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MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Winners announced

Join the Mix Challenge - recurrence: February until December
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Mister Fox
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 21-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#21

Post by Mister Fox »

Dr.Acula wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:13 CEST
How loud should be the mix in LUFS ?

According to the Rules and Guidelines:
  • ideally, the final mix shall be anywhere within the the following range: -21dB RMS realtime to -15dB RMS realtime on average, while the maximum digital signal strength shall ideally not exceed -1dBFS

That equals to about -18LUFS SLk to -16LUFS SLk (on average)
Tasteful summing bus treatment is allowed. But do try to not "pre-master" the track.
EchoOread
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 05:54 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 04-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#23

Post by EchoOread »

RichardClarke wrote:
Tue Jun 05, 2018 21:17 CEST
EchoOread wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 18:20 CEST
Here is my mix. Thanks for the music. I enjoy listening to it a lot. The hardest for me is to find a good guitar to anchor the rhythm and the bottom end to match with the driving beat.
I really like the sound of the Toms at the beginning of this mix and the feel of the kick. I think you overall shaped the kit quite nicely.
Thanks. I only had a few hours to mess with it since I thought the deadline was near. So, as you can imagine, I cut and boost, compress and, er, decompress like a madman until my ears bleed and beg me to stop. That was what you heard, the work of a madman :). Glad you like the drums sounds.

I listened to yours, it would be uncool not to, right? and have a few opinions about your mix. First, I love the bottom end you have. The bass and the kick compliment each other quite awesomely. I especially like the kick; you left just enough of that front end thru and allow the bass to take over on the rest of the thump, well, candy to my ears. All the instruments are well defined, and I can hear all of them. Very well crafted. But I also notice that your stereo spectrum is quite wide. My ears are not used to hearing that wide. I am not sure how it sounds normally (meaning with monitors) but I listened to yours with headphones (K720 AKG). It seems something is missing in the middle.

I have since gone back and done another round just to sweeten things up a little. Take a listen if you have time. Thanks. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Itd0Z ... 79_9iIbJ5K
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Mister Fox
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 21-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#24

Post by Mister Fox »

Technically, 4 days are about enough for mixing such a production, if you started on the first day. But since the wrong deadline was a mishap on my end, I'll let your edit/resubmission slide.

But for the future, and according to the official Rules and Guidelines: your entry is final.
RichardClarke

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 04-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#25

Post by RichardClarke »

EchoOread wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 05:50 CEST
RichardClarke wrote:
Tue Jun 05, 2018 21:17 CEST
EchoOread wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 18:20 CEST
Here is my mix. Thanks for the music. I enjoy listening to it a lot. The hardest for me is to find a good guitar to anchor the rhythm and the bottom end to match with the driving beat.
I really like the sound of the Toms at the beginning of this mix and the feel of the kick. I think you overall shaped the kit quite nicely.
Thanks. I only had a few hours to mess with it since I thought the deadline was near. So, as you can imagine, I cut and boost, compress and, er, decompress like a madman until my ears bleed and beg me to stop. That was what you heard, the work of a madman :). Glad you like the drums sounds.

I listened to yours, it would be uncool not to, right? and have a few opinions about your mix. First, I love the bottom end you have. The bass and the kick compliment each other quite awesomely. I especially like the kick; you left just enough of that front end thru and allow the bass to take over on the rest of the thump, well, candy to my ears. All the instruments are well defined, and I can hear all of them. Very well crafted. But I also notice that your stereo spectrum is quite wide. My ears are not used to hearing that wide. I am not sure how it sounds normally (meaning with monitors) but I listened to yours with headphones (K720 AKG). It seems something is missing in the middle.

I have since gone back and done another round just to sweeten things up a little. Take a listen if you have time. Thanks. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Itd0Z ... 79_9iIbJ5K
Now I listen with that perspective I hear what you mean. I think I really like that super wide sound cause it gives the kit loads of space in the middle and it left space for the lead, but in the intro and middle sections with no lead it loses something in the guitars for sure. If I get through to the next round i'll bear what you said in mind and see if I can find a better balance!
EchoOread
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 05:54 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 21-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#26

Post by EchoOread »

Mister Fox wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 13:44 CEST
Technically, 4 days are about enough for mixing such a production, if you started on the first day. But since the wrong deadline was a mishap on my end, I'll let your edit/resubmission slide.

But for the future, and according to the official Rules and Guidelines: your entry is final.
Thanks for being cool. I know the rules and respect them. I expect my first entry is the final, unless otherwise, of course, as in this case. The subsequent submission(s) ;) is only for educational purposes. Some of us are still in learning stage; I am one of them; and entering into contests like this is...motivational, at least to me. Thanks.
EchoOread
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 05:54 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 04-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#27

Post by EchoOread »

RichardClarke wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 19:06 CEST
EchoOread wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 05:50 CEST
RichardClarke wrote:
Tue Jun 05, 2018 21:17 CEST
EchoOread wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 18:20 CEST
Here is my mix. Thanks for the music. I enjoy listening to it a lot. The hardest for me is to find a good guitar to anchor the rhythm and the bottom end to match with the driving beat.
I really like the sound of the Toms at the beginning of this mix and the feel of the kick. I think you overall shaped the kit quite nicely.
Thanks. I only had a few hours to mess with it since I thought the deadline was near. So, as you can imagine, I cut and boost, compress and, er, decompress like a madman until my ears bleed and beg me to stop. That was what you heard, the work of a madman :). Glad you like the drums sounds.

I listened to yours, it would be uncool not to, right? and have a few opinions about your mix. First, I love the bottom end you have. The bass and the kick compliment each other quite awesomely. I especially like the kick; you left just enough of that front end thru and allow the bass to take over on the rest of the thump, well, candy to my ears. All the instruments are well defined, and I can hear all of them. Very well crafted. But I also notice that your stereo spectrum is quite wide. My ears are not used to hearing that wide. I am not sure how it sounds normally (meaning with monitors) but I listened to yours with headphones (K720 AKG). It seems something is missing in the middle.

I have since gone back and done another round just to sweeten things up a little. Take a listen if you have time. Thanks. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Itd0Z ... 79_9iIbJ5K
Now I listen with that perspective I hear what you mean. I think I really like that super wide sound cause it gives the kit loads of space in the middle and it left space for the lead, but in the intro and middle sections with no lead it loses something in the guitars for sure. If I get through to the next round i'll bear what you said in mind and see if I can find a better balance!
I am glad you pointed it out. Yeah, only a few parts that seemed there should be something in the middle to provide a foundation for the width to lean on. And yes, that wide width gives much room for the kick, snare, and the bass to rule in the middle with clarity, wise choice. I went for a different setting so my mix is not as wide, an attempt to create aggressiveness inherent in the music.
davidpaulpaige

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 21-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#28

Post by davidpaulpaige »

Hope I’m doing this correctly.
Here is my mix of this month’s challenge.
Metal! Seems like a while since I’ve been in this genre.
About the mix,
Wanted to keep all the low end possible so I started there. I tried to keep this mix somewhat vintage but not over baked. Usual stuff on kik. The snare verb is what was given in the stereo track. I hi-passed it to the bottom of the real snare about 80-100. I also used a pre delay of 40ish seconds to get the room sounding bigger.
The cymbals needed some de Essing at right past 10K. For guitars I hi passed to around 80Hz, usually I would go higher but this is metal and the guitars low end needs to blend with the bass mid and the kicks mid/low end. For me that’s one of the defining factors of the metal genre.
That’s my take on it. As always it’s just for fun!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m5daiipgjkjj ... Zfzna?dl=0
OctopusOnFire

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 21-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#29

Post by OctopusOnFire »

Here's my entry:
[EDIT] Links working properly now[EDIT]



MP3: https://mega.nz/#!1DZlRJKC!42Q_SHxPFwXD ... 3zBGlRrBjk
WAV: https://mega.nz/#!xHomSbSb!cnhtyiMMPAW0 ... 8J06pQl8NY



My objectives were to achieve an aggressive, punchy metal mix, larger than life, keeping a hefty dose of low end and shiny top end.

I'd like to thank the provider for doing a great job giving us the tempo map, markers and well recorded guitars. I kept the files as they were, only replaced the kick and snare samples and added a distortion bass track.

Here's the dissection of the mix:

2Bus/Mix bus: The mix bus receives all the tracks routed, plus some processes in parallel, including a "rear bus" with an 1176 treating the guitars, piano and bass, a DBX-160 bus with the drums, and 2 compressors in parallel (SSL and Focusrite RED emulations, punchy and aggressive). On the bus itself, an API-2500 doing 0 GR, tape saturation and Abbey road Vinyl adding another layer of analog mojo.

Drums: Solved a couple resonances on the OHs. Used most of the "room" tracks (nice job there, Leo), and automated the "percussion" track (that has a gate triggered in side-chain by the snare) up in part maked "E", so it sounds like a proper shotgun to the jaw. No compression on the bus, only L2 limiter to catch the occasional peak. Kick and snare are compressed and clipped, though. I used Rbass (new, still trying it) to pump up the low end without muddying it, and I've got to say I'm impressed with the result. Not only made it more punchy and heavy, but also cleaned some mud and made it more translatable to smaller speakers.

Bass: Low passed the DI, Hi passed the Amp track. This way the low end is controlled and clean while the mids and high-mids have all the character of the amp. Printed a distorted copy of the AMP, wich gave it more body and helped taming the "clank" noises. EQ, saturation and compression (upwards and downwards), and a little widening.

Guitars: Kept the original recordings, great job there. Mostly EQ, a little compression and automation to keep the guitars consistent throughout the track . Also, some MB compression (actually, only compressing the 3k-5k frequencies, leaving enough attack to feel it without being overwhelming).

Piano: Some EQ, comp and distortion to let it compete with the rest of the instruments, a little reverb to give it dimension.
noogard

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC044 June 2018 - Submissions until 21-06-2018 11:59pm GMT+2/CEST

#30

Post by noogard »

OctopusOnFire wrote:
Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:20 CEST
Here's my entry:
[EDIT] Links working properly now[EDIT]



MP3: https://mega.nz/#!1DZlRJKC!42Q_SHxPFwXD ... 3zBGlRrBjk
WAV: https://mega.nz/#!xHomSbSb!cnhtyiMMPAW0 ... 8J06pQl8NY



My objectives were to achieve an aggressive, punchy metal mix, larger than life, keeping a hefty dose of low end and shiny top end.

I'd like to thank the provider for doing a great job giving us the tempo map, markers and well recorded guitars. I kept the files as they were, only replaced the kick and snare samples and added a distortion bass track.

Here's the dissection of the mix:

2Bus/Mix bus: The mix bus receives all the tracks routed, plus some processes in parallel, including a "rear bus" with an 1176 treating the guitars, piano and bass, a DBX-160 bus with the drums, and 2 compressors in parallel (SSL and Focusrite RED emulations, punchy and aggressive). On the bus itself, an API-2500 doing 0 GR, tape saturation and Abbey road Vinyl adding another layer of analog mojo.

Drums: Solved a couple resonances on the OHs. Used most of the "room" tracks (nice job there, Leo), and automated the "percussion" track (that has a gate triggered in side-chain by the snare) up in part maked "E", so it sounds like a proper shotgun to the jaw. No compression on the bus, only L2 limiter to catch the occasional peak. Kick and snare are compressed and clipped, though. I used Rbass (new, still trying it) to pump up the low end without muddying it, and I've got to say I'm impressed with the result. Not only made it more punchy and heavy, but also cleaned some mud and made it more translatable to smaller speakers.

Bass: Low passed the DI, Hi passed the Amp track. This way the low end is controlled and clean while the mids and high-mids have all the character of the amp. Printed a distorted copy of the AMP, wich gave it more body and helped taming the "clank" noises. EQ, saturation and compression (upwards and downwards), and a little widening.

Guitars: Kept the original recordings, great job there. Mostly EQ, a little compression and automation to keep the guitars consistent throughout the track . Also, some MB compression (actually, only compressing the 3k-5k frequencies, leaving enough attack to feel it without being overwhelming).

Piano: Some EQ, comp and distortion to let it compete with the rest of the instruments, a little reverb to give it dimension.

Please, tell me if I'm wrong BUT:
-Is it allowed to replace the original material with other samples? Main rules says NO =/
-Master bus treatment... eh, is it really allowed to do SO many things? I do hear these plugins very well, it is not just "glue"
-Loudness meter tells me that this track is out of requirements

I'm asking because I want to participate for the first time, and I want to know, can I do so, and it would be fine, or I should play by rules stated :)

Thank you for the reply!
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