Hannes Keseberg - You Know Better (mixing contest)

[dtldarek]

The second mix I've heard with added piano. It is a good add.

Thank you!

Things get way too busy though. The vibe of the song is not supporting it.

Then only part where I feel things get a little too busy is the repeated g minor part before the last chorus, but it gets empty when I try to remove anything (and patch the hole with other instruments), and that can't happen to the culmination of the song (it competes with all other parts). In other places I just tried to keep listener's attention. I've tested first versions on some friends and it's just not good when they start checking their phone while listening. A great mixer probably could do that without making the song overly busy, but I can't.

I wonder how others solved that problem, on purpose I haven't yet listened to any other mixes, but now comes the learning phase!

Many of the things, while technically competent just overwhelm the song. Not a fan. Don't just show off. Try to show some deference to the song and the writer. Your engineering is great but this is a miss for me regardless of your technical skills.

Neither showing-off nor overwhelming the song were my intention. Also, there isn't much going on in there: 95% of work were RX edits and fader riding. Could you give me an example what feels to you like showing off?

Anyway, thank you for listening, any critique is highly appreciated :-)

I'm not sold on the piano acoustic and reggae vibe overlaid.

It doesn't really strike me as a reggae song (and there was midi piano as one of the tracks too). What could I change in the mix to convince you (the listener) it's not reggae (i.e., remove ambiguity)?

However, the piano accompaniment sounds great standalone. You could always start with the first (i.e. cut the drums and rhythm guitar) and then break into reggae at the first chorus (and back of the piano). Would be an interesting interpretation on the song!

I've tried and it didn't work, the contrast was big enough that it sounded to me like two different songs.

Thank you for listening, I appreciate your comments!