51m0n Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 (edited) No the drums are what they are. Think Shania Twain and go with it, they sound like that because of the type of heavy handed compression used when tracking, and that means that was the stylistic intention at the time. I think the thing that has stumped most people actually has been the lead vocal. Very few of these mixes have left the lead vocal undamaged, either by heavy handed inappropriate reverb, or heavy handed eq-ing. The thing is it's a great lead vocal, he has a superb voice and the only issue is that the sibilance can get a bit splatty in places. Nothing that either riding levels, appropriate de-essing and careful eq can't solve. On top of that, this track is chock full of melodic hooks. The best mixing makes them more obvious, some of these mixes bury the hooks behind the acoustic guitars, which wont help at all. Most if the entrants have really struggled to get the layers of 'twang' to work together rather than fight each other. I think a lot of these instruments were recorded with similar SDCs and so they have all got a similar eq stamp on them which if nor dealt with well adds up to a very harsh sizzly toppy mix. Last point the very best mixes here even work on a mobile phone speaker, which is my new crappy speaker ultimate mix test. My mix sounds great on my mobile, the balance is still as right as you could hope for, and that lead vocal sounds exceptional. Edited May 17, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziphoblat Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 (edited) I must be the only one who likes that sort of drum sound. Ambience and brittle top end would be my main criticism of some of the mixes. Some had the bass too loud also, which I suppose isn't too surprising in a forum of bassists. I think I might have been a touch guilty of that myself, although I intended to rectify it, just never got round to uploading a reworked mix until it was too late. Definitely an interesting listen anyhow. There seems to be quite a notable difference in loudness between some of the mixes even despite the metering process. Edited May 18, 2013 by Ziphoblat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1368834301' post='2082215']...crappy speaker ultimate mix test...[/quote] Ah..! Now we're getting the hidden recipe for true mixing talent..! Damned..! (...[i]and there was I, old fool, monitoring on headphones...![/i]). I fail, then, for not having a lousy enough ultimate listening device..! No, really, I agree (up to a point, anyway...). The 'standard' trick in my day was the 'car speaker' test, whereby a final listen through a (usually mono...) Ford Prefect speaker was customary. Progress, did I hear..? Progress..? Hah... It will be interesting when the veil is lifted, and we can see who did what. I'm certain of having identified 'my' mix (egg on face if I'm wrong, of course..!) and agree, too, that I still prefer 'my' mix to the others..! No, modesty is not my strongest point, but nor is my hearing (at my age...)..! Analysing the different approaches and results will take a while, though, I think. 'Twill be said many times, but never enough: many thanks and hearty applause for having managed this thread, and apologies for not being able to share the load enough. Whoever gets the trophy, you are certainly equally the winner. Congratulations; take a bow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1368826606' post='2082157'] Cheers Si, It must be a PITA , bust I appreciatte the work you put in . I would offer myself but My speeds are dog slow here , and I have had a couple of issues myself with soundcloud seeming to time out , Maybe I could stop late at work sometime , if it comes to it I could probably do it that way , to take a turn . Is it poor form to vote for your own , I am not sure if it is because I listened to my version sooooooo many times , it feels like the original now, and I always think the original sounds best [/quote] If you think your version sounds best, vote for it. That's the point - Pick your favourite mix. It's like Woolworth's is back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 It is Poor form Milt , and I do jest , but with a bit of the referencing I did ,and the amount of tinkering ,I just happen to have my version stuck in my head and everything else sounds like an ammended version of mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1368863411' post='2082292'] It is Poor form Milt , and I do jest , but with a bit of the referencing I did ,and the amount of tinkering ,I just happen to have my version stuck in my head and everything else sounds like an ammended version of mine [/quote] Oh someone takes pride in their work If you want to know, I didn't vote for mine, or even the one which I thought was mixed the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 (edited) Interesting thought on the voting strategy , but don't lose sight of the philosophy behind the 'competition' it is a learning resource that participants can play along with and in turn develop their skills in the mixing process. I didn't particularily need to know , but I think the idea is that you do vote for the one that you [b]do[/b] think is mixed the best , so that if it wins, you get to find out how it was done , and therefore learn something ed for spilug Edited May 18, 2013 by lurksalot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 Listened and voted I went for the one where the guitar licks just really jangled for me with some nice stereo placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I haven't had chance, moving house at the moment but will do my best to vote tonight. I hope I can tell which one mine is (and it sounds the best!) I'm deffinitely happy to handle the uploading any time, even though i'm very busy, I can do it from work, just set up a queue at the end of the day and upload over night while no-one's here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1369039228' post='2084065']I'm deffinitely happy to handle the uploading any time, even though i'm very busy, I can do it from work, just set up a queue at the end of the day and upload over night while no-one's here.[/quote] Nice one mate! I don't mind doing the next one to buy you some time with the house move going on. I've got to do the same myself at some point over the summer (currently packing boxes in readiness... ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gapiro Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 (edited) Placed my vote because of the signiture link, so its working Ps, the band name amused me, because our old quiz team back at uni was "Uncle Dad and the Family Secret" Edited May 20, 2013 by gapiro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1369053008' post='2084259'] Placed my vote because of the signiture link, so its working Ps, the band name amused me, because our old quiz team back at uni was "Uncle Dad and the Family Secret" [/quote] Ha! I'm getting worried, because (at the risk of losing anonymity) my mix still has no votes... Maybe it wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought it was, and I didn't even think it was that good... pollocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 OK, just voted, no idea if it's mine or not, I just kept comparing the mixes and chose my favorite. There were 3 that sounded great for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1369053318' post='2084266'] Ha! I'm getting worried, because (at the risk of losing anonymity) my mix still has no votes... Maybe it wasn't anywhere near as good as I thought it was, and I didn't even think it was that good... pollocks! [/quote] If it's any consolation, I thought I did a good mix (thought the low & top could be better, but I'm deaf) & I have no votes either. I still think mines' the best mix, but like was said earlier, that's probably because I'm used to hearing it like that. Too many of the other mixes has the vocal sounding a bit Elvisish, whereas I think he sounds more like Steve Earle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1369072602' post='2084578'] If it's any consolation, I thought I did a good mix (thought the low & top could be better, but I'm deaf) & I have no votes either. I still think mines' the best mix, but like was said earlier, that's probably because I'm used to hearing it like that. Too many of the other mixes has the vocal sounding a bit Elvisish, whereas I think he sounds more like Steve Earle. [/quote] I don't think mine is the best by any means, but I think it's a fair attempt, especially for a first timer, but nobody's really giving points for not having done this before. Apparently my backing vocals are "appropriately mixed", so there we go I know which mix is Simon's, and it's not winning. I don't know about anybody else, but I deliberately didn't vote for Simon's mix, because it was too good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Voted.... Well done people all round, three i really liked - One just pinched it. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I couldn't tell you which is who's, but there isn't a bad mix among any of the ones I've listened to so far. I'll get a listen to the rest either tonight or Wednesday & place my vote. I know which is mine & won't be placing a sympathy vote! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1369072935' post='2084583'] I deliberately didn't vote for Simon's mix, because it was too good [/quote] That's a bit harsh, I hope you're joking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Remember: the first rule of Mix Club is we don't talk about who's mix is who's! I've yet to vote myself. I've listened to them all on headphones and made a shortlist - next step is to play the final handful at volume thru my hifi and pick a winner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1369072602' post='2084578'] If it's any consolation, I thought I did a good mix (thought the low & top could be better, but I'm deaf) & I have no votes either. I still think mines' the best mix, but like was said earlier, that's probably because I'm used to hearing it like that. Too many of the other mixes has the vocal sounding a bit Elvisish, whereas I think he sounds more like Steve Earle. [/quote] Good call , I will have to do some more country referencing before I decide , I don't think it is worth voting for a country song mix which sounds D&B , just because you are into D&B at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1369074050' post='2084594'] I couldn't tell you which is who's, but there isn't a bad mix among any of the ones I've listened to so far. I'll get a listen to the rest either tonight or Wednesday & place my vote. I know which is mine & won't be placing a sympathy vote! [/quote] It wasn't a sympathy vote, I just didn't want to vote for a pro. I didn't know which was his when I voted, although I had a good idea. Simon would deserve to win it, because his mix is the best there (in my opinion) but I voted for the next best thing. [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1369074143' post='2084597'] That's a bit harsh, I hope you're joking! [/quote] I don't understand how saying his mix is "too good" amongst a bunch of rookies is harsh? I didn't want to vote for the pro, because I thought the hobbyist might appreciate the vote more. Simon knows what I think of his mix, and I told him why I didn't vote for it too. He gave me a frank rundown of what I got right and wrong in my mix, and i'm probably the better for it (next month will tell us). If this was going purely on production ability, Simon is likely going to win it hands down every month. [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1369074829' post='2084602'] Remember: the first rule of Mix Club is we don't talk about who's mix is who's! [/quote] Yeah, I'm sorry I opened my mouth now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 I need every vote I can get, I didn't win last month for a start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1369077135' post='2084632'] I need every vote I can get, I didn't win last month for a start! [/quote] Really? I'm new to this! Is it seen as bad manners to vote for yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1369075590' post='2084614'] It wasn't a sympathy vote, I just didn't want to vote for a pro. I didn't know which was his when I voted, although I had a good idea. Simon would deserve to win it, because his mix is the best there (in my opinion) but I voted for the next best thing. [/quote] My comment came out wrong. I meant I wasn't going to be voting a sympathy vote for my own mix. I wasn't judging how you placed your vote. It's your vote & your right to vote for whatever mix you want to. I plan on doing the same (that's voting for whichever mix I want). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1369077758' post='2084641'] My comment came out wrong. I meant I wasn't going to be voting a sympathy vote for my own mix. I wasn't judging how you placed your vote. It's your vote & your right to vote for whatever mix you want to. I plan on doing the same (that's voting for whichever mix I want). [/quote] So you should vote for the one you want (MINEMINEMINE!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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