MIX CHALLENGE - MC082 November 2021 - Winners announced

[RobertWalter]

I was pleasantly surprised I made it to Rouind 2. My ears are getting old (I even use hearing aids for conversation), so not surprisingly that my mix was to bright! I turned down some brightness, especially on voice and flute, but then the lead voice drowned so I notched some 3-4k up. I changed the panning of the choir to enhance the width. I put some rvb on, for example on flute, to get some dept. At the mix bus I used NOVA EQ for two dynamic dips (mid to low) to lessen some muddiness and a little dynamic enhancement to get some more lead vocal present in the loudest part of the song.

The link https://www.dropbox.com/s/xhky0ytpdn80s ... 2.wav?dl=0

Lots of fun already!

Rob

NB: I put a second compressor on some of the drums to get more punch towards the end of the song.

[Mork]

Hey,

thanks for the feedback and again for the great, great song!

I added some automation to bring the drums a tad down where needed. The drones came up a little bit. I added a delay to lead vox and some very subtle parallel SSL style compression to the mixbus (1.5:1, only 30% wet), to add a teeny tiny bit of density and glue.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A8xJue ... sp=sharing

[monjeco]

Hi, here s my mix for round 2.

Did some corrections to the low mid as suggested.

Also tried to make it more cohesive without adding more space to it.

Here s the link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IABR5A ... sp=sharing

thanks to the song provider again.

cheers

[Emelowsky]

Hi,

It is a pleasure for me to go to the 2nd round on the first try in the competition.

Listening to the comments about my first version, not much has changed according to the principle "do not touch what is good, because the better is the enemy of the good". That is why in my next version it can be heard that the drums are not as in the foreground as it was before, giving more space for the rest of the instruments that also play the rhythm section. As for the use of so much reverb in this mix, I assumed at the outset that due to the atmosphere of the track it would require a lot of space, so I didn't see it otherwise. As it turned out, I also missed the volume assumptions, now I tried to improve it.

I hope that this mix will be what the client is looking for and that you will like it.
Despite the final verdict, I had a lot of fun doing this mix and I will participate in subsequent editions as soon as possible.


Thi is my mix rev2:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ags2H4kkvaUahNswZrz ... Q?e=d9TD59

Enjoy listening!
Emelowsky

[Mister Fox]

It's the 19th December2021, 00:40 (UTC+1) - the 2nd Mix Round has officially ended.


STATISTICS

• Sadly, not everyone has sent in an edit (those being @MFTWC and @PauPeu)
• We have 2 Wild Card uses to advance into the next round (@Emelowsky and @KarlxVinten)
• We have 1 participant that decided on not to advance through the use of a Wild Card (@PauPeu)
• We have 0 submissions after the deadline

Please check your upload links again (I could download all files), and have an eye on this thread for more feedback and a possible Mix Round 3, or an announcement of the final results.



I'm now opening up the room (again) for Q&A's and giving each other feedback (which is highly encouraged)

Please check out all other games on the community.


See you on the flipside.

[Mister Fox]

A short update on @MFTWC's entry.

Technically, the entry was "in time", but sadly posted in the wrong thread. I hoped @MFTWC saw this slight mishap after my hint on "please check your links" (also see the newsletter), but that didn't happen.

The entry was posted in the Mix Challenge 079 / August 2021 thread instead. I saw it, and I have just moved it as well. Due to the forum engine working like it does, the post was "placed back" on the 18th December. I do not have any control over that.

However... technically, this entry was "not available" due to it being posted at the wrong place. In fairness to all other participants, It is therefore sadly "out of the game".




Regarding a possible Mix Round 3:

Should we have a third mixing round, this might probably happen after the holiday season. This will give all possible participants a chance to work on their material. The Song Provider and I will keep you updated on that topic.

[JanLefr]

@Naturecord
Dear Pål, could you give us a short update on how far you are into the Round 2 evaluation?
Not meaning to put pressure at all, take all the time you need! I was just wondering what the current state is, and if you can estimate an approximate time frame for your evaluation
All the best and a happy new year!
Jan

[Mister Fox]

@JanLefr - I can provide that update as well:

We're after the Holiday Season, and things are starting to pick up pace again. I already got note that Pål went through most of the material. But he wanted to take another fresh listen and decide on what to do for/after Mix Round 2.

I think we'll all see an update towards the end of the week. Thank you all for your patience.

[JanLefr]

Thanks for the update, @Mister Fox !
Looking forward to hearing from Pal soon :)

[Naturecord]

Hello everyone, and once again thank you for using time and effort to mix our song. The last mix round has been a thrill to listen to, and there are a lot of nice mixes to choose from.

We have loved to be a part of this challenge, but also see how much work is put into making it happen, and how hard it is to evaluate 70+ mixes in a fair way (Surely there is some great mixes that we have missed out on due to ear fatigue or other reasons, even if we have tried to be as fair as possible). Cudos to Mister Fox for fixing everything, and to other song providers for all the effort put in! This has been a chance to learn, and it has been an inspiration to listen to so many great mixes.


This round was very hard, and there were 4-5 mixes that would all deserve to be on the podium, maybe even on top. After listening again several times over time, the podium has been shifted around a couple of times. But it's like mixing, at some point you need to make a choice and go with it!

In the end we decided to not let technical issues rule the outcome too much, but compared to the last round, we put more emphasis on mixes that seemed to have a clear idea behind it, and also managed to execute it in a good way.

Our winner podium reflects this, and is made up of:

1. AN_DI P&R
2. JamesMusic
3. Mork


Congratulations, all your mixes had a nerve to them that we really liked, and were very inspiring for us to listen to

For this round the difference was of course much smaller than mix round 1, and it was not easy to make a choice. There are several mixes that also could have made the podium, and many of you have done a wonderful job. Thank you so much!



AN_DI P&R
Very nice effects in the opening session, bowed bass fits in very nice. Vocals are very nice, it does not feel too dry and not to verby. Nice transition to full band, and nice tonal balance. The bass and drum have a little much information, maybe due to monitors/listening environment? It's a minor detail, in a general very nice mix.

dnlptn
Very nice balance, and nice transition to full band. It feels very cohesive and tight. The end feels larger than life, with a lot of nice details. There might be a little too much happening in the mids/low mids that might be masking a little some instruments (bass/drums)? Also just small details in a very interesting mix, that is more cinematic than many others. The end is very nice in this mix!

Emelowsky
Great use of effects in the mix overall. Flutes and Vox are coming across very nice. I did have to turn it up quite a bit to balance it towards other mixes, but when we found the right volume to listen in, it sounded very good.The automation and pushing and pulling instruments in and out of focus works very well. I am guessing that the dense character of the mix will result in some masking and that that will always be a tradeoff. Nice mix.

Green-Dog
Very nice intro part, flagoettes are very nice. Transition into full band is also very good. Feels like a much cleaner mix than the last entry. Main vox is sometimes a little low in volume, but not a big issue. Maybee either a little more volume or some eq to let the main vox poke out a little more? The strings sound very nice in this mix.

JamesMusic
Super use of the bowed bass line in the intro, main vox also sits right. Very nice mids, maybe a bit more separation between bass and drums could help create an even clearer sound? The song has an overall nice flow, with a lot of nice automation. Sagas voice in the background towards the end sounds really magical! Really good ideas, and well executed.

JanLefr
Very nice intro, reverb is very nice and levels are good. Transition into full band is on the mark, and we really like how the bouzouki and main vox are playing together. We would not mind the main vox even a little louder, but still: It sits nicely in the mix. A very nice mix.

KarlxVinten
Very nice separation in the intro. All instruments and voices are there, and a nice overall balance. There is still a little lack of presence when the full band comes in, but much better. If I turn the full band part up a db or two it brings life back. In general there is a very nice separation in the song, and it flows along in a very natural way.

LCM!
There is something a little strange in the first seconds (a compressor with veeery slow attach or some automation kicking in?). The sound is a little boxy compared to the other mixes. Maybe some more top end, and some cuts around 6-700hz and 1500hz would make the sound a little more open? Nice balance between instruments and transitions, but overall it feels like the EQ is a little unbalanced compared to the other mixes that went to the second round.

monjeco
Flute has a slightly boxy sound, and could be a little more open, but comes across nicly. Main vox and guitars sounds very nice. It feels like there is a Mixbus compressor sometimes working a little bit too hard (very subtle), maybe it is reacting too much to some bass signal? In general a good mix. We like the choice to have only subtle reverb working.

Mork
Main vox sounds very good, and a very nice transition into full band. Lots of room for the vocal makes it pop nicely, and there is nice stereo spread into the interlude. We like how the choir in the end gets a lot of room. Very nice mix.

pabloAT
Nice effect on the bells in the intro. Main vox is a little harsh to our taste, but it still gives the mix a nice pop-like sound. This mix feels a little less "full bodied" compared to the rest of the mixes in this round. The guitars gets space in a nice way.

RobertWalter
A nice and a little different choice to give the back vox and bass take so much space in the intro. Main vox drowns a little when it comes in, and could have more space overall, the same with the flutes later on. When the full band starts playing, some energy is lost, and there seems like there is some masking going on. It sounds like there is a little unbalance between low and high end (could this be a monitoring issue?)

S&F
The effect on the flute in the intro... works A different mix, with a more rock/pop feel to it. The de-esser is working a little hard (as has been discussed earlier in the forum, maybe a cultural/language thing). There also seems to be a little overcompression, and maybe parallel compression going in. Compared to the other mixes in round two, it feels a little muddy, and lacking some dynamic range.


Thanks to all participants from both Mix round 1 and 2 from Canardus Horribilis, Saga and Naturecord