Mix Challenge

The first 29 participants are reviewed in this post.
The next 9 in this post.
Below are reviews for the next 13. More reviews coming soon!

mix by LughSenderson:
** pros: A well balanced mix. All sounds sit on the right level.
** cons: Maybe a bit too much reverb on the (backing) vocals.
A very good entry, but a pity that the reverb stands out too much on the (backing) vocals. Really well done, great listen.

mix by MadAlien
** pros: Good punchy drums and an overall pretty well mixed mix.
** cons: The vocals have a little too resonant edited effect on them, and they sound a little distorted here and there.
The mix is fine, but the vocals have lost a little of their clarity in the mix. Quite a good listen.

mix by Mange
** pros: Really well expressive sounding drums and space for everything in the mix. This is a very excellently done mix.
** cons: The drum break sort of gives a drop in the song, which was already present in the original mix. It is definibly low in your mix.
Excellent mix. Very smoothly mixed and done every part. The drum break still leaves quite a drop. Very well done, an excellent listen.

mix by Marc Rapture
** pros: The guitars are really well treated in this mix.
** cons: The snare drum has lost most of its expression, and the vocals remain low in the mix, almost undefinable.
Sounds like there is much of the original sound lost in the equalizing and volume deduction/compression in this mix.. Hard to hear the vocals, with a lot of syllables coming out. It's not too bad, still good to listen.

mix by Martin Antonsson
** pros: The guitars and somehow feels like the reverb on the master sound really nice. The drums have been handled excellently.
** cons: A lot of reverb on the vocals, and a lot of ducking in the sound that sounds too low, make it a little unnatural.
A good overall mix, though there is a lot of vocal reverb and some ducking.. This is quite a nice mix to listen.

mix by Marv
** pros: May be a con, the tape-like saturation on the drums somehow make them lost in the balance of the mix. The snare sounds nice.
** cons: The guitar is panned r-e-a-l-l-y wide and this fronts them a lot in the mix.
Pretty alright, although the mix is not really solidly glued together and sounds like a lot of sounds got handled differently. A good mix to listen to.

mix by Masato M
** pros: The drums sound effected well, although they could have been louder.
** cons: A really long timed limiter/compressor leaves a clipped part through in a small (loud hearable clicking) part.
This mix really has a click/plop returning. The sounds are handled with care, but something plops in the mix. This makes this one not too easy to listen, apart from the plops a friendly sound.

mix by MattClark
** pros: Every sound it fitted right in this mix. A very well crafted mix, this is.
** cons: This mix is not as expressive and punchy as one may have desired, and has more of a short peak punch with high ratio for a low volume after the release. May have been more booming.
A very good mix to listen to, with everything at its place. Not really that punchy and booming, still, props, very well done!

mix by maxovrdrive
** pros: Everything sits on the right level volume-wise in this mix. The drum break sounds good!
** cons: There is too much (wet out on the) reverb on the vocals in the mix.
Except for a little too much reverb on the vocals, a very well made mix. Good to hear, very good to listen.

mix by Miha
** pros: The vocals sound pretty nice in the mix. A good sounding, creative nice layer of effected guitar over the drum break.
** cons: Some sounds, the snare, and especially the bass guitar, sound muffled and muddy. There is a delay at the end that I would have left out.
A little less clear total mix, though the vocals stand out. Good listen, nice attention to details in the mix.

mix by Momoko Kohira
** pros: The drums sound handled perfectly. A very total sound in the mix.
** cons: The kick drum is fronted a little too much in the mix and almost tear away all other sounds.
A very good sound color in this mix, though the sound is ducking a little unaturally from the kick. Very pleasant to hear, apart from the small bit of kick drum standing out too much.

mix by Mork
** pros: What an expression is heard in this very well glued together total mix is remarkable. Excellently done!
** cons: There are not much cons in this mix.
This is an excellent mix. Such a nice overall sound, and a good clearly enjoyable listen.

mix by Nico Caldarulo
** pros: The vocals sound handled quite alright, altough they're still a little hard to hear through the loud guitar.
** cons: Too much distortion on the guitar, too appearant in the mid make this mix hard to listen to. Sounds duck a lot from compression on a group / master track.
This mix is a little more hard to listen to, as the mid is distorted and the guitar loudly appearant. Please cut the midrange, as many did before you. Smile

anto wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 23, 2019 17:07 CEST

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Thanks for the feedback EatMe.
Just out of curiosity, did you level match the submissions before critiquing them? If not, I would recommend doing so.
Your opinions may change somewhat, particularly with mixes that have a large dynamic range.
..
Cheers,
Anto

I put the volume up on mixes that were significantly lower in volume. I listened to all the mixes on medium low output level, sometimes louder to graze the details better.

[quote=EatMe post_id=5267 time=1561313777 user_id=733]

[quote]


Seeme its mainly an issue with my internet, have dl'd will have a listen

EatMe wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 23, 2019 21:01 CEST

mix by LughSenderson:
** pros: A well balanced mix. All sounds sit on the right level.
** cons: Maybe a bit too much reverb on the (backing) vocals.
A very good entry, but a pity that the reverb stands out too much on the (backing) vocals. Really well done, great listen.

Thank you for your review. I agree that I exaggerated a bit in reverbs ... I wanted to mix this song a lot but I had to do it with rather tired ears.

Thank you very much for taking the time to listen. Your critique is most welcome.

I understand regarding the reverb, and now that you pointed that out, it made me wonder. I think it would be at this stage where the producer would probably comment on the issue and that would get resolved easily.

EatMe wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 23, 2019 21:01 CEST

mix by maxovrdrive
** pros: Everything sits on the right level volume-wise in this mix. The drum break sounds good!
** cons: There is too much (wet out on the) reverb on the vocals in the mix.
Except for a little too much reverb on the vocals, a very well made mix. Good to hear, very good to listen.

More reviews below and coming soon..
The first 29 participants are reviewed in this post.
The next 9 in this post.
The next 13 in this post.
The next 9 reviews (60/79 reviews so far) are here:

mix by Optoslam
** pros: The drums are handled really well in this mix. The levels sit right for each part. A good mix.
** cons: Not much cons to notice in this mix, except maybe for a little fall-out in levels in the drum break.
A very well made mix. Well made, everything is just right. There is just a little loss of sound in the drum break. A very enjoyable listen!

mix by Florian Walther (Overflo)
** pros: A lot of effect on all seperate parts. A lot of work has been done to create this pretty balanced mix.
** cons: The flanger at the end of the drum break is questionable.
A good mix, a lot of work done on seperate parts. A really good overall sound in this mix. Listening was very enjoyable.

mix by paperthin
** pros: A good together sounding glued mix. Nice faded-in-reversed effect at the end of the drum break.
** cons: Some sounds are a little oversaturated in the mix. This works less good for the clarity of each part.
This is a good mix, has a, like many of the others, very good sounding composition of all parts. Good to listen!

mix by PaulArmbruster
** pros: Everything sits right in this mix, per sound color and per level. An excellent mix.
** cons: Not much cons about this mix, maybe the compression on the toms is a bit much in the drum break, but it can do.
Very professional mix is delivered here. Very good together sounding mixed parts. Another very enjoyable listen.

mix by Philip Lutz (Disco Stu)
** pros: The clarity of all sounds in this mix is good.
** cons: The sound color of this mix hangs a lot around an oversaturated loud midrange. A little hard on the ears.
This mix isn't too bad, but has a lot of (oversaturated) loud mid. The sound color of the mix is a little hard on the ears. Quite alright to listen.

mix by philk
** pros: A good balanced mix, everything part fits right in the mix. A good together sounding glued mix.
** cons: Drum triggering? Could be... The guitar maybe stands out of the mix a little much.
A very good mix, here, but the drum triggering used may be beyond the use scope of this contest.. Still a very good to listen mix.

mix by Photonic
** pros: The mix overall sounds pretty good!
** cons: Maybe a little too much compression after reverb on the snare.. The guitar sounds a little too fronted in the mix.
This mix is pretty well done, though the guitar still is a little much fronted in the mix. Overall a good to listen mix.

mix by Psymfonius
** pros: The drums sound handled really well in this mix. The drum break sounds really nice.
** cons: This mix is not that solidly glued together, a lot of sounds still sound a little individual.. Maybe because of all the diffent room/reverb going on.
Another quite good mix, although I'm missing where the sounds are linked together to one solidly glued 'together mix' feel. Still an enjoyable listen.

mix by QuentinHenry
** pros: The guitars are handled really well in this mix.
** cons: Levels are not that optimally balanced, and the vocals stand out too much in this mix, and have some kind of weird echo/delay/double on them that makes them sound less natural, a little nasal.
This mix isn't that glued together, still missing that solid 'this is a mix' idea, missing the right levels for some parts. Quite alright to listen.

More reviews coming soon...

I start off this post with a standing ovation to EatMe. What an amazing feat, incredible.

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Next, the regular defence speach to my mix critique. Thanks for the mixnotes EatMe, the dropoff (in impact?) to the drumsolo, I didn´t think it dropped off that big, it did start off quite mellow played so... didn´t bother me enough to be adressed in the short time I had left. I did replace the last hits in the drumsolo with the same figure played later in the song. That one had some more force to it. Maybe the drummer was exhausted just at the end of the solo?

I started way back with some gainstaging, busing, organizing... forgot about it and got to it like 99 minutes before deadline. Just skipped all remaining tedious bs and ran through it, it´s now a bit of a mess:D

Since upload I have found things to fix, some I already have fixed and some that are waiting to be fixed. Don´t think I will put more effort to it without a second round or more important, being able to use the mix in my portfolio.
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Now to the part that most skip, returning the favor.

EatMe
Drum sound, not enough meat. Expected them to expand as an effect somewhere in the song but no:( more deessing needed, guitars too low or lead too loud, b-vox too loud, especially the soprano.
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Next I thought of commenting to those that had commented on others but couldn´t find any, sorry if I missed your comment. So I picked a handful at random, just typing as I listen so not that in depth.


WhitePunkOD
Kick farts a little, deessing is needed, audible distortion (if intended = not enough, if not intended = too much) , nice delay on prechorus, drum solo too much distortion/saturation. Nice balance between tracks, I cut down a bit on the highest b-vox, sounded too religious to me.

3ee
Nice drums, theres is an anoying resonance somewhere low mid. Nice spacing a tad too much for me, too much delays, good balance between tracks. Nice idea in to the drum solo, great mix minus some delays. the winner? p.s how´s those eggs cookin´?

Mork
Nice kick, snare good but not good enough for the kick. Very good balance, bass could be better, remember, standards is pretty high in this mix. A nice one, should come to round 2 i think.

davemcisac
nice smack in kick, too much saturation on snare or... its too obvious, lead comes in sounding dull, too distorted guitars, kick bass balance can be worked on. It feels like something is missing in the midlows and the highs. Kick seem the most fronted of all elements. Biggest advice here is to reference more, you have a reference plugin?

arthur labus
mix pumps and ducks, I would like the vocals slightly louder, mix feels a bit dull or bottom heavy, slightly loud kick, loud b-vox (to lead). didn´t like the choice of leadvox reverb.
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Main suggestion is... reference, reference and reference. You don´t need a reference plugin, it helps but not neccessary. Wich one to choose. Not MagicAB. It´s not bad but i doubt it will get any more updates. MetricAB is the MagicAB 3.0. Unfortunately it´s rather pricey and rarely on sale, $49 is the lowest price i´ve seen.
Melda mcompare has some really nice extra features if you can cope with the GUI. On sale from time to time.
Reference from mastering the mix is the one I havn´t tried. I´ll get it when i see it on a decent sale.
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I will do my best in returning any mix critique. Once again, standing ovation to EatMe

@Mange, thanks a lot,
you mean distortion in vocals? I happened to hit the Waves Valve a bit hot (it is absent for the first verse, which uses a different saturator), it's a capricious gadget, and then it got printed, but I should probably revisit. deessing under way, but I believe the sibilance needs also a little sound correction, so it becomes a matter of communication with the client. I am experimenting with setting the deessing work frequency quite high. then it reduces also the artifacts from the distortion.
I see the kick issue, but also I tried to mimick the sound of some mainstream pop productions in the German language space, where the kick sounds more like a wet parcel-box. never to get in the way of anything else, but give a non-neglectible thump.
personally, a stand-alone drum sound that fulfills highest standards tells me very little in context of this song, it just hijacks, so I simply decided to pervert it. like the solarized color games in pop-art graphics. (which I would use for the music video at the same point.) I will back down this a bit.

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I like your mix a lot, and can return the pleasure of very good balances. you seem very fast. I took days.
for the intro, the drum reverb sounds long. it should end its tail already when the next drum hit appears (like the school is always telling).
drum sounds do compete the power of the vocals, which are clean and clear. if both carefully get stronger mid-range, this will discipline and narrow down the wide drums, and help the vocals.
first verse might still have a tad of artifacts or inconsistencies. very little, but maybe it distracts after listening many times. also, a possible glitch with a slap echo, but these issues can become a matter of taste and how much of "organic" stuff is still welcome.
bg voc yes, agree.
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mastering this production might bear a surprise. of course depends on the engineer. DIY is easily ruining dynamics and balances.
(Zino in Berlin might be perfect)

how much editing that affects the music, is allowed?
I did none, and no samples, but a couple of other tricks.

Hi EatMe ! Thanks for the time you spent reviewing every one of our mixes, that's huge work and we all appreciate that.
About that muffled drums and bass of mine: I was trying a kind of top-down approach for the song (bussmixes first followed by individual track processing...). Looks like I forgot some detailed EQ work on the low-end during that process. Thanks for pointing that out !