Greetings, all.
I’m working on the same mix competition that Andrew mentioned earlier, from Audio Mix Club.
So, this is my second draft. Feel like it’s getting close. Would love your crit!
Hey, great dynamic from your mix, I like how the vocal sits in it and it has its proper room around.
I can hear everything and I couldn’t find any flaw. The only thing I would say is I found your mix a bit bright and lacking a bit of guts (what I’m looking for when I listen to Andrew’s mixes) but it also a matter of taste.
Strong mix to me but I suppose the competition is over now 
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Thanks, @ncls. Yeah, that is an ongoing theme in my mixes: not enough low end. Too bright. I tried to reign it in, but, well, it’s a journey, right?
It’s interesting, that when I reference popular hits and match my eq and compression pretty tight with the reference, if the reference is more than 10 or 15 years old, I get consistent feedback about the low end being weak. I guess I need to keep up with the times. More current mixes seem to definitely have more guts down low.
Actually, final submissions were due on the 30th of May. On June 7th they whittled it down to 20 “beginner” level mixes and 40 “advanced.” THen the community votes. Last day of voting is today. Tomorrow they announce the winners. Been a pretty cool experience for me. Backed by iZotope.
Thanks, man. Much appreciated.
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The electric guitar on the left side is too loud and harsh for my ears. I also feel like the piano and bass both need more low end. Great acoustic guitar sound, and the vocal processing sounds good as well.
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Thanks for detailling those things.
I also use some pretty recent songs as references and I struggle to understand how big boys managed low end not to eat all headroom, feeling ballsy, but light enough to let lead parts ahead, but strong and…
Like some Andrew’s mixes, it sounds without holes everywhere but it must have some to melt things together
Again, thanks for your reply!
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Yeah, @ColdRoomStudio’s mixes are so tight and full, yet clear and polished.
How large is your lexicon of reference mixes? Do you have a select few you focus on, or do you more go the route of mainly finding a song with a similar vibe/arrangement?
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It is a huge question…
For reference mixes, I try to find something in the same genre, in the same “mood”, with the same instrument set and from the decade that would match the goal I’d like to reach.
For this song for instance, I would find something in '80 but trying to sound like '60, with a bluesy feeling. The first name that reached my mind is Chris Isaak at his beginning.
On the other side, I would use some indie songs from 2015 or 2017 as references, like for one mix I did.
Sometimes, I launch some songs before the loudness war when I’d like some rock songs/sounds.
Some other times, I try to get something around 2000 to understand how they did to get the sense of punch with so little dynamic range…
At the end, this step (looking for references) is one of the steps I spend lot of time and efforts in the whole mixing process.
As you can see, it doesn’t sound as one answer for all 
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Nice. Helpful. Not familiar with Chris Isaak, but I’ll check it out.
I said it was the first one, I didn’t say it was the best one 
Blue Hotel (from him, but with a faster tempo) has this characteristic slap back delay, warm vocal as Sinatra and some other key parts that reach my mind while listening to your mix.
I think bands playing at that time would sound the same (for some who looking for that sound).
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