GearFest Mixing Contest

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puremx contest

Here's my submission. I've been a musician for about 10 years but I just started doing my own mixes about 4 months ago. I really love the art of mixing!
I found it challenging to get the drums to sound reasonable and still retain the "raucousness." The hi hat was really annoying me but I didn't want to make the drums sound too weak. Another challenge was keeping the excitement level after the second half of the song. For me the song itself is a little weak and the arrangement is kind of boring so it was a challenge to "keep it moving" without changing anything or adding parts. I kind of went for a psych rock vibe mixed with Ike and Tina. I really enjoyed the project!

Did they say 1st prize was fecal matters?
 
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SharpNeck said:
For me the song itself is a little weak and the arrangement is kind of boring....
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Surprising it took 11 pages for someone to say it! :D
There's really not a hell of a lot you can do with this song...and apart from some of the really extreme mix offerings, it's why the majority of the 700+ submissions sound pretty much the same...and it's really no fault of the mixers, and maybe why some are opting to go extreme, just to give it some life.

OK...maybe I just shot myself in the foot AFA the contest... ;) ....and I'm still deciding if I even want to do a mix of the song.
It may end up being a last minute thing right before the contest ends, and I'll just go with whatever mood I'm in at that time. Kinda do it quickly without a lot of thinking about it, just let the tracks do their thing...and honestly, there's not much there to over-think with this song, so I'm kinda intrigued how much brain power some people are putting into it.
I think the tracks have one basic mix direction you can go in without crossing the line over into production (which we're not supposed to)....and also if you want to stay with the artists' typical sound flavors based on their other songs, which was kinda implied we should do.
 
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Hello guys! I listened many songs, some with great mixes, others very creative but kinda heavy on FX and stuff. And I like reverbs and delays but, in this scenario, without getting in the way of the performance.

To me, some key aspects are making the mix wider but keeping it related to the live performance, getting the chorus to rock and keep the focus on the voice while it happens, after all its Liza Colby right!? So I settled with this one. If you like to check:

soundcloud.com/davibaeta/oh-baby-gearfestpuremixcontest

 
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Guitargodgt said:
I wish the powers that be would pop back in and let me know if I can make any last min changes if I want to.
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I kinda asked if they were judging/filtering them as they came in...or if it was going to be a massive sit-down session once all the submissions were in (which I kinda doubt)...so I think you are free to make changes, but they may have already passed judgment or placed your submission by whatever group and method they are using.

Honestly...with 700+ submissions, how easy could you tell if someone did any minor mix changes to their submission. :)
Just go for it, since technically, the contest is still ongoing. Once it closes, then I think everything is stopped.
 
miroslav said:
Surprising it took 11 pages for someone to say it! :D
There's really not a hell of a lot you can do with this song...and apart from some of the really extreme mix offerings, it's why the majority of the 700+ submissions sound pretty much the same...and it's really no fault of the mixers, and maybe why some are opting to go extreme, just to give it some life.

OK...maybe I just shot myself in the foot AFA the contest... ;) ....and I'm still deciding if I even want to do a mix of the song.
It may end up being a last minute thing right before the contest ends, and I'll just go with whatever mood I'm in at that time. Kinda do it quickly without a lot of thinking about it, just let the tracks do their thing...and honestly, there's not much there to over-think with this song, so I'm kinda intrigued how much brain power some people are putting into it.
I think the tracks have one basic mix direction you can go in without crossing the line over into production (which we're not supposed to)....and also if you want to stay with the artists' typical sound flavors based on their other songs, which was kinda implied we should do.
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Lol. Really dude, no one is sitting around hoping and praying that you submit a mix.
 
miroslav said:
I kinda asked if they were judging/filtering them as they came in...or if it was going to be a massive sit-down session once all the submissions were in (which I kinda doubt)...so I think you are free to make changes, but they may have already passed judgment or placed your submission by whatever group and method they are using.

Honestly...with 700+ submissions, how easy could you tell if someone did any minor mix changes to their submission. :)
Just go for it, since technically, the contest is still ongoing. Once it closes, then I think everything is stopped.
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I'm gonna. Killing the panning guitars and vocal harmonies. Won't be as unique of a mix, but it feels safer under the rules (and the pan thing was crap IMO).
 
So my overall thoughts after listening to at least 40 of these things over on the page:

1. People shouldn't bother with 2 bus processing. Some of the mixes were so smashed I couldn't stand listening for more than a few seconds.
2. Using samples from steven slate or ez drummer is a bad idea. Overly processed samples don't mesh well with this stuff.
3. A lot of narrow mixes, I expected that honestly.
4. A lot of mixes out of balance (like the vocals are WAAAY to loud no matter how you like your mix to be).

Basically, I hate to be an asshole but weeding out the mixes doesn't sound that hard. I could have weeded out at least 30 of those 40 based on either balance or 2 bus processing alone (mixes that might have been ok with out those problems).
 
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Greg_L said:
Lol. Really dude, no one is sitting around hoping and praying that you submit a mix.
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Lol. Really dude, I wasn't even speculating about that. Just joking about the fact that my comments on the song might have killed my chances in the contest. :D

I only mentioned that I might still submit by the end, only so it doesn't seem like I'm just commenting here in the thread without even trying to do a mix of my own.
I'm sure you're working on an "awesome" mix version of the song. ;)
 
miroslav said:
Lol. Really dude, I wasn't even speculating about that. Just joking about the fact that my comments on the song might have killed my chances in the contest. :D

I only mentioned that I might still submit by the end, only so it doesn't seem like I'm just commenting here in the thread without even trying to do a mix of my own.
I'm sure you're working on an "awesome" mix version of the song. ;)
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My mix would be awesome, you know it would, but no. I don't typically enjoy mixing other people's stuff. I haven't even listened to the song or any of the mixes. I've just been watching this thread because I'm amazed at all the new members showing up just for this "contest" and I thought your post was funny in a "haha that was smug" kind of way. No big deal man, carry on. :D
 
Well, I wasn't really trying to be "smug"... :D ....but from the time the tread started, I've been feeling what that poster (SharpNeck) said about the song, and was glad someone said something, though I wasn't going to be the first one since I have yet to post up a mix.

I've also been kinda amused at some of the gushing, Oprah-like posts about the mixes...but yeah, after the contest is over, 95% of these new members will never be back here again.
You know that's the case....as it's happened before, though I hope a bunch of new memebrs stay, as we could use some new blood around here.
The only reason most people are entering is for a shot at the Focal monitors....which I have to say is a very good reason! So c'mon....put up a mix, I'm sure you wouldn't mind having the Focals either. :)
 
Just a thought about mixes. I can put on 10 of my favourite CD's and without changing any settings in my studio, I get about 10 different mixes all sounding very different. Some I really like and others I think I would mix them differently. Why? They are all mixed by pros and mastered in NYC, they should all sound great, but they don't. That is because of my listening environment, the equipment I use to listen on and what I had for breakfast that morning ( Fab quote). Not to mention that if what I mix on a daily basis is Techno than it is more likely that my Techno mixes will be my best and not the country pop CD that I am now mastering for a friend. I think our ears follow our style of music we most often listen too. That is why so many mixers use reference material side by side to try to understand the sound that they are trying to achieve or it's a shot in the dark. Did anyone use one of the bands other songs to copy the mix? If they did they wouldn't need advice on their mix because the reference track from the same artists would reveal any flaws. Advice from other Contestants using different gear in a different listening environment with different ears and music style will have a totally different opinion of your mix. Trust your own ears and hopefully trust your studio and your speakers. Go forward with confidence and use this experience to personally grow as a mix engineer. Were all winners here today. Peace.
 
Anthony Alves said:
Just a thought about mixes. I can put on 10 of my favourite CD's and without changing any settings in my studio, I get about 10 different mixes all sounding very different. Some I really like and others I think I would mix them differently. Why? They are all mixed by pros and mastered in NYC, they should all sound great, but they don't. That is because of my listening environment, the equipment I use to listen on and what I had for breakfast that morning ( Fab quote). Not to mention that if what I mix on a daily basis is Techno than it is more likely that my Techno mixes will be my best and not the country pop CD that I am now mastering for a friend. I think our ears follow our style of music we most often listen too. That is why so many mixers use reference material side by side to try to understand the sound that they are trying to achieve or it's a shot in the dark. Did anyone use one of the bands other songs to copy the mix? If they did they wouldn't need advice on their mix because the reference track from the same artists would reveal any flaws. Advice from other Contestants using different gear in a different listening environment with different ears and music style will have a totally different opinion of your mix. Trust your own ears and hopefully trust your studio and your speakers. Go forward with confidence and use this experience to personally grow as a mix engineer. Were all winners here today. Peace.
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Amen! Well said.
 
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