MIX CHALLENGE - MC35 August 2017 - Winners announced

[donkey tugger]

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks of course to Mr Octopus ( Bond Villain?) both for the great song to work on and the effort he has obviously taken in his critiques. Very enjoyable!

[davemcisaac]

- Dave McIsaac

The main reason that prevented me from choosing this mix was the voice "reverbiness" throughout the song, in both singers and the voice clips.

I really wish you would have mentioned that in the 1st round critiques so I could have addressed the issue

Anyway... CONGRATULATIONS to Mork for the big win!
And also to Mendll & Coiled Ear! Great job to everyone involved - Now on to MC 36!!!

[Mister Fox]

First and foremost, congratulations to the winners!

The Winners Podium is
1) Mork
2) MedII
3) Coiled Ear


We perform with the usual - please select one license out of the pool (in order of the winners podium) and mention it in this thread, then (important) get in touch with me via PM with your full name and mail address.

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.
MC36 is in full swing - see you over there!


And - to the songwriters among us, the Songwriting Competition started 1st September:
http://mix-challenge.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=11

[MedII]

Very happy with second place!!! Mork`s mix is amazing.

Thanks to OctopusOnFire for letting us work on this great song. And thanks also to Mister Fox for being such a good learning tool.

This month I will be traveling and will not be able to participate in the MC36, but surely we will meet in the MC37

I take the two notes torpedo plugin if it is even possible.

Cheers,

[Mister Fox]

I got your PM.
If Mork has nothing against that choice (since he has the first pick), I'll handle you ASAP.

[kevin gobin]

Congrats to the Winners!

Thanks 8puss for so much feedback to everybody.

See you soon.

[marc clement]

Hi Octopus on Fire
Whatever I say here its gonna sound like a moan but I have to say I don`t understand whats going on here. There seems to be no correlation between R1 and R2 feedback.

"snare still a little paperish "--- There is no mention of paperish snare in R1 feedback . The word paperish is not used at all.

"but I think the bass is a little too fat and boomy for the song" -- no mention of this in R1

"The echoes work much better now."--- again there was no reference to echoes in R1 feeback.

I had 4 minor issues to attend to and nothing else was changed from R1 to R2. The feedback notes just don`t make any sense!

R2 feedback
- Marc Clement

Though I liked where the mix was going sonically, this second entry ended having more problems than positives for me. Snare still a little paperish. The drums pump in a way that is not pleasing. Better sound on the guitars, but I think the bass is a little too fat and boomy for the song... It doesn't feel consistent, mostly in the main part. Sometimes it gets out of control and overwhelms the other elements. Probably the guitars are eating now some space that didn't need before.

On the last section, I still feel the snare is a little paperish. Maybe it's just a matter of different tastes. Otherwise it feels balanced and spacious. The echoes work much better now.

The problem I had with the overall mix is that it doesn't feel all the time in control, and at the same time it is a bit linear and static throughout the song.

R1 feedback
Marc Clement

Okay this is a wildcard. It deviates a lot from the original concept but it sounds so insanely good and has so much character that I couldn't leave it out. This could perfectly work out if we had the chance to have some back and forth about the final sound, and build up on those ideas. We don't have that luxury, so I'll try to sum it all up the best I can.


Guitars - I like the idea, but I'd love you to dirty them up a bit more. Not full on distortion, but something QOTSA would do (check out "If I had a tail" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjYZToX ... iRathMIeLv), or maybe some Orange amp/cab simulation.

Kick pokes out just a hair too much. The snare verb has some changes through the song that feel a little too noticeable. On the chorus it looks way more dry than in the verses, which is distracting. I'm fine with the weird verb, just doesn't feel yet fully integrated with the rest of the mix. Actually, maybe the snare is causing the drums to pump a bit weird on the chorus, check it out.
A bit safe on the main vocals. Try some slaps. Stellar work on all the background vocals though.

Last section: Nice transition, maybe the piano a little too "in your face". Very nice work on the vocal, it's a shame that it gets a little buried by the piano (I think you can make it a tad less loud after the transition and get away with it), and the percussion. Try hiding them a bit more. The snare creates an interesting openness in the sound, just try to polish it so it works here and through the rest of the song. Nice ending, btw.


I think you reinterpretated the song in a way that ticked with me, just check out that snare and that weird pumping on the chorus, along with the rest of the feedback. But it definitely has character and says something to me. Great job.

Marc Clement

[donkey tugger]

On the feedback front, I'd comment that people do need perhaps to take a step back and realise that it's not an exact science! Anyone who's done any pro or semi-pro work for artists/bands etc will realise that;

a Sometimes comments will be made which seem to be contradictory
b. New 'faults' will be found as artists listen further to your mix
c. At the end of the day it really is all down to personal taste!

Also given the level of work that goes in, not just to doing the feedback, but getting the song ready to mix, it's entirely understandable that not each and every aspect of every song can be covered.

I'm not wanting to start any arguments of course, but perhaps put things into perspective a little, and of course remember - this is all for fun and enjoyment.

[Mork]

Buenas tardes,

back from Spain, nicely tanned.
I'm glad all the effort payed off in the end. I tried a lot of new stuff and wanted to preserve the interest throughout the song which seems to have worked!

Congratulations to MedII and Coiled Ear and of course anyone who got a vibe going out of this piece of work!
I really have to give some sparkling stars to donkey tugger for just going for it. The mix makes sense in itself and despite its "problems" just creates a completely different, oddworldly vibe (and manages to make an acoustic kick feel like a 909 ). Although it might be too much for this production I just enjoyed the creativity. What did you do to the synths? I love those filter sweeps!

Also MedII, did you do anything special to the overheads (like a room?) or is it just balance and eq? They have a nice spot "behind" everything else.

Regarding the feedback: After round 1 feedback I actually thought the Octopus didn't like my mix all that much. Like donkey tugger said, you will never get "the whole picture" out of a feedback round. Also you have to translate the feedback into your own language and apply it to your mix. Maybe my snare isn't thin but clouded by thick guitars or the vocal shines like a diamond but is too low so it feels dull. Noone can know but yourself, so you ultimately have to be your worst critic! Listen to your favorite mixes by your favorite engineers and compare it to your own work (match the levels!). How does your mix hold up? Does it have dimension, is it transparent, does it enhance the performance and transport the energy? If the answer is no find out why or start from scratch (which I did once on this song). My point being that feedback is mainly important to match the taste-decisions (more/less vox/gtr/fx/oomph/shine/etc) but if my drums sounded like cardboard or the guitars made my ears bleed I should know by myself.
Anecdote: We were doing soundcheck in a live situation. I stood in front of the stage with one of the band members listening to the guitar. He asked me: "Could you make it feel a little warmer?" which usually means more low mids/mids. I took a final listen, went to the desk and put in some highs. Clients reaction: "Yeah, that's it, how did you know what I mean?"
So sometimes the clients asks for exactly the opposite of what he actually wants and he is (not ) paying you to understand them anyways. Of course in a format like this, where there is no back and forth communication it's a tough thing to do, so in the end always trust your ears. Take the feedback and after some abstinence listen again to your mix until you hear what's being criticised. Congrats, you just made some progression! Don't get me wrong, bad feedback sucks big time and I also have been down the "dude, why didn't you say so" road. Just let it sink and try to extract something good (new knowledge an experience) out of it!
My two cents

For me it's the Acon DeFilter, please.

Cheers
Mork

[MedII]

Hi Mork.

I did not use the rooms' tracks and I regenerated the environment by Altiverb's recording studio Altiverb. The rest is equalization and compression.

The podium has been very Spanish. Yo también soy español.

Un abrazo. Cheers.