just a matter of removing 2db at 250Hz, but something else, as you pointed out.

OK, that was very unspecific, I listened to it again and I think it is actually a problem of the 150-300Hz region, especially on the lower notes. Compare it e.g. to the mix from photonic or DaveMcIsaac, much clearer in the low end.

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 2 days left to submit your edit for Mix Round 2