MIX CHALLENGE - MC099 August 2024 - Winners announced

[Eastpark Sound]

Hi,
I am in Mix Round 2 and have a question since I am a first time participant.
Am I only allowed to change the suggestions by the provider or can I do some improvements that I find important, too?

Thanks, Hendrik

[JanLefr]

Hey everyone,

pleased to be picked for mix round 2 - hereby making use of one of my wild cards.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lyejew3j ... ok3c3&dl=0


I reached out to Isaac via PM to clarify some things regarding improvements for round 2 but unfortunately didn't hear anything to date.
As Isaac's comments were solely on vocal processing I hope it's save to assume that everything apart from the vocals was already more or less meeting his expectations.

So here comes my mix with the issues fixed that Isaac mentioned:
- vocal tuning fixed
- removed all +1 octave harmonys (simultaniously fixing the reason for me being tagged "disqualified" in round 1)
- As a replacement for the +1 octave harmonys in the chorus I adjusted the vocal effects to distinguish the chorus from the verses. (automated reverb and delay FX)

Other than that I only did minor changes in the general balancing and instrument treatment.

Good luck everyone.

edit: spelling

[Michael_K]

Hello and thanks to @Isa for advancing my mix to round 2.
I brought in the guitar a little with automation so hopefully it does not stick out.
Tried to smooth out the marimba by a combination of level reduction and a bit of transient shaping so we get more of the body.
The drums were brought down a bit and rebalanced for the new level.
I also backed off the mix bus compression a little bit and added back a bit more low end to the kick and bass, which I had taken out in the fist mix but thought I overdid it.
Round 2 mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TXKO3n ... fj1g2/view

Great challenge!!
Good luck to everyone!!!

[sthauge]

Hi

One of the important thing about these competitions is learning. They that go to round two always get comments from the song provider, but they that do not make it to round two, most of the time, get no comments. So I will try to comment on those who do not make it to round two and also asked for comments.

This is what first come to my mind listening to their mixes. This is my opinion, it is perfectly fine to disagree. Here we go:

@floodo

In general, it's too much reverb. In the start, the bass sounds like it's far, far away.

Bring the vocal forward in the mix. To me, it sounds like the drums are in front of the vocal.

The piano sound a bit 'honky tonk' but that's maybe what the song provider wants.

@DIVESPANNER

The mix is sort of indistinct in general. It needs to be brighten up so you get the vocals and the instruments out to the listener.

To start, the low end needs to be cleaned up. The kick drum was challenging in this song. Start to high pass a little bit to get rid of the rumble. Consider using a multi band compressor to get control over the low frequencies under 100 Hz, Beware around 160 Hz where there often are 'mud'.

The vocal seems to miss frequencies over 2.1 kHz

I have difficulties hearing the hihat and shaker.
Bring out the piano and reduce the reverb tail.

On the very end, after the instruments have stopped playing, there's an echo or something that should be removed. You can also hear it when the piano are playing at the end. So it seems to be present in the whole song.

@FADA

The vocal could need higher frequencies to bring it out to the listener.

Beware around 160 Hz where there often are 'mud'.

The trumpets could be brighter.

On the very end, after the instruments have stopped playing, there's an echo that I think should be removed.

[Mister Fox]

Let me quickly answer this question:

I am in Mix Round 2 and have a question since I am a first time participant.
Am I only allowed to change the suggestions by the provider or can I do some improvements that I find important, too?

Ideally, your focus should be on the client's wishes, yes. However, if you realized after listening to the mix again after the initial game round has ended that there are still some things that need some small tweaks you would like to do (e.g.: you were not happy with the reverb, or a certain instrument volume balance), then please go ahead.

[elements]

Hi

One of the important thing about these competitions is learning. They that go to round two always get comments from the song provider, but they that do not make it to round two, most of the time, get no comments. So I will try to comment on those who do not make it to round two and also asked for comments.


Hi @sthauge

I would love it for you to have a listen and give me a little feedback. Perspective is always a good thing.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uxogc877 ... kkb6z&dl=0

Cheers
VJ

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your edit for Mix Round 2.


So far, we have 6 out of 14 entries (technically 15, but one user has withdrawn due to time constraints), with about 18 hours left on the clock.

There will be no deadline extensions! Please get your edit submitted today. Please also pay attention to detail still.

[sthauge]

A couple of more participant that did not make it to round two is open for comments. I'll try my best to give feedback if I got time. Again, this is my views and it's perfectly fine to disagree. Here's the first one:

@RonChos

First, the mix is quiet, 19 LUFS, so you could make it nearly 3 LUFS louder without being disqualified. There's some spike transients in the mix that could have been clipped with a plugin to get it louder without compromising the dBTP.

I'm not sure how successful the reverb on the bass in the start is. The reverb is ''yelling'' so if you prefer to use it, reduce the amount and decay time.

The lead vocal is lisping, turn down your deesser. It could be some more upfront, especially in the transitions and it's somewhat ''behind'' the snare. There might be a good idea to pan instruments more to get them out of the way of the vocal so they ''don't fight for space''

The Guiro could be a bit louder so the vibration at the end is more audible. The shaker could be a lot more audible.

The kick was difficult in this mix. The hit on the kick is not even in your mix. It's nearly ok some places(sounding Bom, Bom), but not present other places(sounding om, om). Automation could be one option to make the track more even. A multiband compressor is another option... or maybe both. A compressor could be used to enhance the transients and help to transform the ''om, om'' sound to ''Bom, Bom''.

A general comment on drums: The drumset is one instrument. Balance the drums according to how it will be perceived if you where in the room listening to the drums. Examples: Are there an unbalance between the snare and hihat, how are your cymbals sounding to the snare and hihat. Are the toms to loud....... When you think the drumset is in balance, listen to it in the mix, is it still in balance or do it needs adjustments? If you adjust something in SOLO, always check it in context.

A tip: if someone get a track of an instrument that sound different in different sections of the track. This situation can occur eg. if the track is recorded in different situations. Make a copy of the track, edit the two tracks so you get one track with all the parts that sound equal and the other track with the other parts that's equal. Now you have two tracks that can be processed individually so when playing them together you're able to have a instrument that have the same sound throughout the song. Hope I explained this understandable.....

Your hihat and cymbals could be more present. The cymbals sound a bit muted/diffuse. They could sparkle a bit more, but do not overdo it so they become harsh.

The mix is to some extent wet, so it might benefit from reduced reverb.

A general comment on reverb: Make it somewhat even. What I mean with this is that it's not even if one instrument plays in a ''cathedral'' and another in a ''staircase''. This will sound weird, at least to me. If you use the reverb to make depth in the mix though, the settings will be different according to where you like to place the instrument in the ''room''.

[DIVESPANNER]

Hi

One of the important thing about these competitions is learning. They that go to round two always get comments from the song provider, but they that do not make it to round two, most of the time, get no comments. So I will try to comment on those who do not make it to round two and also asked for comments.

This is what first come to my mind listening to their mixes. This is my opinion, it is perfectly fine to disagree. Here we go:

@floodo

In general, it's too much reverb. In the start, the bass sounds like it's far, far away.

Bring the vocal forward in the mix. To me, it sounds like the drums are in front of the vocal.

The piano sound a bit 'honky tonk' but that's maybe what the song provider wants.

@DIVESPANNER

The mix is sort of indistinct in general. It needs to be brighten up so you get the vocals and the instruments out to the listener.

To start, the low end needs to be cleaned up. The kick drum was challenging in this song. Start to high pass a little bit to get rid of the rumble. Consider using a multi band compressor to get control over the low frequencies under 100 Hz, Beware around 160 Hz where there often are 'mud'.

The vocal seems to miss frequencies over 2.1 kHz

I have difficulties hearing the hihat and shaker.
Bring out the piano and reduce the reverb tail.

On the very end, after the instruments have stopped playing, there's an echo or something that should be removed. You can also hear it when the piano are playing at the end. So it seems to be present in the whole song.

Hi Thank you for taken the time to critique my mix it’s much appreciated with the low end think I’m over compensating for the lack of it in previous mixes I’ve also had hi hats too loud so I’m probably overcompensating for that too me I thought my track was too bright but I’m probably falling into the trap of not taking breaks enough the ending is a groove delay set to 4 echoes which I’ve automated throughout the track in the hope of getting a change in vocal character at certain points and automated instruments at certain times I prefer songs to have an ending of some sort rather than a cut or fade but appreciate this may not have worked as intended again thanks and I will look into your suggestions and hopefully improve on my next mix

[sthauge]

@elements

Lead vocal could sound a bit more natural in the parts where you don't have added effects, try subtract one or two dB around 1.9 kHz(broad Q). Make it more upfront.

General information: Remember there's three freq that's problematic: 160 Hz, 620-640 Hz and around 2 kHz, so always pay attention to those freq.

A tip(but don' tell anybody ): you can make the vocal almost as upfront as you like by doing some parallel compression. Send the vocal to two buses. Put a compressor on one of them. Ratio 1.9, attack 30-32 ms(this will let the consonants thru), release 40-50 ms, threshold adjusted so the compression varying on the meter from 0 to around 4 - 5 dB(be careful, not to much), no makeup gain. Now you should be able to place the vocal anywhere you like and the volume accordingly just by adjusting the two bus faders to each other. Start with uncompressed bus at 0 dB and fade in the compressed one. You might like to adjust the release to your liking's

The kick is anonymous, It could stand out more, though the song do not ask for a kick ''in your face'' type of kick so do not overdo it. Emphasis the hit more as well. The drums could be more audible, but not to much. Loud drums do not fit the song(my opinion)

General information: A known technique is to place a compressor on the bass track and sidechain the kick into the compressor, so that the bass is ducked a very short time when the kick hits. This technique can bring out the kick without making it louder. This could also be a god thing to do if you have a bass player that do not play precis.