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MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Winners announced

Join the Mix Challenge - recurrence: February, April, June, August, October, December
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BenjiRage
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#181

Post by BenjiRage »

Once again thank you so much to everyone who has submitted a mix, it's been a pleasure listening to them all. Choosing the Top 15 was quite a challenge in itself, the final few places were really really hard to decide on and had a last minute change.

As promised, here is the feedback on all mixes. I've tried to keep things reasonably brief and not waffle on too much. If you'd like me to elaborate on any of the points I've noted on your mix, please feel free to PM me and I'll try to go into more detail if I can.
► Show Spoiler
Here are the Top 15 (in order of submission), who're through to Round 2:
► Show Spoiler
An additional overarching bit of feedback - the thing I found myself repeating most was "the synths need to be louder", by which I often mean synth 1 in particular. I do feel a bit like Christopher Walken asking for more cowbell :lol: but they're an integral part of the band's sound and really need to be heard just as much as the guitars. So to all those going forward please bear this in mind ;)
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Punchipum
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#182

Post by Punchipum »

hey, @BenjiRage , thanks for the feedback. This time I am a little surprised because I thought I had done well and that I was going to go to the second round but it seems that I was wrong. It's time to keep learning and practicing. Thank you very much, and congratulations to everyone who passed the round.
JeroenZuiderwijk
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#183

Post by JeroenZuiderwijk »

Thank you Ben! I'll be happy to use my wild-card for the second round. I already have got some ideas how to improve my mix.

And my compliments for the amount of work and time you must have spent giving feedback on all the mixes. Very detailed feedback! Great work.

Cheers,

Jeroen
Last edited by JeroenZuiderwijk on Mon Oct 30, 2023 13:09 CET, edited 1 time in total.
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Gertius
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#184

Post by Gertius »

Thanks for your feedback Ben!
It’s quite a feat to give feedback to all 80 participants, I was impressed that you decided to do that.
Even though I didn’t advance I am happy and grateful for this opportunity and to get your thoughts on my mix. I will keep your points in mind for my next mixes.
Thanks!
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fercobm
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#185

Post by fercobm »

Thank you for the feedback. It seems that I have focused on the sound of the drums and bass and have neglected the rest a bit (I am a bassist).
In any case, a pleasure to work with the song, next time I will try to improve the final balance.
Pitta
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#186

Post by Pitta »

Hello Ben! Thank you for the feedback. Very glad that I made it to the second round. I now face the challenge of bringing that synth 1 up. I kind of knew it was coming. It won't be easy to find space for it and at the same time loose the function I gave it in the mix. Vocal fx: My thought was to highlight the question/ansewr type melody and particullarly that vocal call before the entry of the more agressive and forward guitars on the "Don't panic!" section.
White Punk OD
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#187

Post by White Punk OD »

Thanks so much Ben, for all the hard work and the feedback.
I was a bit loose in my own judgement, now hearing what would have been important to you.
Trying to return a little feedback.

Synths would have needed from me thoughts, that a producer should have.
I had bussed all kb together and put a Focusrite channel strip on it.
When I mute them, the soundscape becomes definitely thinner.
But how can I make these parts more audible without ending up masking the guitars?
Either it might collide with the bass rhythms (left hand pattern), or with the guitars.
I might 1. carve out more frequency areas for the sake of the guitars, or 2. pick one bar here one there to put kb into the foreground so everyone knows it's there. For another mix in this house, I had painted a volume envelope into the kb, that emulated what a musician with the organ volume pedal would have done, improved a lot.
That's already a bit of arrangement work. Sure I would like to try something.
I mention it, because many comrades obviously had that difficulty.

I had lowpassed the vocals because there was still some fizz I disliked, but did it too hard. That's the issue, right?

Snare got only minimalistic treatment, seemed enough, and I did not feed it into the trackspacer (that had secured our kick impact). But a tweak with the hi mid knob probably would do the trick.
Did you find the cymbals "dangerous" in a number of mixes? Could it be that a different choice of mics would change that? I must confess that I wasn't super happy and did the crime to throw the SPL Vitalizer on it, which is notorious for overdoing.
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Mister Fox
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MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 2 until until 04-NOV-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#188

Post by Mister Fox »

Thank you for handling the evaluation, @BenjiRage.
This was one one the fastest handling we've had in the history of the Mix(ing) Challenge!

Ladies and gentlemen, let us kick off Mix Round 2, which will end on Saturday, 04-NOV-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

As of this moment, that is 5 days (plus the hours since @BenjiRage's announcement, and I've updated the post). All Mix Round 2 participants will be sent a reminder via mail shortly.


There is a GLOBAL COUNTDOWN available to check for deadlines.
Just follow this link: Global Countdown (on homepage)



The following 15 participants go into Round 2 (alphabetical order), with "Wild Cards" being pointed out (if present this month).
(all Mix Round 2 participants should have been pinged)

@45Garage
@Bonav
@Christoph_K
@DanialDevost (Wild Card)
@EmClrk
@Havol
@JeroenZuiderwijk (Wild Card)
@jules666
@LughSenderson
@m_tree
@Miłosz
@Pavel Nebesky
@Piranha
@Pitta
@trackerjack
.
 ! Bonus Info
Please read more about the "Wild Card" game mechanic here
Mix Challenge - Addendum: Statistic Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic

All Wild Card users are not only asked to apply the requested changes, but also to fix what they had at fault with Mix Round 1.

Please use the following filename template:
MC094__Pray_For_Hayden__Dont_Panic__ForumUsername_R2.wav

The feedback to the productions can be found here:
Please see post #181 for individual feedback.



If you are unsure what to do exactly with your mix, reach out to the song provider and engage in a conversation here on the forum.
And please keep the Rules and Guidelines (post #6) in mind regarding submitting your entry.
pabloAT
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Location: Chartrettes, France

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC094 October 2023 - Mix Round 2 until until 04-NOV-2023 23:59 UTC+1/CET

#190

Post by pabloAT »

Many thanks @BenjiRage for your useful, honest and quick (!) review of my mix.
Good luck to participants who did round 2.
Cheers,
pabloAT
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