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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Winners announced

Join the Mix Challenge - recurrence: February until December
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Henrik Hjortnaes
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Re: Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#91

Post by Henrik Hjortnaes »

Mister Fox wrote:
Tue Mar 06, 2018 03:06 CET
I don't seem to be on my A-game currently. Just realized that I set the Global Timer a day too early. That has been fixed. Apologies for the inconvenience.
The Global countdown says:

ROUND 2 OF MC 39 ENDS :wink:
01 Day 06 Hours 36 Minutes
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satyatunes
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Re: Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#92

Post by satyatunes »

3ee wrote:
Sun Mar 04, 2018 16:50 CET
Sure thing! ... btw, I liked the overall "smoothness" of your mix.

pro: cool smooth pads, good sounding mix in general

minus: some elements seem too disconnected from others like the drums... completely different world from the rest of the elements. I understand contrast, but here it's too much. You started your mix with drums didn't you? ... and got the heavy sound shaping using the solo button more often than not? ;) ..and didn't re-visit drums at the end of the mix.

hmm, In fact, if it's OK with Mr. Fox and you see this in time, I like to include you into round2 if you wish! :) (this way would be 6 picks as the rules imply)

on top of the feedback, here's what you can further try:

-try to get drums sounding more blended in with the smooth ambiance you've created (kick too full, heavy hip-hop character, maybe roll-off some lows? , snare too "crisp" and modern sounding, also try a different longer reverb (you can keep'n'add or replace the current one) ... hats, might be a good idea to slam them heavily against tape or try down-pitch shifting or something to shift and/or tame their energy from around 9.5k)
Round 2 submission:
MP3-320K

WAV

Edits:
- Rolled off some lows
- Adjusted transients and Eq on the snare to not sound too modern
- Adjusted long reverb parameters
- Adjusted hats freq

Hopefully you will like it.

Edit - I had linked to the wrong file, now it's fixed. @3ee if you have downloaded before this message then please re-download.
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Henrik Hjortnaes
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#93

Post by Henrik Hjortnaes »

3ee wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 19:46 CET
minus: a bit too solid and "pop" for this song I believe... want more color/character/distance and less "pop" / polish / shine / ERs
snare delay(s) may be a bit too upfront try filtering them more if you wish to keep the created rhythm (which is nice) . I like that the snare gets progressively dryer in the outro part... but it might get too dry though... maybe a filtered and low-level mono plate/spring will fill the gap where the reverb is bone-dry. The "Pre CH EP" needs a different more in the background position with longer reverb (subjective opinion, I know) The verses has this pad with an applied LFO-type modulation, please make that a bit less noticeable.
I set out to address the suggestions put forward by 3ee and ended up doing way more changes than I can remember. All elements in a mix interacts, and when changing one thing, I feel the need to change several other things to maintain mix cohesiveness or "mix stability".

I have addressed the suggestions by 3ee to the best of my ability, and in the process, I think the mix has morphed from boxy and dry sounding to more spacious and lighter sounding.

I had an interesting experience between mixing round 1 and round 2. I am in the process of building some panel absorbers for my mix room walls, and after completing mix round 1, it just so happens, that I bought 4 slabs of rigid 100 mm thick Rockwool batts + 2 finished bass traps and storaged them in my mix room, on the floor, stacked just behind my mix position, to be worked on much later. I had to mix for round 2 - no time for the absorber project.

I then started working on mix round 2 and when listening back to my round 1 mix, I couldn't believe how bad it sounded suddenly! Way too much 100-300 Hz, muffled and boxy. A mess really, all the way up to 600 Hz or so.

Well, I completed my mix for round 2 like this, and it came out completely different sounding (to me) compared to my first mix. I still can't believe that 4 slabs of Rockwool + a couple of self made bass traps, randomly stacked on the floor, would do this (improve nulls), but I find no other explanation. I am really surprised :shock:

Another funny note: I always reach mix version 14 before I'm satisfied!

Anyway, for mix round 2, I used:
- longer reverbs
- less clear delays
- less attack on certain elements
- carved out 150-300 Hz on some elements
- re-designed the snare to NOT play a prominent role anymore

Anything else, just ask.

wav: MC040_-_Reaper MIDI Song2_-_HenrikHjortnaes_R2.wav
mp3: MC040_-_Reaper MIDI Song2_-_HenrikHjortnaes_R2.mp3
3ee
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Re: Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#94

Post by 3ee »

Cool, I believe all the round2 mixes are in now!? :) ...will download and check them out ASAP!
Thanks guys! :) ... would probably be very fun for me if I'll try to re-mix it myself and you all will critique my mix! :D

@ Henrik H.

I'm always interested in acoustic treatment, I remember Mr. Fox helping me quite a bit with tips and whatnot when I 'upgraded' mine! :)

"rigid", what would the density be for those? as a general rule, I remember that the thicker one makes a rockwool absorber, the less dense it needs to be and vice-versa, anyway, even after acoustic treatment, I really advise you to play with sine-wave sweeps at different speeds and ranges both ascending and descending to spot any perceivable peaks/dips. In my experience, even after my acoustic treatment efforts, I still needed a corrective EQ system as even if I knew my room, I couldn't really compensate for what I can or can't hear!

make sure you get your system within the +|- 3dB at the worst I'd say, especially if you want to do a bit of mastering.. (1/12 or 1/24 octave smoothing if you're looking at a graph)
Tbase2000

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#95

Post by Tbase2000 »

You should definitely remix it yourself. That mix you posted on the Box as a Demo is so different than anything that is here. I'm sure you have some new ideas now to play with.

Post it up when your done.
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#96

Post by Dodgingrain »

I've been thinking on this. If I'm mixing the way I should on multiple monitors with multiple reference tracks and checking in multiple listening environments in rooms I know does a perfect mixing room matter that much? If I have room modes they will show in the references. If I'm mixing relatively I should still make reasonable decisions in the ranges where there are room modes.
Shoot my thoughts full of holes people, I'd like to understand why I am wrong.
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kevin gobin

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#97

Post by kevin gobin »

Hey Dodgingrain,

I do not think you are wrong, mostly because this is what I do. I have to.
Last edited by kevin gobin on Thu Mar 08, 2018 18:29 CET, edited 1 time in total.
HerbFelho

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#98

Post by HerbFelho »

Dodgingrain wrote:
Thu Mar 08, 2018 03:21 CET
I've been thinking on this. If I'm mixing the way I should on multiple monitors with multiple reference tracks and checking in multiple listening environments in rooms I know does a perfect mixing room matter that much? If I have room modes they will show in the references. If I'm mixing relatively I should still make reasonable decisions in the ranges where there are room modes.
Shoot my thoughts full of holes people, I'd like to understand why I am wrong.
You´re right, and a bit wrong also :smile: at least IMHO
It´s great to reference different listening environments together with a bunch of reference tracks, thats just a must. But: If your main mixing place has so bad acoustics you simply cannot hear enough of whats going on in the mix to make detailed mixing decisions. Room modes, reflections from walls, comb filtering effects, all those add up an lead to an very unclear and blurry "image". Yes, you can compensate to a certain degree, for example when dialing in the amount of bass according to a reference track. But when it comes to detailed work like setting up compression attack/release times or reverb predelay times you simply will not be able to hear the differences clear enough.

So for me room acoustics comes first and referencing second, not the other way round. No need to strive for perfection, simple absorbing materials in the right places can make a massive difference. And don´t forget to add a good pair of headphones to your arsenal, personally I also use Sonarworks to flatten these a bit and also my speakers. Again, thats just me, I know people that don´t like that at all but for me since I integrated that to my setup my mixes translated way better.
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 in evaluation

#99

Post by Mister Fox »

It's the 8th March 2018, 3:50pm - the 2nd Mix Round has officially ended last night.

All participants sent in their edits. Please check your upload links again, and have an eye on this thread for the final results.



I'm now opening up the room (again) for Q&A's and giving each other feedback (which is highly encouraged)
Both the Mix Challenge 41 and Songwriting Competition 07 are still in full swing. See you on the flipside.



Henrik Hjortnaes wrote:
Tue Mar 06, 2018 17:26 CET
ROUND 2 OF MC 39 ENDS :wink:
01 Day 06 Hours 36 Minutes

Thanks Henrik - fixed as well.
I'll look twice the next time I update the main configuration file.
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC40 February 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 07-03-2018 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#100

Post by Dodgingrain »

HerbFelho wrote:
Thu Mar 08, 2018 14:28 CET
Dodgingrain wrote:
Thu Mar 08, 2018 03:21 CET
I've been thinking on this. If I'm mixing the way I should on multiple monitors with multiple reference tracks and checking in multiple listening environments in rooms I know does a perfect mixing room matter that much? If I have room modes they will show in the references. If I'm mixing relatively I should still make reasonable decisions in the ranges where there are room modes.
Shoot my thoughts full of holes people, I'd like to understand why I am wrong.
You´re right, and a bit wrong also :smile: at least IMHO
It´s great to reference different listening environments together with a bunch of reference tracks, thats just a must. But: If your main mixing place has so bad acoustics you simply cannot hear enough of whats going on in the mix to make detailed mixing decisions. Room modes, reflections from walls, comb filtering effects, all those add up an lead to an very unclear and blurry "image". Yes, you can compensate to a certain degree, for example when dialing in the amount of bass according to a reference track. But when it comes to detailed work like setting up compression attack/release times or reverb predelay times you simply will not be able to hear the differences clear enough.

So for me room acoustics comes first and referencing second, not the other way round. No need to strive for perfection, simple absorbing materials in the right places can make a massive difference. And don´t forget to add a good pair of headphones to your arsenal, personally I also use Sonarworks to flatten these a bit and also my speakers. Again, thats just me, I know people that don´t like that at all but for me since I integrated that to my setup my mixes translated way better.

I get the point of blurry images from reflections making it hard to gauge panning, the effects of short delays, etc. I guess where I struggle is on room modes.
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