# Worst mixes you've heard



## Fenicks (Oct 18, 2020)

I'm still fine-tuning my ears to detect what makes a mix good or bad, and thought a 'worst mixes' thread might be a good educational counterpoint to the 'best mixes' thread. I don't have an example to start with I'm afraid as I'm here to learn.


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## Beat Kaufmann (Oct 18, 2020)

Hello Fenicks
Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)
There would probably be some things that could be improved to make the mix sound even worse.

Hope you can learn a lot:

Correlation is bad.
Frequency balance
A bit overdriven in some channels
Solo instrument is badly separated from the rest of the orchestra
A few resonances in the low bass region and around 3kHz
Generally too loud for a classical recording.
------------------------------------------
Offer:
Send me a mix of you and I will give you a feedback (analysis + what I would improve).
No kidding!


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## Dominik Raab (Oct 18, 2020)

This isn’t going to be very helpful to you, but the worst mixes I’ve ever heard are clearly my own…


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## Joël Dollié (Oct 18, 2020)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> Hello Fenicks
> Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)
> There would probably be some things that could be improved to make the mix sound even worse.
> 
> ...




Listening to this almost gave me a stroke and the volume wasn't even that high. I don't even think the wav is necessary haha.

Just a bit overdriven :D

I can confirm that is a bad mix. Do not reproduce this under any circumstance.


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## Akarin (Oct 18, 2020)

Worst mix? Probably one of mine.


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## Joël Dollié (Oct 18, 2020)

Akarin said:


> Worst mix? Probably one of mine.


I bet my first youtube video (first track) takes the crown. It is bad. Very bad.


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## JonS (Oct 18, 2020)

First episode I mixed for tv 25 years ago was just horrible as it was a techno score and like a ding dong I had the 808/909 hi-hat way too loud in the mix for the whole episode. 😳😱🤢🤮🤧🤫😷


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## Fenicks (Oct 18, 2020)

O


Beat Kaufmann said:


> Hello Fenicks
> Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)
> There would probably be some things that could be improved to make the mix sound even worse.
> 
> ...



Oh my lord that was... painful. Thanks for that (very yikes) example. I may take up your very kind offer at a later date. Nothing I've made has ever sounded quite as bad as that (mostly just mediocre) but it can still be difficult knowing where the lines between mediocre, decent, and good are.


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## merty (Oct 18, 2020)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> ...



I imagined a nightmare scene; think 90's low-budget horror movie with lots of smoke and bad lighting, main character (likely a girl) running around in a nightmare etc. :D


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## Lionel Schmitt (Oct 18, 2020)

This album sounds unbelievably bad to me. It sounds like a 128 kbps YouTube video played on bad speakers. It's such a specific sound, I'm sure it's intentional, but I really hate it.





undefined


Sonoton Music ist die größte unabhängige Produktionsmusik Library mit mehr als 500.000 Tracks. Finde Musik und GEMA-freie Klassik für Ads, UGC, Kino und TV.




www.sonofind.com





Then there is this https://www.newbeatbox.com/player?view-shared-track=404944


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## Henu (Oct 18, 2020)

DarkestShadow said:


> This album sounds unbelievably bad to me.



That one takes a special skillset to achieve.


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## Bluemount Score (Oct 19, 2020)

Joël Dollié said:


> Listening to this almost gave me a stroke and the volume wasn't even that high. I don't even think the wav is necessary haha.
> 
> Just a bit overdriven :D
> 
> I can confirm that is a bad mix. Do not reproduce this under any circumstance.


I think it's pretty good. Mixing is a matter of taste


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## Nils Neumann (Oct 19, 2020)

How to not mix a snare


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## Manaberry (Oct 19, 2020)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> Hello Fenicks
> Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)
> There would probably be some things that could be improved to make the mix sound even worse.
> 
> ...



Quick reminder for those who haven't open the file yet: don't listen to it in the morning, especially if you have to use your ears for work. Mine blew up.


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## MarcHedenberg (Oct 19, 2020)

Nils Neumann said:


> How to not mix a snare




It sounds like they're not really playing in the same space. There's a ton of separation and in some spots it almost sounds like some instruments are panned harder left than right. The centre sounds kinda weak? To my ear, there's hardly much low end. And yeah, the snare doesn't sit well at all. The mix generally doesn't sound glued together.


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## Nils Neumann (Oct 19, 2020)

MarcHedenberg said:


> It sounds like they're not really playing in the same space. There's a ton of separation and in some spots it almost sounds like some instruments are panned harder left than right. The centre sounds kinda weak? To my ear, there's hardly much low end. And yeah, the snare doesn't sit well at all. The mix generally doesn't sound glued together.


Yeah, it’s famous for being bad^^


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## MarcHedenberg (Oct 19, 2020)

Nils Neumann said:


> Yeah, it’s famous for being bad^^



I'm obviously too young apparently because I had never heard it before! I learned something new today haha


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## Loïc D (Oct 19, 2020)

Long time since I listened to them, but I remember 2 live albums that were particularly hard to listen on a long play.
Van Halen - Right Here, Right Now
Govt Mule - Mullenium

In both case the guitars were aggresive with a bad distribution of low end / hi end.


Also, when I was a teenager, I used to listen to Judas Priest's Painkiller a lot. On my budget tape player, there would be no low end, and the bass was inexistent.
Years after, I streamed this old tune, and I was surprised that there's no improvement over my old battered tape recording


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## MartinH. (Oct 19, 2020)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)



Jesus...



DarkestShadow said:


> This album sounds unbelievably bad to me. It sounds like a 128 kbps YouTube video played on bad speakers. It's such a specific sound, I'm sure it's intentional, but I really hate it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Wow...



Nils Neumann said:


> Yeah, it’s famous for being bad^^



I think back then there were meme videos about how the sound of the snare can be achieved by banging on a cooking pot :D.


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## darcvision (Oct 19, 2020)

probably track i made when i'm still new at composing, maybe 4-5 years ago and its really horrible. the first one is cranking master bus really really hard without limiter. the second one is i mixed it using my crappy speaker which is doesn't have any bass(only L-R), and after i got first good monitoring, its sounds very very boomy and bassy. would be okay if i share it? or maybe we can do some competition which one is the worst mix you ever made, just kidding.


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## Drundfunk (Oct 19, 2020)

Joël Dollié said:


> I bet my first youtube video (first track) takes the crown. It is bad. Very bad.


You guys are weird. My first mix was actually my best mix. It's all going downhill since then...... .


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## Bluemount Score (Oct 19, 2020)

I'm _allowed_ to _hate_ this because it is my own track and mix.

Great example for a master EQ gone horribly wrong, the 1k - 2k range is completely over the top, drowning the rest. Oof it's so bad and unbalanced, I can't believe I uploaded this just somewhat over a year ago.
Also the stereo image is what I'd consider_ boring_. And more issues beyond that.

Mostly 1:28 onwards.




I think my mixing skills improved a lot during the months after that.
As a newer example, 0:48 onwards still sounds good to me, considering it is a similar style to the track above.


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## Morning Coffee (Oct 19, 2020)

I prefer not to say worst, just not as enjoyable as it could have been. I haven't listened to it in a while, but I will say the "In Our Nature" album by José González (I have it on CD.) For an acoustic style singer/songwriter album, it just sounds distorted to me, hiss etc. e.g, some of the vocals and acoustic guitars are too hot, or sound like they are clipping/distorting, and I wasn't the only one who thought that. For the longest time I thought that it was my listening equipment that was not up to par or that perhaps I somehow had a black market duplicate of the CD.

At the time, I seem to remember reading that the distortion was in fact an effect they were going for, I've also read that it could have been part of the "loudness wars", where the aim was to get the music as loud as possible in the mastering stage. Apart from that, I actually think the song writing and mixing/balance is really good, it's just the distortion that makes it unlistenable for me, or to be more precise, I can only listen to it for a short period of time before it bothers me. (A good mix shouldn't bother the listener.)

Also, modern youtube videos, not necessarily just music or movie trailers etc, but also just talking, chat show type stuff, reviews, it's too damn loud a lot of the time. I often listen to youtube videos in headphones and I try to have my program settings at unity, but even at minimum volume mark 1 on my Mac, it is often very loud to me, and I have tinnitus as well!


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## rnieto (Oct 19, 2020)

Loïc D said:


> Long time since I listened to them, but I remember 2 live albums that were particularly hard to listen on a long play.
> Van Halen - Right Here, Right Now
> Govt Mule - Mullenium
> 
> ...



"Van Halen - Right Here, Right Now": That's definitely Eddie's guitar sound, maybe a tad brighter than on their studio albums from that era, but pretty much his 'brown' sound—mids scooped and extremely overdriven. Most rock guitarists I know, myself included, love that sound.

I agree that "Painkiller" lacks bass frequency content—it was a trend in hard rock/metal productions of the late 80s and early 90s (listen to "Presto" or "Roll The Bones" by Rush, for example: thin as a greyhound), but I think it's a great-sounding album nonetheless. The mix is punchy and there are no phase correlation issues that jump out at me.

Now, "And Justice For All" by Metallica"... that's a serious crime if I ever heard one


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## Lionel Schmitt (Oct 19, 2020)

Nils Neumann said:


> How to not mix a snare



Oh... that sounds like a good mix to me! Except the snare of course.
Love the separation between the instruments, it has a certain dimension. The vocal being up close and centered, guitars behind your head and drum kit somewhere on the forefront.
Very nice! Low end is nice too. Overall fairly cinematic! No clue what's bad about that except the snare which is probably more a recording/instrument failure than down to mixing. I guess you could add high end and some more EQ cutting, a touch of saturation and work on the transients...


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## Kamil Biedrzycki (Oct 19, 2020)

Hi, I would like to ask you guys a question what does "bad mix" means for you? For me personally there is no bad mixes  there is always some mix  You can hear some bad things in material like distortion or noise or hum but there is always some mix in there. For musicians and for engineers definition of bad mixes can be different. Musicians want to hear good balance of instruments and want to hear what is going on in music. For engineers f.e. good tonal balance, good dynamic, quality of sound can be the most important (of course not always )
I know that there is a lot of music where mixes sound strange and weird but even in 80's or 90's where sound quality of pop/rock music was terrible, we can still hear mixes which works with music. I love high quality audio and natural sounds but when I hear sometimes composers roughmixes I hear some mistakes like bad tonal balance or some deep compression or sound quality isn't good but I hear a good interpretation of music too. So there is some mix, it works with music so we can't tell that it's bad....
Ok, but seriously  for me bad mixes are mixes which attenuate music and mixes which sound different on different kind of speakers/music systems so we can hear many mixes of one song.


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## marclawsonmusic (Oct 19, 2020)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> Hello Fenicks
> Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)



My ears are bleeding!


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## Henu (Oct 20, 2020)

Kamil Biedrzycki said:


> in 80's or 90's where sound quality of pop/rock music was terrible



wat


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## Mikro93 (Oct 20, 2020)

Bluemount Score said:


> I'm _allowed_ to _hate_ this because it is my own track and mix.
> 
> Great example for a master EQ gone horribly wrong, the 1k - 2k range is completely over the top, drowning the rest. Oof it's so bad and unbalanced, I can't believe I uploaded this just somewhat over a year ago.
> Also the stereo image is what I'd consider_ boring_. And more issues beyond that.
> ...




Okay, well, I see what you mean. But I think the writing is very nice and the programming is spot on, I easily forgive you :D You're going for a modern mix, and it shows, and the second track might be cleaner in that regard. But man, if I could one day write and program like you, I would be pretty happy with that kind of mixing. Of course, we only see what's left to learn, right?


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## rnieto (Oct 20, 2020)

Kamil Biedrzycki said:


> Hi, I would like to ask you guys a question what does "bad mix" means for you? For me personally there is no bad mixes  there is always some mix



Oh yes, there are bad mixes.



Kamil Biedrzycki said:


> in 80's or 90's where sound quality of pop/rock music was terrible



To paraphrase @Henu ...
WHAT??

Seriously, the 80s are known for incredible advancements in recording engineering and music technology. It's when being a superstar engineer really became a thing. Bob Clearmountain, Bruce Swedien, Bill Bottrill, Mike Shipley, Flood, Butch Vig... the list of amazing engineers who did spectacular work in the 80s and 90s is extremely long.


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## Kamil Biedrzycki (Oct 20, 2020)

Henu said:


> wat


Yes  when we talk about sound quality of first AD converters and ADAT recorders than yes.
I love music and mixes from 80’s and 90’s.


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## Henu (Oct 20, 2020)

Not sure about the 80's, but as a musician I do remember the mid/late 90´s too well when ADAT hit it big for smaller studios, and everything started to sound so _horribly digital_, soulless and too clean (no any "glue" anywhere) yet somehow dirty (those cheap converters most likely) at the same time. 

I- like everyone else at the time- was completely excited about finally "getting that clean and good sound" and in the end everything sounded more like a bad demo. As a young musician, you couldn't tell what was happening, but it didn't sound good- just lifeless, detached and somehow "wrong". I'm really happy that we're now pass that age.


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## Beat Kaufmann (Oct 23, 2020)

I would like to apologize to all those who heard my "bad mix" before breakfast and which spoiled their whole day with it. On the other hand, I had quite a lot of fun to make a mix worse and to do so as clearly as possible...

Anyway, here a bit more positive, silent and constructive...
To make a mix not bad a few important points should be fulfilled: 
- I can hear all imoprtant instruments well - the rest may disappear a little "in the dark".
- The mix sounds transparent, airy and not pressed.
- It sounds pleasantly dynamic and powerful (not thin and "weak"). 
- It sounds natural and does not annoy at loud volume or otherwise...
- It does not sound nasal, "potty" or otherwise discoloured.
- It sounds balanced from the lowest to the highest frequencies.
- It sounds spatial and uses the stereo field optimally.
- It sounds good with all playback options: headphones, speakers, car, PC, ... 
- It sounds musical and not statically boring (requires mixing automation).
- ...

Of course these points can be seen in general. Depending on the style of music, some of the dots may be upside down. I hope this little list will reconcile the community a little bit.

All the best
Beat


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## pixel (Oct 26, 2020)

To answer the main question: mixes send to me by my friends to "do mastering" (while in reality those tracks require re-recording)


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## robgb (Oct 26, 2020)

My ears are shot and I use cheap earbuds to listen to music, so who the hell knows?


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## nuyo (Nov 14, 2020)

I have a whole hard drive full of bad mixed tracks. Just hit me up if you want them.😞


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## Polkasound (Nov 14, 2020)

nuyo said:


> I have a whole hard drive full of bad mixed tracks. Just hit me up if you want them.



Oh, so YOU'RE the one who broke into my studio and stole all my earliest albums!




Kamil Biedrzycki said:


> Hi, I would like to ask you guys a question what does "bad mix" means for you?



#1. Accompaniment burying the lead.
#2. Ear-fatiguing lack or overabundance of bass, midrange, or treble.
#3. Three or more instruments fighting for the same space in the sonic spectrum.


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## Greg (Nov 14, 2020)

The high hats too loud on the new AC/DC album is pretty cringe


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## Cathbad (Nov 14, 2020)

Beat Kaufmann said:


> Hello Fenicks
> Here is an example: Bad Mix (wav-file for having the full quality)
> There would probably be some things that could be improved to make the mix sound even worse.
> 
> ...




On the plus side, it is only 30 seconds long.


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## nuyo (Nov 15, 2020)

Polkasound said:


> #1. Accompaniment burying the lead.
> #2. Ear-fatiguing lack or overabundance of bass, midrange, or treble.
> #3. Three or more instruments fighting for the same space in the sonic spectrum.



But couldn't most of this happen in the orchestration aswell ?


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## Cathbad (Nov 15, 2020)

nuyo said:


> But couldn't most of this happen in the orchestration aswell ?



Good point. 

Just about anything you can say makes a good or bad mix applies equally to orchestration/part writing.


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## Polkasound (Nov 15, 2020)

nuyo said:


> But couldn't most of this happen in the orchestration aswell ?



Sure, but orchestration is a different topic altogether. A badly-orchestrated song can still be mixed well, assuming it was recorded well.


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## FlyingAndi (Aug 6, 2021)

Nightwish's Once is might favourite Nightwish album. 
But I remember there were moments with some obvious clipping in the original CD version I have. I always wondered how they could mess it up so badly on such an expensive production (they had the London Philharmonic Orchestra play the orchestral parts).

Today the remastered edition came out. I haven't listened through the whole album yet, but I'm not impressed. They changed the mix too and the drums are now less present.
Then I listened to Nemo. See, what's happening at about 2:57:


(And it's the same on apple music and Spotify).
Can't the listen through the whole damn album at least _Once_ before releasing it?


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## Loïc D (Aug 6, 2021)

As much as I love Kenji Kawai’s music, the mix of Avalon OST is plagued with clipping.
A very bad mix that’s surprising given the usual skills of japanese mixing engineers.


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