Dave Vader Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I found some time, I listened to them all on my kitchen speakers (old PC ones, not awful, but not great, I check most of my mixes on them. Probably because they are next to the wine rack). Picked the one that sounded nicest, seemed like the point of the exercise. Well done everyone for trying (If that's not too patronising) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 ^ Cheers for voting guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Voted. It's close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 (edited) Nice one Skol Edited May 26, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Wow, when did track I get so many votes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 2 days to go chaps... Anymore for anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 BUMP Last orders please... ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myke Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I think I just got my vote in! Again I went with the one which sounded most natural. Hopefully will enter next month. Uni has finished now so I have much more time and I want to improve my mixing abilities (Next to none ) Congrats to everybody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockfordStone Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 im deffo doing it next month give me more reason to play with reaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Ok the voting ends now.... We have the following results:-[list=1] [*]Mix A (2 votes [7.69%]) [*]Mix B (0 votes [0.00%]) [*]Mix C (5 votes [19.23%]) [*]Mix D (0 votes [0.00%]) [*]Mix E (6 votes [23.08%]) [*]Mix F (1 votes [3.85%]) [*]Mix G (6 votes [23.08%]) [*]Mix H (0 votes [0.00%]) [*]Mix I (5 votes [19.23%]) [*]Mix J (1 votes [3.85%]) [*]Mix K (0 votes [0.00%]) [*]Mix L (0 votes [0.00%]) [/list] ANd the mixes were by the following people:- Mix A.wav - Dad3353 Mix B.wav - Lurksalot Mix C.wav - 51m0n Mix D.wav - cheddatom Mix E.wav - Moonbass Mix F.wav - Twigman Mix G.wav - ironside1966 Mix H.wav - Ziphoblat Mix I.wav - Skol Mix J.wav - VasDim Mix K.wav - MiltyG565 Mix L.wav - xgsjx Thank you all for your time and effort, bot entering and voting, and we have a tie for the first time between Moonbass and ironside1966, well done gents! Skol and I are off to lick our wounds and sulk in the corner Edited May 31, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1369992237' post='2095226'] Thank you all for your time and effort, bot entering ........[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Thanks again Si , congratulations winners , I will have to find my notes to remember who I voted for It is time for you all to pull my mix apart if you like , I really thought I did OK , but it obviously wasnt to taste. In comparison the BV's seem a little forward and maybe the vocal is a touch dry and could benefit from a tiny bit of reverb. On a positive note , and again up for discussion, I deliberately EQ'd the bass and gated it a bit to try and get the detail of the double bass sound and a bit of the rattle to come through , I think there was only one other mix that actually provided any real evidence of the tone of the bass , but maybe I fluffed it but any suggestions would be gratefully recieved Edited May 31, 2013 by lurksalot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1369992237' post='2095226']Skol and I are off to lick our wounds and sulk in the corner [/quote] I'll bring the beers, you pack some chips'n'dips... we might as well sulk with snacks! Seriously though, well done everyone - it's been a [i]really[/i] good mix-off this month. A round of applause for our winners, Moonbass and Ironside. I'm looking forward to hearing some mix notes from you guys! (c'mon spill those beans...). I've also developed a newfound love for country music as part of this process, which is something I didn't envisage at the start of it. All good. Here's to the next one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 reading between the lines , I get the feeling that the song was a bit of a p1sstake of the whole country genre Uncle Dad , the name in itself , Who I am, the lyrics seem to take a stab at smallville USofA and the heart of the country homeland . the song seemed to be such a stereotype of the whole scene that it must have been a poke surely ... I still liked it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1369993060' post='2095244'] It is time for you all to pull my mix apart if you like , I really thought I did OK , but it obviously wasnt to taste. [/quote] What he said.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I am upset that I was conned into voting for Skol by this terrifying anonymity. He needs no more help at winning stuff and were it not that the result went the other way, I would be calling for him to be barred from entry. Unless I didn't, can't really remember which way i voted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1369994647' post='2095262'] What he said.... [/quote] You Got a Vote !!!!!! it can't have been that bad my notes on yours where that there was too much reverb on vocal , undisdiguished bass , not muddy but no real ID of the DB tone ( I think most were like that though) ,and the snare seemed a bit thin , overall good. Not a very technical appraisal I am sorry , just one from my own ear , I did try to calibrate my ears before I listened though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Well done, the winners, and well done to all entries and voters ([i]Myself included..? Why not[/i]...). I'll give them a listen-through again, this evening, now that the anonimity has been lifted. I was right about recognising my own entry, which was a relief. Supposing I'd been wrong..? Two votes for mine..? Well, one was me, so maybe doesn't count for much, although I still prefer it to the rest. Perhaps it's my headhones..? As for bean-spilling; that won't take long, either. This was my first shot, not only at the competition, but mixing (with Reaper...) at all. It's not the same as a console, live, all those years ago..! It took me very little time to decide what to go for, once I'd listened to the tracks. I deliberately did not listen to the supplied 'finished product', so as not to be influenced. I found the general quality of all the tracks to be excellent, and required little or no special treatment, considering the 'genre'. All the recordings seemed to fit very well 'as is', so that's what I did. My mixing was basically only finding a suitable stereo image (eg: I pitched the lead vocal slightly off-centre, with BV slightly the other side, in order to seperate them...). Similarly with most of the instruments; I 'moved' them in space in as complementary fashion as I felt fit. I didn't use absolutely all the tracks, but did keep all the instruments. There was some redundancy, I felt, which added nothing. Can't remember what I dropped (not at home atm; I'll edit this evening to indicated the absentees...) A touch of reverb on the lead voice, and I'm done..! I liked the 'authentic' sound of both bass and drums, and wasn't looking to make either 'shine'; I preferred to priviledge the vocals, and let the solo instruments defend their own merits by what was being played, rather than phonic 'embellishment'. The result was a very quick turnover (it surprised Si, I think, to have an entry 48 hours after opening time..!), but I wasn't going to spend evenings hunting snarks. If it's good, it's good. Of course, being old, with cloth ears is part of the equation..! Someone else liked it, too, though, so that's a bonus. I seem to have got the hang of this K14 stuff; that was a relief, too. Now I'll go through ya'all and try to hear what improvements your treatments have made, that I can actually hear. Could take a while... Edited May 31, 2013 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 I get most of that Dad but I thought the vocal on yours was a touch low in the mix , both lead and BV , and I thought the mix slightly unbalanced , a touch strong on one side, but hey , you got more votes than me , well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1369997182' post='2095303']... slightly unbalanced , a touch strong on one side...[/quote] My hearing is more impaired to the left; maybe I compensate without realising..? I handed over the sound desk years ago to a colleague and took up lighting, once I knew that my ears weren't up to it any more. For instance, I never have heard, for real, that bar of small tubular bells that one sees sometimes. I see the bloke sweep it with his hand, but I have no idea what it sounds like..! Is it bad, doctor..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1369996271' post='2095287'] my notes on yours where that there was too much reverb on vocal , undisdiguished bass , not muddy but no real ID of the DB tone ( I think most were like that though) ,and the snare seemed a bit thin , overall good. [/quote] I think that is a fair assessment. I didn't really think I'd over verbed the vocal....I did however try to get it it right to the front of the mix. I agree on the lack of DB tone....I found eqing this tricky - I really wanted to get the upright vibe but found the bass difficult to get loud enough in my mix - bizarre Yes I knew as soon as I listened back to the mix after it was uploaded that I had taken too much bottom out of the snare. My snare was heavily processed with a transient shaper to try and put some thwack into it - I felt the original had no life.In the process I obviously concentrated on the highs too much and this thinned the snare. Another problem with the snare I found was that there was a lot of snare rattle (I think) on the sidestick in the intro - I ended up cutting this to a different track and gating and eqing it totally differently. I used sidechained gates on both the fiddle, the banjo, the vocal and a guitar/mandolin submix in an effort to get them all to interact, bringing the dominant melody element to the front of the mix as necessary - I'd like to think that this worked well - it was way easier than automating everything on envelopes. I separated each of these elements with eq cuts and stereo postioning too so that they would sit together if they played simultaneously. I double tracked the BVs and panned them L/R to widen the vocal stage. I really struggled with the overheads on the drums. They had too much hihat in them and the cymbals sounded very thin and weak. Just some notes on what I remember - if anyone wants to know more then I will examine the project file later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1369998466' post='2095328'] For instance, I never have heard, for real, that bar of small tubular bells that one sees sometimes. [/quote] A marktree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironside1966 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Thank you to everyone who voted for me, and a big thanks to Simon for his time and effort in making this happen. The tracks were mostly well played and I liked the song, this made this song a pleasure to mix. I felt the acoustic guitar and vocals were the most important elements to this song so I mixed the song around them. If I had a secret weapon it would be tape saturation to help gel the tracks together. My approach to panning was to place the instruments on an imaginary stage; even though a lot of the tracks were in stereo I changed the pan on the stereo track to two separate pans and brought them a lot closer together to the size of an imaginary guitar on my imaginary stage. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar09/articles/stereotechnique.htm pan for each side. Winning in this competition is not how many votes you get but what you learn from taking part. There were things in the other people’s mixers that I liked. A good example was the drums and the vocals on Mix D but I prefer the balance of instruments of my own (Mix G) Listening back I found my mix a little harsh and over compressed, I hit the mix buss comp a little too hard. When I quickly skipped through the tracks I tended to prefer the ones with the warmest tones, as I listen more closely a second time my preferences changed, the balance and how well the sounds gel become more important to me. The fact that there is no clear winner shows there is no right and wrong, it is more about taste and preferences. Well done everybody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 (edited) Some interesting insights above. Keep 'em coming folks! I scribbled various notes while listening through all of the mixes, which I'll summarise and post here sometime over the weekend. Good to see these challenges going from strength to strength, and even better that new people are coming onboard (welcome Douglas!). Cheers all. Edited May 31, 2013 by Skol303 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1369994880' post='2095268'] I am upset that I was conned into voting for Skol by this terrifying anonymity. He needs no more help at winning stuff and were it not that the result went the other way, I would be calling for him to be barred from entry. [/quote] I am legion! And something of a jammy git... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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