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Old 11-30-2016, 10:51 AM   #338
thunderbroom
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 421
Default Finally had a chance to really dive into all the mixes

Overall, really fascinating to see how everyone handled different elements in such drastically different ways. Some used extensive automation, while others created copies of tracks or aux tracks. I hope i offered my comments in a construtive and positive way; I sincerely hope no one misunderstands my intention - but apologies if you do. In any event, a few quick notes now that each has had a fairly detailed listen:

zacki: Really balanced mix, your use of reverb and delay was tasteful and placed just where the song required it. I was impressed how well you dealt with the harshness of the ride in the latter half of the song.

Tod: I was most impressed with how well you handled the bass tracks within the context of the mix, and by doing very little. Looks like most of it was riding the volume automation, keeping transients in check.

karbomusic: Two things really stood out to me; three actually. First, your session is really organized! Beyond that, your kick really punches through giving the track a great classic "disco" feel, not unlike modern bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Killers (both of whom I used as references while mixing!). The other thing was your treatment of the acoustic and the slight bit of panning. There is a little hammer-chord thing he does just as they enter the chorus which I honestly overlooked while listening to my mix. But it's such a cool moment, and it really made a difference to getting your mix to really chug along nicely. Really danceable mix.

BJORG: Admittedly at first, it was difficult to listen to your mix as it is rather harshly bright. But in repeated listening, and delving into your mix session, I see what you were going for. You totally gave plenty of room for the bass and kick, all the while letting the vocal shine. I also liked how you used automation to your advantage volume-wise.

EpicSounds: I'm thinking your a Chili Peppers fan (or at least someone who digs classic funk). You got that bass right up front (which as a bassist, i can dig it) - definitely going to get butts shaking on the dance floor. I also dug your tasteful use of automation. Also, that js50Hz kicker you employed really brought out the attack of that kick pedal.

germano: The acoustic really drives this mix - skirting the line of extreme, but the rhythm and attack do propel the track nicely. Though overall a tad bright, the drums seems EQ'd to really pronounce the lower mids. It does get you right in the chest, but would have liked to hear the crack of the snare rather than the thud. I did love your tasteful bits of plate verb that came in during the verses.

InSub: To me, what makes your mix stand out is your treatment of the lead vocal. It's one of my favorites of all the mixes. And isn't that the goal of any good mix of a song - get the vocal in front and leading. And the acoustic right along with the vocal - nice blend. I think your bass is a little heavy handed and too prominent in the mix, but I think the bass is something with which we all struggled a bit!

James HE: I thought overall your mix was well balanced during the choruses and bridge bits. That amp convolution you used during the verses was overwhelming and seemed to have all the treble and hi-mids rolled off. I saw that track hitting the red quite a bit while watching your session run. Honestly, if you could tame that amp sim, the rest of the mix really kicks ass.

JH4094: You took some chances in making your mix individual. The way you treated the lead vocal with all that flangy-chorusing, and the saturation during the choruses was a refreshing take. I also enjoy employing some tape-saturation goodness on vocals to help them stand out. Also, I see you too looked for innovative means to deal with the bass. Definitely stood out and sounded very dance-floor friendly. Admittedly, after a while, the vocal treatment seemed to be too much - maybe something used as a little "spice" to drop in?

lolilol1975: I think the vocals on your mix were the real standouts - clean and attention grabbing. The drums were really slamming - but for the toms which seemed lifeless compared to the rest of the kit. While running your session, I played with some phase-shifting of the snare top/bottom and the OH verses the kick drum - in some instances that really made things glue together.

martinmadero: I was most taken with the rhythm electric guitars, most especially during the choruses. I thought they sounded defined and cut right through the mix. My only gripe was your heavy-handed compression. Looking at your session and seeing almost everything redlining at one time or another, I saw you attempted to keep everything in check on the master track. That really messed with the dynamics of the song overall. When I went through and solo'd individual sections or tracks, the clarity and nicely tuned sounds were there - together they just competed for attention.

Otto Tune: Overall, the mix sounded a bit lifeless. Until the chorus kicked in and the OHs really brought in the ride and crash cymbals, it was all a bit thuddy. I wondered why you decided to use so many multiple instances of the limiter on the kick alone. And then multiple uses on the master track. One thing that seemed to work as I solo'd through your tracks was phase-shifting on the OHs. Flipping the phase on that really brought the kicks into focus - the time delay often between the kick mics and the OHs is so extreme that it can almost sound like slapback sometimes.

richie43: I really liked your electric rhythm guitars; I thought they drove every chorus when they kicked in - some of it was the panning, but I thought they were treated nicely. Unfortunately, your acoustic got completely buried in the mix - when I solo'd those tracks, there was some nice stuff there, and the attack of those guitars being more prominent would have made a difference in the overall push of the track.

soundguy84 One of my favorite mixes overall. Well-balanced, clean, dynamic. I liked that little "stutter vocal" track you created. I couldn't hear it in the mix - was it in the right place? When solo'd it sounded really cool, but it came during the instrumental bit between chorus and verse 2.

VinodX Agent: I wasn't able to listen to your session as it kept "glitching" out. I tried soloing the master, soloing individual track, yet no matter what, a few seconds in and it would glitch and stutter. I'm sorry I'm unable to give feedback as I did for the others.

Of course, I did not offer comments on mine. I'll look forward to reading through the other feedback, and to December's contest!
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thunderbroom
http://www.machineroomstudio.com
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