Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC083 December 2021 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 00:19 CET
Hi Everyone,
As promised, here is my list. Please read my last post for some background on my decisions. Again, this was really hard, and many mixes could have been added. If you aren't on this list, I'm very sorry, and please don't take that as any indication that your mix wasn't good or was a failure. There were just so many good mixes here! Also, I want to thank all of you for all of the thoughtful work you put into your mixes. The amount of creativity here is amazing! And the idea that you were all listening to my song so carefully makes me very happy. Thank you all so much!
For feedback, I tried to highlight what I liked most about a mix, and what I liked least. I didn't fill in all the middle ground, but if you look at what I didn't say about your mix (that I said about other mixes), then you can get a sense of other things you could work on. For example, if I said I really liked the bass tone in some mixes but I didn't mention it for your mix, then that might be something you could think about more.
Ok, with those thoughts in mind, here's the list in alphabetical order...
ChrisK99 nice present mix. Voice is up front. Nice balance. Clean, except for a click in the first verse that should be fixed. Bass is a little flubby in tone and could be tighter up. Good fadeout at the end.
Etienne Rosset, really nice. More reverb/delay on the voice than I would usually like, but it really works well here, still sounds intimate. Great balance, acoustic guitars sound great. Also like the balance on the lead guitars and the bass in the lead break… nicely done. The fade-out could be a bit longer and more gradual.
JamesMusic Really nice. Nice use of echo on the lead guitar, sounds beautiful and symphonic. Creative and beautiful. Voice sits nicely present within the mix. Nice dynamics across the song… I like how the sound blooms over time. Also like how the lead guitars become almost orchestral… very nice effect. Maybe could reign in the away away away delay near the end of the second chorus.
LCM! Nice. Clean. Very balanced. Vocals are present. Nice balance of voice with guitars, and bass with guitars. Vocals sound clean and fit together in chorus nicely. Nice fadeout. Just a nice solid mix that gets out of the way of the music. Only thing I might suggest is some dynamics to create some movement across the song.
LocalMusic This is nice. Clean. Vocals are close and present. I like how the backing voice in chorus is used. I don’t love the tone of the lead guitar, it sounds too sharp and unbalanced with the other instruments, maybe too loud, would tone it down. Also, the mix overall sounds a lot like mine, maybe could use more time?
Locrais Voice has good distance and presence, and my voice sounds clean. The bass tone is really nice and soft, it fits the song well. Nice changing instrument dynamics across the song. Everything sounds like it works together. Nice lead section, I like how the guitars work together here. Overall this is a well thought out mix. I did notice some odd sussing noises near the beginning that should be fixed.
mark9500 Nice and clean. Vocals sound good and present. Nice balance among instruments. Subtle use of the chorus vocals. Good fadeout. Just a good solid no-nonsense mix. I might push the chorus vocals a little more but otherwise this is a mix that puts the music first.
MixedByADN Good presence of voice. A little more delay on vox than some others but but it works here. Nice alignment and balance of two voices in the chorus. Nice balance of all the instruments including the bass. Actually I like how the volume of the bass is low but it still can be heard and contributes to the tune. Nice dynamics and buildup in second chorus. Good fadeout. Main negative is that there’s more buzz on the acoustic in this mix than some others but not sure what can be done about that.
Mork Nice voice presence. Nice balance of voices and guitars. Guitars sound nice. Nice second voice. Nice soft bass guitar fits in great. Nice fadeout. I like this one quite a bit. My vocals sound great here, nice and clean for the main vocals, and a nice melding of vocals in the chorus. This is a mix that does its job and its the music shine through. Not much to say except maybe some additional dynamics across the song would be nice. I also think the fadeeut maybe is longer than it needs to be. As an aside, Mork mentioned “I wish there was some high percussion like a tambourine and maybe a little background choir (like ooohhs and aaahhs) in the last chorus. I think the production would really benefit from that.” I agree with this. Although I like this spare singer-songwriter version, I also think a mix with a little more to it like subtle percussion and other backing vocals would be interesting.
Saccharine_Trust Clean, nice acoustic guitar tones, nice vocal presence. Bass is subtle and nice. Bass is subtle and nice. I like the use of space in this mix, with the main vocals center and the chorus backing vocals shifted left. Maybe something similar could be done with guitars in the lead break? Nice fadeout. Overall nice take on the song. Like this one quite a bit.
SuC76 Vocals are up front and intimate even with reverb. Present, close up, nice balance. Has a big full sound in the vocals chorus that I like quite a bit. Good solid mix. Acoustic is a little clicky and bass tone is a little flubby for my taste and could be tightened up.
TomImmon (binaural mix) The binaural mix is a very interesting sound with the guitars seeming to sit in space and voices in the center. This mix makes my vocals sound really good, which I appreciate… I suspect a lot of work went into cleaning them up. I find this a very interesting mix, very musical. I know it’s a lot of work, but maybe the acoustics could be cleaned up like the vocals? And the fadeout is a bit longer than it needs to be.
LowlandsWave The overall sound is good, good balance. The chorus is cool… added what sound like female or elf voices
I’m not sure if that’s within the rules, but it’s pretty cool… I like that, and it’s a main reason this made the cut. But… the lead guitar tone is not good… sounds too harsh and like it’s clipping, and that needs to be fixed. Fadeout is long. Acoustics could be a little cleaner.
gonzacarmele Good balance. Bass has a nice tone and fits well. Nice separation of the voices in the chorus. Lead break sounds nice. This is a solid mix. I do think the vocals are a little distant and quiet and could made more present. Fadeout is long.
PrzemekM Nice balance. Vocals are up front. Nice alignment and mixing of vocals in the chorus. Very nice bass tone. Good solid mix. Don’t love the echo on the vocals after first verse. Also I think the main vocals could use a little more presence.
As promised, here is my list. Please read my last post for some background on my decisions. Again, this was really hard, and many mixes could have been added. If you aren't on this list, I'm very sorry, and please don't take that as any indication that your mix wasn't good or was a failure. There were just so many good mixes here! Also, I want to thank all of you for all of the thoughtful work you put into your mixes. The amount of creativity here is amazing! And the idea that you were all listening to my song so carefully makes me very happy. Thank you all so much!
For feedback, I tried to highlight what I liked most about a mix, and what I liked least. I didn't fill in all the middle ground, but if you look at what I didn't say about your mix (that I said about other mixes), then you can get a sense of other things you could work on. For example, if I said I really liked the bass tone in some mixes but I didn't mention it for your mix, then that might be something you could think about more.
Ok, with those thoughts in mind, here's the list in alphabetical order...
ChrisK99 nice present mix. Voice is up front. Nice balance. Clean, except for a click in the first verse that should be fixed. Bass is a little flubby in tone and could be tighter up. Good fadeout at the end.
Etienne Rosset, really nice. More reverb/delay on the voice than I would usually like, but it really works well here, still sounds intimate. Great balance, acoustic guitars sound great. Also like the balance on the lead guitars and the bass in the lead break… nicely done. The fade-out could be a bit longer and more gradual.
JamesMusic Really nice. Nice use of echo on the lead guitar, sounds beautiful and symphonic. Creative and beautiful. Voice sits nicely present within the mix. Nice dynamics across the song… I like how the sound blooms over time. Also like how the lead guitars become almost orchestral… very nice effect. Maybe could reign in the away away away delay near the end of the second chorus.
LCM! Nice. Clean. Very balanced. Vocals are present. Nice balance of voice with guitars, and bass with guitars. Vocals sound clean and fit together in chorus nicely. Nice fadeout. Just a nice solid mix that gets out of the way of the music. Only thing I might suggest is some dynamics to create some movement across the song.
LocalMusic This is nice. Clean. Vocals are close and present. I like how the backing voice in chorus is used. I don’t love the tone of the lead guitar, it sounds too sharp and unbalanced with the other instruments, maybe too loud, would tone it down. Also, the mix overall sounds a lot like mine, maybe could use more time?
Locrais Voice has good distance and presence, and my voice sounds clean. The bass tone is really nice and soft, it fits the song well. Nice changing instrument dynamics across the song. Everything sounds like it works together. Nice lead section, I like how the guitars work together here. Overall this is a well thought out mix. I did notice some odd sussing noises near the beginning that should be fixed.
mark9500 Nice and clean. Vocals sound good and present. Nice balance among instruments. Subtle use of the chorus vocals. Good fadeout. Just a good solid no-nonsense mix. I might push the chorus vocals a little more but otherwise this is a mix that puts the music first.
MixedByADN Good presence of voice. A little more delay on vox than some others but but it works here. Nice alignment and balance of two voices in the chorus. Nice balance of all the instruments including the bass. Actually I like how the volume of the bass is low but it still can be heard and contributes to the tune. Nice dynamics and buildup in second chorus. Good fadeout. Main negative is that there’s more buzz on the acoustic in this mix than some others but not sure what can be done about that.
Mork Nice voice presence. Nice balance of voices and guitars. Guitars sound nice. Nice second voice. Nice soft bass guitar fits in great. Nice fadeout. I like this one quite a bit. My vocals sound great here, nice and clean for the main vocals, and a nice melding of vocals in the chorus. This is a mix that does its job and its the music shine through. Not much to say except maybe some additional dynamics across the song would be nice. I also think the fadeeut maybe is longer than it needs to be. As an aside, Mork mentioned “I wish there was some high percussion like a tambourine and maybe a little background choir (like ooohhs and aaahhs) in the last chorus. I think the production would really benefit from that.” I agree with this. Although I like this spare singer-songwriter version, I also think a mix with a little more to it like subtle percussion and other backing vocals would be interesting.
Saccharine_Trust Clean, nice acoustic guitar tones, nice vocal presence. Bass is subtle and nice. Bass is subtle and nice. I like the use of space in this mix, with the main vocals center and the chorus backing vocals shifted left. Maybe something similar could be done with guitars in the lead break? Nice fadeout. Overall nice take on the song. Like this one quite a bit.
SuC76 Vocals are up front and intimate even with reverb. Present, close up, nice balance. Has a big full sound in the vocals chorus that I like quite a bit. Good solid mix. Acoustic is a little clicky and bass tone is a little flubby for my taste and could be tightened up.
TomImmon (binaural mix) The binaural mix is a very interesting sound with the guitars seeming to sit in space and voices in the center. This mix makes my vocals sound really good, which I appreciate… I suspect a lot of work went into cleaning them up. I find this a very interesting mix, very musical. I know it’s a lot of work, but maybe the acoustics could be cleaned up like the vocals? And the fadeout is a bit longer than it needs to be.
LowlandsWave The overall sound is good, good balance. The chorus is cool… added what sound like female or elf voices
I’m not sure if that’s within the rules, but it’s pretty cool… I like that, and it’s a main reason this made the cut. But… the lead guitar tone is not good… sounds too harsh and like it’s clipping, and that needs to be fixed. Fadeout is long. Acoustics could be a little cleaner.gonzacarmele Good balance. Bass has a nice tone and fits well. Nice separation of the voices in the chorus. Lead break sounds nice. This is a solid mix. I do think the vocals are a little distant and quiet and could made more present. Fadeout is long.
PrzemekM Nice balance. Vocals are up front. Nice alignment and mixing of vocals in the chorus. Very nice bass tone. Good solid mix. Don’t love the echo on the vocals after first verse. Also I think the main vocals could use a little more presence.