MIX CHALLENGE - MC056 July 2019 - Winners announced

[Chriswilson83]

Hi peeps.

Thanks for entering...I think there are 70ish entries in total! I have been making notes as the month has gone so there's only the mixes from the last 24 hours or so to do.

I plan to get it done and my notes tidied up to share in the next day or two.

[iMax]

So tell me, I have more than a big doubt that invades me:
Are you really sure that everything (instruments, especially the piano,
vocals and choirs) is really in place?
Otherwise it's my computer that jokes or my ears that are tired ...

Hi Franz,

There might very well be an issue and something slipped accidentally. I noticed that somehow it does not align too well, but could not remember moving any of the tracks, so I did not investigate any further. Well, next time then ... :-)

[White Punk OD]

I thought so, too.
Seems, the piano has delayed itself as a whole. Could it be some plugin that has massive latency?
Or did just the track start slip by some mouse glitch...
It's always a pity, but after all, this is not a material gig here, just a training situation with a little opportunity to perhaps bring home a new plugin.

[White Punk OD]

My own goal was to make the whole thing very organic, and accessible to a wider audience, but maybe quite older than millennials.
The listener should feel desire to crank it up and want to get drowned in a warm and wide sound scape of waves, and get carried away by dramatic vocals.
The great thing the drummer did, was help creating these slow waves thoughout the song.
I'm not following any style guidelines, but still use some known sounds that have worked over long times in music history.
Technically, it does not sound that much "rock", the sound is rather RnB-friendly on one side, and psychedelic vintage on the other side.
But I think it rocks quite a lot anyway, by virtue of its musical content, that I wanted to bring out more.
The string noise cancellation is a real game-changer.
I gave priority to uniqueness before "normalty" and industry sound standards.
I really stand for it, and did what I wanted to do with it, and am humbly happy it could be achieved so far..
So I hope that Chris might like it, too, and beg for an open heart while listening..

Don't judge the mp3, it eats up a lot of fine-structure. A modern format like a good Spotify upload sounds a lot better than that.

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I will try to comment on a number of mixes, as I have some spare time, and perhaps there is some return to learn from.
Please, take into account that everything is meant respectfully, but English is not my native language, and I must keep it short enough.
It is opinion only, and to be not boring, with some options about adjustments or little changes.

Great work was done here, with a quite peculiar set of mixtracks.

When I say or don't say something sounds professional, this is not a judgement about the engineer or studio, as every project might come out very different, and has very different input in the quality of the recording.
It is more about the concrete relationship here, between input and output in the particular project.


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JorgeAFerro
I like the intro but the full sound might jump in stronger, with a bit more low end. Intro guitar sounds full already, so I miss the boost.
Beautiful "reverse" effects to lead in song parts. Nice reverb work with vocals.
In the finale, a sentence from the verse was copied in, quite interesting idea. Let's see if the client accepts it, because creativity was clearly encouraged.
The high falsetto parts might come across a bit dominant and plain, esp. in the finale. At 1:10, I like the effects, in the finae I don't.
Kick is a bit soft. But OTOH rhythmic problems are mitigated.
Low end seems a bit thin here but probably can be mastered quite well.
Overall sound is sympathetic.

Harry Kuuchi
Timing remains a bit problematic. I think it is because the guitars are strumming a bit much in the foreground, while drums are soft.
Vocals a bit thin.
Balances have room to improve.

ShroomFeverish
Nice "room" work in the intro. Band jumps in well, with full and pleasant sound.
Vocals can afford a little bit pressure boost in the mid-range. Sound a bit light here. More of echo/reverb recommended.
I like the drum sound. I like that it is a bit heavy and not too bright. Tambourine fits in well.
Interesting nice effects in the fade-out!
Timing seems good.

Julien Meirone
I like the dry intro. Overall sound is a bit soft, but good balance in all band sounds. Vocals could afford a tad more "presence" range. Then, would need a bit less dominant volume.
Mastering probably can get that right. The mix sounds very professional. Lots of subtle and detailed improvements in many tracks.
At the start there is some reverb hanging in the buffer. I'm failing to discover the musical contribution of this.
And still, string noise is a bit much.

3ee
came right after me and did quite the opposite! I love that.
Very full and quite dry and punchy drum sound, with the right amount of "room". Good timing.
Good, brilliant vocal sound. Good volume riding. Beautiful backing vocals, (to me, leading position in this aspect)
Sounds very professional. One of my favorites.

jonsubs
the change from the intro guitar to the full sound appears to have a buffer glitch in that there is a fade-in of the previous _raw_ guitar sound that obviously has to stop right here anyway.
very soft and warm sound that I love.
lush overhead mics, blending well with the strumming guitars. good work with the compression in this.
with the compression, the upper midrange becomes a bit busy and nervous, perhaps this reflects the lyrics in that the pain and crave makes nervous.
bass sounds beautiful and full.
kick in first 16 bars is loud. a couple of hits among these might afford timing correction.

Piranha
intro is a bit loud, and the stuttering effect is also a tad louder than required.
sound is nice and compact/focused.
the high "ahhh" voice deserves a bit more drama. i think it is a bit dry.
piano is loud, or from the other side, guitars may become louder when piano is mute.

Blang
drum sounds are stomping which is good. I love the dark "industrial" reverb noise on snare and kick.
vocal tremolo effect is very interesting, perhaps some fine-tuning later in the song might make it less dominant.
the LFO might sync with the beat in a different way, and have different phase for L and R.
With the intro, the tremolo fits perfect and awesome.
but when it returns so shortly after, when the band jumps in, it should sound very different, as the whole sound scape is different.

Franz
I think the string noises need spme digital cure. then, the guitars could come closer to the snare, in joining some brightness.
other than that, the analog vintage sound is lovely.
drums create an interesting room effect. I heard that type with no other mix. did you use some reverb "re-amping"?
in some aspects I see a little resemblance with my own digital but vintage approach.

slickster 716
the intro guitar is loud.
when the piano is loud, some notes become contradicting with the vocal, I didn't find this musically pleasing.
the general sound is soft and well-balanced, vocals also quite loud but that's a matter of taste and purpose.
good guitar and snare sounds.

NateWycoff
good job for the short time!
piano is a bit loud and boomy. drums could be louder instead.

Michael Schneider
guitar noises too much.
vocal and guitar sounds are competing so it is a bit difficult to maintain focus.

GB Real
little issue with balance, I thought drums are a bit loud, in particular the kick.
vocal effects push the singer into background.
bass is a bit boomy.

Tom Immon
Intro guitars to me appear a bit "flirry", I like them more solid.
But when the full sound starts, it is very clear and solid. So, the intro contrasts it and is just a matter of taste.
I love the vocal sound and effects. Beautiful drum sounds. Overhead with cymbals might afford a small boost.
The piano sits in the mix in the right place. Also the tambourine.
Kick, bass, subsonics, seem very good here. Still, a few kick hits got drowned.
Timing sounds good, more by virtue of the balances, less by edits.
OTOH we might run into a zone where the result sounds a bit style-guided, or normal. Depends on the target audience, e.g. which radios to work with, in real world.

Kevin Gobin
Sounds very powerful. Vocals are sometimes loud.
The "star trek" effect might come a bit unmotivated, twice in a short time. Generally it is a nice idea when the dose is right.
Between intro and band start there is a little glitch.

davidpaulpage
there is some serious thunder and psychedelic vocal effect going on here.
thus, and with other details, good uniqueness in the whole thing.
we might get carried away and miss a tad of clarity in some moments, though.
But it keeps up until the end, even the fadeout has nice treatment.

Gaurav Talreja
I like the intro guitar sound.
Overall sound is very compact and powerful. Overhead track sits very well.
Guitars during the verses might afford a bit "air band". Might come a bit boxy.
I like the piano.
Drums are leading the timing, thus conflicts are kept very low. Timing appears ok.

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When someone disagrees with my opinion on a third party, this would be very interesting as well.
Different viewpoints or discoveries sure can contribute to knowledge and experience.

[TomImmon]

@White Punk OD
Great, that you took the time again and wrote feedback on some submissions!

I would like to do the same, but I'm currently very busy. But at least to your mix I would like to give some feedback.
The song leaves a lot of possibilities for interpreting, as far as mixing is concerned. I listened to other tracks of the band only after the delivery, otherwise I would probably have produced a less "nice" sound ;-). On the other hand, the title is anyway something in contrast to their other songs. With the intro I had the feeling, like many others, that I had to set it apart a bit. Some have done that by using this "old radio" style.

You have a solid guitar sound in the intro that I like and that connects the intro well with the rest (unlike my version). I listened to your mix via headphons and in the car. Kick produces an uncomfortable deep roar, especially in the car. The rest of the drum set sounds good, the snare is a bit flat, but that fits nice into the mix. The overheads bring this interesting, wave-like sound without sounding unpleasant. The echoes on the vocals are too obvious to me, they distract from the actual timing problems, but create new ones. When listening to the headphone, the overall effect of these opposing rhythms is to give an impression of industrial sound in the background. This is quite interesting, but in the long run not my taste.
Main vocals sound very good, prevail without sounding harsh. The choir is a bit one-sided and could be a little deeper in the room. Overall, a solid mix that offers a lot of interesting for the ear.

[White Punk OD]

@TomImmon
Thanks so much, I know what I did with the kick, but cannot fine-tune, - to listen in the car, I'm getting a certain cable soon. It needs a subsonic for the concept, but it will be tricky. Echo and choir no problem to adjust (if request by Mr.Chris).

Thx to everyone else who follows with commenting, no matter which mix gets the comment.

[3ee]

3ee
came right after me and did quite the opposite! I love that.
Very full and quite dry and punchy drum sound, with the right amount of "room". Good timing.
Good, brilliant vocal sound. Good volume riding. Beautiful backing vocals, (to me, leading position in this aspect)
Sounds very professional. One of my favorites.

many thanks!

About vocal volume rides... I do many serial and few parallel instances of dynamic processing so not much manual vocal rides are present. I just count them... they are around 7-8 compressor/limiter/dyn-eq/mb-comp on the lead vocal alone from track to sub-group to bus... didn't count the master and the master parallel. Of course each processor is there for a good reason..
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listened to your mix as well:
White Punk OD:

I like the vocal fx.. although I I think they are a bit much in some parts like the verses for example (maybe some more eq/filtering would have masked them so you can keep the amount but they won't feel too enveloping). It's no problem though seem that this 'wet-ghost-ship' is the main idea for your mix..
Good overall sound, I like 'that' snare reverb and drum amb! I don't notice timing problems in your mix, you did a great job hiding/fixing them.

[bpackard]

I wish I paid attention to the guitars more. Several ppl nailed them.

[Franz]

Hi White Punk OD,

Thank you for your interest and analysis of my mix.

- guitar neck noises are an integral part of the instruments; it is the guitarist
who produces the sound by his way of playing; it would have been necessary to
solve this problem at the beginning of the recording; removing these sounds
from sliding fingers on the neck in the mix would completely alter the original sound of the guitar ....

- concerning the sound of the snare, yes indeed I used a rather special process:
before exporting my track in analog, I used the following treatment: use of the plugin "Tverb of Eventide"
and it is true when you speak of "re-amp", the result is close to your theory: the principle of the Tveb
is to send in a "virtual" room the sound through loudspeakers whose we can vary the position
and we get the sound through microphones whose location can vary: it's re-amp and you heard "just" !

Now let's not forget the terrible sentence of the judge who will fall soon ...

Cheers

Franz

[Chriswilson83]

Hi everyone:

I’ve now listened to every track and have notes for every single one and a Top 10. As there were 73 entries in total it’s going to be too long winded putting every single feedback in the thread comments so I have attached a link to my spreadsheet in Google Drive with them on.

Anyways, without further ado; The top 10 for round two is….
ShroomFeverish
Psymfonius
Piranha
JamesMusic
HalfinHalfout
3ee
Marc_Rapture
LocalMusic
Gloukin
vintage

A copy of my marksheet for every mix in order that I heard them is available here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

I have assessed work by a few things:
-Mix level in LUFS and headroom (it not did factor into my marking but excessive loudness or peaking can affect a top 10 eligible place).
-Stereo field
-Balance
-EQ
-FX
-Professionalism

All files were level aligned and played at the same low monitor level here for consistency. I have also listened to the mixes throughout the month in small batches with breaks to avoid fatigue.


During the course of the mixes I have heard some really ace work, but I have also seen quite a number of consistent issues. There have been 35 disqualifications due to incredibly simple oversights!

1, I’ve had to disqualify most of these.....23 of these entries to be exact for simply not following bit/sample rate rules, where stated “render in the sampling rate and bitrate the material was provided, or higher”. In this case 24 bit 48khz was that minimum.

I’ve received a number of entries at 16bit or 44.1khz, both are issue creating; 16bit means that you’ve dithered a mix (and the noise it generates will be amplified more in mastering) and 44.1khz was a real life issue for me as the desk I now use (Allen and Heath) doesn’t support 44.1khz! All mixes at that have had to be resampled back to 48khz in order for me to judge them, meaning the mix has had two file conversions already before a master.


2, Some entries production notes are not present, too vague and in some instances I suspect have not told me the whole truth; I have disqualified several entries where I have not been possible to know anything about the mixes history. Any top 10 entries where vague entries have occurred I have stipulated that you must provide more detailed notes on the 2nd round or your mix won’t be considered for the top 3.


3, Quite a number of mixes have summing issues! I can’t stress how much you should be checking your mixes in M/S and mono, fantastic for picking up issues around phase/EQ and fx placement. Issues ranged from mild balance changes to some outright vanishing in mono (in particular guitars), and excessive amounts of bottom end in the sides.


4, Initially at the start of the challenge there were a few individuals whose comments towards the provided work I would kindly describe as unprofessional. The band have been watching the challenge too and I can say one particular comment they saw invoked a rather let’s say “real life” response….one that shall not be uttered here….. I felt I couldn’t ignore that so I decided as a result to add a column in my marking based on professionalism. The column has also factored in some other things such as submissions that had errors or missing parts in the mixdown (there were a few).

Anyways, thank you very much to all who have participated and good luck to all involved in round 2!