Humf wrote:But ... and this is why the phonecall is needed... the exam board seem to be really discouraging any mix happening in post...
This could come from the misplaced idea that a live mix is "the real thing" where post mixing is fakery. But of course mixing is not "the performance". The live mix is essential for the live audience but post mixing is so much easier for achieving a better balance. Maybe not the mix the audience heard but the mix they might have preferred to hear.
It's interesting that some people hearing a recording of a bad live mix (bad mix for whatever reason) can sometimes proclaim that the musicians were crap. Just listening attentively should show it's just a bad balance and the musos played fine. If it had been a good mix they would probably have been raving about the great performance.
eg: https://youtu.be/TGZznJXY1Xc