Mix Challenge

I found out about this project less than a month ago and I really liked the concept. But I don't quite understand the LUFS thing. I took the Levels plugin and tracked the level of lufs. But I think my mix turned out too quiet. Although I use compression very carefully.

First, thank you for all the amazing contributions from this great community!

We are a small team now listening to all the mixes, having the very hard job of choosing who will go on to the next round. The whole band is involved in the process, so it will take a little bit of time, but we will get back to you as soon as we can

As the song was recorded in my studio with me both playing, engineering/recording (except from main vocal) and mixing please let me know if you have any questions or comments on the recordings, and I will try to answer as good as I can!

Hi Naturecord and to all the musicians and singers who participated in this great track.

I had the opportunity and the happiness to record in the years 75/85 many groups of French folk music.
Many played on old instruments or rebuilt identically with of course all the flaws that made the personality
of these musical instruments.

Now I come directly to the title that interests us. In fact I have a question directly that I will develop :
at that time (glorious) we record on tape magnetos (4 track, 8 track, 16 tracks). This considerably limited the
recording since the number of tracks was limited. Hence painful choices.
Today everything has changed ! So much better! As many tracks as you want with digital ....

So, here's the question: why record a vocal track (Kulning saga) which, in your original mix, is practically inaudible ?

It's a shame because I find it really essential for the consistency of the title. Your mix puts more emphasis on the flutes.
Yes, I understand that. It was a bit like the atmosphere of the recordings of the time when the instruments were well
put forward compared to the voices which did not seem to be of great importance.
A majority of these songs, therefore at the time and still today, were typically instrumental.

You have magnificent vocals in your title ..... In fact, the rather brutal question is:

why record a track which, therefore, has the merit of existing, so as not to use it in the mix ?

Cheers

Franz

That’s a good question Franz, and it was something the band discussed a lot.

The Kulning track is a homage to a Norwegian/Swedish folk tradition of using a loud high pitched vocal technique calling livestock in the mountains (or to fend of predators). It is not the quality of the tracked vocals that was the issue, but what story the band wanted to tell by the song. As it was recorded within a strict timeframe, and we recorded a few ideas that did not make the final recording (no time for pre-production), but the Kulning track we wanted to keep in. How prominent it should be; should it appear close, or as if it is coming from far away was the main discussion.

We ended up with adding it as a little easter egg, coming from far away, and with some echoes ringing in the “mountains” as if the call from Visby in sweden reached us all the way here in Norway. We also have other mixes where it is much more prominent, that did not make it to publishing.

It is definitely something we are looking forward to hearing how people have incorporated in these mixes as this is a subject we spent quite some time discussing

Thank you for this very interesting and explanatory answer.

Now your mix takes on its full meaning.

On the other hand in mine, I only based myself on the existing musical material and not on the "philosophical"
and "intentional" destination of the title.

In conclusion if I had to defend my proposition, I would say musically speaking that this "Kulning track" harmonizes
well the balance of all the piece by avoiding a long float during the play of the two flutes.

With hindsight and all the same a little humor (it is not forbidden to have some at Mix-Challenge it seems to me),
I see that many mixes are almost the exact copy of the original mix ... ..

Not necessarily the most interesting artistic work of the participants, lol !

Cheers

Franz

The point of kulning is to be heard across long distances (hence the high pitch) to call the livestock. It is kind of supposed to sound like it's coming from far away. It's a cultural meme in Scandinavia.

NOW it is perfectly clear but it might have been opportune to explain it from the start in the presentation of the project.

Non-Scandinavians are not necessarily informed of these cultural subtleties ....

A great exercise in terms of aesthetics..... indeed proves that a mix engineer must be culturally fed.

Thanks again to the song provider for giving us this opportunity.

I really loved this task, though meanwhile I know what to improve and what I have missed.
The bell and the buzuki flago sounds are a bit weak, and it takes more automation on the reverb (a bit much of a huge celebration hall).
Which is easy to tackle.

@JamesMusic yours is a truly remarkable mix, I say it is high quality, with great separation and balance.
Practically all mixes have some sibilance in the first verse. Almost all have the second verse louder than I would prefer.
You panned hard, so in the headphones the center is a bit sparse, but great space for the vocal.
The kulning sound and the choir work very well.
What I seem to hear is a bit of midrange overload in the finale, because so many voices and flutes are consuming space there.
- I have a question:
How did you treat the drum4-1/2 sounds? They sound very full with low end, but decent enough to not kill the output meter.

hello naturecord, as i already mentioned: everything is recorded great, but i had problems mixing the drums. it cost me most of the time and i am personally not satisfied with my result. maybe i'm spoiled at that point ...
if i can give you a tip:
i have played the instrument called "tapan" a few times in the studio and on stage. this is a relatively large drum to hang up and has many similarities with the drum that your drummer is playing (according to the picture). this "behemoth" from balkan is tuned higher on one side and lower on the other, and the mallets are dimensioned accordingly (heavy in front of bass, thin on the treble side). recording engineers in the studio used two microphones each time, one for the bass side and the other for the treble side. you can imagine that as a vertically aligned recording of the snare. the best results are achieved with two ribbon microphones, aligned at about 45 ° to the center of the drum. with this technique, the drum sits immediately in the mix and you can easily determine the stereo width in the mix, from mono to fully stereo. you just have to check the phase and use the usual eq/comp/reverb combination as required.
best regards,
uhls