MIX CHALLENGE - MC42 April 2018 - Winners announced

[MOA22]

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 !!!

[MOA22]

Kevin Gobin :
Loudness -8 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18). Too loud !
You are nxxot supposed too put a brickwall limiter in the master bus !

Balance : Drastic choices inside. You almost killed all the back vocal tracks, question of taste. The mix begins with awesome brass, but at the first chorus, there is an issue with it, too low (check the tone too). The bridge (wherever I go…) has a strange balance, the vocals/guitar are too strong. The general masking probem is maybe due to some bad panning choices.

Tone : The trombone sound during the intro is the best of the contest !!!! But the brass lost their body at the first chorus. Generally love the tones of you mix, just take care of the lowest bass notes, sub freq control needed. Good vocals. The kick needs more 1,5k for me. Nice snare tone one more time, totally different from the 2 first submissions.

Stereo :
You probably needed a mono style mix, but, in this case, it causes many masking problems. You probably could improve rapidly your mix just by moving some pan buttons.

Dynamics : No real problem problem of dynamics but the hard limiting that kills a bit your work.

Space/reverb : You tried some interesting echo fx during the choruses that could be clearer with some eq (presence maybe). I bet you were not looking for a realisitic space. For example, I like the last note of the guitar during the first chorus, nice accent ! But I generally prefer more clarity and less sutain, and in the end I feel a bit lost cause of the huge amount of delay.

General : Kevin, I was impressed by the ideas/feeling you put in that mix, and I need more, really. Now just calm down a bit the artist and then you can start to clean that room ! Merci beaucoup pour le temps passé à bosser dessus on est vraiment très loin du masscre dont tu parlais !!!

[MOA22]

Listening process capture

[EchoOread]

I just love the idea of having mixing the same song with a bunch of people to compare. I discover my short-comings that way. In fact, a little more often than I care for . But, hey, it's life, c'est lavie, right? Whenever you have time, man. I am not going anywhere Thanks.

[EchoOread]

I've been experimenting with compressing stereo signals with multi-mono compression. I wonder if any of you do the same. They work really well for me. They help clean out a lot of mud from the mix, especially from those with a lot of low frequencies so that they don't compete with the kick+bass. What I did to the song is quite simple. Using this song as an example, I noticed that there are parts that the trombones +the pad+the guitar+bass+kick+vocal are played together creating a pool of mud in the lower mid and low. So I strapped a compressor (R-comp) in multi-mono and set 1 side with slow attack (the one I chose to dominate) fast release, and the other with extremely fast attack and long enough release to keep the tail end from interfering with the bottom end. In my case, I shoved the trombones, the guitar, and the pad away to leave room for the kick, bass, and vocal. That way I only have to deal with the bottom end of any stereo signals only 1 side instead of 2. Let me know what you think of this techniques. Thx.

Your balance sound pretty good, but it's completely overshadowed by that absolutely brutal bass guitar. I made a -5db cut with a bell curve at around 70Hz to your mix and there was still tons of bottom end to be had. it's kind of un-listenable the way it is imo.

I'll see what I can do with the bottom end. To my ears, it sounds just perfect hence the reason I left it that way. I did fiddle with it for a bit but I lose power (drop 1, choruses, etc) whenever I backed it off. So, yeah...

[Nige]

I've been experimenting with compressing stereo signals with multi-mono compression. I wonder if any of you do the same. They work really well for me. They help clean out a lot of mud from the mix, especially from those with a lot of low frequencies so that they don't compete with the kick+bass. What I did to the song is quite simple. Using this song as an example, I noticed that there are parts that the trombones +the pad+the guitar+bass+kick+vocal are played together creating a pool of mud in the lower mid and low. So I strapped a compressor (R-comp) in multi-mono and set 1 side with slow attack (the one I chose to dominate) fast release, and the other with extremely fast attack and long enough release to keep the tail end from interfering with the bottom end. In my case, I shoved the trombones, the guitar, and the pad away to leave room for the kick, bass, and vocal. That way I only have to deal with the bottom end of any stereo signals only 1 side instead of 2. Let me know what you think of this techniques. Thx.

Your balance sound pretty good, but it's completely overshadowed by that absolutely brutal bass guitar. I made a -5db cut with a bell curve at around 70Hz to your mix and there was still tons of bottom end to be had. it's kind of un-listenable the way it is imo.

I'll see what I can do with the bottom end. To my ears, it sounds just perfect hence the reason I left it that way. I did fiddle with it for a bit but I lose power (drop 1, choruses, etc) whenever I backed it off. So, yeah...

Well, I'm telling you it's far from perfect, hence the reason I told you but don't take my word for it. Good luck.

[MOA22]

Photonic :
Loudness -15 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18). Pretty good !

Balance : Really nice ! I just need less hihat (about 2 db), to let that nice snare breath. Upfront vocals during the verses (maybe too much ?) a real feel of proximity, but a little lack of lead vocal during the choruses. Other than that, no problem.

Tone : The mix, that has good low, is too harsh, maybe because of master bus’s exciter pushed too hard, but just between 4k and 10k, 10-20 k is ok. Individually, no tone problem but a kind of harshness on vocals (@2-3 k, especially during the ending). Just take take care of the lo mid boost, a tiny to hard during the verses (200-300), f.e the words « guitars laying on the ground… ».

Stereo : Just nice !

Dynamics : Nothing’s bad, really, but the kick needs some more attack (a bit), same issue for the bass guitar.
Good intensity when comes the chorus.

Space/reverb : Nice roomy sound. A longer predelay maybe ?

General : You did a really nice work Photonic, a very polished mix. Hope you had fun mixing it. The best brass tracks for the moment.

[MOA22]

Isaac Yom :
Loudness -12 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18). A bit hot

Balance : I can ear everything, I am 100% ok with your choices. (take a look at the right panned tom that needs more control, nothing)

Tone : Good. Just a little lack below 130 hz for me, that could maybe fixed in the masterbus. The snare needs some more body (200). The bass guitar could be more in the mix with a boost between 270-330. I need more body on my vocals during the choruses (really nice during the verses). Generally, the mix could be a bit darker iI think.

Stereo : Just good !

Dynamics : Really good, just need more attack on the snare during the verses especially, and a longer release on it could help (something between yours and Nige’s one)

Space/reverb : Nice stuff during the choruses.

General : A creative stuff during the intro for the guitar could help. About the phaser fx : nice but maybe more dry signal would be better, and it ends to late, not enough rapidly when come the last chorus/ending, but I like it ! Other than that, congrats Isaac, really good !
Good brass !!! Your mix needs nothing but some subtle improvements.

[MOA22]

HenrikHjortnaes :
Loudness -17 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18). Nice !

Balance : Nicely placed guitars !!!!!! Good overall balance, you just have to do something to help those brass a bit.

Tone : Verses and choruses, too much 1k and not enough 400 on the vocals. The bass guitar needs some more 300 and 140. The brass can be happy with more 800-900 maybe. Other than that, nice !

Stereo : ok with the mono challenge, tough work !! You could maybe use some of the side space for the brass.

Space/reverb : Overall Roomy in a good way, but don’t know what fills too much the first verse, maybe could you do an improvement there.

Dynamic : Nice ! But what did you put in the master bus, a fairchild type stuff or so ? You maybe should parallel that dynamics just to recover a bit of emptyness (I am maybe wrong). Just some more punch for the snare too.

General : Wow ! Love it. Unique approach. Henrik, the tremolo style fx during the second verse is amazing ! You have made the best second verse for me ! Good job at the middle of that verse too (gut guitar/bass).

[MOA22]

TheLace43 :
Loudness -14 db LUFS integrated. (target = -18). Ok

Balance : Pretty good, the brass are far. The centered guitar in the second verse is not enough in the mix. Lead vocals are a bit loud, back vocals too (-1,5 db ?)

Tone : the 45hz boost on the bass is too much, don’t know if you can ear those freq with your system. Just check with a meter plugin. The 200 is too strong on my voice. The snare needs mor e 1,5- 2k. Rythms guitars sound good. Generally, your mix could be better by using more 1k.

Stereo : Something missing in the right side, why didn’t you you panned the second guitar to the right (2nd verse) ?

Space/reverb : Nothing special, pretty cool.

Dynamic : More attack on the snare is needed, the dynamic control of the vocals could be stronger.

General : Thank you for the time spent working on it. You need to practice, but you need more to be sure of how sounds your HP and monitors. You should check on the internet how to calibrate. No need to spend a penny to improve it. By shutting down my subwoofer, I was pretty sure your mix sounded far better played by your monitors. Good work. You had some great ideas (accents, echo…).