MIX CHALLENGE - MC102 February 2025 - Winners announced

[Dodgingrain]

I keep flipping on this - one listen they are, the next they're not. Really just depends how my ears feel on the day I think haha

I'm sure we can all relate. Got me thinking, again, that I should use references more. I always find it difficult to find the right songs to reference accordingly to what I'm mixing and end up just listening, in the start of a mixing session, to songs that I know well, just to tune my ears.

Ideally references should come from the artist we're mixing for.

[PauPeu]

I m over this challenges! Check your ears and good luck!

[Mister Fox]

A quick update on the Mix Round 1 evaluation:

I am in touch with the Song Provider. Due to health reasons, things got a bit delayed. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to update you in the coming days (during Calendar Week 12).

[Strange]

krya på dig

[scottfitz]

Hi all,
while we are awaiting the response from the song provider, I have realised that it's best in this period to do a second mix anyway, either based on feedback from other participants or based on your own changing perceptions about what went right or wrong in round 1. If what we seek through being in the Mix Challenge is to improve in mixing, then we ought to benefit from inventing a kind of 'round 1.5' not to submit to anyone, but just for our own study

just an idea and probably a bunch of you do this anyway.
cheers all

[elements]

Hi all,
while we are awaiting the response from the song provider, I have realised that it's best in this period to do a second mix anyway, either based on feedback from other participants or based on your own changing perceptions about what went right or wrong in round 1. If what we seek through being in the Mix Challenge is to improve in mixing, then we ought to benefit from inventing a kind of 'round 1.5' not to submit to anyone, but just for our own study

just an idea and probably a bunch of you do this anyway.
cheers all

I think this is a great use of the Mix Challenge forum. If it’s OK with you I’ll have another version up some time soon and I’m more than happy to give feedback to anyone based on my listening environment.
Because of the quality of the recorded material it has been good to play with things and try out stuff. Personally, I’m not really that interested in the plugins - it’s more about the opportunity to play with a session.

[White Punk OD]

At first, my best wishes to the much respected songprovider, to be back strong and healthy soon, if our Lord or the Universe allows.
This was beautiful work.

However, I made such a private mix too, which is probably much better, because time spent on some fine tuning. And so I think we should find an agreement with Mr. Fox and among peers to exchange and debate such mixes, perhaps after some time-out to be set, or after a normal completion of round 2, (maybe round 3 because of the high number of mixes, as a third has taken place before).
So we know when we can begin such a discussion and form of sharing.

By nature of the game, the agreement of any song provider for us to use his work for didactic purpose is limited.
So it will be in the rights and discretion of Mr. Fox to inform us about such time limit, if it was set in agreement with the song provider.
So we know if it has to end, and when.

(In theory, there might be reserved, members-only threads that are not public, but the administrative work to prepare this might be not affordable under current conditions. But I think it would not need permanent monitoring, just when a member complains about something serious.)

Thanks for considering, it would be beautiful when it becomes possible.
The quality of the song motivates some members to work with it more intensely, so the ideas are raised here.
But I wouldn't mind if it gets moved to the general or administrative sub forums.

[Edling]

First off I want to say thanks for all of the kind comments regarding the song, performance and production. It’s also very fun to hear reactions from people hearing something for the first time, especially when it’s twenty years old

My goal going into this was to provide feedback to everyone which I unfortunately won’t be able to do in this post as everyone in my family got the flue and I lost about ten days. With some luck I might be able to add more feedback and comments later on.

I also have to say it was really hard to select my top 15 mixes out of so many great choices. Some of the mixes were more aligned with the original idea when recording the track, while others presented me with a fresh take on an old song that was really cool, my top picks are a mix of both of these categories. Lastly I just want to point out that I am by no means saying that my favorites are the best mixes, they are simply the mixes that I, as the songwriter liked the best.

I listened to all of the mixes using an Apogee sound card, on Genelec 8030, Sennheiser HD650 and in some cases my iPhone speakers in case I needed to check frequencies/phase for small sound units.

So these are my top 15 picks, in alphabetical order, with comments and suggested edits!

► Show Spoiler

Acoustic_Spaces
Very good sounding mix with a full, yet controlled low end. I like the delay/reverb build-up when leaving the choruses. My only suggestions would be that since the guitars are EQ’d quite thin the bridge somewhat loses power as the vocals disappear, also the guitar solo is quite low. An idea could be to either increase the volume of the guitars on this section, automate the EQ to make the guitars a bit fuller, or a combination of these.

Adjustments: More power on the bridge, a little more solo guitar

Alexvanmixland
Smooth sounding mix, with a very ”expensive” vocal sound. The balancing is great, however it feels like the stereo imaging could be a but wider in certain sections to add to the space. Things to look out for is that the kick might be a bit ”clicky” for the style of music, and also that the overall sound is a bit scooped and could have better mid-range definition.

Adjustments: Little less click in the kick. Maybe some more stereo width in chorus/bridge to make it open up a bit more.

BenjiRage
Great mix with good dynamic movement between the different sections. The stereo placement of the tracks is well done. The slightly filtered vocal sound on the verses verses works really well and leaves room for that gnarly bass sound to really shine. The volume automation on the guitars on the bridge helps cover up for the ”missing” vocals in a good way.

Adjustments: Nothing in particular, maybe add some extra "shine" to it or adjust anything you weren't satisfied with from round 1.

Christian_M
Nice sounding mix overall. It was fun to hear the guitars on the chorus EQ’d more along the lines of rock guitars with more prominent mid-range scooping. However the mix loses some energy on the bridge when the vocals disappear, which also makes the drums stand out a little bit too much in the overall sound, where the kick and snare are quite big in the low/low-mid frequencies.

Adjustments: More power on the bridge, control the low-end a bit.

Christoph_K
Cool sounding mix with nice balance between the different synths, I can clearly hear that scrappy mellotron in chorus. Good automation going into the bridge keeping the energy high. There are some times where effects seem to pop in and out for no apparent reason, for example on the phrase ”I’ll SHOW you the map…” during the first verse.

Adjustments: Overall some more bottom/lo-mid. Check those effects!

filipandrei
Good mix with a modern and fresh sound to it. The one thing I think you should look out for is the internal balance in the mix between kick and bass, where the kick in you mix is very big and bass heavy in contrast to the bass guitar which is way thinner. This sort of imbalance between instruments in the same frequency area is tricky to ”fix in the master”, so with a little tweaking there your mix would improve drastically.

Adjustments: Check the balances in the low-end between bass/kick.

Gertius
Very clean and well balanced mix where all of the different instruments are clearly defined. The drums could perhaps have gained from a little more punch as they get a little bit overpowered in the choruses when the vocal dubs are added.

Adjustments: Perhaps some parallel compression on the drums to give them some more snap!

Himora
Well balanced mix with good use of reverb for adding texture to different instruments. It was an interesting touch with slightly more dry drums that gives nice contrast to the parts that have more effects on them. One thing to look at is that the mix as a whole lacks a bit of definition in the upper mids which makes the different tracks blur together a bit.

Adjustments: Some more hi-hid definition. Control the lo-end of the kick drum a bit.

jw_
Good mix with great dynamic shifts between the verses and choruses, you really feel it hit you when the chorus start. The low-end of the kick and toms feels a bit over exaggerated, especially in comparison to the bass which has to step back a bit but besides that, good balance and dynamics!

Adjustments: Control the low end a bit on the kick and toms.

LCM!
Really punchy, tight and crips sound without having too much top end. I like the somewhat dirtier tom sound that gives a cool contrast to the crisp snare sound. Like some other mixes the bridge could use some volume automation not to lose in energy when vocals disappear, but other than that it sounds great!

Adjustments: More power on the bridge.

maxovrdrive
Good mix with great dynamic movement between the different sections. I think the more prominent room mics works quite good in your mix even though it might not be typical for the genre! Again the bridge could’ve perhaps gained from some more automation to give it more punch, and perhaps some effects on the solo guitar which sounds very dry in its context.

Adjustments: More power on the bridge.

MilkMonster
Nice mix with good balance and stereo placement. The drums are tight, defined and do their job. The bridge feels good in comparison to the chorus, probably because that the guitars are quite forward in the mix. My only suggestion is that select tracks could gain for some more hi-mid bite to make them stand out and give the sound a little bit more edge!

Adjustments: Some more hi-mid definition.

MixyMcMixFace
Cool mix with a kind of arena-rock sound to it. Some really creative use of effects to make it interesting like playing with the reverb tail on certain snare hits. Also the filter and delay effects on the vocals in the second verse was a fun addition that added some tension. Personally I think the 16th-note delay on hihat is something to stay away from as it changes the sound too much and almost makes it sound like the drum part is actually playing 16th-notes instead of 8ths.

Adjustments: Remove the 16th-note delay on the hihat.

mj247
Big sounding mix with a fat, balanced bottom-end and nice stereo placement. The guitars could’ve perhaps used some more hi-mid boosting to make them pop out a bit. The main things to look out for in the mix is the snare and the reverb (used on at least the snare). The snare is very high in volume and pops out too much, and it feels like the reverbs has too much lo-end which blurs the sound a bit in the choruses. Regardless of these details the overall impression is great!

Adjustments: Control the lo-end of the kick and reverbs, make the snare less prominent.

ThomC
Good mix with a tight and punchy drum sound and an expensive vocal sound. To me it feels like a dip in energy going into the chorus from the verse, perhaps it’s the overall volume of the guitars, or it could be the pad sound taking to much space during the verses, perhaps the pad sound which is very dense needs some hi-cut/lo-mid cut. Very nice reverb/delay effect on the solo guitar which gives it a very atmospheric sound.

Adjustments: More energy on the chorus and bridge.

[Mister Fox]

Thank you for handling the evaluation, @Edling ..


Ladies and gentlemen, let us kick off Mix Round 2, which will end on Saturday, 22-MAR-2025 23:59 UTC+1/CET

As of this moment, that is 5 days (plus the hours since @Edling's update). All Mix Round 2 participants will be sent a reminder via mail shortly.


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



The following 15 participants go into Round 2 (alphabetical order), with "Wild Cards" being pointed out (if present this month).
(all Mix Round 2 participants should have been pinged, all participants will also get a reminder via the new newsletter engine)

@Acoustic_Spaces
@Alex Van mixland
@BenjiRage
@Christian M.
@Christoph_K
@filipandrei
@Gertius
@Himora
@jw_
@LCM!
@maxovrdrive
@MilkMonster
@MixyMcMixFace
@mj247
@ThomC



.

!	Bonus Info
	Please read more about the "Wild Card" game mechanic here Mix Challenge - Addendum: Statistic Sheet and Wild Card Mechanic All Wild Card users are not only asked to apply the requested changes, but also to fix what they had at fault with Mix Round 1 (including warnings!). Please use the following filename template: MC102__TheLastHours__ThePersonThatYouSee__ForumUsername_R2.wav

The feedback to the productions can be found here:
Please see post #248 for individual feedback.



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.
And please keep the Rules and Guidelines (post #6) in mind regarding submitting your entry. Please do pay attention to detail. (yes, please also check the song length of your entry!)

[Edling]

Also wanted to say thank you to everyone who submitted a mix and didn't make it into the Top 15!!! To everyone who took part in the challenge I'd also like to provide some more general feedback and thoughts that applies to a lot of mixes!

Drums and room mics
When balancing all of the tracks from acoustic drums, make sure to check how these are usually balanced for the genre you’re mixing, this gives a good starting point that can later be tweaked and adjusted. Many mixes put the room mics quite forward in the drum sound, something that is not that common for pop/rock productions.

Kick and Bass
Getting a good balance between the kick drum and the bass guitar is one of the more tricky parts of mixing. Always make sure that these align because it’s almost impossible to raise one of the and lower the other at the mastering stage without producing weird artifacts in the sound.

Synths
Synth sounds are almost always designed to sound good in solo, so the keyboard player feels on top of the world when playing a chord. Unfortunately this almost never works in a dense pop/rock production as it leaves no room for anything else. Don’t be afraid to really cut away on the lo and lo-mid frequencies and overemphasize the higher frequencies to keep the synths from blurring the other tracks.

Automation
In many cases musicians are lazy (yes I'm referring to myself), and there’s not enough tracks to account for the dynamic changes needed when moving between the different parts in the song. Many of the mixes struggled with keeping the energy up when moving from the second chorus into the bridge as 5 vocal tracks disappeared, but almost nothing was added to make up for them. Always make sure to check the energy and ride the faders to make it interesting!

Happy mixing everyone!!!