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MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Winners announced

Join the Mix Challenge - recurrence: February until December
Nige
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Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2017 07:10 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#101

Post by Nige »

MOA22 wrote:
Mon Apr 23, 2018 21:53 CEST
Nige :
Loudness -30 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18)

Balance : Nice one, seriously nothing to say. The gut guitar during the verse 2 fights with the trumpet.

Tone : Good clarity, with no harshness, I wish I have more sub below 60 (kick, bass guitar), the lowest bass notes during the verse are just not there, bc of the cut. I really love the lo mid of the bass BTW. About the bass once again I can ear to much of the slide noise, the hi is maybe too boosted. Love the (mid) tone of the vocal tracks. More body for the brass ? Amazing snare, nice dark hihat.

Stereo :
Good, but the bck vocals could be more centered, especially in your mix, more glued with the main track. It would be better for the gtrs and brass I think.


Dynamics : Good, very subtle, the mix breath well . The way you dealed with the snare is unique. It makes it jump in a lovely way.

Space/reverb : Good medium decay verb, well panned (that help the snare a lot)

General : You did a really good mix bro. I just need a bit more sub. A question, why did you choose the alternative (doubled) vocal track as the main one ? The performance is not as good as in the other main vocal track for me. Hope you had fun working on it, I had some listening to it !!!
First off, thanks for such great feedback all round, you're a champion and I'm sending you out a nice gold medal for all your hard efforts.
Honored to be considered for round 2, I think all your criticisms were fair and hopefully I can address the concerns you highlighted.
In regards to the vocals, to be brutally honest bro, I really felt your "22 AD LD VOC" double vocals were a more heartfelt take, and even had fewer pitch issues than the designated main vocal. I just thought you conveyed more emotion with that specific take.
Having said that, I'm not here to <beep> with your song, so if you want me to swap them over and use 21 LD VOC as the main vocal that's no probs at all man. Just say the word and I'll swap them over. Cheers mate.
Cool reference btw Moa, some nice inspiration.
Last edited by Nige on Fri Apr 27, 2018 07:01 CEST, edited 1 time in total.
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Mister Fox
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#102

Post by Mister Fox »

Thank you for handling the evaluation(s), MOA22. Definitely different this time around - so everyone that participated, please find your corresponding individual response.

Let us kick off Mix Round 2, which will end on Tuesday, 01-MAY-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST


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



The following 8 participants go into Round 2 (alphabetical order)

HenrikHojrtnaes
Isaac Yom
jonaslasse
Kevin Gobin
Mork
Nige
OctopusOnFire
Wizzo

A thank you to everyone, and good luck for Round 2
OctopusOnFire

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 1 in evaluation

#103

Post by OctopusOnFire »

MOA22 wrote:
Wed Apr 25, 2018 00:00 CEST
Octopussy :
Loudness -14 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18). Ok

Balance : Good. The intro is maybe too loud, I need a bigger level difference when comes the drums. The (autotuned ;) ) lead vocal track is 1 or 2 too loud for me, especially during the choruses. A lot of automations that are cool ! The bass guitar is a db too oud foAfter the hard guitar hit of the end of the first verse, those guitars are a bit lost, I need more (bridge, choruses, ending). I need a slightly bit more back vocals too (choruses). What is a noise at the end after the music ?

Tone : I bet you were using a Soundradix style plugin that follow the bass notes, but I need a lower Hipass freq on it. Love the vocal tone, probably the best for the moment (just a gentle 350 boost ?) !!! Nice guitars, nices brass. Can I hear 2 snare sounds ? Loved it by the way.

Stereo : Just NICE

Space/reverb : Nice vocals echo verb, the best one for me !!! Awesome space (especially during the verses for the vocals tracks). BRAVO

Dynamics/distortion : Punchy mix !!! Really really good

General : Extremely polished mix ! Don’t know the time u spent on it but WOW ! Sophistaced, elegant and quite rock n’ roll too ! Tasty rythm feel too (the delay during the verses on drums is amazing). Congrats !


Hi Moa22 and thanks for the thorough review!

I was working in this one while recovering from some ear problems, so I'm actually surprised it turned out allright in the end :D

So, from what I read, most of the fixes should be level-wise, cleaning that noise (probably some tape noise or whatever, I'll check it out), and a little eq bump here and there. If there's anything else you want in or out, just say it.
That delay on the drums.... it's only the hihat set to 126 ms delay (I've found out using delay not following bpm, but slightly off, works really well in some situations)
The vocals verb is done with IK Multimedia´s plate verb, I'm starting to dig it, I used to hate it before. The "secret sauce" is putting Proximity after with the "post verb processing" preset. I don't know what the hell it does, but it works wonders almost every single time.

So I'll get on to it, and thanks for the WOW!! I really love WOWs, even more than prize plugins :hyper:
MOA22

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#104

Post by MOA22 »

Just don't Forget the référence track for the général tone.
I use to like wows too !
David
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#105

Post by Mister Fox »

I'm a little bit torn with introducing a reference song for overall toneshaping this late into the game. I don't consider this optimal as this could drastically change certain mixes. But okay....let's see where this goes
Pitta
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 17:42 CET

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#106

Post by Pitta »

Thanks David. You have done wonderful reviews for everyone that worked for it. I had a lot of fun. I must say that this arrangement with real drums and horns would be at least 10 times better. Cool vocal performance and good vocal recording.
I hope all goes well with this contests as it help us not only to practice our mixing skills but to learn how that relates to the artist expectations, values and sensitivities. Thanks again
Pedro Pitta Groz
Studio Saturn

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#107

Post by Studio Saturn »

MOA22 wrote:
Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:02 CEST
Just don't Forget the référence track for the général tone.
I use to like wows too !
David
Wow you just made the mixing process extremely easy giving reference track. Where was it in the first place? :face: It is like saying A little more reverb on the Drum and less emphasis on kick while it is cutting through and punchy and create the room tonality with LP Di and then and put other elements around it. Fader ride other element accordingly :hihi: Thanks for the love MOA22 appreciated.
isaac yom

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#108

Post by isaac yom »

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e6svsgr7qfqoh ... 2.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zf02qfkv91ht3 ... 2.mp3?dl=0

i did try to address the things that you mentioned but i didn't do much to match the reference track.
i would have had to start it all over again but just decided to go with this.
if i'd have to do such big changes then i'd like to be with the artist with me.

i added some low mids on the vocal, bass, mix bus and so on, but then it felt like it lost the excitement so i added some top end as well.
so it's got a little hotter (sorry for that).
but i think it did get a little warmer and cohesive.
and little tweaks here and there.
for the creative bit on the intro, i duplicated the guitar track,
hard panned to the opposite side, pitch shifted octave up, filtered out top and bottom, threw reverb and delay on it.
MOA22

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#109

Post by MOA22 »

Thx Isaac !
@Studio Saturn, yes it is late. But by switching between the mixes in my Logic judging session I was disturbed by the général tone changes. À tone is not bad or good itself. But the tonal référence make it easier for the mixers. It was the first real experience of a contest around a song of mine, I wish I had the idea earlier. If it's too late, nevermind. Thanx once again Studio Saturn
JonasLasse

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Mix Round 2 until 01-05-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#110

Post by JonasLasse »

Since i'M moving these days from one flat to another.. there is a great chance that i will miss the challenge. Thank you MOA for music and review.
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