I've also changed the way I think about evaluating mixes. Rather than focusing on all the technical details, the main thing I ask myself when I hear a mix is: is the song intact? Is there anything in the mix that's getting in the way of the song? After that I'll think about levels and balances and stuff, but if nothing in the mix is distracting me from enjoying the song, then I'm going to rank your mix highly. I think in contests like this it's easy to get carried away trying to do things that you think might impress other engineers, and this helped me focus on the only thing that really matters: the song itself. Like, it's fine if your snare is a little weird or your mix is a little dark, as long as it doesn't distract me from the song.
My comments probably still sound the same as how I wrote them in previous months, but the thought process in how I arrived at them was different.
BanzAndrey, congratulations! #18 - this is the only mix I voted for. Professional work, a good balance and noticeable work with automation.
My mix #1 was trashed by the commentators, haha. But, I see that the majority wrote about a large amount of reverb on everything, which means that not everyone listened to the verse
Hey guys, thank you! And congratz EmcClrk for your nice work too, we got almost similar rating.
It's really been a great experience mixing every month here, and being able to compare my work with others, every month I manage to improve a little on my weaknesses, and this month wasnt different, by comparing to all the others, I see that my mix could be better and a lot of aspects.
The funnest and coolest part is that the feedbacks come from people who are in the same boat, wanting to evolve at mixing, and because they can have a more technical view, so most of us have realistic feedbacks of whats nice to look and try to get better in the next.
See you guys in the next month!
__________________
Andrey Benassi
Mixing Engineer - @andreybenassi - andreybenassi@yahoo.com.br
Brazil - Santa Catarina
This was my first time participating. My mix didn't do so well lol. In retrospect it sounded very sterile and lifeless.
Personally I thought John Miears was the best.
Hopefully next month won't be another 80s vocal thing!
BTW darjama wouldn't it be great if people could say what they used to do the mix? I mean, speakers or headphones and which model. Some mixes were way off and I wouldn't be surprised if that was because of using bad headphones.
Wow, second time in a row BanzAndrey, good work! I think I also saw your name at the mix-challenge mc087 to go to round 3 right? Congratulations on that one as well. I made it to round 2 of MC087.
Most mixes this month were very good. Now I'm reading the comments of you all at the result page. I must say, the comments also keep getting better, so there is progress in that as well. I like comparing my notes with that of other participants. That way I can check if my perception of a way a mix sounds is the same as to how others listhen to it.
Wow, second time in a row BanzAndrey, good work! I think I also saw your name at the mix-challenge mc087 to go to round 3 right? Congratulations on that one as well. I made it to round 2 of MC087.
Most mixes this month were very good. Now I'm reading the comments of you all at the result page. I must say, the comments also keep getting better, so there is progress in that as well. I like comparing my notes with that of other participants. That way I can check if my perception of a way a mix sounds is the same as to how others listhen to it.
Greetings,
Thanks man! I'm in Round 3 yes, very good to know that we have people from here too!
I haven't compared my feedbacks with other people's, but it really makes perfect sense and I'll do it to find out what details I might be missing, or even see other points of view.
__________________
Andrey Benassi
Mixing Engineer - @andreybenassi - andreybenassi@yahoo.com.br
Brazil - Santa Catarina
Congrats BanzAndrey! You where definitely in my top 3 picks, Jansen you where my #1, as stated before though I think this month was an impressive showing overall for everyone.
I need to go back and do some hard listening between our mixes to find what I'm doing wrong/ you're doing right. Also download the session and steal whatever I can obviously. Someone brought up monitoring environments earlier and how that would impact mix decisions. I believe most people here are on headphones, some with Waves NX. I personally usually do 80-90% on Avantones in a well treated room then reference on Shure MDR-7506's toggling waves nx/ CLAnx on and off. That being said the only time I ever won a Remix competition was on headphones only...interesting. At any rate I'm excited for what next month has and congratulations to everyone again.
(although I know Andrey did join previous editions)
I placed second in the last produce like a pro mixing competition, do you believe that? I dont, hahaha
Dude, the amount of equipment, plugins and courses I won I didn't dream of winning in my wildest dreams, it's crazy.
I was at the worst time of my life without a doubt, too much problems, I did it just for fun with no intention of winning because I 'knew' I wouldn't have a chance.
__________________
Andrey Benassi
Mixing Engineer - @andreybenassi - andreybenassi@yahoo.com.br
Brazil - Santa Catarina
I placed second in the last produce like a pro mixing competition, do you believe that? I dont, hahaha
Dude, the amount of equipment, plugins and courses I won I didn't dream of winning in my wildest dreams, it's crazy.
I was at the worst time of my life without a doubt, too much problems, I did it just for fun with no intention of winning because I 'knew' I wouldn't have a chance.
You did?? holy .... that is amazing. the fact that you didn't knew you had a chance, that just shows that it is hard to be a judge of your own mix.
You did?? holy .... that is amazing. the fact that you didn't knew you had a chance, that just shows that it is hard to be a judge of your own mix.
I always thought a lot while mixing, this time I literally did the simple, it's probably not the perfect mix, but it makes sense and it sounds good, in the end, it's what worked for me at that moment.
I still can't believe the result to be honest, I believe it's more like luck and a good mix than actually an amazing mix, but it's nice to see how things can work out in different ways than we think.
I didnt even opened the prizes wet, It's like it's not mine, hahaha
__________________
Andrey Benassi
Mixing Engineer - @andreybenassi - andreybenassi@yahoo.com.br
Brazil - Santa Catarina
Last edited by BanzAndrey; 09-29-2022 at 09:47 AM.
Congrats to Andrey and frankly everyone for many top notch mixes. There were a bunch of critical decisions here: snare sound and volume, guitars in or out, "thin" 80s sound or more contemporary with louder bass and kick, plus the amount of reverb as usual. Personally I tried to emulate an 80s sound (+ guitars!) and went for a thinner, hi-freq sound which many people didn't like. JohnMiears, your mix was very similar to mine and I anjoyed it very much!
But listening back to the different mixes, I can see I was a bit short of time when I rated them, and my rating and notes were not as accurate as they could have been. I'll definitely give myself more time for the voting part next month.
Also, to answer Pier's question I'm using headphones (Sennheiser HD280 Pro) only to evaluate the stereo field, but all the mixing and rating is done on a pair of Yamahas HS-5.
Congrats to Andrey and frankly everyone for many top notch mixes. There were a bunch of critical decisions here: snare sound and volume, guitars in or out, "thin" 80s sound or more contemporary with louder bass and kick, plus the amount of reverb as usual. Personally I tried to emulate an 80s sound (+ guitars!) and went for a thinner, hi-freq sound which many people didn't like. JohnMiears, your mix was very similar to mine and I anjoyed it very much!
But listening back to the different mixes, I can see I was a bit short of time when I rated them, and my rating and notes were not as accurate as they could have been. I'll definitely give myself more time for the voting part next month.
Also, to answer Pier's question I'm using headphones (Sennheiser HD280 Pro) only to evaluate the stereo field, but all the mixing and rating is done on a pair of Yamahas HS-5.
Thanks man!
It's a little sad, but many reviews, maybe even mine, are very much based on initial perception, not detailed, which makes things a little less accurate, unfortunately everyone's time is valuable and everyone uses it the way they want. prefer, some prefer to give more general feedback, others more complete, there is no way to have control I think, but giving feedback is a way to study and improve your skills.
__________________
Andrey Benassi
Mixing Engineer - @andreybenassi - andreybenassi@yahoo.com.br
Brazil - Santa Catarina
That proves it, you have very good tastes that appeal to a wide audience. If we want to make the best mix for ourselves alone then we can keep doing things our own way. I think there’s a lot to learn from digging into ( and most importantly listening!) to your mix and try to see where our tendencies differ from yours. Congrats again I’m glad you’re apart of this. And you can win all you want but you’ve still had the community top pick 2 months running with stock plug-ins in a free (to evaluate) daw I would call that a killer ear with killer taste!
I always thought a lot while mixing, this time I literally did the simple, it's probably not the perfect mix, but it makes sense and it sounds good, in the end, it's what worked for me at that moment.
I still can't believe the result to be honest, I believe it's more like luck and a good mix than actually an amazing mix, but it's nice to see how things can work out in different ways than we think.
I didnt even opened the prizes wet, It's like it's not mine, hahaha
That is indeed some nice gear....always comes in handy ;-)
Also, to answer Pier's question I'm using headphones (Sennheiser HD280 Pro) only to evaluate the stereo field, but all the mixing and rating is done on a pair of Yamahas HS-5.
Thanks for sharing!
I also check on the HD280 Pro, DT990, and HD600, but I mainly work on the planar Fostex T50RP mk3.
I'm not a pro so I can't really afford to have a good room to use with monitors.
I'm planning on getting a better pair of planars at some point like the Sundara though.
I also check on the HD280 Pro, DT990, and HD600, but I mainly work on the planar Fostex T50RP mk3.
I'm not a pro so I can't really afford to have a good room to use with monitors.
I'm planning on getting a better pair of planars at some point like the Sundara though.
I mix on Genelecs 1030A....am very used to that sound. But even those are not accurate without accoustic treatment. So I've installed some accoustic panels from 'Ekustik' (very nice panels...not too expensive). I also mix on the DT990 Pro open back headphones from Beyerdynamic, I've actually mixed a lot of songs just on those headphones.
The ears get used to a sound pretty quickly. First impressions with fresh ears are probably more accurate.
Don't get me wrong, just from my point of view, the first impression to me is just 'texture' and tonal balance, which is something we're looking for a lot for sure, but mixing goes beyond that, how we show the details, as the song grows, who comes to the front at the right time, who stands by, how the panoramas work, special FX's, etc.
Just things I care about in my work, which in the end is meant to be invisible, but it is a work that can be enjoyed as well.
I nice video that I remembered, you can give a look.
The ears get used to a sound pretty quickly. First impressions with fresh ears are probably more accurate.
The problem is that with such an assessment, a mix that can influence the "first impression" will score more points.
A simple example regarding this mix: is that the intro has a powerful low-frequency bass that has an inappropriately powerful sound compared to the subsequent chorus. On the one hand, it would be wise to weaken it in order to emphasize the power of the chorus. On the other hand, when quickly switching between mixes, the first impression after listening to the intro will give a false impression of a powerful mix.
At the same time, important things will remain in the shadows and will simply be unheard. Such as the integrity of the composition, macro dynamics, creative elements, etc.
Don't get me wrong, just from my point of view, the first impression to me is just 'texture' and tonal balance, which is something we're looking for a lot for sure, but mixing goes beyond that, how we show the details, as the song grows, who comes to the front at the right time, who stands by, how the panoramas work, special FX's, etc.
I agree with this take too. I tend to go through all the submissions and get an idea of my favourites using that first critical pass for tones etc then go back to the best ones and to listen for the finer details and 'feel'.
First time post I generally just lurk here! Started learning to mix in January and these monthly challenges have really helped me get to grips with it. Tempted to have a go at the ratemymix too.
As for monitoring I've got a basic set-up in a small untreated room so I went for a decent pair of headphones instead of speakers. I use the Avantone Planar headphones then render and listen through few different systems around the house when I'm nearing a final draft.
I really appreciate your comments. Especially such as "I would do this or that" or "too little or too much something" because it draws my attention to important aspects of the mix. Or "listen the 0:30 or 0:45, you can hear there a ... ".
Less "it doesn't work" and "maybe it sounds good on your system" because I know I'm a poor mix engineer and the last thing I want to improve is to buy a new apartment just to fix my hobby task.
I really appreciate that as well as your sense of humor.
Thank you.
Last edited by bitgo.space; 10-01-2022 at 01:59 AM.
Reason: additional example
Not really related to this month's mix, but the site reamixed.com stopped displaying fine for me (Firefox 105.0.1). "Html loaded" flashes quickly in an empty page, then when the real site gets loaded and drawn for an instant, everything goes blank. I tried on two different (Windows) systems. Is it only me?
The exact same thing is happening for me as well. So far I've only tried it on MS Edge...will try again on Chrome to see if it's still happening, but I believe due to your comments that it will also be happening on Chrome.
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Guitarist, Vocalist, Producer, Mixing/Recording/Mastering Engineer. Creator of Tutorials. www.facebook.com/soundadvicekc
Thanks @darjama. I don't visit the reaMIXed page too often, but when I do I really get into the mixes, even without voting. The level of the competition is going steadily up IMHO. Every month there are more good-to-excellent mixing jobs on showcase.
Congrats to the winner BanzAndrey - likely my favorite this round - but also to the runners up, and to some new entries that did a decent job with a not-super-easy tune.