MIX CHALLENGE - MC095 December 2023 - Winners announced

[SimaGT]

Hello again


So I realized (to late) that some of my automations in first round went nuts. I had few weird crushes in reaper, probably has to do something with few bridged x86 plugins. Excuses aside, i did some needed improvements on my mix.

Bigest one is that all my automations are better controlled throughout the track now, except in part 2 where I didn't change much. Decays of big verbs are attenuated abit so there is more clarity. 909 is more pronounced now as asked.

Acoustic guitars are bit "closer" than before . Few minor volume corrections here and there..


Good luck everyone and thank you for feedback!

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

[ari5to5]

Hi,

I'm glad my mix was included in the ones advancing to the 2nd round! Thank you @Christoph_K!

Revised mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1191o6p ... sp=sharing


I tried to address all the issues raised in your commentary (see below).


@ari5to5
Part 1 sounds nice in general. I’m not so sure if I dig the chorus effect on the guitars in part 1, the guitar should reflect the loneliness and the chorus gives it friends (removed it - also dialed back the echo and reverb on the "22 Intro GTR Parallel") The balance between the two guitar tracks leans too much towards the compressed one (it was a compressor added to the "21 Intro GTR" -I dialed the mix to about 20 %). Accordion is good. Vocals in general sound great, nice width and depth. Could be a little brighter in part 1 though (added fresh-air that is automated off right after the BV swell). The Brass-BGV Swell is too low (increased both by approximately 7 db). I really like the creative FX in Part 2. In the verses the reverbs on the leadvox are a bit too prominent (lowered by 4.2 db in the verses). BGVs in the chorusses („Is this the way back…“) are too low (increased DBL and the bv of the outro by 6 db - also lessened the reverb and added a deesser). The Farvox is great! GTR Solo could be more prominent in the beginning (increased by 1.45 db). One of the best drumsound in part 3 of all the mixes!

[shoma]

@all, @Mister Fox , @Christoph_K

My father's health has deteriorated for some time now, so my sister and I have to take care of him every day until the care situation is clarified. So unfortunately I won't be able to deliver a new mix for the second round.
Thank you (@Christoph_K ) very much for the positive criticism of my first mix. The desired changes would certainly be feasible, but unfortunately not in time for the deadline. I wish all participants lots of fun and luck in the finals!

Cheers

[Dodgingrain]

@Christoph_K If you feel so inclined, would you be able to pass along some feedback on my mix please? Kinda surprised I didn't make the cut comparing to the other mixes TBH, but everyone probably thinks that heh. I'm guessing I might have pushed things too far with creative choices and missed the mark on the heart of the challenge?

Hey @Wyku
To be honest, there are many mixes on par when it comes down to the lower places. And you still have to pick 12, how do you do that? When reviewing the mixes I started from part 3. If that part wasn’t in the ballpark I could sort out the best mixes quite easily. Your mix unfortunately just did not pass there. But to be fair, it’s hard to stay objective all the way down to the end. It’s also a matter of taste, that’s what makes mixing competitions hard and unfair, at least to me as a contestant. I have been through this too often. Sometimes the winner mix is just not my taste and I still find my mix better. So I keep on doing it. Hope that helps

Hi @Christoph_K Thanks for the reply! Interesting that you would start at Part 3 since that's arguably the least important part for capturing and maintaining a listeners attention for the song/mix quality before they hit the skip button heh. It might be the lasting impression though, if the outro drop out doesn't take that spot.

I listened to all the tracks while they came in throughout the entry period and went back through the Top 15 and I'm still struggling to find what was so egregious in Part 3 of my mix that would have sent it to the bin right away when comparing your notes on the tracks, which I agree with (i.e. a lot of balance issues, thing poking out too much/not enough, etc.). One thing I thought after I posted it was the snare could have been a bit louder and hoped to make a revision on that for the next round. *sad trombone sound* I'm not trying to be a dick about it as what's done is done, I'm sincerely curious what I could improve on. I hope you could/would listen to the mix in it's entirety as I thought I brought a lot of width and space to the song where a good number of other songs were flat and narrow, especially outside of Part 3. Might come in useful if you're a song provider again in the future too.

Hey Wyku, for what its worth here are my thoughts on your mix. Overall I think the levels, reverb and eq need some work in general. Those are hard to recognize until you've been mixing a long time or if you have a bad/untuned room to mix in. There is a bunch of clarity you can still get out of the mix. There are a couple spots I struggled with in my mix where I think your mix is better than mine. Ultimately though its the artist's opinion that matters but here are my thoughts:
- Intro gtrs have a high chuggy sound that is odd to me.
- Not a fan of the reverb on the gtrs at 1:30.
- vocal swell at 2:10 could be louder
- vocals are a bit lost at around 2:25
- there is an extra vocal part between 2:15 and 2:20 that isn't in the production rough
- reverb on clicky drum sound is a bit strange
- piano is pushed back to far around 2:50
- the transition at 3:05 lack impact
- the vocals "home home" are a bit muddy at 3:10
- hats at 3:06 to 3:3:45 are to loud
- drums are muddy after 4 min
- BGV's don't blend well at 4:15 (home home)
- bottle part is getting masked by the gtrs
- odd delay on home home around 5+ minutes
- drums need more impact

I guess my best advice is I don't know anyone who is good at mixing that hasn't been doing it for a decade or more. Give it time.

[njm255]

Thanks to @Christoph_K for taking the time to give feedback.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qhQOT1 ... sp=sharing

Here's the feedback I used for the revisions.

@njm255
Mix in general lacks width. Pan the elements more and make use of effects. The different parts all sound a bit similar, try to bring out the differences to keep the track interesting. The vocals in verse 1ff sound a bit harsh (too compressed, too much midrange etc.). Balance overall is good though. 909kick sits perfect with the rest. The snare in part 3 could be tucked in more. BGVs sound fine.

I kept it simple and didn't overthink it. Some delay fx were added to the guitars and the guitars and fx were panned to help widen the mix. For some reason the compressor threshold was way too low on the vocals so I just turned that down and backed down on the high EQ to keep it from sounding harsh.

[simola]

Hi!

Thank you for the opportunity and nice feedback

Here is my R2 version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kqtuX2 ... share_link

These are the things I addressed on the new revision version of the mix:

- Tried to get better balance in part 1 for the guitars and accordion
- Cleaned up the vocals in part 1 to clear mud and reduce the sibilances
- The BGV/Brass swell is louder now
- The cinematic percussion is louder now also
- Added more oomph for the 909 kick and cut out some boxiness in the 500Hz range
- The pumping HiHat in quieter all together
- Lifted the Bouzouki accents and panned them a bit differently
- Added some warmth for the whole track in the Master bus
- GTR solo is louder now
- Backed off the overheads a bit in part 3 and made the BG vocals a bit louder
- Backed off the tambourine

[rvalle]

Hey fellow mixers!

Here's my Round 2 version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DrOl2d ... share_link

I've only addressed the points put by @Christoph_K . I hope it's a better mix.
Thanks

[Mork]

Hey,

here's my R2 mix, based on the feedback. A little more 909 oomph, a little more home, a little bazouki sparkle, no amp on main guitar, less drive on intro vox and less bass riser thingy. The bass guitar sound I got is a little muddy, punky, rocky. I tried to cut it back (incl. gtr 1) without everything falling apart, but it is what it is

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lT4Sxc ... sp=sharing

@shoma all the best to you and your family!

[Mister Fox]

It's the 12th January 2024, 01:50 (UTC+1) - the 2nd Mix Round has officially ended.


STATISTICS

• Unfortunately, not everyone has sent in an edit, we therefore have 1 disqualification (@shoma had to step away due to time constraints / personal reasons)
• We have 0 Wild Card uses to advance into the next round (none available this month)
• We have 0 participants that decided on not to advance through the use of a Wild Card (none available this month)
• We have 0 submissions after the deadline
• We have 0 submission that could not be downloaded by the time of this post and are therefore disqualified (re-checked 12-JAN-2024 3:00 UTC+1/CET)

I will reach out to @Christoph_K and forward all entries/statistics sometime later today (Friday, 12-JAN-2024). Please 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. Most notably Songwriting Competition 077 "Community Scramble" (our yearly recurring Special Sound Design Challenge, genre: free to select).

Please also consider becoming a Song Provider. Our Song Pool is nearly empty yet again! No more material means no more Mix(ing) Challenges.


See you on the flipside.

[scottfitz]

Hey @ari5to5, love your mix. The reverbs for one sound amazing, could you tell me anything about how you achieved this very airy sound, which plugins, what settings, what EQ etc?
Thanks v much