Participant: Andrei Filip

Thank you for participating in the HOFA XMAS MIX CONTEST! We'd like to give you a short feedback to your contribution.

The drums sound rather fine, although they are a bit loud in comparison to the rest of the song.
They could be embedded a bit more to get a coherent band sound.

One thing to notice is that the lows of the snare stick out quite a bit. This is, of course, also a matter of taste, but we would recommend reducing the 200Hz range to integrate it better into the rest of the track.

Also, the bass drum is pretty bass heavy, but it seems to work without interfering too much with the clarity of the mix.

On the other hand, the drums would profit from a little more ambience, as they sound rather dry.
This would also help to implement them into the playback better.
We also noticed that you panned the snare add Mordor to the right side, which makes it a bit isolated. This sound is supposed to be combined with the snare and therefore, shouldn’t be panned too differently.

The acoustic guitar seems a bit over compressed. As this is a rather natural sounding instrument, it profits of maintaining a little more dynamics. You could try compressing a little more gently with a lower ratio, for example.

As for the vocals, there is not a lot to mention except for the last chorus where the backing vocals are kept pretty narrow. This would be a good place to pan them a little wider and make the last chorus wide and explosive 😉

It seems like you limited the track quite substantially. Although you did a great job, and it doesn’t sound too unnatural, we would recommend lowering the threshold just a little to keep more dynamics and make it less squashed.


Conclusion

To create a bigger sounding mix, you can lower the volume of the drums a bit.


A/B comparison:

We consider the A/B comparison of your mix with the HOFA mix to be particularly important. Of course, our mix is not the only "correct" version, but a possible option. Nevertheless, significant differences, e.g. regarding frequencies or levels, can be an indication that the mix is unbalanced from an audio or musical point of view.
When comparing two mixes, it is essential to ensure that they have the same level – otherwise it is difficult to make an objective evaluation. While comparing, it’s a good idea to choose a common starting point. This way, you can quickly switch between the two mixes.
In addition to the purely auditive comparison, we will also use the HOFA IQ Analyser as a visual tool for the analyses. In the screenshot below you can compare the frequency response of your mix (white lines) with our mix (orange lines) in the analyser. The lower curve shows the average energy over time, while the upper curve shows peaks. The volume of both mixes needs to be adjusted. In order to match the level of both mixes, you should lower the level of your mix by -1.4dB. You should make this adjustment both for the auditory comparison (i.e. via the level of the track) and for the visual comparison in the analyser - it is a fundamental requirement for an objective A/B comparison.

In the Analyser you can see that your mix is quite bass heavy which is because of the bass drum.
Furthermore, the high frequencies are a bit loud, which is caused by the cymbals.

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Mix analyses form an essential part of the education at HOFA-College, along with video tutorials, personal support, online campus & studio workshops. Experienced audio engineers listen to the mixes of the students and create individual and detailed, multi-page feedbacks about the strengths and weaknesses of each mix, with many helpful tips & tricks.
Learn more: hofa-college.com

Best regards from the HOFA team - enjoy your music!