MIX CHALLENGE - MC101 December 2024 - Winners announced

[White Punk OD]

Hello @Mellow Browne, Mr. Fox, and fellows.

Thanks to Patrick for the sensitive, detailed comment.
Here is my R2, basically I followed the suggestions.

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


Refined the kick, added AirWindows Point! which is some kind of compressor and exciter.
Some tweaks in the 808 bass. Lowered sustain with a transient designer.
Hihat was too loud, reduced level and HF band.

Piano track got doubled, the new one is panned left, and has some different EQ.
Just a nuance, but plays into the stereo reverbs.

Bells got refined with a transient designer and some hi shelf EQ,
then the whole melody and instrumental track got a FET EQ that colors it up a bit and makes the sounds longer.

Vocals beefed up with Blackbox HG-2 for presence.
Additional vocals, levels corrected, some were too loud.

Autotune Track, the tuner now has softer settings, so it does not make that much of a "Cher" effect but improves the pitch.
A very subtle track with multiple voices was laid under this, for some thickening.
Basically, that vocal and the gun shot have the same 3-dimensional settings, "cineastic" scene outside in a narrow lane or perhaps parking lot.

Did a little beat mute (includes 808) at the suggested place. Goal for this was, that intensity with the riser sound is smoothly integrating in the flow.

Thanks, have fun, let us see what happens.

[Alex Van mixland]

Hello,
Thank you for the feedback and choosing my mix!
Here is my mix for round 2:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vb1vSu ... sp=sharing

It has now better balance and overall more colors.

Cheers!

[Mister Fox]

It's the 10th January 2025, 00:10 (UTC+1) - the 2nd Mix Round has officially ended.


STATISTICS

• Unfortunately, not everyone has sent in an edit (I count 13 out of 15), we therefore have 2 disqualifications (@Drannob and @Mitchellpmusic didn't submit anything)
• We have 1 Wild Card use to advance into the next round (@Shubhashish)
• We have 1 participants that decided on not to advance through the use of a Wild Card (02 were available this month, @Drannob didn't use a Wild Card)
• 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 10-JAN-2025 0:05 UTC+1/CET)

I will reach out to @Mellow Browne and forward all entries/statistics by sometime tomorrow (Saturday, 11-JAN-2025). 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 our Songwriting Competition - which is currently still in the submission and "work in progress" feedback period.

Please also consider becoming a Song Provider. Our Song Pool is running dry! No more material means no more Mix(ing) Challenges. The genre is not important -- but it must be a finished production.


See you on the flipside.

[Mellow Browne]

Hello all,

thank you so much for participating in Round 2, I'll evaluate your mixes in the next few days.

Also, thanks so much for the nice and detailed chats in the background I had with some of you guys, you did me a huge favour with this and I obtained really interesting informations. This will help me a lot and I'll put some of that into my personal notes for this mix challenge!

Cul8a,
Patrick

[Mitchellpmusic]

Hello everyone,

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o0hyv74x ... 0ow8b&dl=0

I apologize for my late response and I know it can't be accepted but I still wanted to upload since I did go through all of my feedback, made adjustments and was extremely excited to get a shot at Round 2. I am currently out of town and having multiple delays with my flights back home due to severe weather conditions and I’ve now gotten sick from a stomach bug or food poisoning This was my first mix challenge and I did go through all the rules, regulations, and past posts but l'm still learning the ropes so again, my apologies.

Thank you so much Mellow Browne for all of your in depth feedback! I think your notes greatly improved the mix and I know that Focal sound you are talking about haha! I was excited to hear that you loved the extra beat mutes that I added as well! I know the rules said we didn't need to but it felt so right after adding them hahaha.

Overall for my mixing technique, I take my time carving things out and making room for each element. I'll make each group (drums, bass, vocals, music, etc) sound great on its own and then slowly put things in to make them fit together. After I get everything to a good spot and essentially mixed I'll go through with effects and create moments and scene changes to give the song movement and feel. I try to separate editing, mixing, and creating effects into different days or at least different sections of the day because I can easily get burnt out sitting for hours at my desk. I've found that splitting things up also helps me to stay creative without risking losing the vision for the song.

Again, I'm really sorry for my late submission and even though it can't be accepted I hope you and the other forum users are able to get some value from my post. Thank you again and a huge thank you to Mister Fox. This platform and community is exactly what I was looking for when I found it and it is a fantastic opportunity for us engineers! Like I said in my first submission, this was my first mix challenge, and it definitely won't be my last. I'm beyond excited to be a part of this community and can't wait for what is to come!

[White Punk OD]

Meanwhile, to bridge the silence,
I would ask for a conversation about the various sampler and keyboard instrumental tracks, including bells and risers.

How meticulously should they be automated and refined soundwise?
How much detail do we want to hear, and which detail? I followed the suggestions and made the bells more audible with some presence and high transient boost.
In Rap it happens that the artist picks a beat that is quite low-fi and was not worked on for too long, then requests "more cowbell (or 808)" and this is it.

How loud and distorted should the mastered final product come out, we need to prepare the master bus and emphasize the kick and beat sounds, so that it can be achieved.
I was careful with the beat, because it should sound clear and polite enough right now, to not blow the speakers that come with the little SEAT, or the home hi-fi. Some folks have 2000W woofers in their cars and you hear them coming from a mile away.
So, some tracks in this genre come with wild distortion and clipping, but I don't have the expertise or dedicated experience for this.
---

But for more fun, I can share my vocal chains in detail.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

verse:
(A) ERA6 Plosive remover, bx_cleansweep pro (steep 110Hz low cut), TDR Nova GE (room mode and mic ringing clean-up), ADT (airwindows, Haas Delay), Bettermaker BM60 (Lexicon ambience), Amek 200 console, TinyQ -0.5dB at 3k.
-- this was printed without the delay and the reverb, and used for B.
(B) parallel mult: vocal doubler (iZotope, amount 77, separation 67, variation 50), ADT (somewhat longer delays than A), BlackBox HG-2, BM60.
B has about 6dB lower level than A, but this is a very raw estimate because the console EQ changes level impression a lot, and I didn't activate meters to check that out for a precise reporting.

The BM60 has low CPU load so I can avoid an aux bus and used somewhat different settings in the insert instances. Seems to work well.

Hook:
1 - o.64 right, 2 - o.8 left, 3 - center.
2 and 3 got Nova GE "smart ops" for auto-cleaning (similar to Soothe).
same level all 3 but Nova makes a level difference.
Hook BUS:
SSL 4000G (so we get a different flavor between verse and hook), BM60 (room not plate, lenght = position 2 not 1), HG-2 (presence boost), TinyQ with a proximity-trick setting + anti-fizz lowpass.

Note that some compression is active in the channel strips, but basically, the Nova GE spares a lot of "dumb" compression in that it compresses 6 auto-selected bands that have annoying level changes, ringing, wailing etc. so we can then tweak these 6 to our taste.

BTW
sorry I should have leveled up the vocals 1-2 dB but I was late and did not check twice. My bad. It's caused by inserting the compressor to the instrumental bus.

[scottfitz]

Meanwhile, to bridge the silence,
I would ask for a conversation about the various sampler and keyboard instrumental tracks, including bells and risers.

How meticulously should they be automated and refined soundwise?
How much detail do we want to hear, and which detail? I followed the suggestions and made the bells more audible with some presence and high transient boost.
In Rap it happens that the artist picks a beat that is quite low-fi and was not worked on for too long, then requests "more cowbell (or 808)" and this is it.

How loud and distorted should the mastered final product come out, we need to prepare the master bus and emphasize the kick and beat sounds, so that it can be achieved.
I was careful with the beat, because it should sound clear and polite enough right now, to not blow the speakers that come with the little SEAT, or the home hi-fi. Some folks have 2000W woofers in their cars and you hear them coming from a mile away.
So, some tracks in this genre come with wild distortion and clipping, but I don't have the expertise or dedicated experience for this.
---

But for more fun, I can share my vocal chains in detail.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

verse:
(A) ERA6 Plosive remover, bx_cleansweep pro (steep 110Hz low cut), TDR Nova GE (room mode and mic ringing clean-up), ADT (airwindows, Haas Delay), Bettermaker BM60 (Lexicon ambience), Amek 200 console, TinyQ -0.5dB at 3k.
-- this was printed without the delay and the reverb, and used for B.
(B) parallel mult: vocal doubler (iZotope, amount 77, separation 67, variation 50), ADT (somewhat longer delays than A), BlackBox HG-2, BM60.
B has about 6dB lower level than A, but this is a very raw estimate because the console EQ changes level impression a lot, and I didn't activate meters to check that out for a precise reporting.

The BM60 has low CPU load so I can avoid an aux bus and used somewhat different settings in the insert instances. Seems to work well.

Hook:
1 - o.64 right, 2 - o.8 left, 3 - center.
2 and 3 got Nova GE "smart ops" for auto-cleaning (similar to Soothe).
same level all 3 but Nova makes a level difference.
Hook BUS:
SSL 4000G (so we get a different flavor between verse and hook), BM60 (room not plate, lenght = position 2 not 1), HG-2 (presence boost), TinyQ with a proximity-trick setting + anti-fizz lowpass.

Note that some compression is active in the channel strips, but basically, the Nova GE spares a lot of "dumb" compression in that it compresses 6 auto-selected bands that have annoying level changes, ringing, wailing etc. so we can then tweak these 6 to our taste.

BTW
sorry I should have leveled up the vocals 1-2 dB but I was late and did not check twice. My bad. It's caused by inserting the compressor to the instrumental bus.

Hi White Punk,
In terms of mastering if you ask the question "how distorted should it be?" the answer is always "as little as possible" If you are asking how loud should it be? There isn't a simple answer to this, however one way to get yourself an answer that would have some validity would be to take the top 3 best selling trap genre records of the last 5 years say and take the average of the loudness. I don't think this is a good use of time however. I imagine that in the real world, each project will have it's own specific requirement. One client will want it stupidly loud and so you'll make that one loud, another client will want it at the Spotify loudness of -14 LUFS or whatever it currently is. Another client might ask you to recommend how loud it should be. My answer for how loud should something be is that it should be as loud as possible without me noticing that important dynamics have been lost. At which point this is, will depend on the material. For me I think -8 LUFS which seems to be a standard for many people is just too loud, the music is always significantly compromised. I personally like the level that the Mix Challenge goes to I think music doesn't need to be any more than -16 LUFS and I think we should live in a world where intelligent people rule and users are encouraged to use their volume controls if they would like their music louder. The loudness war is as stupid as the fake beauty war, imagine women having more and more and more cosmetic surgery and constantly claiming that they are becoming more beautiful.

[White Punk OD]

I think the general thoughts have been discussed enough and written knowledge is available in abundance.

Let me reframe:
I made a "radio mix" to translate on several smaller devices.
Who did make a "club mix" consciously?
In my limited knowledge and monitoring, I'm not making a club mix anytime soon,
and I think requirements can be targeted as an instructive part, by those who have the ambition,
according to the type of material we have particularly in this season of the tournament.
What will be the particular choices and requirements of the song provider, now that we have a pool of results?
Is it possible with this track, to hit two birds with one stone?

[Mellow Browne]

Hello everybody,

thanks again for participating and making adjustments in your mixes for Round 2. It was a nice experience to listen to your 2nd revision and I even learned more things. This time my feedback is not so detailed like in Round 1 simply because there are less flaws in most of the mixes.

So, here is the feedback:

► Show Spoiler

Alex Von Mixland: -17,9 LUFS / -3,8 TP

+good gain staging
+bass works on my system and everything (the beat) is well controlled
+main rap vocal is the „star“ of the mix, it really shines
+add lips are audible now and bells are not so wide in the stereo field


-mix of the beat is a tiny bit dull imo, the „background“ elements sound a bit muffled, but I understand, you cannot have every element in focus. You sacrificed some sparkle of the bell element which is the main instrument
-the room around the main vocal is a bit too large imo (from a 3d or top to bottom perspective. I hear more of the reverb than the contour of the 808. Pulling that reverb back a bit (send fader) would open up the sound stage a bit more imo. The reflections of the reverb are very light but still „very“ pronounced and it does sound bigger than the beat on my system. I hope you understand what I mean by that
-pistol sound is barely audible and has no impact
-strange „under water“ effect transition at the end of the 2nd verse, not sure if I like that

I like that you controlled the bell element by bringing it more to the center. Also, the add lips are „playing“ their role now. The only two things that bother me a „bit“ is that the beat sounds a bit dull, I see in MMultianalyzer that you tamed the area between 2,5 kHz and 12 kHz compared to the first mix. I have the impression is was just a bit too much, I see a difference of roundabout 5 dB from 3,5 kHz to 6,5 kHz in your mixes. I think the bell element would benefit from a more airy sound exactly in that frequency range. But in general, you did a good job with your R2 mix, you improved it a lot imo. Bravo! Thanks for your effort.

———————————

Christoph_K: -16,4 LUFS / -1,8 TP

+you managed the distortion of the 808 a lot
+you managed to control the low end
+the kick sounds good now, it doesn’t have that hard and stiff „knock“ sound anymore
+gain staging is good, also the sound stage is interesting
+I like the controlled mute of the reverb automation in some sections
+nice dry in your face vocals
+interesting pan effect on the „low bells“

-although the 808 has a more controlled fuzz I’m not sure if I like that tone. But you definitely got it to a sound which I enjoy a lot more than before.
-the beat „stutter“ effect makes the beat louder, I have the impression there is a siginficant increase of energy in this section
-I have the impression the decay of the reverb is very long
-unfortunately, the panned „low bells“ are barely audible in mono which takes away some tension imo


First of all you managed the 808 fuzz, the low end control and you brought the bell element to a more central role. I can hear a good amount of reverb in the hook coming from some instruments. I have the impression the hook is a bit washed out with reverb and I am not sure if you used several reverbs for the „hook“ beat elements. My impression is that the decay is really long, also from the „yuh“ in the hook. I cannot hear a distinct stop of the reverb you added to some instruments, it’s more like some reflections are overlapping. Especially the low lead is very drown in reverb. This gives me this super long tunnel effect in your sound stage, which is interesting but also not so focused as I would like to hear. This makes things a bit „loose“. But overall, this mix is much more enjoyable than your first try. You did a good job on tackling the things I mentioned in your feedback. In MMultianalyzer I can see that you tamed the sub region from 20-50 Hz, you slightly pushed the area from 70-250 Hz to give more focus on the beat and you decreased the HF energy from 5 kHz by roundabout 2 dB which makes the sound warmer and more round overall. Good job!


————————————

dstra: -16,2 LUFS / -1,0 TP

+you managed the sizzling hi hat
+you managed the reflections of the vocal reverb
+you managed the reverb of the clap
+your low end works on my system

-room around the vocals is the „tallest element“ from a top to bottom 3d perspective in your mix
-kick and 808 could hit a bit harder imo
-filter automation at the end of the beat is a bit too „heavy“. The edges of the filter are very pronounced and they have an impact on how I perceive the beat from a top to bottom 3d perspective. The filter makes the beat a bit taller overall than without in this short section.

I like that you tackled every point I mentioned in your feedback. The mix sounds much more controlled and the drums have a more cohesive overall sound with less audible reverb on the clap. The one thing I still find a bit „problematic“ is the reverb on the main rap part. The reflections are much more controlled, I still have the impression the amount of reverb is a bit too much. By pulling the send fader down by 2dB or so would embed the vocal a bit more into the beat.
Still, you did a good job and your mix sounds more professional now to my ears. Biggest difference I can see in MMultianalyzer is the HF area between 3,5 kHz and 8,5 kHz which is decreased by roundabout 1.5 dB. This makes your mix rounder and fuller overall. Good job!


—————————————

Green-Dog: -17,0 LUFS / -1,1 TP

+gain staging is better than in your first mix
+the overall balance has improved a lot imo

-808 is a bit weak and not so audible on my system, also the tone is slightly different, it has an emphasis on high frequencies
-main vocal still has a certain edgy sound, you managed some of the clenched teeth sound, there is still something left. There is a certain girth I don’t enjoy so much
-beat could be a little louder in context imo
-hook has less impact and loudness than the rap part
-add lips could be a little bit louder imo


Main things I can see in MMultianalyzer is the sub region which is a bit more controlled and the area from 150-400 Hz. In your first mix I could hear more impact from the 808 but overall your 2nd mix sounds much rounder, the hihat is not sizzling anymore and the overall sound stage has improved. Imo the beat could be a bit louder in context and the 808 could hit harder. Also, the add lips are a bit shy imo. Still, you did a really good job with revision numero dos. I chose your mix for Round 2 because it had some features I liked. And I was very curious if you could fix that clenched teeth sound. You were able to bring it to a more enjoyable level, I still hear some of that energy is left. I’ll be honest, your mix wasn’t my first choice for the last spot in the Top 15. But I repeat myself, your mix has really improved compared to Round 1. I appreciate your work and effort. Good job!

—————————————

kombainera: -18,0 LUFS / -1,6 TP

+your mix has more low end than the first one
+interesting transition at the end of the 2nd verse
+deessing has improved
+volume between rap and hook has improved a lot

-added 2nd snare is still too loud in context imo, the reverb is less reflective overall. But, it’s the loudest mix element I can hear on my system. It is the thing that sticks out the most and is the tallest „element“ from top to bottom 3d perspective
-add lips could be a bit louder
-the vocals are lower/ the beat is louder in volume compared to the first mix which brings everything a bit better together, but I’m missing the energy of the rap part from mix #1


In MMultianalyzer I can see that your mix tilted towards the lows from roundabout 200 Hz. This makes the mix more round and everything is closer together now. You managed the volume differences from verse to hook and also the low end has more impact. I still find the added 2nd snare too loud in context and the reverb is also too audible imo. But your mix definitely has improved overall. Good job!

—————————————

Martial.Levesque: -16,4 LUFS / -1,8 TP

+nice in your face vocals
+you managed the sibilance in the hook
+the overall midrange energy from 500 Hz to 4 kHz is more audible and adds more depth and attitude to your mix
+main clap is more audible now

-I find the low bell very prominent in the mix, all other beat instruments are not so audible because of this
-something happens at the end of the song with the lead, like an automation or something. The tail is more sustained compared to the original, not sure if like that effect
-hihat is still prominent and louder than the clap, it’s not as sizzling as before though

In MMultianalyzer I see more LF energy below 70 Hz but I cannot really feel it. You added some midrange energy from 500 Hz to 4 kHz which adds a good amount of detail overall but this energy is overpowering the low end. But overall, I think your mix has improved. Thanks for your effort!

—————————————

MFTWC: -16,5 LUFS / -1,1 TP

+you managed the feedback of the choir element, nice how it blends out at the end of verse 1 right before the hook
+I can hear you left some of the delay clap in the verse
+I like the atmosphere of your mix, it has something mysterious and dark
+interesting, the piano is panned to the left but only for the intro

-808 is a bit weak when all elements are playing

There is a slight metallic atmosphere over the beat which I really like, especially in the hook and at the beginning of verse 2. You mixed the song in a way that absolutely matches the sound asthetics from my point of view. At the same time you made it in your own unique way. My ears are very pleased by your mix, I really like it. You had a very good feeling what the song was asking for and with some small adjustments I think your mix came out really good. The only thing I would say is that the 808 is a tiny bit too weak, but that would maybe change how things are positioned in your mix, so I’m fine with this. You did a superb job. This mix sounds really great on my system and also on small devices. In MMultianalyzer I can see a small boost of 2dB between 2-4 kHz and a reduction of roundabout 3-4 dB above 5 kHz. Bravo!

————————————

Michael_K: -16,5 LUFS / -2,0 TP

+I like the 808 sound, it has a nice bounce to it on my system and a warm controlled sound
+the room around the vocal is very interesting, blends nice into the beat and the amount of wet signal is just perfect
+funny pistol effect, multiple shots
+nice integration of the autotune part
+the overall atmosphere is pretty cool
+cool transition right before the last hook

-I don’t like that pointy kick sound, I find it to sound exagerated in the high frequency area, although the kick/bass relation is actually pretty good in your mix
-There is a tiny bit of „S“ and „F“ power in the mix, especially in the hook. This is what I meant when I said the recording sounds slightly coloured to my ears. Maybe I was just too close to the mic while recording

Your mix sounds great on my system, it has a nice depth and the energy is really good. Gain staging is optimal and it’s fun to listen to your mix, I enjoy it. The only two things I find problematic are the following: I don’t like the sound of the kick at all. It has that pointy stiff „knock“ sound with lots of high frequencies. The character is imo pretty far away from the original. The other thing is the slightly aggressive „S“ and „F“ sounds in the hook. I tried the following setting with TDR Nova to tame the sibilance:

Bell Type:
Q: 6
Freq: 8,2 kHz
Thres: -7,2 dB
R: 2,0:1
Att: 0,1 ms
Rel: 10

Apart from this your mix works good on my system. Good job!

————————————

Mork: -16,3 LUFS / -1,1 TP

+very interesting filter intro
+atmosphere is really cool
+I like the filter automation, everything is smoother and much more controlled now
+I like the vibe of the piano
+nice integration of the autotune part
+the reverb of the main rap is well integrated, the blending is great
+you did some interesting things in the background like „volume automation“ for some instruments etc.

-the vocals are not boring, but I’m missing the hype a bit. The overall volume is good and everything. I’m not really sure why this is my impression. They are a bit on the dull/boxy side but at the same time I still can hear a good amount of 8kHz power and energy which wants to be controlled.

Your mix has a nice vibe, your interpretation of the song is really cool and unique. I think your mix has improved a lot.
I tried the following with TDR Nova to tame the HF energy and boxy/dull vocals:

Band 1 bell type:
Q: 4,02
Freq: 7,9 kHz
Thres: -6,4 dB
R: 2:1
Att: 0,10 ms
Rel: 10 ms

Band 2 bell type
Q: 2,80
Freq: 5,6 kHz
Gain: +2,2 dB

Really, you did a good job. Your mix sounds, apart from the „dull“ vocals, good on my system and on small devices. Bravo!

—————————————

Rchm.Music:

INFO: check your filename for Round 2!

I’m honest, your 808 sounds absolutely bad now, it reminds of a detuned fart. I even hear it when I bypass the subwoofer on my main system and also on small phone speakers! I don’t want to be rude, but it sounds totally different than in your first mix. There are some foul harmonics, absolutely out of key and not musical at all. This really kills your mix. Why did you change things in this area? Next time you should just add more gain to the low end. I can tell you were messing in a frequency range which you obviously cannot hear correct on your system or your ears were somewhere else in this moment. You didn’t say in detail what yo did (I suspect a subharmonic exciter), but I don’t recommend you to do this in the near future unless you add a subwoofer or change speakers (or learn how to listen to this specific tool). This makes it really hard for me to listen to your mix and give correct feedback, it feels like a real bummer to me! I had hopes in your mix, but this is the mix I can enjoy the least. Your first mix had nice features and the sound stage was promising. But revision #2 is simply a fail. You still did a good job with your first mix and I appreciate your effort. Not sure if this was the missing subwoofer or budget speakers which apparently do not show you the inharmonic content in the sub area. There is a reason why I don’t like mixing with headphones, this phenomen happened to me from time to time back in the days when I had my KRK Rokit 5, I also checked my mixes on Beyerdynamic DT 770 but I couldn’t hear what was going on in the lowest register. I hope you can hear the result on some more precise speakers. Maybe you can learn something from this mix challenge and the decision you made for this song. Unfortunately, I didn’t work at all! I don’t want to discourage you at this point. Listen more carefully to things you try to change and learn the tools you are using! Train your ears and spend a moment with the specific tool you used in this particular song to avoid these things in the future.

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scottfitz: -17,9 LUFS/ -1,3 TP

+clap reverb is well integrated
+the energy of your mix is very interesting
+all elements are detectable in the sound stage
+interesting delay/reverb transition effect right before the last hook, the blending is just right
+your mix has really improved, it has more space to breathe and overall it is more dynamic

-your mix has some „S“ and „F“ power in the hook, it is not really sibilant, there is just a good amount of HF. Like I mentioned somewhere, I think I was a bit too close while recording the vocals. The recorded vocals already sound slightly coloured to my ears. This becomes a bit obvious in your mix
-your 808 could hit harder overall.

Your mix has improved and I find it to be much more enjoyable with more dynamics overall. I like the drive and the energy in your mix, it is just that slight harsh and stiff „S“ and „F“ sound.

With this setting in TDR Nova I could improve the overall balance a bit imo, it tilts a bit to the lows of course and makes your mix slightly darker:

Bell type:
Q: 5,71
Freq: 5 kHz
Thres: -12,7 dB
R: 2,0:1
Att: 0,10 ms
Rel: 10 ms

Thank you very much for your effort!
————————————

WhitePunkOD: -16,1 LUFS / -3,0 TP

+the sound stage is very interesting
+nice and interesting transition at the end of verse 2
+gain staging is good overall
+your mix has a certain drive

-the piano is the loudest element, it maskes a bit the main vocal
-autotune has an „uninspired“ sound compared to the hyped overall sound of your mix, although I find the placement in the sound stage really interesting. There is this interplay between left and right channel which makes things interesting to my ears
-main vocal sounds dull compared the hook, this kills the vibe for me a tiny bit
-808 could hit a bit harder just like in your 1st mix

Your mix has a good drive from the very beginning, the gain staging is good, the choice of the effect is really good and I think your mix has improved overall. Maybe the bell elements are a bit too compressed, or the attack is too short. One thing I find is the main vocal which is a bit dull and dark to my ears on my system and the rather loud piano which maskes some of the impact of the vocals. Also, I think the 808 could hit a bit harder but overall I enjoy your mix. Good job!

—————————————

Shubhashish: -17,2 LUFS / -1,0 TP

+interesting and creative work at the end of verse 2
+interesting sound stage overall

-some syllables are not audible in the hook, not sure if you applied some side chainig or something. I really hope you can hear it on another system. „Du“ wirst zum Opfer für Deine Gewinne, „Du“ is missing, and also other words in some other sections
-kick could hit harder imo

Your mix has improved compared to Round 1, I find it much more enjoyable now and the overall sound is closer to some professional work imo. The gain staging is good and the amount of energy is right. Main things that bother me are the missing syllables in the hook and the rather shy kick and 808. Still, you did a good job and managed most things I mentioned about your first mix. Thank you very much for your effort!

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Mitchellpmusic: -17,3 LUFS / -7,5 TP

I really don’t understand why you keep your peaks so low, I even asked you to bring back some peaks. The dynamics are simply not there. The 808 still has this hard „knock“ sound and the character is totally different compared to the original. You tackled some points I mentioned but there are still a lot of things I think you could improve overall. Your first revision was very promising and I had hopes that you would bring some peaks back, unfortunately you missed that occasion. Maybe you can elaborate on that and explain why you squashed the peaks so heavy? On top, there is just this edgy vocal sound I find a bit aggressive and the tone of your 808 is not really what I wanted to hear. The best feature in your mix is the added beat mute, I really have to give you props for this. But honestly, your mix hasn’t changed dramatically compared to the first one. Still, thank you very much for your effort!

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Some notes about Round 2:

► Show Spoiler

All of you managed the sizzling hi hat, most mixes are much rounder, warmer and fuller now compared to Round 1. Almost everybody was able to improve the sound stage and energy of the mix, I hope you can hear it too. It was fun and I learned a lot of things. Thank you so much!

About saturation/distortion in general:
Please, don’t just add saturation or anything else because some youtuber/influencer said so or because your favourite mixing engineer does it in every of his mixes. Or because you think/believe the songs needs it. If you are not sure just don’t do it! Just do things you REALLY can hear and where you can hear a difference. Like I said before, I would recommend you to only use the stock compressor + EQ for a certain amount of time and learn how clean compression sounds (you can get a lot of saturation out of a clean compressor, just use a very short attack and a high ratio > 8:1 + 6dB and more of GR). I have the impression some people just do certain things because they heard a tip from somebody but they don’t really know why and what to listen for in context. Learning how clean compression sounds will boost your listening experience a lot!

General advice from me:
Please, all of you visit an ENT and check your hearing ASAP! With over 8 years of experience as a hearing care professional I can tell you that many people are not aware of their hearing impairment. For a very short period I was even a student of hearing acoustics in the city of Lübeck, Germany. But I had some health issues and I really wanted to go back to my hometown.

An estimated 1,5 BILLION!!! people worldwide live with some form of hearing impairment. I personally would even say more than 2 billion people because so many are simply not aware of it and the lack of understanding and knowledge regarding this topic is huge.

Statistically, from 69 participants, roundabout 12-18 people „should“ suffer in some form or another from hearing impairment. Some of you even mentioned problems. I can also hear it now in some mixes. Please, I don’t want to offend/insult you and I have to give you my highest respect!

I really want you to KNOW your audiogram, this is very important, especially if you are a musician, mixing engineer etc. You cannot know how good or bad you actually hear without an accurate measurement. You cannot know how fast you run, how much you weight etc. unless you measure these things. It would be negligent to only estimate these things and to believe that you can hear everything. Many clients are not aware of their „handicap“ until it is a moderate hearing impairment (hearing threshold is below -50 dB HL in an audiogram (HL stands for „Hearing Level“ and is a quasi Fletcher-Munson curve or equal loudness contour).

About 80% of all hearing impairment cases are so called „noise-induced“. Typicall for this type of hearing loss is a notch @ 4 kHz in the audiogram which becomes over the years a high shelf cut. This means that the natural amplification of low level sounds is not functioning correctly. This can lead to „recruitment“, a diminished dynamic range of the hearing. People still have their absolute loudness and pain threshold in the normal range (90-120 dB HL in an audiogram), only low level noise (below 50 dB SPL) is not audible from 4 kHz and upwards.

People often complain about difficulties in a noisy environment, they are very often stressed because of certain sounds (like high pitched sounds such as women’s and children’s voices, bells and alarms etc.) and background noises, mainly due to the lack of the natural noise filtering of the brain in such circumstances and/or the slightly distorted sound the cochlea is producing on a physical/medical level in that specific frequency area on the basilar membran/ organ of Corti.

Talking on the phone or with more than 3 people in a noisy environment can become a challenge and sometimes people avoid these situations on a subconsious level. On the other hand, there is this phenomenon called „Cocktail-party effect“. Another common problem is the difficulty with directional hearing/auditory localization. One problem is the signal-to-noise ratio which needs to be positive for hearing impaired people (like +3dB and more). A „normal and healthy“ hearing can handle a negative signal-to-noise ratio up to -10 dB and more in some cases.

I started to play the drums a few years ago and I eventually bought an acoustic set in November 2024. I play everyday for at least an hour and I ALWAYS wear custom-made ear protection with 25 dB filters under my headphone, but I’m aware that my ears still will suffer in the next 10-15 years in one way or another because of high SPL. Luckily, I’m not a heavy hitter. I still monitor some sessions with an spl meter to check things and to understand the data a bit better. My ears are good for the moment (last hearing test was 6 months ago) but it is expected that hearing is deteriorating with the age of 40-45. I will visit an ENT every year from now on to check my hearing apparatus constantly. Regardless of your age I recommend you to also visit an ENT in the near future so that you exactly know how you hear. A measurement takes up to 15-20 minutes for sine tone and speach measurements (this is different from country to country). Do yourself and others a favour by doing the same, imo this is very important!

I hope this helps!

And now the Top 3:

► Show Spoiler

1st MFTWC
2nd Mork
3rd dstra

Congratulations to the podium!

I wish you all the best,
Patrick

[Mister Fox]

First and foremost, congratulations to the winners!
We are ending the game here, there will be no Mix Round 3.


The winners podium consists of:

1. @MFTWC .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2)
2. @Mork .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2)
3. @dstra .....(entries: Mix Round 1, Mix Round 2)

For learning purposes:
Here are the Statistic Sheets for Mix Round 2
Mix Round 2 - Overview of Submissions (PDF - updated: 12-JAN-2025 04:55 UTC+/CET, full sheet)



We perform with the usual - in order of the winners podium (first to last spot), please select one license out of the pool and mention it in this thread, then (important) get in touch with me via PM with your full name, email address and your plugin selection. If one company has been selected, it is not available for the rest of the podium anymore.

I'll update the "winners podium" thread shortly.


Thanks again for your participation. You can leave the thread alive if you want to exchange tips/tricks, edits, etc.
And thank you @Mellow Browne for the final words of feedback and encouragement.


Please check out Songwriting Competition 089 -- our yearly recurring special sound design challenge "Community Scramble". The genre is "free to select" (02 entries so far, no feedback yet, but some amazing work and documentation!).

See you on the flipside.