Mix Challenge

Thank you @BenjiRage for the advancement to round 2 and for the detailed critique. I will certainly address each concern and report back by the deadline. I appreciate the opportunity!

-Dustin

Thanks @BenjiRage for giving me another shot! That’s some very helpful feedback. I also thought my mix was a tiny bit on the dull side after I uploaded it (I checked my Ozone 11 for the first time and the results pointed in the same direction). First I thought I could just use that as my R2 entry - but no. No!
Instead I took a chance and changed most of my channel EQs to Acusticas new Salt. I dialed in some of that top end sweetness in the vocals, the snare and the overheads. I still remain cautious here, for me things quickly sound just too bright, which is a matter of taste of course. I also adjusted my mixbus settings for less pumping, to get more dynamics and a little volume jump into the chorus. I also put a highpass filter on some fx returns to bring the vocals a bit out of the mud. So here it is, my R2 entry:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o0jw7lh4 ... 5ivat&dl=0

Big thank you to BenjRage! Been reading the mix feedback, very helpfull. TNX.
Good Luck to all that made it to round two.

@BenjiRage Thanks that u spend time to type something for all mixes out there! Good luck to everyone in stage 2 ! Thanks to all for the replay to my post for the gain stage the forum post on the topic was very useful i don't think that its a problem if one or more tracks are peaking hi cose after all this is just 1 stage of gain stage.And at the end i will use the fader to mix it up by ear + compression on it so... its fine.For the cutting... this time i dont remember but in general i cut 1 bar after my mix buss reach less then - 100 db ... revurb tails delays... if u have noisy guitars at the end it can be a bit tricky but still is a bad idea to cut close to the source.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12f6x6L ... sp=sharing

Thanks @BenjiRage for the feedback and the advancement to round 2!

As mentioned, I brought up Synth 1 significantly, also added some top end and mid-range for some cut, and I do quite like it, it opens up the song in a way the guitars on their own cannot. Also pushed all the vocals up 1 db, and pulled back on my 2k boost in the snare. I hope you like this revision!

Thanks for being such a massive sport @BenjiRage - so generous of you to take the time and provide feedback to all participants, yet this timely.

First the insanely good recordings, now this... Not sure if song providing could be done any better than this honestly.
Feeling blessed and stoked to get another chance, thank you.

My applause to all participants! It's pretty amazing to hear so much individuality. I sincerely hope this challenge has a future.
Good luck to the second rounders!
Take care everybody.

Thanks @BenjiRage for your feedback, and congrats to everyone who participated, and to those who passed to round 2!

Best whishes to you all

Thanks @BenjiRage for the feedback. Greatly appreciated. I was doing my best to give those synths a go somewhere in the mix. I don’t like to leave anything out. I think I basically over compressed everything in this mix and your notes pointed directly to the areas I thought were an issue as well. Good luck to all who are through. May your mixes shine.

BenjiRage wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 30, 2023 12:23 CET

There are some quite big issues here

I give up. Mixing clearly isn’t for me lol.

Thank you for the feedback. And I agree, the frequencies are not well.

I committed a cardinal sin.
I made mixing decisions in the worst way possible.
I could not catch a frequency that was bugging me in my normal listening environment, so popped in ear buds to help identify. I did find that frequency and several others that I did not know were bugging me.
Next thing I know, I'm moving EQ faders all over the place and had it sounding great! (In ear buds).
After a car listen, realized the errors, and tried franticly at the 11th hour to undo the damage that i had done, obviously in vain.