MIX CHALLENGE - MC070 October 2020 - Winners announced

[rvalle]

I'm very happy to have reached another top 10 (I mean, 11 ), among all this great fellow mixers.

For this second round, I made small adjustments to the main voice reverb equalization, such as a low cut filter from R4 itself, in the input signal, that corrected the muddy sensation.
After quite experimentation, I found a satisfactory blend of guitars. I held the volume of the cleanest guitars and replaced tracks that I had removed, adding character and saturation. A Guitar Rig chorus and delay helped to increase the cohesion of all guitar tones a little more.
I took the opportunity to add a little bit of parallel compression on the drumbuss. I also improved the high end equalization.

Once again I thank the band, represented by Piotr, and @Los_ady for the opportunity to work with this excellent music. Must say I have learned a lot in this thread. I congratulate everyone who participated. Thanks.

Round 2 Edit

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WC6-7- ... sp=sharing

[kirurg]

Hello everyone,
Thank you Ady & the band for detailed feedback and picking up for 2nd round.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ntpski4lxgbd4 ... 2.wav?dl=0

Tried to make the toms a bit more prominent in some parts, couple panning adjustments for guitars as well.

Greetings from Estonia.

[MattRocket]

Hello,

Thanks for the feedback!

round 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nysli0h7m98zq ... 2.wav?dl=0

- strange click in the tom top end: I added a low pass filter on the reverb track of the tom
- to answer your question, no automation for the delay/reverb vocals
- the kick could be automated in the bridge to have more presence in between this busy parts: it's done
- Small muddy build up in the low end: I removed low frequencies, mainly on the Bass, also on the snare and the backing vocals
- I added a compressor on the mix bus to slightly densify the mix

MattRocket

[letsmix]

I'm extremely grateful to get a second chance on my mix! I did the first mix really fast the day of the deadline and took some wild chances on the balance! (shaking my head)

Here is R2:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nxidz5srr1r6e ... 2.wav?dl=0

When I finished my mix I was shocked to see they naturally landed right at 1.0 dBTP! Maybe that’s a good sign or just luck?

48kHz / 24bit
-16.3 LUFS-I
-1.0 dBTP


The feedback I received was all right on the money and matched my observations when I listened back to my mix the day after turning it in.

>>>Piotr Feedback: good but snare to aggressive / loud, vocals hidden and buried. could be really nice though

Once I pulled the snare back and raised the vocals it revealed a universe of problems to solve. I’ll be honest, I essentially had to rebalance everything, do a ton of automation, fix eq/comp/effects, clean up some noises, etc. It was a lot of work!

>>>1. Great guitars, Drums don't sound so glued together as a unite (Snare is so upfront that it feels separated)

I tried to keep the great guitars and getting the snare lower and more glued into the kit helped reveal a little more detail on the guitars. I love the little extras I hear on the guitar! I automated a lift on the guitars (and a few other things) to drive the end of the song.

>>>2. Bass is a bit out of control, not mixed inside the track to support it (I know, it's a tricky one)

True! A touch more compression, eq, chorus and saturation helped the bass sit more solid in the mix. I automated a spot in the intro to let it peek out before verse 1 then tuck back in.

>>>3. I get the intention, the drums individually sound good, snare is a tad too loud and takes attention of the track
>>>4. Vocals are great but fight with snare

My first mix I was trying something I never do: tuck the lead vocal into the mix to get an ethereal sound. Once I understood the intention to have the vocal in front I was excited… this is what I do! I did my best to get the vocalist to float just in front of the band (in a good way).

>>>5. Overall good tonal balance and good dynamics

First of all thank you! I went with the same tonal balance but with a touch more clarity by removing some frequencies that were annoying me in the instruments and vocals.

>>>6. Tom's could have more oomph

Agreed. There was like 12 db of oomph already there in the lows so I started cutting the smack frequencies (2K and higher) more and more and more until I heard what I wanted.
>>>7. The backing vocals are a bit harsh on the left side of my headphones Panning wise it's great

This took a while to find. There was some harsh guitar poking on the left side in spots that I automated away as well.

>>>8. It's a wide mix and the parts when the electric guitars kick in is amazing!

Thank you! I tried to preserve all of this while I rebalanced everything.

Regardless of who wins: I learned a lot and a massive thanks to everyone involved.

letsmix

[Piranha]

In this mix review I've tried to implement Ady and Piotr's advices and to take care of the details that I've left out in the first iteration due my limited time.
I lowered the volume of the kick, especially its low end, and significantly lowered the doubler (perceived as a phaser) on the lead voice.
I also tried to control the resonances that the bass has on some notes, made the snare drum fatter and the guitars more present in general.
Finally, I followed the dynamics of the voice with an automation.
I also wanted to thank Any and Piotr for the kind words. My first mix was made quickly because I've found the song a couple of busy days before the deadline, but I loved it and I firmly wanted to make my versione of it!
WAV:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0powpyxmyjcxg ... 2.wav?dl=0
MP3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7sqg51fbeuczo ... 2.mp3?dl=0

[White Punk OD]

Hello Ady,

thanks so much for the ticket, means a lot to me!
Here is my update:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ekKmR1 ... sp=sharing

The noises were mainly sibilance and breath, which came up with the insane compression, so I attentuated these with automation.
Something sounded like a glitch, and also there were clicks in the vocal, but RX7 could only mitigate, not fully remove. I automate-switched it off where I hear no clicks, to avoid any degradation.
Hope it does not disturb any more.
I kept a lot of breath noises in, as they increase tension and emotion, and I only removed at the time stamps, that were pointed out.

I tried to brighten up the bridge with some EQ on the guitars (used "Luftikus"), but in my concept basically the bridge is not able to become much louder than it was.
But also, I put the guitars during the verses a bit down, like 1 dB.
So with luck, this will be perceived as somewhat more dynamics.

These parts in the finale, like min 3:48, the guitar did not play the "one" very explicitly, because that track plays everything all over the place, so I faked some dynamics with automation on volume and upper mids, then it might sound like a much stronger strum.
Also, I threw the Elysia dynamic animal on the most verbose guitar sub bus (what's the name *looking up* nvelope), so it sounds more pronounced (boost attack, lower sustain a little bit).

Please, don't be shy about the many guitar tracks, this is great work, I wanted to include as many facets as possible, of what the musician might have felt when playing. But this way it is more emotional than "transparent", I didn't see it as Metal genre, where meticulous clarity is always mandatory.

Minor changes in vocal automation.

A mult track with the top snare came in, at extremely low volume, just to add a little bit of clarity during some parts.
But I found time do work on this only tonight, so something still may be imperfect. Seems the vocals have lost 2dB which would have been another rendering roundtrip.

Greetings from Vienna!

[White Punk OD]

addendum
*PHEWWW* last one!
The upload of a little vocal boost finished just in time, though it took forever, thanks God!

"... because that track plays everything all over the place, ..."
And I love it SO MUCH!

Just for fun:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R8K4t6 ... sp=sharing
This is a screen shot about the automation ramps I did on the finale guitars. All over the place as well, so it comes here, then it comes there...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n2F3aB ... sp=sharing
And this is the ersatz "Trackspacer", that helps to make the mix so dense.
(You can buy a plugin with that name that does something similar, but its controls are totally different.)

Good luck everyone, you done great and exciting!
- engineers, beware the delivered sample rate !! -

[Mister Fox]

It's the 15th November 2020, 4:45 (UTC+2) - the 2nd Mix Round has officially ended.

Everyone has sent in an edit.
We have no submissions after the deadline.

Please check your upload links again, and have an eye on this thread for the final feedback and results.



I'm now opening up the room (again) for Q&A's and giving each other feedback (which is highly encouraged)

Please check out all other games on the community.


See you on the flipside.

[Los_ady]

Fantastic, thank you everybody for the updates, kind messages and detailed description - you all Rock!

I still try to schedule the call with Piotr + Anna today, we will listen all tracks one more time together and as hard as it is, picking 3 Winner!

As a Bonus, all 3 Winner will get promoted on my Social Media and Cheap Flights Social Media accounts with links and recommendation to book you for your great mixing skills

As another Bonus that even Mr. Fox didn't knew about:

I will invite the #1 Winner to our new Series called "Mix Off Monday" where 4 Engineers Mix the same track and present it live to the Artist - the Artist will pick a Winner and the track will be played on the Radio in the UK

The guys are very positive and supportive, here's the latest Episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWuApA ... arlerAudio

Hear you later!

[Los_ady]

Apologies, Piotr couldn't make it today so we will have to postpone it for this week! forgive us haha we are just humans