MIX CHALLENGE - MC074 March 2021 - Winners announced

[Necaster]

Hi, all.
Here’s my file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bfOPTb ... sp=sharing
Will be glad to hear something from the colleagues.
Here’s my workflow:
DAW used – Cakewalk by BandLab. No summing devices, pure ‘In The Box’ mixing.
Final level double-check – Steinberg Wavelab (it says -16.4 max, just in case)
Nothing extreme while mixing, just EQ, pan, slight compressing.
Lots of automation (panning, certain EQ frequencies shifting, levels, FX mix)
Drums (named ‘Snare’ by authors) double tracked, different EQs on each track, different multi-band compressors, reverb, flanger (sparingly).
Same is true to the bass (except for the flanger). Transient shaper on the Kick track.
Reverb and delay on the Vox bus.
Touch of compression and ambience on the master bus.

[Necaster]

Liked the mix! Probably would do same thing next time
One thing that bothers me a little is mix level. My DAW shows that it's well above -10LUFS. If I'm wrong - that's fine. Otherwise will be pity if you're disqualified...

[skym]

Here's my submission for this super fun song https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FT_dWN ... sp=sharing

I felt the main mood of the song from the initial bass element so I tried to use that as the guide for the vibe of the rest of the track. Really enjoyed the distinct different sections of the song but given that this song had this somewhat hypnotic feel I tried to make the transitions smooth to stick to the vibe.I used some parallel saturation and distortion to bring out the elements a bit more but I felt the main changes I did were in the different volume balances. Hope it's an enjoyable listen!

[Clueless]

So I used a series of effects to create the mix
Airwindows and Analog Obsessions
Bass was sent to a Sub, to create a nice low end
Beats were treated with Tape effects and sent to dual reverbs, this includes some of the arps
Vocals had a touch of distortion added and reverb
Pads, strings were eq’d and sent to stereo widening
Mix bus was width, eq and compressor ( more dry than wet)
Used a delay on several tracks to try and adjust some timings

Will look to update with further details at sum point


https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7ub67thbgvcj ... s.wav?dl=0

[Christoph_K]

Here’s my take: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vg4ucu0jprkjx ... K.wav?dl=0

This time I choose the SSL9000J Channelstrip from Brainworks for all the tracks.

First I tried to find some kind of structure within the tracks and grouped them by character (Arp and Sequenced Sounds, Melody, Pads and so on).

DRUMS/PERCUSSION
The Subkick track puzzled me quite a bit. I didn’t understand why it startet where it did and it introduced a bit smeary low end in the rough without adding much to the song, so I was unsure if I should use it at all. But I used it eventually (with a slight 60hz boost) while trying not to create a washy sub. I used a tiny tiny little bit Voice Of God (UAD) on the Snare Loop though to give it a little more low lows throughout the track. It also has the Acustica Audio Cerise on it, great plugin! The Loop has a plate reverb narrowed to the frequencies around the snare.
The Claps have a NI Transient Master and a Clipper and go to a FX Channel with MicroShift and Reverb. The Clap Hits also go to the flanger Aux to accentuate them a bit more.
Parallel Drum compression: DBX160, Fatso, CLA-76 and FX Auxes for Flanging with Devil-Loc Deluxe, Valhalla Plate and MXR Flanger Doubler

BASS
I tried to even out the low frequencies of the main bass in the intro with multi band compression. I added saturation to all the bass tracks with UA 610-B and Vertigo VSM-3 for distortion on the main bass in the middle and end parts. I couldn’t hear that main bass figure in the rough enough but I found it quite important - so I made it more audible overall. That also gives more strength to the Synth Groove track and glues them together quite well.

SYNTHS
EQ and sometimes Compression with the SSL9000J on all the tracks.
The Rhodes was treated with LA-2A and the UAD Culture Volture to tame the dynamics. Added the Arturia Juno Chorus and the Wavesfactory Echocat for the mood.
I wanted the solo melody synth to stand out a bit more because I liked its „loneliness“.
The Statement Lead has the Arturia Flanger on it, I automated the Wet/Dry ratio to add some motion.
The Monument Tracks have a clipper on it and get some support from the AMS RMX16 Nonlin I to enhance the metallic sound. Some saturation and a lowpass filter go before the reverb.
The Sweeps and Riser go without any processing except for the Light Sweep with a slight boost around 3k.

VOCALS
The vocals are compressed with 1176 and LA-2A and have the Precision De-esser (UAD) on them. The Vocals before the drop reminded me of a „chopped Gregorian monks chant“ so I tried to create a little bit of a mystic atmosphere there. Vocals were also enhanced with saturation for presence.

EFFECTS
For the Hall I used the Reverberate Bricasti IR (also a great plugin) and the EMT140 for a Plate. Some Pads have a Galaxy Tape Echo on them for some „Eno-ing“ (UAD).

REARBUS/MIXBUS/MASTER
On the Rearbus lives the Pulsar 1178 this time (great Comp!) with around 2-7db gain reduction.
On the mixbus I used the Scheps Chain again with Fairchild 670, Neve 33609C, Pultec with boosts on 60Hz and 10k, BX V3 for widening.
On the Masterbus I used the ATR102 and the Oxford Limiter.

Mixed with UAD LUNA: API Summing on Drums and Bass and Neve Summing on the other Groups and Auxes. Used the Oxide Tape on all the single Tracks).

LUFS@-16.0

[AoS_mix]

Hello everyone!

Link to my work:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/177BUT9 ... sp=sharing

Little description.

Focus on the drums: heavy EQ, doubler for stereo, compression.
Some stereo separation on original stereo material.
Some stereo expansion on mono tracks.
Simple compression and EQ, some verb fx and just a little delay.
Stereo separation automatisation in end of song for mono compatibility.
Loudness: -20 LUFS Integrated @ -2,9 dB True Peak.

Tschüss!

[hjchjc]

Ok here we go:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a00t5W ... sp=sharing

Most tracks have Analog Obsession's excellent TUBA on them for the slight harmonic distortion it adds - I wanted to make the song both spacey and a bit grittier.
I experimented a lot with parallel distortion as opposed to compressor - the RX950 plugin was invaluable, as were TUBA and PastToFutureReverb's impulse responses of the SP1200 sampler.

Also did a lot with automation

Kick drum I turned into a dubstep-y synth using RX950, AO TUBA, and ValhallaSupermassive

Kick 2: low cut at 124 hz, Arturia JUN-6 emulator

Snare: this was the hardest - Pro-q 3 dipping significantly at 600hz to take out the ring, going into Airwindows ToTape6 for some aggression, then Surreal Machines Crack to restore some transients.

It's bussed out to AUMatrixReverb, Echoboy ArpEDGEiator setting, more EQ notching out at 440hz, Pro-C2 slamming

Bus 2 is the JJST Pixelator with a SP1200 impulse response, both adding some more distortion

Bus 3 (the distortion at the end) is RX950 plugin, one more SP1200 response, and Airwindows' ADCLIP7

Hats: AO TUBA

Hats 2: TUBA, EQ low cut at 7300hz, tremolator, EQ high shelf starting at 6500

Hat Loop: TUBA, API-2500, FilterFreak

Percussion: TUBA

Attack: TUBA, Kramer Tape, and OldSkoolVerb

Clap: TUBA, PanMan

Hit: TUBA

All sent to a parallel compression bus with CLA-2A with Supermassive at 54.3 ms

---
Bass:
TUBA, ADT, Red 2 EQ low-cut at 105 and boosts at 600k and 3k

Bass 2:

Bussed out to a Red 2 EQ with a high pass, a bx_greenscreamer, and a F6 side-chained to vocals

Sub bass: Tuba, Chorus Jun-6, Maag EQ4 slight bump at 2.5k

DblBass: TUBA, JJun-6, Red EQ

All sent to a bus side-chaining against the kick, then that summing bus is sent to the same aux as the drum bus with CLA-2A and Supermassive

--
Drop arp: Tuba
MultiSaw: Tuba
Rhodes: Tuba
Ummmm: massive side EQ boost at 3k
Noise background: Tuba
Organ: tremolator
Ummm 2: Tuba, Waves Doppler
Pulse Arp: Tuba, Trempoator, hi shelf boost at 4k

Summed to another F6 bus side-chained to the Keys track
--
-Background arp: Tuba, tremolator
- Fine pad: Tuba, Red 2 EQ, TSAR-1r Reverb
Lead amp: Tuba, EQ
Lead amp 2
Smooth strings bass: bx_subfilter, DJ Swivel spread, api-2500, channel eq, sent to Little Plate on 'infinite' setting from 2:16-2:28 to increase decay

Smooth strings lead: Tuba

--
-Keys: overdriven TUBA, Supermassive, sent to Airwindows Verbity for most of the song and an EchoBoy with automated feedback (and increased volume with automation) during the outro
--
Dark sun: TUBA
Monoment: Overdriven TUBA, Maag EQ4 boosting +2.5 at 2.5k, and +1.5 at 160hz

Synth groove: TUBA, Channel EQ, TSAR-1R Reverb

Track07: overdriven TUBA

All the sweeps have no effects except for TUBAs

--
Vox:
Lead2 nothing
Lead 2 dry: Metaflanger
BV:s: nothing

Summed to 1600hz notch EQ, Abbey Road RS124 and TSAR-1R
-
Harmonies:
Nothing on individual tracks, bus has space designer default setting
OneKnob Pumper
2.5khz, +5

RS124

I Try:
DE555 at 3k, Little Plate, 4 seconds, EQ bump at 250 and 3860, TDR Proximity, CLA-2A, Valhalla Supermassive

Mix bus:
Maag EQ 4 -0.5 40, -0.5 160, +0.5 650, -0.5 2.5khz, Molot taking off 2 db (mostly for the louder ending)

[elroms]

Hi! Here is my entry : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bitflO ... sp=sharing

As usual there were lots of stems, what I did was first organize everything and making different groups (drums, bass, melody, fx...) and then subgroups.

Then although I got a bit creative on some instruments, adding chorus on the lead synths for example, I mainly tried to control volumes properly, with gain staging, compression and limitation on the different tracks and then on the groups, and EQ out the unwanted frequencies (especially the low end for most tracks).

And this time to not make the same mistake as last month I used Youlean Loudness Meter to make sure my True Peaks and LUFS ILK did not exceed the expected values.

I hope you enjoy it!

[Necaster]

Hi! Here is my entry : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bitflO ... sp=sharing

Substantial job! Wide panorama and wisely used, creative FX. Well done.

[Tapwater]

Hello All,

Drums: Did quite a bit of eq here to remove some of the ringing. Also did some parallel compression for impact.

Bass: Side chained to the kick for clearity and some multi and compression for consistency.

Synths: A lot of fun sounds to work with here. Did a lot of eq and some automation to help with the transitions.

Guitars: Tried to give them their own space with some eq and a bit of phasing effects for movement.

Vocals: Added lots of delay/reverb to keep it in the spacy realm.

Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11LDVdx ... p=drivesdk