KVR MIX CHALLENGE - MC02, July 2014 - Submissions Feedback and Q&A
-
- KVRian
- 628 posts since 5 Mar, 2011 from Austria
Especially at low frequencies you would get cancelation when listening such material on speakers or your monitors. It is like one of the speakers is out of phase, which is killing your bass. So for me, it is still a important issue.Compyfox wrote:Whether or not mono compatibility is still a thing in modern days, is definitely a good question...
soundcloud.com/photonic-1
-
- KVRist
- 441 posts since 7 Mar, 2011 from Pleasanton, CA
I mean reverb on the piano. Hearing it without a tail sounds a bit thin. I'm biased; I like the lead piano with a strong reverb tail I guess.Compyfox wrote:Could you please elaborate a bit more on that?wesleyt wrote: Studio_Compyfox
very nice mix
plucks need more space
piano needs more space
percussion sounds very good
snare could use more body
Do you mean by "needs more space" to add more reverb/delay?
Piano is a different story, but I cut the pads fairly high and molded them to complement each other to be honest.
Just so that we're on the same page.
The plucks in the middle blend perfectly into the background, so you can disregard that.
Seasoned IT vet, Mac user, and lover of music. Always learning.
-
- KVRAF
- 16414 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
Congratulations to our winner of the voter random drawing: H-Man!
Compyfox ran all the names of voters who were not challenge winners 75 times through random.org. H-Man now gets to choose between UVI Digital Synsations, UVI Mello, SONiVOX Pulse, SONiVOX Wobble, SONiVOX Twist, or SONiVOX Vocalizer as his prize.
Compyfox ran all the names of voters who were not challenge winners 75 times through random.org. H-Man now gets to choose between UVI Digital Synsations, UVI Mello, SONiVOX Pulse, SONiVOX Wobble, SONiVOX Twist, or SONiVOX Vocalizer as his prize.
-
- KVRian
- 712 posts since 26 Dec, 2007 from Australia
Woo Hoo! Thx team!Uncle E wrote:Congratulations to our winner of the voter random drawing: H-Man!
Compyfox ran all the names of voters who were not challenge winners 75 times through random.org. H-Man now gets to choose between UVI Digital Synsations, UVI Mello, SONiVOX Pulse, SONiVOX Wobble, SONiVOX Twist, or SONiVOX Vocalizer as his prize.
Congrats to the winners as well. Some fine quality mixes in this round for sure. This month I will be "around" a lot more for the discussion as I'm working on a list of things that I need to develop ...one of them being vocals so ...see you all soon
Thx again,
Ben
-
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 14658 posts since 19 Oct, 2003 from Berlin, Germany
I'll be the first to break the ice...
Here are some comments on my MC02 entry I got over the last couple of weeks.
Since the "second to last place" in the challenge (MC02) is very disappointing for me, especially since I've set myself such a high bar with the first MC (MC01), I spent another hour on the mix and reflected on my mistakes.
Mind you, I was on a very short timer. I was stuffed with work, but in my sparetime I preferred to be lazy instead of working on the mix - I really had to force myself to do anything. Some might even think "you worked half hearted". But let me assure you - even with a time limit of less than 9 hours and mostly working late at night, I did everything I could. I was driven to create a good mix within that short time. Turns out that it wasn't "there" in the end.
The revision you're about to hear builds upon this mix. I only did minor tweaks that however have a huge impact. No complete re-mix. No additional FX modules loaded.
Let's compare the mixes:
This is my official KVR MC02 entry, posted on 18th July
Alien Love MP3 Version (48/24, MP3, 5,2MB)
You can still find the documentation to this mix in this thread.
This is after investing another hour (the HOFA 4U ProjectTime showed 10:05h)
Alien Love (revisited) MP3 Version (48/24, MP3, 5,2MB)
What I did:
Since there is always something that can be fixed - I'll take it as a positive sign and leave it at that (though I might get back to it and do some really minor fixes). But this new mix puts my mind at ease. And it shows that I'm only human myself that does mistakes, even if the (initial) endresult in comparison was disappointing and off-putting . One mistake is to do everything at the last minute. The only solution to improve on that, is to learn from the experience and try to do better next time.
I did get some valuable feedback however, and the song provider (satYatunes) actually liked the initial concept. But he also agreed that the mix could see a revision (lack of reverb, too harsh frequencies). So I took it like a usual B2C relationship, offered another mix according to the feedback I got... then presented it to the song provider - with positive response.
And now you can listen to it as well.
The question is... what did you learn in the last Mix Challenges?
What could you improve on?
Please also share your insight.
Here are some comments on my MC02 entry I got over the last couple of weeks.
mwaudioprod wrote:4. Studio Compyfox: Good Mix but too dry.
photonic wrote:4. Studio Compyfox: well balanced, but too dry. Offbeat hihats are too loud for me.
wesleyt wrote: Studio_Compyfox
very nice mix, plucks need more space, piano needs more space, percussion sounds very good, snare could use more body
A lot of well adjusted criticism, constructive even. I was also being contacted through mail with further comments, and I pretty much pointed out all issues I had with my last entries in here as well.Compyfox wrote:This might sound harsh, but compared to all other entries, my entry sounds like a very cheap 90ies RPG soundtrack. I funked up somewhere and didn't realize it until after I submitted the track.
Since the "second to last place" in the challenge (MC02) is very disappointing for me, especially since I've set myself such a high bar with the first MC (MC01), I spent another hour on the mix and reflected on my mistakes.
Mind you, I was on a very short timer. I was stuffed with work, but in my sparetime I preferred to be lazy instead of working on the mix - I really had to force myself to do anything. Some might even think "you worked half hearted". But let me assure you - even with a time limit of less than 9 hours and mostly working late at night, I did everything I could. I was driven to create a good mix within that short time. Turns out that it wasn't "there" in the end.
The revision you're about to hear builds upon this mix. I only did minor tweaks that however have a huge impact. No complete re-mix. No additional FX modules loaded.
Let's compare the mixes:
This is my official KVR MC02 entry, posted on 18th July
Alien Love MP3 Version (48/24, MP3, 5,2MB)
You can still find the documentation to this mix in this thread.
This is after investing another hour (the HOFA 4U ProjectTime showed 10:05h)
Alien Love (revisited) MP3 Version (48/24, MP3, 5,2MB)
What I did:
- I changed around the balance of the percussion section
- rolled off more high end on the hats
- The off-beat open hi hat and the brush snare doesn't feature a LOFI parallel feed anymore. Only the hi hat.
- changed the balance of the snare (the higher pitched one is now a supplementary one, the focus is on the slightly lower pitched one, the parallel LOFI effect was raised another 1-2 dB)
- The parallel drum bus got a slight LF boost (another 1 to 2dB).
- MORE REVERB. On the snare, the piano, slightly more on the gated pad, the radio effect (to glue things together), some more on the snare rim.
- Since I felt a lacking low end on the whole mix, the main bass arp also got a tad more LF boost (again 1-2 dB)
Since there is always something that can be fixed - I'll take it as a positive sign and leave it at that (though I might get back to it and do some really minor fixes). But this new mix puts my mind at ease. And it shows that I'm only human myself that does mistakes, even if the (initial) endresult in comparison was disappointing and off-putting . One mistake is to do everything at the last minute. The only solution to improve on that, is to learn from the experience and try to do better next time.
I did get some valuable feedback however, and the song provider (satYatunes) actually liked the initial concept. But he also agreed that the mix could see a revision (lack of reverb, too harsh frequencies). So I took it like a usual B2C relationship, offered another mix according to the feedback I got... then presented it to the song provider - with positive response.
And now you can listen to it as well.
The question is... what did you learn in the last Mix Challenges?
What could you improve on?
Please also share your insight.
-
- KVRAF
- 16414 posts since 22 Nov, 2000 from Southern California
It's certainly smoother now and I love what you did with the main melodic instrument. Actually, I think that's my favorite treatment of the melodic instrument so far. How were you able to smooth out so much of the entire mix in just an hour? Did you EQ a buss?
-
- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 14658 posts since 19 Oct, 2003 from Berlin, Germany
I did not EQ the master bus.
But I did change the EQ of the parallel drum bus (about +1dB more to +2dB of the LF band) and the bass arp (the same). The rest was actually rolling off frequencies (hi hats only - simple LP knob in NF British NEQ) and changing the balance of the percussion section. Noting else. Though chances are I used a lower LP setting on the NF British NEQ on the piano by accident.
Like I wrote earlier - I only used what was already loaded in terms of plugins, built up on it. As you can clearly hear... only with slight changes, the sound can shift drastically. Example: less high hats, less uber sharp sounding production.
I think most of the 1 hour "fix" was to check the overall instrument balance and how the reverb blends into the production. I think also checking if the harp effect really worked or not (decided to keep it). And I listened to the song a couple of times on loop. So actually... roughly 40-45minutes in terms of additional mix work.
But I did change the EQ of the parallel drum bus (about +1dB more to +2dB of the LF band) and the bass arp (the same). The rest was actually rolling off frequencies (hi hats only - simple LP knob in NF British NEQ) and changing the balance of the percussion section. Noting else. Though chances are I used a lower LP setting on the NF British NEQ on the piano by accident.
Like I wrote earlier - I only used what was already loaded in terms of plugins, built up on it. As you can clearly hear... only with slight changes, the sound can shift drastically. Example: less high hats, less uber sharp sounding production.
I think most of the 1 hour "fix" was to check the overall instrument balance and how the reverb blends into the production. I think also checking if the harp effect really worked or not (decided to keep it). And I listened to the song a couple of times on loop. So actually... roughly 40-45minutes in terms of additional mix work.
