Hannes Keseberg - You Know Better -Post MS Review and Competition Final

[Mixinthecloud]

I started with the bass and let that define the rest of the mix. Once I settled on that sound the rest came pretty easily.

Just some nags which might help or hinder

Prosumer gear suggests the bass is overly present in the <120Hz, even at low SPL. The bass guitar and kick, aren't translating to non-prosumer small speakers. I think your plan on using the bass is a good one though, especially in the first half.

I'm generally finding the mix muddy, though much of this is probably caused by the bass overhang or it's masking, in the lower mids.

Vocal needs some air, urgently. Better clarity in his diction also requires a lot of work due to the radical dynamic in the tracking. The right compression approach would also make a big difference in that respect, and this in turn might direct or guide you in the >1000Hz strategy, depending on compressor characteristics, Eq, chain signal flow, etc. You do need to appropriately eq the verb feed though.

Some other issues, less obvious: Organ suffers masking, eg at about 2:15. The wide pan of the organ's modulations should be fixed to comply with Haas rules. Some notes on the conga get masked from the mid channel. Some notes of the whistles could do with taming in the upper range, for example. The verb is no doubt helping to exaggerate the gain along with the cumulative effect of track dB's. I understand your intention with the whistler's ambiance, but some might feel it's out of context with everything else.

I'm finding the timpani's sporadic and uncorrelated musical arrangement difficult to relate to when included with the other percussive elements. In mono it's a confused picture. What to do, if anything? Maybe asking what it's emotional contribution is might help guide the decision-making process.

While I've commented on the mix, the nature of some issues might imply the listening environment's getting in the way. Also feeling a right channel bias too which could be related.

Dang me, that's blown my forum feedback time budget for the month! Did it help?

Monk,

Thanks for the thorough eval of my mix. the amount of effort spent is unexpected and appreciated.

Based upon your responses, I think I should be envious of your listening environment. It must be very accurate. I struggle with mine and unfortunately must rely on psycho-acoustic compensations in mine. I am also struggling from a constant drift of my center from one day to the next and often hour to hour for both of my speaker pairs (early RoR Dual 6" with Dome tweeter, Dell desktop speakers with a sub). I have done some tone outs and see the issue but have not been able to pinpoint the culprit. There is Dante in the mix and I am loathe to consider that as the culprit as there are no adjustments nor recourse within Dante for that.

As for prosumer read through, well you cannot please all the people all the time so in picking my poison with CD over streaming.

Could you clarify your observation on the Hass effect as it relates to the organ? My understanding is that this is a short delay-related effect. Since there is no delay from my side on the organ, I am a bit confused by this.

I have addressed the presence/clarity of the lead vocal which hopefully addressed the reverb tail as well, which is rolled off in both the low and high ends. I was quite happy with the reverb as it appears in the break. Music to my ears, but obviously not to all.

I believe I have also addressed the percussion as well. However, your comment about the timbale is valid and would best be approached with the mute button, which I have chosen not to address, possibly to the detriment of the arrangement.

Again, thank you for your time and effort. I hope the changes I made to this final version result with your affirmation.

MITC.