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MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Winners announced

Join the Mix Challenge - recurrence: February until December
alavault
Posts: 78
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 15:00 CEST
Location: Dijon, France

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#21

Post by alavault »

As permitted by the game master, a mix update : https://drive.google.com/file/d/19XEnIt ... sp=sharing

SFX added :: delay into long verb into flanger.
The rest of the description can be found above.
A-Max

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#22

Post by A-Max »

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2g-90 ... sp=sharing

DAW : Cubase 10.5

Percussion : split the Percussions track to have a "bass drum" track and a high tone one. Just few delay on shakers. Overall compression and reverb. Plus a bit of automation.
Bass : add some RBass plugin and compressor. Automation
Rhythm Guitars : Bus Compressor and reverb. Automation
Arreglos guitar : compressor, automation, delay and reverb
Synth : autopan. Automation
Vocals : edit the tuning of all tracks. Some Exciter added. Reverb and chorus are the main effects. Delayed the two background vocals tracks about 15 and 30 ms. Automation

Regards.

Max
User avatar
PistolPete
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 16:46 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#23

Post by PistolPete »

FileName: MC079_Javi_Ramallo__Lo_siento_por_Sevilla__Pistolpete.wav
8-6-2021
Software: Cubase 10.5 Pro
Monitoring: Sennheiser 280HD headphones, Checked mix in old Foxtex PM-5 monitors, as well as through Astro A40 gaming Headsets.
Plugins: Waves, Valhalla, Steinberg

Track Statistics - "MC079_Javi_Ramallo__Lo_siento_por_Sevilla__Pistolpete.wav"
Date;Friday, August 6, 2021
Loudness_Value;-20.17 LUFS
Loudness_Range;3.51 LU
Max_True_Peak_Level;-5.97 dBTP
Max_Momentary_Loudness;-16.77 LUFS
Max_Short_Term_Loudness;-18.29 LUFS
Sample Rate;44.100 kHz
Average RMS (AES-17) Left;-20.19 dB
Average RMS (AES-17) Right;-20.05 dB
Max. RMS Left;-16.83 dB
Max. RMS Right;-16.82 dB
Max. RMS;-16.82 dB
Min. Sample Value Left;-6.20 dB
Min. Sample Value Right;-5.98 dB
Max. Sample Value Left;-6.02 dB
Max. Sample Value Right;-5.97 dB
Peak Amplitude Left;-6.02 dB
Peak Amplitude Right;-5.97 dB
True Peak Left;-5.97 dB
True Peak Right;-5.97 dB
DC Offset Left;-oo dB
DC Offset Right;-84.61 dB
Bit Depth Left;24 bit
Bit Depth Right;24 bit
Estimated Pitch Left;1923.7Hz/B5
Estimated Pitch Right;1910.3Hz/A#5

Download Here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tzotbo ... sp=sharing

Hey Everyone! I appreciate this forum and for the artists who allow us to mix their work. I worked mostly in the hiphop industry, so 95% of the projects were composed of 2 track instrumentals and mixing live vocals into the 2 track. I needed more experience actually mixing music with full instrument data, which is why I love this opportunity. I joined last months project and learned about ducking/side chaining as I rarely needed it with 2 track beasts, so to say the least I am learning and inspired! This is probably the 3rd or 4th full mix I have done involving all of the instrumentation. I can tell my 6 year old AMD x6 1090T CPU needs to be updated badly, as near the final edits I was squeezing out any CPU I could and pushing the mix to the max.

Anyhow, enough with the sappy stuff... LOL Here is my mix details.

MixProcess Overview:
I copied all of the datafiles into a project, set 44k, 24 parameters, and brought all of the track volumes down to a nominal level. I didn’t listen to the references or anything to influence my mix prior, and just let my ears and creativity guide me. I did read the artists description of the song and notes.

For visual Monitoring, I set my VU to -18db, my Waves WLM PLus EBR 128-18 LUFS 18, I use Waves PAZ Analyzer for spectrum and Stereoscope and set the main channel VU to K-14 scale to help leave plenty of headroom for mixing up the volume and for the mastering engineer.

Generally I start with importing the tracks and just giving the song a listen. Then generally, I will start with Drums/snare/kick to set my levels, however since this track was more acoustic/live sounding and a love song I wanted the guitars, bass and vocals to be my focal points, with most of my focus on the vocals and building the emotion. I wanted the claps to play a more background role, almost like the singer and a few band members were playing live in a city square, and the crowd was clapping along. Mainly I wanted the vocals, guitar and bass to drive the momentum.

After volume leveling, panning, I focused on each instrument for clarity, presence and placement in the 3d field. After everything was clear and placed I added delays, reverbs, flangers as well as some saturation and additional compression to push instruments into the sound field.

I did a few revisions as my original mix was a little to hot for the contest parameters, so I dropped it down a bit, adjusted a few other instruments and here is the final mix...

I also wasn’t sure if the “squeeky toy” sound at the very end was a significant part of the song (such as a memoir of the girl) or if it was a possible recording background noise…?? so I went with the Memoir, and accented it with a reverb at the very end of the song, to carry off like it was message to the girl sending off to silence as it as it drifts off.

I also had a lot of trouble getting the Percussion (kick) to cut through loud and thumpy, so I sidechained the bass, and some of the guitar channels to the kick, to duck the kick. I also tried to add some harmonics and compression to really get a good Thump… almost like a heart is beating…
This was a fun song to mix and I hope it is enjoyed by the artists and forum.

Mixing Details:

Channels:


Shaker L: Scheps OmniChannel (Pre, EQ, Comp), Panned L21, Routed to Shaker Group Channel

Shaker R: Same as L, but panned L21. Routed to Shaker Group Channel

Percussion: I duplicated this track, and on 1 track I cut out all of the kicks, and left the Hits, On the duplicate I left all of the kicks, and cut out the hits. This way I was able to work with each sound profile separate.

Percussion (Kick) Scheps Omnichannel, CLA Drums (EQ, Compression, reverb, Gate), and Abby Road Saturation. My goal was to really add a nice Thump to the kick with some good low end, but still wanted to keep it more subtle at the same time. Routed to Percussion Group Channel,

Percussion (Hit): Scheps Omnichannel: (Pre, comp, eq, gate), Panned R31 and sent to Percussion Group Channel:

Clap L and R: Both used Scheps Ominchannel, Pre, EQ, Desser, Comp), Panned L44 and R46, send to Clap Group

Little Drum: Scheps Ominchannel (Pre, EQ, Comp, Deess, gate) Sent to Percussion Group, no panning

Bass: The bass I really wanted to give a nice solid end with a good presense in the mix, since it seemed to drive the lowend of the mix with minimal drums present, so I pushed it pretty hard on the low end, and wanted to give it a almost slight grungy feel to add emotion. I used Scheps Omichannel (Pre, EQ, Compress, Comp and Gate) and then CLA Bass ( adjust the tone and bring it up in the mix). Routed to Bass Group Channel. No panning I also set a side channel to the Kick to duck and make sure the kick sat well.
Reverse Cymbal: I really liked the placement of this, and wanted it to be more of a “glue” to the transitions but also to tie in some of the silence too as a distortion, so I tuned it with Scheps Omichannel, and followed up with a huge reverb using Vahalla Supermassive. This was sent to Main stereo bus.

Little FX better: I left this center channel and sent it to my shaker group channel

Little FX L: this was panned R69 and I used Scheps Omnichannel to eq out unused or unliked frequencies and to enhance its sharpness to cut through in the mic. Sent to FX Channel

Guitar Channels: Im not going to list each separately, for the sake of time, but each guitar channel used Scheps Omichannel (Deess, Gate, Comp, EQ). All guitar channels were sent to the guitar bus.

Rhythm guitar, I added additionally Maserati Guitar which is a harmonics, effect, saturation plug as I wanted this guitar to really have a nice tone and presence over the others. Panned R45

Spanish Guitar 2 I added CLA guitar (EQ, Comp, Reverb and Pitch) as this was panned hard L71 and I wanted it to “sing” out in the mix.

Synth: This was a pretty cool sounds and really was a nice compliment to the silence in the track, so I wanted to keep it spacy and give it some movement, so I left it center pan, added Scheps Comichannel ( Gate, Pre, Eq, Dess, Comp), added a Melva Flanger to give it some motion, and CLA Effects (EQ, Distortion, Reverb)

Vocals I really wanted to spend time on, as it was a love song, and I wanted it to set the tone for the rest of the song. Each channel I did add pitch correction to, however it seemed like the main vocals may have had some type of pitch correction already on them in the very beginning of the song.

Main Vox: Scheps Omnichannel (agte, pre, eq, deess, comp). I added CLA vocals for a tone eq, slight reverb and slap delay. Vocal Rider to help give the vocals some life and movement in the mix. Butch Vig Vocals for some tone and air, and H-Delay to give a filtered Telephone type slap to give almost a 2nd backup. With the song being about a relationship that happened over the phone I believe (I don’t speak the language) I wanted to play into that a bit with the vocals, not overdo it ,but just give a slight ode to that element. Sent to a Main Vox Group

Lead Vocal Supports: Both were sent to a Backup Vox Group Channel. Each track panned L63 and R63, On the left channel I added a “telephone” type filter with Butch Vig Vocal. On the group channel for this, I added Pitch correction, Scheps Omichannel (, pre, eq, comp), Vahalla Spacial and Vocal Rider sidechained to the main vocal to fill in when the Mains were also getting louder.

Backup Vox: Send dry to a Backup Vox Group Channel: On the group channel I added Pitch correction, Scheps Omnichannel, Valhalla Supermassive with a large reverb and Vocal Rider side chained to the main vocal to interact with the loud vocals and fill in the quieter parts.


Group Channels: I used group channels mainly for combining like tracks/instruments for easier “batch” volume control, and to add saturation, tonal EQ changes, reverbs and sometimes strictly as a secondary volume fader when balancing the overall mix. Here are some of the Group Channel plugs I used:

Guitars: CLA guitar, Maserati Gutar (eq, compression, reverb, delays, saturation)

Shaker (I wanted a nice fat reverb on this and since it shared similar frequencies as vocals, I used CLA vocals (eq, comp, delay, verb) as well as added additional reverb with Valhalla supermassive.

Percussion: Again I wanted the percussion to be clear, present, but also have nice presence, so I used CLA drums to help slam the kick and add harmonics, but also give a nice tone shaping to the overall percussion.


BASS: I used Abby Road Saturation for helping the bass give an nice thick warm presence.
Other than the above mentioned, most other group channels were used for volume balancing only, or a slight additional tuning with Scheps Omnichannel.

Main Buss: No plugins added other than a Brickwall Limiter Set to -6 db.
loger

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#24

Post by loger »

hi guys!!!
Hmmm.... why you always post ALL the details about your mixes,
And does anyone read that details? Because me i don't read them :lol: . I just click on the link and listen the mix
I don't want to be mean but who cares about that ssl plug or that 5db boost or reduction. The song providers (jury) read that details? like ( oh yeah that 1176 on that bass give a good warm and that glue ssl on the mix bus are wonderfull!!!)lol
The song provider read the posts? The plugs and process of mixing count for the 2nd round? Becouse me i mostly use stocks and free plugins :lol: , and my process are terrible!!! lol
Don't take it personally i'm a cool guy i'm just surprise that everybody detail their mixes.
And good luck !!!
User avatar
Arthur Labus
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 19:54 CEST
Location: Aachen, Germany

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#25

Post by Arthur Labus »

We are posting the documentation because it is MANDATORY.
So simple as that.
loger

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#26

Post by loger »

(cough) ...... I read once again the rules and..... :face: yes....hmm... my bad :lol:
So i think i lost, too bad
Still good luck guys!!!
satchboogie
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2020 18:59 CEST

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#27

Post by satchboogie »

loger wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 10:52 CEST
hi guys!!!
Hmmm.... why you always post ALL the details about your mixes,
And does anyone read that details? Because me i don't read them :lol: . I just click on the link and listen the mix
I don't want to be mean but who cares about that ssl plug or that 5db boost or reduction. The song providers (jury) read that details? like ( oh yeah that 1176 on that bass give a good warm and that glue ssl on the mix bus are wonderfull!!!)lol
The song provider read the posts? The plugs and process of mixing count for the 2nd round? Becouse me i mostly use stocks and free plugins :lol: , and my process are terrible!!! lol
Don't take it personally i'm a cool guy i'm just surprise that everybody detail their mixes.
And good luck !!!
Hey loger !
Documentation is the fund of our history. It extends our thoughts in time. Those things that we don't keep track of are lost. This is happening today. One could say: "Open the project, there it is!" (In analog world this is unimaginable without keeping track of knobs. In digital world looking at each others project files has a potential benefit, though it is very specific and personal.) Each mix brings up different, specific challenges. If a group of people focuses on one song at a time (like here) and they share their ideas then one can learn from it.
Writing more about your aims and approach with the song probably helps a bit more than just smashing in numbers and plugins. Why did you choose that specific plugin -if you did- over others of the same type? What caused the biggest problems for you; what was the hardest to achieve, how did you do that? "I did gainstaging, panning, eq, compression, saturation, whatsovever...." Of course you did. We all do that. Your post of a mix makes sense for this forum only after you set up an idea or specific aims about it and get feedback. Otherwise its just 'another' mix in the mix for an invisible audience. Download all the mixes, listen to them one after another while looking at the description....interesting experience to see what people wrote and how it translates. Maybe you come to a decision to change your listening environment consciously, like i did. Many times we make basic mistakes or have misconceptions.
All in all, everyone needs a reference point to improve and the spirit of competition and feedback makes peolpe to do their best.

cheers,
satch

P.S.: Hm...Please don't check my descriptions. :) I simply keep tweaking until the very last moment and i write my post in the very last minute fighting with seconds while im rendering my audio. Apparently i missed the deadline here and there. This is not good. Not because i miss but because i cannot share my full idea of my conception, thoughts, problems....only a few lines.
loger

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#28

Post by loger »

satchboogie wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 15:23 CEST
loger wrote:
Sat Aug 07, 2021 10:52 CEST
hi guys!!!
Hmmm.... why you always post ALL the details about your mixes,
And does anyone read that details? Because me i don't read them :lol: . I just click on the link and listen the mix
I don't want to be mean but who cares about that ssl plug or that 5db boost or reduction. The song providers (jury) read that details? like ( oh yeah that 1176 on that bass give a good warm and that glue ssl on the mix bus are wonderfull!!!)lol
The song provider read the posts? The plugs and process of mixing count for the 2nd round? Becouse me i mostly use stocks and free plugins :lol: , and my process are terrible!!! lol
Don't take it personally i'm a cool guy i'm just surprise that everybody detail their mixes.
And good luck !!!
Hey loger !
Documentation is the fund of our history. It extends our thoughts in time. Those things that we don't keep track of are lost. This is happening today. One could say: "Open the project, there it is!" (In analog world this is unimaginable without keeping track of knobs. In digital world looking at each others project files has a potential benefit, though it is very specific and personal.) Each mix brings up different, specific challenges. If a group of people focuses on one song at a time (like here) and they share their ideas then one can learn from it.
Writing more about your aims and approach with the song probably helps a bit more than just smashing in numbers and plugins. Why did you choose that specific plugin -if you did- over others of the same type? What caused the biggest problems for you; what was the hardest to achieve, how did you do that? "I did gainstaging, panning, eq, compression, saturation, whatsovever...." Of course you did. We all do that. Your post of a mix makes sense for this forum only after you set up an idea or specific aims about it and get feedback. Otherwise its just 'another' mix in the mix for an invisible audience. Download all the mixes, listen to them one after another while looking at the description....interesting experience to see what people wrote and how it translates. Maybe you come to a decision to change your listening environment consciously, like i did. Many times we make basic mistakes or have misconceptions.
All in all, everyone needs a reference point to improve and the spirit of competition and feedback makes peolpe to do their best.

cheers,
satch

P.S.: Hm...Please don't check my descriptions. :) I simply keep tweaking until the very last moment and i write my post in the very last minute fighting with seconds while im rendering my audio. Apparently i missed the deadline here and there. This is not good. Not because i miss but because i cannot share my full idea of my conception, thoughts, problems....only a few lines.
Ahh ok i think i understand, there is a meaning behind that it's not "just the rule". lol
If i get it the description are there to keep track of what we do and share with each other. hmm :hmmm:
It can be cool if before post any mix the mixers (us) discuss about the song because the submission are definitive. Discuss about issues ( difficulty getting the voice cut throut the mix, the bass are too thin,)stuff like that.
Because i don't think quote plugin can help ( i don't have waves or uad plugs) lol
When i look others months people only make a list of what they use there are no exchange, just a list of what they do and they leave until the result of the 2nd round :lol: :lol:
!!!
JohnK

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#29

Post by JohnK »

Hello,

The mix: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xe6lvu538cedp ... K.wav?dl=0

Super fun song to mix and great vocals!

Drums/Perc:
I did split the Perc for low and top as the provider suggested, it gave me a bit better control of the punch.
Tamed the sustain with transient shaper and added a bit back a bit more punch + some 60hz for thump.
The other perc's was just panning and some valhalla.
The shakers were a bit too aggressive so saturated the top.

Bass:
Nothing much, just a tiny bit distortion and some width.

Synth:
Just reverb and gain automation.

Guitars:
Spent a fair amount on gain stage and then just automate the compression for taste. Didn't EQ that much since the main guitars were really good recorded.

Vocals:
Spent the most time here (as usual). Wanted to try something new with the vocal rider from waves. Normally, I do 99% of the automation manually but but thought this was a good fit to try and it worked out great.
The hardest part was to find a good tone to have it cut through without EQ/compressing it too much. I think it's super easy to over do things for this type of song, meaning have it "warm" but still crisp in the highs.
It was a challenge and I tried out a ton of different things, but eventually settled with a chain of small steps. Notching out some bad freq. with Q3 and light compression with Rcompressor.
Chain for the top was: UAD pultech for body and 8k, Maag airband and 3% of mids of fresh air. Waves DeEss split on 2.4k and Weiss DeEss notch on the end.
After I got the tone then it was just FX throws for taste.

Mixbus: V3 EQ, standard compression and went for OTT to get the mids.
DIVESPANNER
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat May 29, 2021 18:08 CEST
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC079 August 2021 - Submissions until 21-08-2021 23:59 UTC+2/CEST

#30

Post by DIVESPANNER »

FileName: MC079_Javi_Ramallo__Lo_siento_por_Sevilla__DIVESPANNER.wav
MC079 My first post and entry to the mix challenge.
Link to my version of the song
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d0rkbnv1otgwo ... R.wav?dl=0
Link to word document with comments of how and what I did with screenshots.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rm9buwts ... hra41akekw

Hi, thank you to the organizers and artists that make this event possible this is my first post on this site I hope that I have followed the rules correctly. I am a hobbyist who mixing for pleasure it was quite enjoyable to have a structure to work to rather than get a mix and start playing around with it makes it feel like I have used some sort of professionalism.
I have used a lot of plugins that I don't normally use and spent a significant amount of time trying to get this sounding as good as I can and I hope Mr. Ramello enjoys the result.
This is the first time I have used dropbox please let me know if the links work or not and I will try to rectify the situation.
Equipment is a reconditioned Lenovo Thinkpad l430 pair of oneodio headphones running Studio One 5 Pro.
I chose to tune the vocals & guitars with waves tune and made minor adjustments by ear after and manually cut out some of the string buzz using crossfades and dropping the volume think it was around a 7 db drop on most of it seemed to work quite well to my ears anyway, I left the vocals alone just used a touch of debreath and BX-OPTO DeS Setting.
These are my plugins and effects.
PLUGIN’S & EFFECTS.
 Presonus.
o Analog Delay
o Binaural Pan
o Compressor
o Console Shaper option (Standard console chosen)
o Expander (Removed from final Mix)
o Fat Channel
o Level Meter
o Limiter
o Mix Verb
o Open Air
o Phase Meter
o Pro EQ
o RC 500
o Room Reverb
o Spectrum Meter
o VT 1
o VU Meter

 Plugin Alliance.
o Brain Worx BX-OPTO
o Brain Worx BXCleansweep
o Brain Worx BX – Subfilter (Removed from final Mix)
o Maag EQ 2

 Waves.
o Abbey Road Saturator (Removed from final Mix)
o API 550-A (Removed from final Mix)
o API 550-B
o API 2500
o CLA Vocals
o DeBreath
o J37 Tape
o Tune Lite
o Vocal Rider
 Klanghelm.
o SDRR 2 Tube

 Slate Digital.
o Fresh Air

Thank you in advance for any advice and comments and I hope you enjoy the version of my mix.
Last edited by DIVESPANNER on Tue Aug 10, 2021 00:47 CEST, edited 1 time in total.
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