Mix Challenge

Hey guys,
I've started with the round 1 evaluation, I'm in the "narrowing down" phase. Now, before anything I'd like to talk about the way I've done this so that it's fair and square for everyone.
Before everything I'd like to let everyone know that I did not read the description on each contestant so that I don't get influenced in any way by DAWs I like, Plugins I like, Praises to songwriter or MrFox, Winners of previous mix challenges, People I might know from this forum, etc. I WANTED TO JUST USE MY EARS FOR THIS SO I CAN BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE. I will read the posts of the first 10 after I finish this Round1 Evaluation.
So this is how I've done it:
Phase 1: Downloading each wav file for every mix. 1 contestant was disqualified here for allowing access the file without permission(Private) + those of you who have submitted after the countdown.
Phase 2: I took out all the mixes that had incorrect name tagging(READ: They haven't even tried). There are rules and guidelines to these things.
Phase 3: There were 97 valid files, all of them imported into a new cubase session. I normalized everything at peak level -3db and started listening to Verse1+Chorus1 on each one of them . Here I've noted with Y or N each channel (READ:each mix).The criteria of elimination at this stage was ALL THE OBVIOUS MISTAKES, and I'll mention them here so that those of you who have done them will know better when submitting at future challenges:
Mistake 1 - wrong sample rate at mixdown export(I've asked cubase to automatically convert everything to 44.1khz if it needs to, some of them were down tempo, lower pitched, some more than others);
Mistake 2 - VERY bad instrument levels;
Mistake 3 - VERY bad equalisation(this includes, among others, BAD LOW END, EAR PIERCING HIGH END, NO INSTRUMENT SEPARATION);
Mistake 4 - WAAAY TOO MUCH REVERB or DELAY (if you have to mix in headphones ->be extra careful with this, you may have a great mix up until the efx stage, efx is never recommended with headphones unless you know exactly how it translates into speakers). A good few mixes sounded like everyone was playing in the bathroom;
Mistake 5 - Not enough compression or too much compression (A few files were mastered, others were even severely burnt, some of them had almost no compression), I've used Levels by Mastering the Mix to monitor everything here)

I'm evaluating everything in my studio with a setup of 2 x AdamA7x+ Adam Sub7, everything properly calibrated, RME Fireface 902, 44.1Khz Sample Rate, Cubase 10.5)

After this Phase1 I'm left with 13 tracks in the project. I'll post again in about an hour with feedback for the 10 mixes that I have chosen for ROUND2.

Note that I didnt mean to insult anyone with this post, I'm literally trying as much as possible not to be biassed in any way and I'm taking this evaluation job very seriously. This whole Mix-Challenge forum is about learning to be a PRO as much as possible, so I've pointed out here the things that WE ALL need to be careful about in this business.

It saddens me to read, that there is still an ongoing issue where people just ignore the established rules or even provide the material in another sampling rate and/or bitrate than what people should. Even if this is just "a friendly game", it is still simulating a "Client to Business" scenario. And here, even slight mishaps can cost you your job or possible deal.


Which brings me to what I've written in way more detail last month. Due to time constraints - and frankly, how often must I comment on this - I didn't do this for MC063/March.

From MC062/February
viewtopic.php?p=7077#p7077



Looks like I do need to invest more time to write up another guide


WARNING: If you want to talk about this more in-depth, please do it in the official General Gossip Thread. I will not hesitate to delete/move posts that derail the current running game.

So, all 13 mixes I've originally selected, in all honesty, deserve to go to Round2, but I had to pick so here they are, in no particular order + feedback for R2:

1 - Estudio del leon: cymbals too loud, drum too loud on verse, your low end could be better controlled, voice needs to be a bit louder, bridge main vox needs to be panned mid, but interesting concept, drive gtrs can be a bit louder, work on levels and eq to add presence on instruments and a bit more space on drum elements (snare especially);

2 - Piranha: snare tone problem, a bit too much sizzle from the SD Down mic. cardboard sounding, good dynamics, good punch, a bit of polishing work on the levels would be amazing, guitar solo needs to be louder at the end;

3 - Alexvanmixland: great punchy rock mix, you got the idea of the song, spatially nice, I like your touch! A bit of work on the snare tone around the mids would be amazing, kick could use a bit more transient(attack), vocal level, spread and eq are spot on. chorus on main guitar is interesting in a very good way;

4 - RJR: vocal low mid needs a bit o attention(obvious right after EVERT TIME in verse 1), vox eq on high mid could be a bit more enhanced so it can cut through, vocal delay needs a bit more control, drum room could be just a bit lower;

5 - JulienMeirone: main gtr can be a bit louder, a bit too much transient punch on the drums, the way the mix opens up at the chorus is spot on, watch out for the vocals going down at the beginning of the bridge literally at the first word (Whenever), I would lower the drums and bass just a bit so the mix can get more balanced but overall great Rock-NuMetal feeling to it, it’s what I was going for when I wrote the song, get the vocals to cut through a bit more and polish the mix;

6 - ManuC: mix feels a bit too dark, levels are okay, vocal needs to cut through more, work on hi-mids and highs, cymbal levels just a bit lower, toms are a bit hard to distinguish, nice live feeling, maybe a bit too spacey, work on polishing the mix a bit more;

7 - TPR: vocal needs to be a bit louder and more present, nice instrument separation, mix opens up very well at choruses, synth on bridge too loud, great dynamic live feeling, watch the low end, there's a bad freq there, again, a bit more polish is needed;

8 - 3ee: drums feel a bit too dull, needs more tone, snare tone feels bit too dry, chorus feels a bit noisy on the cymbal side, , gtr solo needs to be a bit more present, control low end and polish everything;

9 - Dave McIsaac: nice delay ideas on the vocals, turn them just a bit lower and work a bit of highpass-lowpass on the delays, you need more work on the drums and the overall mix levels, it becomes messy at certain points, drums also need to be a bit louder and so does the bass, work on polishing everything up;

10 - Paglia: one plugin is hissing excessively, easily noted at the beginning, the low end needs some attention, chorus opens up very well and rocky, toms are hard to hear during chorus, kick or bass has a bad low frequency that you need to discover and tame, vocals need a bit more attention, solo guitar a bit more presence, the harmony electric guitars are a bit too loud around chorus 2 and solo, work on the levels and on the overheads too!

So folks, these were the notes I had in my DAW while listening to every track. Hope they're relevant.
Good Luck to y'all in Round2 and may the best mix win!

Feel free to ask questions if there's stuff in my feedback that you don't understand!

Cheers,
CeZar

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 25, 2020 23:35 CET

It saddens me to read, that this is still an ongoing issue where people just ignore the established rules or even provide the material in the sampling rate and bitrate that people should. Even if this is just "a friendly game", it is still simulating a "Client to Business" scenario. And here, even slight mishaps can cost you your job.


Which brings me to what I've written in more detail last month - but didn't get into this month due to time constraints. And frankly, how often must I comment on this?

Here is my post on this from MC062/February
viewtopic.php?p=7077#p7077

I'm sorry I had to open that can of worms man, but I also considered it as simulating a "Client to Business" scenario and found these things a bit childish and a lack of real interest from some people regarding at least reading the rules (there's a reply on the first page that asks about drum triggering too )

I decided to be brutally honest because maybe they'll learn from spending quite a bit of time mixing and then getting disqualified for a mistake they should have known very well to avoid, and well, the "I didn't know" line will kind of cost you nowadays during the quarantine if cops catch you on the streets with no reason, at least where I'm located, so it's better if we learn to be less ignorant in general.

Hope I've managed to be as neutral as possible with my procedure of evaluation.
Cheers!

CeZar wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 25, 2020 23:43 CET

I'm sorry I had to open that can of worms man, ...

I'll respond later in the Mix Challenge General Gossip Thread - and so should all others. After the participant announcement and the thread update, I will move/delete off topic comments as I seem fit!

So everyone - please adhere to the rules. Thank you.

Thank you for handling the evaluation, CeZar.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us kick off Mix Round 2, which will end on Monday, 30-03-2020 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST


There is a GLOBAL COUNTDOWN available to check for deadlines.
Just follow this link: Global Countdown (on homepage)



The following 10 participants go into Round 2 (alphabetical order)
(new forum feature, all Mix Round 2 participants should have been pinged)

@3ee
@Alex Van mixland
@davemcisaac
@Estudio del Leon
@JulienMeirone
@ManuC
@paglia
@Piranha
@RJR
@TPR


The feedback to the productions can be found here:
viewtopic.php?p=7342#p7342


If you are unsure what to do exactly with your mix, reach out to the song provider and engage in a conversation here on the forum.



A thank you to everyone, and good luck for Round 2

Hi Cezar,

Thanks for your detailed report. I just realised I forgot to set the Google drive file permission to 'can edit', I'm fairly new to google drive, but if you could have a listen to my original entry, which I also pasted here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GGveYs ... sp=sharing

and if you could give any feedback that would be appreciated, I understand I'm disqualified though, thank you.

Harry

fgfgfgfgt wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 26, 2020 00:07 CET

Hi Cezar,

Thanks for your detailed report. I just realised I forgot to set the Google drive file permission to 'can edit', I'm fairly new to google drive, but if you could have a listen to my original entry, which I also pasted here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GGveYs ... sp=sharing

and if you could give any feedback that would be appreciated, I understand I'm disqualified though, thank you.

Harry

I will tomorrow, man. Heading to bed now as it is 1:30 in the morning and my ears are fucked anyway after the evaluation

Hey @CeZar

Thanks for the great track to mix! Obviously I understand I didn't make the top 10 but as I'm fairly new to the mixing business I'd love some feedback on my mix and what you'd recommend doing differently!

Thanks again,
Sam Pierpoint

Mistake 5 - Not enough compression or too much compression (A few files were mastered, others were even severely burnt, some of them had almost no compression), I've used Levels by Mastering the Mix to monitor everything here)

Really? You used a plugin and not your ears?

Feel for you being faced with so many entries and good luck to the those through to next round.

Gary