Ok, first of all thanks to everyone who participated, I felt honored (and a little intimidated) imagining all of you guys attending to my little song. It was great hearing all the different approaches to the mix, and I thought a lot of the entries were really good. While I have some issue with all of them, most would be an easy revision and we'd be in business.
Since I'm playing the role of Thee Artiste here, I get to be blunt and cranky. Please don't take offense, it's all in good fun.
I started out with the unmastered mix. I still like it. The vocals are what they are, it's a little cloudy in the low mids, needs a little pizazz in the highs, some glue wouldn't hurt...
Then I listened in the order Wavelab arranged them for me:
Specialized Nice softening of the plosives in the beginning. I can hear the compression starting about 20 sec in. It sounds ok for about the first minute. After that it sounds like an electric razor in a frying pan. It's just too hot and the high end is awfully harsh, especially in the guitar solo. Cymbal crashes are painful.
Kayo Good god man what have you done to my mix? The L/R channels are reversed for starters. The eq is way too boom and sizzle. It's a bit crackly in places. But all that is immaterial compared to whatever phase/stereo image business you're doing. The mix sounds like it's turning inside out on itself. Seriously eye-crossing crazy. It's really doing my head in!
Phew, we are off to a rough start! Switching between Kayo's master and the original mix made me lose my mind completely, so at this point I ran screaming out of the studio and spent 10 minutes in the living room quietly strumming D and G chords on my telecaster and staring at the ceiling.
Alright, another cup of coffee and back to the front:
Adam Gonza The fade up at the beginning is weird. There's a glitch on the right side at approx 2:16. Something crazy is going on with the kick drum at around 2:25, 2:27, 2:39 and 3:30. It sounds like bad edits or a buffer underrun or something. The eq is kinda low midrangey, it lacks clarity and sounds muffled. The compression is cool but it's too much.
andreasN Good. Best so far. By far. Eq is maybe a little low middy? It feels a little bit soft and sluggish. Like the compressor release is a bit too slow maybe? I think with a couple minor tweaks and a bit less level this would be great.
Biig Niick The vocals sound good at the beginning. Eq is a bit sub heavy, makes the kick too prominent, other than that it's good. I'm missing the snare attack a bit, not a big deal though, the snare in general sounds nice. The level's a tiny bit hot, it sounds good but like it's just on the edge of starting to come apart, I'd be into a little more headroom. Otherwise it's cool.
Chris Doremus Why's it peaking at -2.1??? Did you turn up the sides? Seems like it. I don't mind it but it's a bit much. Eq seems cool.
DOMC The low boost is kinda crazy, it makes the synth bass drone too pronounced. It seems like the q is really tight? The snare's too smushed, and there's some weird ducking on the heavy guitar part at the end. The guitar on the right. Sounds like a bad crosssfade maybe?
Ed Littman Very nice. The vocals at the start sound great (well, as great as these vocals are going to). I heard a lot of small artifacts on other people's masters that I don't hear on yours, so either they were in the original mix and you skillfully got rid of them, or they're the result of peoples chains distorting. Either way this sounds good! I'd be into a bit less of the low end boost, it makes it all feel just a little too ponderous. Maybe a tiny bit more of a high mid push as well. Otherwise it's great.
Gertvanhoof The vocals at the beginning sound really aggressive. The compression/level is too much, it sounds good but it's killing the drum impact more than I'd like. The eq sounds great though, if you just backed off the compression/level a bit I'd be way into this. This one became my reference for eq sanity check when jumping around between masters.
Ggidluck Peaks at -1.3. The first loud snare hit jumps out in a weird way, as do the hits during the breakdown. Are you expanding? Hey, what the hell did you do to my distorted drum fill? It sounds like a crossfade between plugs or something. I'm not sure what but it's all messed up there. This does sound nice and clear but I think there's too much meat cut out.
Gregg Janman It's too scooped around 400, especially in the first half, the snare sounds weird. It seems better in the second half. I think the high boost is too much. The stereo image sounds nice, snare is loud and proud, nice depth to this as well. The level is cool although the heavy guitars at the end sound a little overdone...could be distortions in the mix coming to light due to the brightness and not your chain but either way its too much. Also I feel like there's a little pumping during the last vocal section.
LudwigM Sweet screaming baby jesus. I had to turn this down 6db just to listen to it. Sounds sooooo aggressive right off the bat. It does hang together remarkably well for being so smashed, but I did say "i'm much more interested in depth and tone than i am in your ability to get it loud without artifacts" so no cookies for you!
MCThe first half sounds kinda muffled. The second half it's not so bad. It's too loud but I gotta admit I am enjoying it. It seems like you didn't boost the high end much, and this keeps the focus more on the midrange, which I like. It sounds tough. However, I heard a few smaller crackles throughout, but it really comes undone at the end where the stupid crunch guitars come in, the crackling is really severe there. Unacceptable! Back it all off a few db and it'd be cool.
Philip The lows seem just a bit too prominent, it still sounds a little cloudy. I think a slightly different eq curve would make it a little more exciting. Otherwise it's great, very respectful of the mix, could even be a bit louder.
UnderTow I'm sorry man, that high boost is just nuts. It sounds really weird and unnatural to me. The s's in the beginning are brutal. The snare doesn't sound right at all. The stereo image seems too wide/phasey. It's all making my ears go crazy!
Fuse That vocal was dry on purpose thank you very much. The sub boost is too much. I can see where you're going with this and it doesn't sound bad but it's not what I mixed.
Patrik It's too loud but it's nicely done. It does sound kinda closed in when compared level matched to quieter entries. If you just backed off the level it'd be cool.
PMX The eq is a little subby. I hear some pumping on the last vocal section. Otherwise I like it.
AivoryUK Again, it's too loud, but it's very well done. The transients do sound smushed when compared to the quieter entries, but eq wise it doesn't sound as closed in as Patrik's. Nice work. If you backed off the level I'd be happy.
As Nick pointed out, a bunch of people didn't attend to the fade at the end. No biggie AFAIC but in real life that stuff's important.
Now that I've critiqued all your work, you're all more than welcome to tell me I can't mix paint. I'd love to hear any critiques/advice you might have.
Really looking forward to the techniques thread, super curious to learn what you all did.
cheers