Mix Challenge

Hi friends.

Thank you all for the effort.
I found many wonderful mixes in the presentations! It is fantastic to dive into the different points of view that you all took.

I can only say "thank you" to all of you.

I know it's not easy to find the fine point in a mix like that. More in this case where a lot of work was needed in matters of "synchronization" and "time adjustment". (Sorry about that!).

Right now I'm in the process of picking up ten of you to go to R2.
Hopefully the day after tomorrow or so I give the ranking.

As a hint, I could say that natural sounding mixes are catching my attention more than those that are over-processed in a very obvious way.

Partners, receive a big hug from Spain.
I will post soon.

Javi Ramallo.

Here we go.
The ten finalist are:

Christoph K
JohnK
Kirurg
Gloo
dnlptn
Doobop
diegonerysts.
acelo
satchboogie
Shubhashish



Here de considerations for the "Round 2".


Christoph K:
Hí, thank you for your mix. I like the overall feeling because it has a nice spectral balance. IMHO You worked properly the tuned and time issues of the track.
The voice end up sounding natural which is the point althought I would like to liste it with a tad less compesion.
My Grain of sand is: Becareful with the level of vocal part of "AHHHH" at the very beginning, and mainly before the reverse cymbal because is too up.
In addition, you could give some more dbs to the squeaky toy at the end, it has its meaning.
Nice work, thank you Again.
See you in R2.

JohnK:
Hello and thanks for your mix.
Hey, these vocal effects are great. Congrat. The sound of bass as well.
On the other hand, I think the lead vocal sounds a bit muddy. I hear an excess of 200Hz and to be honest I would like to hear this mix solving this problem because the FX's work is really suggestive.
Also, in my humble opinion, the level of the vocal part of "AHHHH" at the beginning, and mainly before the reverse cymbals need to be reworked to achieve a present and enveloping feeling.
Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.
Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.

Kirurg:
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it because the natural feeling you achieved. Congrat!
Love the guitars sound althought I miss a tap of body on them. (a tad only).
On the other hand, in my humble opinion, the level of the vocal part of "AHHHH" at the beginning, and mainly before the reverse cymbals need to be reworked to achieve a more spacious/present and enveloping feeling.
Also, be careful with the percusion volumen in 0'44'' maybe need to be more discret and well integrated in the mix.
Finally, at the very end of the track, you could give the squeaky toy a chance, it has its meaning nad must be there and audible.
Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.

Gloo:
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it in general but I encourage you to achieve a more spacious feeling in vocals, only a tad, without excesses. a tad, a tad, a tad, remember.
The radio voice you got at the AHHHHH at the beginin is interesting but need to be a little more nice and a tad more spacious. Now is hard.
The final FX is great too, I like it. congratulations.
Also like the guitars's sound.

In the other hand:
1 - If you are going to use the "bit" fx present in 0'17'' or 2'02'' for instance, you are going to need to help it with some fx like reverb or delay or who knows! in order to get a good results, as now it is a stone in the road more than otrher thing.
2 - I would like listen this mix with a couple of dB's less in the main vocal and a couple of dbs more in the LOW instruments like "Low percs" and "bass".

Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.
Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.


dnlptn:
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it in general.
Also like the guitars's sound.
In the other hand:
You'll see. The spacious feeling in this track is something complicated. The track need to be spacious, right!, but the line between the correct spacious feeling and to be "singing in a cave" is thin.
I think, the voice in this track is over the line. Please, don´t unsderstand me wrong! I like it, but I inform you in order to avoid you be tempted to increase in any way the Voice FX because this will put it in the wrong side of the line.

I would like a couple of dBs less in the inverse cymbal FX.
Also in the clap and High percucion (Djembe) Take a listen in 2'22'' for example!
NOTE: Couple of decibels is indicative, maybe it is only 1 decibel.. you know.

Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.
Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.



Doobop.
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it in general.
Congratulations for the percusion IMHO it is sounding like it should!!

My grain of sand is:
1 - I think the ahhhhh at the beginning and before the reverse cymbals need to be reworked. IMHO you need to have a more pleasant feel by mixing all the vocals and using some nice effects to get a beautiful bed before the verse.
My advice, take a look at other mixes for inspiration.

2 - If you are going to use the "bit" fx present in 0'14'' or 2'00'' for instance, you are going to need to help it with some fx like reverb or delay or who knows! in order to get a good results, as now it is a stone in the road more than otrher thing.

3 - Finally, I would like to listen this mix with a tad more mid-highs freqs (only a tad) in general.. Only to get some mor fresh air.

Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.

Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.


diegonerysts.
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it in general.
Congratulations for your work.

My grain of sand is:
1 - I think the voice is a tad weird. I don't know if the word could be "muddy".
I would try researching to reducing a tad some freqs like 200hz or something over there.
Also I would try to use less compresion to get a more free and natural feeling, maybe?
In some moments it is even high (chorus).

Nice percusions and guitars.

Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.

Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.


acelo
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it in general.
Congratulations.


My grain of sand is:
1 - Like the guitars sound althought I miss a tap of body on them. (a tad only).
2 - The bed of guitars in the verse needs to be a little more present. In this part they are all.
3 - I would like listen this mix with a couple of dB's less in the main vocal (especially in the chorus) and a couple of dbs more in the low instruments like "low-percs" and "bass".
NOTE: 2 decibels is indicative, maybe it is only 1 decibel.

4 - In the other hand, the "High-percs" seems to be high! take a look at 02'33 for example ..

Finally, at the very end of the track, you could give the squeaky toy a chance, it has its meaning nad must be there and audible.
Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.

satchboogie
Hello and thanks for your mix.
I liked it in general.
The guitars are very controlled and nice.
Congratulations.


My grain of sand is:
1 - I think the voice is a tad muddy.
I would try reducing a tad some freqs like 200hz or something over there.
Also to using less compresion to get it more free and natural feeling?

2 - I would like to listen this mix with a couple of dB's more in the "low-percs" to reforce the bump!!.

Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.

Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.

Shubhashish
Hello and thanks for your mix.
Maybe you want consider to use a Wildcard to continue to R2? If is the case, please contact to Mr. Fox.

In any case here my impresions.
Excep the very beggining, I liked it in general.
The guitars are very controlled and nice.
Congratulations.

My grain of sand is:
1 - I think the ahhhhh at the very beginning and before the reverse cymbals need to be reworked. IMHO you need to have a more pleasant feel by mixing all the vocals and using some nice effects to get a beautiful bed at the very beggining and before the verse.
My advice, take a look at other mixes for inspiration.

2 - Also I would like to listen this mix with a couple of dB's less in the main vocal (especially in the chorus) and a couple of dbs more in the bass guitar.

Finally, you could give the squeaky toy a few more dbs at the end, it has its meaning.

Good work, thanks again.
See you in R2.

Thank you for handling the evaluation, @javiramallo.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us kick off Mix Round 2, which will end on Thursday, 02-SEP-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

As of this moment, that is just about 5 days (plus the hours since @javiramallo's announcement). 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 10 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)

@acelo
@Christoph_K
@diegonerysts (please use the full filename template)
@dnlptn
@doobop
@Gloo (please document the sound FX you created in the intro/outro)
@JohnK
@kirurg
@satchboogie
@Shubhashish (wild card offered, see below)
.

!	Bonus Info
	If you want to read up more about the "wild card" game mechanic, please do so here (test run until AUG-2021): viewtopic.php?f=20&t=452

The feedback to the productions can be found here:
viewtopic.php?p=11271#p11271


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.

Thank you @javiramallo for choosing my mix for round two. I’d be really happy to work on it but unfortunately I am on vacation until September 5. So sorry, but there won’t be another version of my mix this time.

Cheers and good luck for the other finalists!

Congrats to everyone who made round 2!

Out of curiosity, was there any feedback on the mixes that were not selected?

I would be very curious to hear critique of my attempted mix, as my goal is to always learn and improve. If any notes or critique is available, please PM it to me.

Thank you javiramallo for allowing us your music to mix and for Mister Fox for hosting this opportunity.

Christoph_K wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 29, 2021 03:54 CEST

Thank you @javiramallo for choosing my mix for round two. I’d be really happy to work on it but unfortunately I am on vacation until September 5. So sorry, but there won’t be another version of my mix this time.

Cheers and good luck for the other finalists!

Enjoy your vacations Partner!
For sure are deserved!

Cheers.

I would just like to congratulate everyone that made it to round 2 jolly well done excellent work folks.
I would like to request from anyone in the community to give me some feedback on my track I have a note about strong track alignment am I getting close to infringing rules guidelines or even worse sterilizing the song. I would also like to know any views of my skills or (lack of) on EQing, compression, and general blend and panning of instruments.
Also for future competition reference when presented with a demo track is it advisable to follow the general sound of the track and enhance that version or is this a taste thing where one artist would like it to stay as it was recorded whereas another may prefer an enhanced approach.
Many thanks again to Mr. Fox and Mr. Javie Ramallo for making this contest available and a very enjoyable concept.
Anyone interested in listening to my version can find it on page 3 near the bottom many thanks again and keep up the good work.

Thanks @javiramallo for this opportunity. It was a pleasure to work on.

Here's my R2 submit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i4h7qu00e6l7l ... 2.wav?dl=0

Tried to work on the notes you had, hope you like it.
Tamed some of the 200hz you had as a note on the vocals. Re-visited the "aaaah's" and automated the gain a bit as well as raised the volume on the last toy part.

Good luck all in the final!

Thank you Javiramallo for the feedback!

Reduced the pre-delay on the main vocal reverb and lowered the volume slightly.
Pulled the claps down, added multi-band compression to control the djembe.
Increased the volume of the squeaky toy at the end .

Cheers, good luck all!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m4gleF ... sp=sharing

Would it be okay to ask for feedback on my mix even if it wasn't chosen for the second round? Happy to talk over DM.