Mix Challenge

Hi Ady,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to take it for another spin.
Really appreciate the thorough feedback. This motivates me to do better next time!
Congrats to all 2nd rounders as well! Good luck to all!

Thanks for voting my mix into the second round! @Los_ady

Following your feedback, here are the changes I made based on your recommendations so that you have a more detailed comparison between the new and previous version.

lowered the intro guitar 1 dB

cleared some lows/low mids on the vocals and increased the level and the presence a touch
added some delays for the feel and a few ear candys in between some vocal gaps. (very quiet)

automated the drum loop down a bit in the verses to increase the impact in the chorus

changed the level of the Ribab when Fiona is singing

lowered the level of both guitars by 5 dB so that the trumpet and sax solos are in the main focus (guess that that is your intention)
slight level automation on the second guitar (only 1 dB) to increase dynamic/emotion a bit.

made some small adjustments on the mixbus and added some more punch.

hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the great feedback!

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

I am very happy with the feedback, all the care I took was indeed evaluated and pointed out, thank you very much Ady!

My mix revision I did a pass of automations on the vocal to make sure it was 100% audible every word without jumping out of the mix or hidden by some instrument.

In Calabash, I used an deesser to contain excessive peaks in the highs and took a little 2k to throw it a little behind the beat.

My Mix
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TwRBzo ... sp=sharing

Dear @Los_ady,
Many thanks for your detailed revision of the mixes and for the feedback. Following your remarks and comments, please find below what I did:

“…Chorus the vocals are even a bit too loud…”: I’ve lowered just a little bit the first chorus

“The dynamics in the Bridge could be a bit better…”: I’ve lowered just a bit the volume, automated an EQ on the voice (big scoop when all instruments are in place), and reworked a bit the panning of guitars

Best wishes, and success to the finalists!
Pablo

Download link -> [Dropbox's link to MC087 R2]

Hey @Los_ady, thanks for your valuable feedback and choosing my mix for round two!

I corrected the things you mentioned: got rid of mud in Fionas voice with a dynamic low shelf und pushed the track up one db. The trumpet in the bridge is louder now by brightening it up a bit. Cheers, Chris

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s91m9su9l8aho ... 2.wav?dl=0

Dear @Los_ady!
Dear Team!

You've been perfectly right with your feedback concerning the low-end-build-up due to the distorted guitar. How could I not become aware of: ?
I guess I liked it because the bass didn't kick in immediately... anyway, that's fixed using by a dynamic eq.
Your other note was about the calabash: I didn't reduce a lot of the "clickiness" during most parts of the song, but during the last bridge the difference between before and after is huge. I as well played with the relation room sound/direct sound here to bring it forward in that bridge despite reducing clicks, which I think is kind of counter-intuitive, but: it works (for me).
What you didn't mention, but what I changed as well is this:
- I raised the entire volume of the mix during the choruses while I reduced it in other parts (+/- 0.4dB :-)
- I reduced dynamically app. 1k and 1k8 in the main vocal as these frequencies started annoying me when I listened to the track at "eleven". There's still a lot going on in that range but I kept that for a third round...

SO, this is what I call "final" for now:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Wwotq ... sp=sharing

Man: this was fun. And challenging! Especially after being picked for this second round - I really tried my best. Thanks everybody who takes her/his time to participate and listen!

Best regards, Chris

Hello,
Here is my proposal for the second round, I took note of your remarks and reworked more in depth the elements of the mix and a little the overall color while keeping a good dynamic and the groove.
Good listening

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T1aRdE ... sp=sharing

Wow. That was some great, in-depth feedback right there @Los_ady

My biggest "issue" in my mixing life, is that my girlfriend and all my friends that I share my work with are a little bit like my mom...
They like everything I play to them

What I need is unbiased, technical feedback. Exactly like this one.
This for sure cost you a lot of time Ady, so thank you, I really appreciate it.

Anyway, to the point.

1. Intro had definitely too much low-end. I don't know why I did not hear it before. It is all cleaned now.

Additionally, I worked on everything with the low-end.
Bass is now side-chained to the kick, with compressor release matched to song tempo. It adds a bit of nice rhythmic pumping.
Calabash - added dynamic eq at around 60 Hz as you mentioned.

2. Horns louder in general.

3. In the 2nd Transition to chorus 2 I added reverb tail as you wanted, and also drums starting earlier so there is no long silence like before.

4. Guitars cleaned from all the mud and resonances.
I also worked on them volume-wise and a bit of automation was added.
In the first mix, I totally missed all these nice guitar fx on the wah-wah guitar track.
Now they are more emphasized at 1:26 for example.
And the wah-wah track is louder in choruses.

5. The whole mix sounds clearer and less muddy.
It is now glued together even more, and master eq is improved a little bit.

I hope I addressed all the issues. I tried to go an extra mile and improve the mix overall. I think you will be able to hear it.

Good luck again to everyone in round 2

Here's my mix for round 2. Enjoy!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GEibu9 ... sp=sharing

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your edit for Mix Round 2

Here is my round 2 mix for 'Power is Out'.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ahp8xH6KRIfbgQbV0WT ... O?e=zbxRro

I made some big and some smaller big changes ;-) The most obvious is the kick. I seperated the kick from the rest of the beat so I could sculp it in a sound I had in my mind. I made the kick bigger and louder. It gives the song some foundation.

The bassguitar got a different compressor and saturation. it is also a bit louder than in my previous version.

I worked hard on the dynamics of the song. I automated the horns so there is more energy in the chorus compared to the verse. I also tried to highlight differents parts of the arangement during different sections of the song.

The masterbus now has got a different EQ setting during the chorus (some high shelf EQ 10Khz and mid boost (around 4Khz)).

The horns have less volume than my round 1 mix and some EQ scoop around the frequency of the vocal too let de vocal more through.
I made the stereofield wider by hard panning some rythm parts.

The Ribab you found too bright and lacking some body. in this version it has got a high shelf filter to reduce some high frequencies and a low mid boost for body. I also turned down the volume of this track.

I did a lot of rebalancing.

I think overall the mix has gained a lot of energy and feels more balanced at the same time. I hope you like it.

Jeroen