2024-MAR-01 Info: Check out Songwriting Competition 079 if you're into "Synthwave" music making.

MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Winners announced

Join the Mix Challenge - recurrence: February until December
RJR

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#71

Post by RJR »

Sorry guys!
I made a new mix without the drum samples. Also removed limiter on the MIXBUS.

Hope you like it!

RJ


https://www.dropbox.com/s/urirch1n82gyo ... R.wav?dl=0

paperthin wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 22:46 CET
RJR wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 21:38 CET

-Drums: I added samples below the SNR and the Kick to get more punch.
I think I just heard Mr Fox screaming in the distance.

You made a decent mix, BUT - samples are not allowed, and you're way too hot.
It's all in the rules man: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2
Mellow Browne
Posts: 93
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2018 20:54 CET
Location: Freiburg, Germany

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#72

Post by Mellow Browne »

Hey there,

I was busy last couple of months, so I couldn't participate.

"Main tricks" I did to the mix:

-Spent some time for gain staging with VU meter, PPM and digital peak meter.
-Worked with stacks (guitars, drums, strings, vocals)
-Dynamic EQ on guitars, piano, strings and vocals (+ some deessing) to get things " in place"
-Most tracks had 2 compressors/EQs on different
-Automation on some tracks (vocals, orchestral percussion, piano, strings, drum buss)
-"New York Style Compression" for drums and bass
-light compression (1-2 db GR) on all delay and reverb sends to tighten things a little
-Elysia Alpha Comp (maybe 0.5db GR with no makeup gain) and Waves TG Mastering Chain (only the tape equalizer module was used) for the "glue".

Take a look at the screenshots or feel free to ask for further information.

Here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
fese
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2017 19:09 CEST
Location: Bonn

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#73

Post by fese »

satyatunes wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 23:31 CET

I am glad that you like it. The channel rack contains the following in order:

1. Venn Audio - Utility
Gain: -18.2 dB
Left/Right Pan: 0
Width: 0

2. Pro-Q3
HP
Freq: 33.977 Hz
Q: 0.276
Slope: 72dB/oct

Peak
Freq: 100Hz
Q: 1.0
Gain: +1.5 dB

LP
Freq: 10.979 KHz
Q: 0.267
Slope: 96 dB/Oct

3. TR-5 British Channel - Too many parm to write so I will just post a screen shot:
https://app.box.com/s/vf19dylksxzdo3acaebicbxkr6v8f3z7

then it goes through a DRUM BUS which contains some additional plugins.
Thanks, not that far off from what I did, but I felt that my kick is too buried. I revisited it yesterday and changed the mid cut a bit, moved it from ~500Hz to ~350, removed the gate (wrong decision, not really necessary on the track and removed to much of the body...), and just made it bit louder (sometimes it's easy to forget the basics with all those fancy plugins ;)
How are you getting along with the compressor on the Black Channel? I find it rather hard to setup, you need to have a lot of gain going into it to make it actually do anything (at least according to the LED indicators, which might not be trustworthy) and it just seems to get louder, and I need to turn down the output gain of the whole plugin which makes actual equal level comparison quite a PITA...
Bison

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#74

Post by Bison »

fese wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 20:44 CET
Bison wrote:
Wed Nov 13, 2019 23:40 CET
Hi, I found this site today and thought i would throw my hat into the ring :)

Here is my mix.
...
Would love to hear feedback

Bison
Since you asked for it: Afar as i can judge, it's a good mix. I like how you solved the orchestral hits. Personally I'd like the vocals a bit more up front, they feel a bit overshadowed by the music and especially by the drums. The kick sounds great but for my taste is a bit too dominant and disconnected from the rest of the drums. Apart from that feels well balanced to me.
Hey, thanks for the reply.

I've been a vocalist for years so I'm very particular with vocal placement in songs but I can definitely see how it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.

Thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback, I appreciate it.
Mbarathi

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#75

Post by Mbarathi »

Hi all,
Its very rare that you find virtual instruments that sound this good!

Loved every bit of working this project.

Logic was my DAW of choice on this one. I work my project in “buckets” which is basically summing tracks. Most of the processing is on the summing track, unless otherwise mentioned.

1. Drums
Summed the tracks and ran a dbx-160 with very mild compression

I use an SSL EQ on Kick, Snare, Hihats and Toms

Waves Smack Attack on the snare

Waves CLA Drums for the overheads


2. Acoustic guitars

X-Noise, to remove some annoying buzz

Logic default channel EQ - HPF at 200Hz, 3db cut at 500Hz

Waves Scheps Omni


3. Bass

SSL EQ - HPF at 70Hz

Amplitube - amp simulation and equalisation


4. Vocals

Logic Channel EQ
HPF at 200Hz, had trouble with that 12000 ‘ess’

Abbey Road plates

Logic Stereo Delay

CLA-76 compressor


5. Percussions
Channel EQ - HPF at 200Hz
TR5 CSR Room reverb


6. Piano

Logic Channel EQ - HPF 200Hz

Scheps 73 EQ

Greg Wells Piano


7. Strings
Channel EQ HPF at 250

Scheps Omni

API-2500

TR5 CSR Room Reverb



Sent through a widener bus (EQ, Spreader & Chroma Verb)


8. Stereo Bus

Logic Compressor - 1.5:1 Ratio, Attack - 10ms, Release 81ms, threshold to only compress 3db

Ozone 8 Dynamic EQ

Ozone 8 Exciter

TR5 One

MP3 Link - https://1drv.ms/u/s!AomlDRYyT4B40DCGIGI ... I?e=k0Slf0
Wav Link - https://1drv.ms/u/s!AomlDRYyT4B40DH-rdd ... j?e=eMGk50
Screenshot 1 - https://1drv.ms/u/s!AomlDRYyT4B40DL8jOT ... 6?e=EsXySO
Screenshot 2 - https://1drv.ms/u/s!AomlDRYyT4B40DOqouW ... W?e=KKL4EL
Last edited by Mbarathi on Sun Nov 17, 2019 20:52 CET, edited 1 time in total.
EchoOread
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 05:54 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#76

Post by EchoOread »

F3zM4d wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 18:22 CET
yes, for my personal deformation, when I work I tend to keep the sounds mainly in the center because today's kids listen to everything from smartphones or mono Bluetooth speakers. if you used a lot of stereo, some sounds would risk disappearing.
Hi. Have you considered the following:

1. How many people you know or see actually use their cell phone or bluetooth speakers to listen to music in real life? If you have to put it in percentage, how much? And when they do: do they really care for the sonic quality?
* In my experience, I am the only person I know that sometimes use my phone to listen to music when I am working. I am sure some do, but either I never saw them or didn't pay enough attention. And those are the occasions when they, I suppose, care very little for the sonic quality of the song.
2. How many people you know or see that actually use the headphones to listen to music? At what percentage?
* In my experience, I see a lot of people use their headphones when listen to music. Those and from the cars, of course. Same difference. And most times, in my case, I listen to enjoy the music+mix.

**if the arbitrary percentage of #1 is greater than #2 then keep on doing what you do. If it's not, perhaps reaching out for a bong to "seriously" think about your decision is a good idea.

Note: Sure, some of the sounds would disappear when folded to mono, but that is not incurable, is it? We have a bunch of techniques for that. Cutting the stereo spectrum out entirely for something that "might" happen, in my opinion, is unnecessary. You are missing out not having a stereo spread in your mix.

Why I write this? Because I read somewhere on the internet someone wrote: Mono to stereo=heaven. I agree, and I hate seeing my fellow mixers miss out on something good. Ask anybody, especially CLA :)
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Mister Fox
Site Admin
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Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#77

Post by Mister Fox »

RJR wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:27 CET
Sorry guys!
I made a new mix without the drum samples. Also removed limiter on the MIXBUS.
I am terribly sorry that this is happening to you with the very first participation - but please re-educate yourself with the Rules and Guidelines again. Your submission is final (as in - no re-submissions).

:educate:

Mister Fox wrote:
Fri Mar 31, 2017 20:41 CEST
Rule set for mix participants
  • We do recommend to not send in your mix within the first 24 hours of the Challenge. Take a day off, give your ears time to relax, take another listen the next day. Your entry is final - no re-submissions with changes allowed unless you're selected for Mix Round 2 (see FAQ)
This is your second rule violation.





EchoOread wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 20:31 CET
F3zM4d wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 18:22 CET
yes, for my personal deformation, when I work I tend to keep the sounds mainly in the center because today's kids listen to everything from smartphones or mono Bluetooth speakers. if you used a lot of stereo, some sounds would risk disappearing.
Hi. Have you considered the following:

...

Why I write this? Because I read somewhere on the internet someone wrote: Mono to stereo=heaven. I agree, and I hate seeing my fellow mixers miss out on something good. Ask anybody, especially CLA :)
My personal opinion is, that if you mix something, it has to translate to every available medium. May it be Radio, TV, large speakers, small speakers, car stereo's, headphones (which are the currently dominant form of listening to audio content, also considering "Binaural" being on the rise), etc. I understand your reasoning - but thinking "narrow minded" and mixing for one specific medium only, severely risks your chance to get your mix heard in the wild.

Maybe please continue the conversation in the Q&A / Gossip thread, or please wait until Mix Round 1 has ended.
F3zM4d

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#78

Post by F3zM4d »

EchoOread wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 20:31 CET
F3zM4d wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 18:22 CET
yes, for my personal deformation, when I work I tend to keep the sounds mainly in the center because today's kids listen to everything from smartphones or mono Bluetooth speakers. if you used a lot of stereo, some sounds would risk disappearing.
Hi. Have you considered the following:

1. How many people you know or see actually use their cell phone or bluetooth speakers to listen to music in real life? If you have to put it in percentage, how much? And when they do: do they really care for the sonic quality?
* In my experience, I am the only person I know that sometimes use my phone to listen to music when I am working. I am sure some do, but either I never saw them or didn't pay enough attention. And those are the occasions when they, I suppose, care very little for the sonic quality of the song.
2. How many people you know or see that actually use the headphones to listen to music? At what percentage?
* In my experience, I see a lot of people use their headphones when listen to music. Those and from the cars, of course. Same difference. And most times, in my case, I listen to enjoy the music+mix.

**if the arbitrary percentage of #1 is greater than #2 then keep on doing what you do. If it's not, perhaps reaching out for a bong to "seriously" think about your decision is a good idea.

Note: Sure, some of the sounds would disappear when folded to mono, but that is not incurable, is it? We have a bunch of techniques for that. Cutting the stereo spectrum out entirely for something that "might" happen, in my opinion, is unnecessary. You are missing out not having a stereo spread in your mix.

Why I write this? Because I read somewhere on the internet someone wrote: Mono to stereo=heaven. I agree, and I hate seeing my fellow mixers miss out on something good. Ask anybody, especially CLA :)
if you analyze the spectrum of my mix you will realize that it is in stereo but I made sure that in mono it feels good anyway. I wouldn't hasten to shoot sentences without first listening to or analyzing the mix. A greeting
EchoOread
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 05:54 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#79

Post by EchoOread »

F3zM4d wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 22:32 CET
EchoOread wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 20:31 CET
F3zM4d wrote:
Sat Nov 16, 2019 18:22 CET
yes, for my personal deformation, when I work I tend to keep the sounds mainly in the center because today's kids listen to everything from smartphones or mono Bluetooth speakers. if you used a lot of stereo, some sounds would risk disappearing.
Hi. Have you considered the following:

1. How many people you know or see actually use their cell phone or bluetooth speakers to listen to music in real life? If you have to put it in percentage, how much? And when they do: do they really care for the sonic quality?
* In my experience, I am the only person I know that sometimes use my phone to listen to music when I am working. I am sure some do, but either I never saw them or didn't pay enough attention. And those are the occasions when they, I suppose, care very little for the sonic quality of the song.
2. How many people you know or see that actually use the headphones to listen to music? At what percentage?
* In my experience, I see a lot of people use their headphones when listen to music. Those and from the cars, of course. Same difference. And most times, in my case, I listen to enjoy the music+mix.

**if the arbitrary percentage of #1 is greater than #2 then keep on doing what you do. If it's not, perhaps reaching out for a bong to "seriously" think about your decision is a good idea.

Note: Sure, some of the sounds would disappear when folded to mono, but that is not incurable, is it? We have a bunch of techniques for that. Cutting the stereo spectrum out entirely for something that "might" happen, in my opinion, is unnecessary. You are missing out not having a stereo spread in your mix.

Why I write this? Because I read somewhere on the internet someone wrote: Mono to stereo=heaven. I agree, and I hate seeing my fellow mixers miss out on something good. Ask anybody, especially CLA :)
if you analyze the spectrum of my mix you will realize that it is in stereo but I made sure that in mono it feels good anyway. I wouldn't hasten to shoot sentences without first listening to or analyzing the mix. A greeting

O.K. I see how it is, eh.

Let me ask you this: need I listen to your mix after I read your statement? What is it in your statement that compels me to take a listen to your mix to make sure? Have you not read what you wrote? You made it very clear (1) your vision of your mixes concerning the stereo spectrum and (2) the reasons for such action.
So, no. I didn't need to listen. I could imagine the mix already. But I did listen to it. (In fact, I listened to it the first time I saw the post from the other guy asking you if you mixed in mono on purpose). It confirmed exactly what I imagined. What is the chance of that? One thing to point out is I am not sure the other guy asked you ("to be sure" his words) because he thought it was good. But no need to go down that rabbit hole :)

Second, and I am feeling a little hurt in the smallest corner of my weak fragile easily bleeding heart, I think you should be thanking me instead. Here I am trying, god knows I do, to convince you to consider another avenue where you can roam free-er instead of being, to borrow Mr.Fox's words, "narrow-minded." Even if the road is winding and rough, at least, the good intention is there. At least I tried to show you an alternative. A better man would at least throw a bone, in my opinion.

Third, and hopefully finally, what I wrote were merely just questions that I thought you did not consider. I did not offer any help, criticism, or praise. I wrote base only on your statement. Maybe I did tell you to grab the bong, so, technically, I did offer some help. But even if I criticized your mix for being too mono, why the upset? It is. And again, I am not alone in this.

I put my trust in the readers, and I don't demand much, just ½ a brain should do, to see that all I did was raising a point to counter your statement for your consideration. Your response leaves, to borrow the words of U2's One, "a bad taste in my mouth."

Should it end here and now?
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Henrik Hjortnaes
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2018 22:03 CET
Location: Dynaudio City, Skanderborg

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Submissions until 21-11-2019 11:59pm GMT+1/CET

#80

Post by Henrik Hjortnaes »

EchoOread wrote:
Mon Nov 18, 2019 00:36 CET
One thing to point out is I am not sure the other guy asked you ("to be sure" his words) because he thought it was good. But no need to go down that rabbit hole :)
I asked to hear if he had made an error during mixdown without realising it. I was offering him my help (even though the rules prohibit a second upload). It turns out it was intentional and all is good.
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