The main issue I kept seeing was the outro - it's the climax of the song and it doesn't sound as big as it should. A good reference point would be the way Rylan by The National expands. Also don't be afraid to just use a lot of low-end because one thing the references have in common is how warm they are.
Mellow Browne: Synth gets in the way of the vocals. The vocal sound and the tight percussion, though I don't love the auto-pan at 1:31. Ending is really strong. Good mix of technical skills and creativity.
Alex Van Mix Land: You really got the vibe, though I wish the percussion was a bit more separated and defined wrt stereo image. I don't think muting the primary vocals for the others at 0:56 quite works - it's supposed to kind of creep up on the main vocal. 1:52 piano overwhelms bridge. Needs a bit more clarity but I really like this one
GenBassman: A lot of really gorgeous things about this mix. Love the stereo image, love the vocal treatments. More low-end punch might work but isn't necessary - part of what I love about "Full Circle" is that it's both intimate and weirdly inspired by hip-hop. That said, the intimacy of this mix it's so refreshing and reminds me a bit of Death Cab's quieter music. Still, I find the ending a bit disappointing - the bass line is too high and the percussion doesn't really increase in volume to match? Re-do the ending and it's a really compelling interpretation.
Naturecord: LOVE the energy, especially towards the end. Unfortunately low-end is too muddy for my tastes - especially in the 250-500 range it just feels weirdly muffled. It's unfortunate that I don't love the mix overall.
ConcreteMixer: Love the beginning with the delay throws. The percussion mix is weird - where are the handclaps? It doesn't feel sturdy bc the rhythm is so buried.
Mr. Flat: Vocals could be louder in the verses, but I love this one: You get the energy so perfectly. The low-end could be a little less aggressive bc the sub-bass is overwhelming, and the last refrain could be a bit less busy. The ending could use more of the atmospheric guitar tracks, but other than that I love this one.
Green-Dog: Vocals could be slightly higher once the full band comes in, but I love the depth so much. Love the feedback spins too! You really got the vibe I was going for. Could use a bit more vocal tuning on the bridge if you're comfortable doing that (as well as slightly less de-essing) but this is a clear standout, even as I wish the kick drum in the outro and the 'paranoids' were a bit higher.
SuC76: sounds like my mix, and I appreciate that. but the vocal levels are all over the place and there's just not as much width as I'd like.
Tobinth: I love how natural this mix is, but with enough touches (the hard-panned percussion). Love the rhythm you create at about 2:15 - would definitely like to see some more quirks like that because the basics are as solid as any mix I've heard so far. Everything feels in the right place, but I feel like with more aggression this could be even better.
Javiramallo: W I D T H. Love the crazy effect you put on the synth guitars - that's the kind of creativity I was hoping for when I submitted this song for consideration. The vocals on the "slide back" echo are way too harsh. The outro feels unbalanced - the vocals are much louder than the percussion, and it leaves the last section feeling somewhat anemic.
Maxovrdrive: The percussion is great but but the vocal chain sounds tinny and not an artistic way - there's heavy de-esser and a very abrupt filter at like 5Khz? The ending is one of my favorites, but the vocal sound needs drastic reworking.
Tobinth: Everything sounds right to me here. I only wish there was a little bit of tuning on the vocals, but there's not much to complain about!
Guswis: The vocal reverb is neat at the beginning, but it quickly muddies the whole mix and I love how you mixed the harmonies at 0:47 but percussion is so low there's nothing grounding the song.
Vasdim: I really like the vocal sound and how you layer them during 0:47 but it has the same problem as Guswis. Unlike Guswis, the vocals are much clearer, but the percussion is so distant that (Also the vocal cut off at 3:36 could have been faded out)
PabloAT: You mention "HPF with gusto", but part of the sound I was going for involves some amount of low-end. As much as I like the vocal sound, the lack of low-end prevents this mix from standing out to me.
Jeff Solo Band: vocals could use much less compression and could be much lower - it robs 1:57 of its dynamics because the song's quiet but the vocals haven't changed! I love the percussion until the end, and wish the sine bass was a bit lower so it could be clearer.
ShroomFeverish: That's what I'm talking about!!!! Wish the vocals were louder, but the creativity, the depth, the low-end are all what I've been looking for. The verse chorus vocals could could use much less processing (and the intro could use more tuning!), but the percussion alone puts this as one of the best mixes. Turn the vocals up, bypass some things, clean up some of the low-mid range so the ending is less muddy, but. I'm looking for a 'holy shit' moment.
OlliH: Love the balance of this one! I do think the percussion is a bit boomy during the verses but you're much closer to what I was going for. The fake guitar at like 1:39 is meant to be more of a background texture. Unfortunately, the percussion completely disappears at the end, the vocal slapjack echo towards the end overwhelms the song, and there's just not enough midrange in the percussion to compensate for the space the main vocal leaves.
Dodgingrain: You went for something more intimate for the percussion and pulled it off! Your use of the production details (and your own ear candy is great.) 1:55 kick drum could be higher bc it almost sounds non-existent. Like how you make the ending small but satisfying. Don't really like how high the vocals are at like 3:19 bc the mix is otherwise very well balanced, but that's a nitpick.
Ibanezeo: A lot to like here. Well-balanced but with another details to keep things interesting - Love the percussion at 1:38. (Don't love the breaths being kept in at "paranoid, paranoid"). I wish the percussion was a bit heavier and the ending oohs were a bit more obscured but.
Magnus: Percussion is just kind of plopped there in the first verse? While the second verse has a bit more depth to it most of the song feels very anti-climactic because of how distant the percussion is!
Franz: You fill the space with the guitars in a really neat way. Also love how warm the vocal sounds - I gotta check out that Magix FX_VocalStrip. I feel like the dynamics and mood is fairly static, which is why I'm not advancing it.
Optoslam: Percussion is well deployed. I like when I can just listen to a mix - maybe the bass could be a little louder, maybe the tonality of the mix can be a bit brighter, but there's nothing to complain about!
E.C. Miraldo: Beginning delay throws don't quite work for me, though they're great once the song kicks in. (The one at 2:15 might work better as a ½ note delay instead of a 1/4?) The "as your hands slides" at the 0:47 segment are a little bit late, as is the delay at 2:34, and it distracts from the polish of the rest of this mix. 1:55 heavy de-esser, but you got the percussion focus really well! Shaker could be a bit lower at the outro but I really like the balance overall. Percussion could even use a bit of mid-highs.
Jetwolf: You don't need the phasing effects (as much as I like them on the Twin Peaks guitar at 1:35) because the mix is otherwise very strong. Everything is very up front and clear. I think the mix is a bit compressed. And then the ending is a mess, unfortunately - the backing vocals re late, the percussion virtually disappears. Not putting this one to the next round despite the things I like.
Rvalle: Percussion could be slightly beefier in the first minute, but second verse and on is great! Love the use of delays here - it's very musical and I think that kind of musical ear candy required for this song to work. There could be slightly less 200-300hz with the kick. Ending isn't as big as I'd like it to be until 3:22, but it's vey close.
PenguinJon: too compressed! There's little volume difference between the segments, without and with dynamic range.
Mattim: Tonally it sounds kind of hollow to me? A lot of potential here but I need to be stricter. It doesn't wow me in the same way some of these others do.
Tapwater: Love the creativity in this mix and the emphasis on different percussion than I put on w my mix. Sounds like someone's been listening to Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Bass is slightly too high. The ending doesn't QUITE work for me but I'm putting this to the next round What I would love to see is adding some of the muted things back in, because it's disappointing when the tense build just leads into the first part of the song.
Jerze: This reminds me a lot of my original mix. Weird rumble at 0:48 (which might be percussion isn't as defined). Still, the way the drums and synth arpeggiation play against each other is a lot of fun to hear. Maybe the shaker could be a little lower, as could that guitar 1:30? Vocals could be slightly louder atet outré but I love how bright this mix is - a lot of people went for something more intimate and it's fretting to hear something a b it more bombastic and bright!
Square: LOVE the brightness. Wish the distorted backing vocals were a lot lower because everything else is so well-balanced. Love the percussion drop at 1:34 and wonder how it would sound with one more percussion drop at 2:41-2:55! Percussion could be a lot heavier at the outro but this is so close and refreshing after some of the more muffled mixes I heard.
While JohnK's mix was disqualified due to a lower LUFS range, it's a good example of having percussion lower in the mix but still making it work. It still feels glued together rather than feeling disconnected. There's a Peter Gabriel vibe to that one I really like, and it's a shame I can't put it into Round 2 because it nails the more intimate vibe a lot of these mixes are going for.
Shout out Takafinir and Martman22 too.
If anyone else doesn't see their mix critiqued lmk
Round 2:
Mellow Browne
GenBassman
MrFlat
Green-Dog
Tobinth
ShroomFeverish
OlliH
Dodgingrain
Optoslam
Rvalle
Square
TapWater
