Beat This! Beat This! Competition - July 23-24, 2025

[Earsblower]

Congrats for the W @Armani that was dope.
I voted @M.I.ndless , loved what you did man !

Thanks @BiggChev for the feedback.

@hosie also thanks but I am really curious on what u mean by 'poor' instruments / sounds ? Electric guitars, organs aren't rock ?

NGL I thought I had something with placement potential but obviously it didn't go as planned.

 

[Iron Keys]

keep those headphones charged, might be reaching out for a final mix master of that never forget track we worked on, recording in progress (actual good rapper too)

Yessss let's go!!!

 

[DJ Excellence]

Congrats @Armani . My favorite beat was @M.I.ndless ' . Dope organic feel.

 

[Armani]

Congrats @Armani and lmao, well deserved win. Didn't sound like a 2005 beat at all.

moral of the story - take mixing advice from your producer friends. youngins here should learn

 

[them]

atilla good looking on the props my guy

 

[attila]

atilla good looking on the props my guy

Not sure that 'less Is more'. No doubts minimalism is not easy at all and so fascinating when well done.

 

[Iron Keys]

Made the entire thing on my phone using consumer headphones,

Still had a better beat and mix than a bunch of entries

You lot absolutely need to sort it out



Was interesting taking my mix/music knowledge and trying to apply it through much lesser tools, knowing the limitations and being aware of various translation aspects.

So, analysing my mix on proper monitoring;

Positives - definitely not the worse, levels fairly well balanced. Everything's got its place, possibly a result of the arrangement.

Areas of issue; (highlighting the problem with mixing through devices with unideal frequency response) -
Kick/lows - a bit stifled, not really snappy or punchy, weak speaker excusion. Transients not great
Low piano is nicely placed, but there is an occasional boxy moment that jumps out.
High piano - too bright/harsh
Hats - sometimes sound a bit smeary/thin/harsh. Think this is largely down to interaction with other elements in the mix.

If I could be bothered, I'd re-mix this just to portray the difference better monitoring makes.
Maybe i'll do that at some point

 

[attila]

So, analysing my mix on proper monitoring;

Positives - definitely not the worse, levels fairly well balanced. Everything's got its place, possibly a result of the arrangement.

Areas of issue; (highlighting the problem with mixing through devices with unideal frequency response) -
Kick/lows - a bit stifled, not really snappy or punchy, weak speaker excusion. Transients not great
Low piano is nicely placed, but there is an occasional boxy moment that jumps out.
High piano - too bright/harsh
Hats - sometimes sound a bit smeary/thin/harsh. Think this is largely down to interaction with other elements in the mix.

If I could be bothered, I'd re-mix this just to portray the difference better monitoring makes.
Maybe i'll do that at some point

It was not bad sounding to me at all, and I use to listen with consumer headphones. If a mastering sounds good on a phone, it is not guaranteed 100% that it will sound just as good on every devices, however a well-done mastering will sound good even on a phone.

 

[Iron Keys]

It was not bad sounding to me at all, and I use to listen with consumer headphones.

Thanks, brother! Glad to hear it.

Shows to myself how much ive developed

If a mastering sounds good on a phone, it is not guaranteed 100% that it will sound just as good on every devices, however a well-done mastering will sound good even on a phone.

Totally!
I've been finding my current mixes and masters are translating well to each playback system - a result of improved monitoring, and I guess I could say improved listening/thinking. (Both of the latter definitely owing lots to the improved monitoring)

 

[hosie]

So, analysing my mix on proper monitoring;

Positives - definitely not the worse, levels fairly well balanced. Everything's got its place, possibly a result of the arrangement.

Areas of issue; (highlighting the problem with mixing through devices with unideal frequency response) -
Kick/lows - a bit stifled, not really snappy or punchy, weak speaker excusion. Transients not great
Low piano is nicely placed, but there is an occasional boxy moment that jumps out.
High piano - too bright/harsh
Hats - sometimes sound a bit smeary/thin/harsh. Think this is largely down to interaction with other elements in the mix.

If I could be bothered, I'd re-mix this just to portray the difference better monitoring makes.
Maybe i'll do that at some point

You're the only person that's listened to your beat on proper monitors.

It was not bad sounding to me at all, and I use to listen with consumer headphones. If a mastering sounds good on a phone, it is not guaranteed 100% that it will sound just as good on every devices, however a well-done mastering will sound good even on a phone.

I think if it sounds great on a phone it will sound great / even better on other devices. I think you'll be hard pressed to find something that sounds good on a phone and not as good on another device.

It's interesting you say "consumer headphones". It made me wonder how many folk on here listen to beats / submissions / battles with enhancements, built-in amplification etc - or worse still, when making a beat / mixing. This would also build a case for Iron's "easy mixing". If you're mixing with enhancements on then the beat you've probably mixed great according to your ears and headphones / monitors isn't actually true.

 

[attila]

You're the only person that's listened to your beat on proper monitors.



I think if it sounds great on a phone it will sound great / even better on other devices. I think you'll be hard pressed to find something that sounds good on a phone and not as good on another device.

It's interesting you say "consumer headphones". It made me wonder how many folk on here listen to beats / submissions / battles with enhancements, built-in amplification etc - or worse still, when making a beat / mixing. This would also build a case for Iron's "easy mixing". If you're mixing with enhancements on then the beat you've probably mixed great according to your ears and headphones / monitors isn't actually true.

I generally agree, but we also need to consider that the phone may cancel out certain frequencies that could be bothersome on other systems.

 

[attila]

I generally agree, but we also need to consider that the phone may cancel out certain frequencies that could be bothersome on other systems.

(it's been decades that I've been thinking about buying a pair of NS10s, instead I've been wearing headphones for about 16 hours a day for even more decades)

 

[Iron Keys]

I think if it sounds great on a phone it will sound great / even better on other devices. I think you'll be hard pressed to find something that sounds good on a phone and not as good on another device.

Not necessarily so, because...

I generally agree, but we also need to consider that the phone may cancel out certain frequencies that could be bothersome on other systems.

It's why it's not recommended to 'try and make it sound really good on phone' (as your sole aim) or only aim, as for example phones may have a naturally more tinny sound, so you might dull the sound, only for the mix to sound really dull everywhere else.

As you highlighted, some devices or systems may have 'enhancements', or may just have different frequency responses -- for example, lets say the phone had scooped low mids, you may end up lifting the low mids so they're more audible and sound 'good' on the phone; but let's say Opium Dave is listening back on headphones that have a low mid push, that playback will sound horribly boxy and muddy --- getting it right on good/flat monitoring, the play back should land reasonably across the devices (as you would expect the usual response of each device, so tracks won't sound off)

Another key to getting this aspect of mixing right, is cross referencing, where you would check your mix against typical playback devices, and make subtle adjustments to ensure the mix accounts for the potential pitfuls of other devices, in a way that does not negatively impact the mix as heard on flat/accurate devices.

What this may look like is... let's say on phone playback, the delay/reverb disappears, and the record loses a key 'feel', you can likely creep up the level of the delay/verb until it is audible enough on phone, but still sounds absolutely fine/good on flat/accurate monitoring. This can go for any element or frequency of the mix. Probably more familiar is the 'making bass audible on smaller speakers', where you can make the bass audible in a way that doesn't mess it up elsewhere.

 

[hosie]

I generally agree, but we also need to consider that the phone may cancel out certain frequencies that could be bothersome on other systems.

Not necessarily so, because...




It's why it's not recommended to 'try and make it sound really good on phone' (as your sole aim) or only aim, as for example phones may have a naturally more tinny sound, so you might dull the sound, only for the mix to sound really dull everywhere else.

As you highlighted, some devices or systems may have 'enhancements', or may just have different frequency responses -- for example, lets say the phone had scooped low mids, you may end up lifting the low mids so they're more audible and sound 'good' on the phone; but let's say Opium Dave is listening back on headphones that have a low mid push, that playback will sound horribly boxy and muddy --- getting it right on good/flat monitoring, the play back should land reasonably across the devices (as you would expect the usual response of each device, so tracks won't sound off)

Another key to getting this aspect of mixing right, is cross referencing, where you would check your mix against typical playback devices, and make subtle adjustments to ensure the mix accounts for the potential pitfuls of other devices, in a way that does not negatively impact the mix as heard on flat/accurate devices.

What this may look like is... let's say on phone playback, the delay/reverb disappears, and the record loses a key 'feel', you can likely creep up the level of the delay/verb until it is audible enough on phone, but still sounds absolutely fine/good on flat/accurate monitoring. This can go for any element or frequency of the mix. Probably more familiar is the 'making bass audible on smaller speakers', where you can make the bass audible in a way that doesn't mess it up elsewhere.

First off, Opium Dave needs to sort his life out and stop listening to Ethereal Hop.

You're saying that I'm saying make it sound good on the phone but what I'm actually saying is if it sounds great on a phone - ie. well mixed, you can hear all the elements and frequencies, I believe it will sound great / better on other devices. It might not be 100% of the time but I suspect it would be very close to it. I don't think I'd ever adjust a mix to suit the sound of a phone though.

I am definitely going to test your reverb theory and see how it differs on a phone.

I've just realised I never said congrats to @Armani

 

[Iron Keys]

First off, Opium Dave needs to sort his life out

He has, from the sounds of it. And reportedly doing much better. Has helped his music too!

You're saying that I'm saying make it sound good on the phone but what I'm actually saying is if it sounds great on a phone - ie. well mixed, you can hear all the elements and frequencies, I believe it will sound great / better on other devices. It might not be 100% of the time but I suspect it would be very close to it. I don't think I'd ever adjust a mix to suit the sound of a phone though.

Yeah I hear what you're saying, and agree in principle with what you mean. Like, sometimes you can kinda tell that this or that track is likely well mixed, because it is coming across well on that device... however I have made that mistake in thinking so, come back and checked on other devices or on monitoring, and been like 'oh, wow, I was indeed quite wrong'.

I am definitely going to test your reverb theory and see how it differs on a phone.

It's not necessarily reverb - it's just an example. Like, maybe the reverb is audible on phone speaker, but disappears on car speaker, or vice versa. But always worth listening for.

I've just realised I never said congrats to @Armani

Fuck him.

 

[2GooD Productions]

I haven't been called Opium Dave since the 80's, by a guy known as "Drunk Junior"

 

[Iron Keys]

I haven't been called Opium Dave since the 80's, by a guy known as "Drunk Junior"

Was he cousins with Amphetamine Arvin?