MIX CHALLENGE - MC075 April 2021 - Winners announced

[Square]

@d8bflup hey, question, what is that effect at 1:06-1:08? It sounds a bit like a rainstick in the back (it obviously isnt, but whatever causes it sounds sonically similar), it only lasts for 2 seconds, but ive heard this sound a few times lately in other productions, and cant for the life of me figure out what the source is for this type of sound...

[AndyM]

Here's the link to my first time mix in the competition. Cheers

https://signalflowau-my.sharepoint.com/ ... g?e=0Slavj

[VasDim]

Hi all,
this is my attempt to mix:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qetj81no729iq ... m.wav?dl=0

For all track are used:
- Waves Q10;
- Waves C4;
- Db ProComp.

AUX Effect;
- Waves TrueVerb;
- Waves SuperTap;

Good luck to all.
VasDim

[Christoph_K]

Here's my submission for round one: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfxs96h2c5u4m ... K.wav?dl=0

This time I’d like to focus my documentation less on technical details and a bit more on the way I approached that mix instead. Giving the very versatile arrangement I thought it would be crucial to focus on the dynamic movement of the track. Also the transitions needed enough attention.

But first I started the mix with the „Queen-ish-stomp“ chorus to get my levels right. When I got that I built the rest of the mix around that. I found the sounds of the drums in that part already pretty good with lots of nice low-end and punch. I thought if I can get that right from the beginning it is easier to fit the rest of the tracks around that then the other way round.

Another crucial element of that track were the vocals - obviously. The tracks were recorded very well IMO so I didn’t find it too hard to put them together (just some EQ and compression). I decided to put a nonlin reverb (AMS RMX16) on the backing vocals to make them stand together and sounding big at the same time.

The lead vocals sometimes have a flangey-phasey-echoey fx where it fits the delusional message of the lyrics. I also used these fx to switch back and forth to emphasize certain statements (e.g. „praise me“ at 1:48, „Get more…“ at around 3:30). I used the same technique for the pianos. For highlighting the transitions I used automation of the fx tracks and added some tape echo effects (e.g. the piano at 3:28).

The Drums - well, I didn’t really know how to figure that out. I would have preferred a more muffled 70’s and lazier played vibe here, but the drums sounded more modern and unfortunately also a bit static to me, so I tried to make them sound huge and more alive. For that I added more ambience (UAD Ocean Way) and reverbs (Plate, Hall) as well as parallel processes with distortion and compression. Also I went for a quite heavily distorted bass aux in these parts to get more girth/grit/dirt - you name it. Maybe one could also have taken the opposite path, but this is how I did it.

The rest is nothing special: SSL9000J and 4K on most of the tracks, except the drumset which has go with the UAD Helios channelstrip plus API550 EQ. Some 1176’s and LA2A’s here and there, delays and reverb, the Scheps rearbus and the LUNA Neve summing engine are engaged. On the mixbus live Fairchild 670, Neve 33609C, Pultec and brainworx V3. Oxford Limiter and ATR102 are on the masterbus.

-16.0 LUFS-I according to the Puremix LUFS analyzer.

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfxs96h2c5u4m ... K.wav?dl=0

[pabloAT]

Dear all,
Please find my mix of MC075. Many thanks to the song provider for the interesting track and to Mr. Fox for taking care of the site.

[Dropbox link to MC075]

DAW = Cubase 11.0
Integrated LUFS = -20.70
True Peak = -2.71 dB
WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

Preliminary work : cleaning-up, raw balance, panning/stereo spreading, check/invert phase, HPF on all tracks (>20 Hz depending on the track), LPF on some tracks. Macro automation during the final steps of the mix.

Drums
I’ve struggled with the snare sound, because I wanted it more prominent in the mix. Used a FET-76 compressor and EQ to find the sound that I had in mind. The other kits benefited from subtle EQ (mainly to fit in the mix) and compression (mostly dbx-160 and api-2500). It was lot of fun working on the stomp. I’ve spent quite a time playing with compressors and EQ to put everything in place. In the end, I’ve added a touch of submarine to reinforce the very low end.

Bass
Despite the classic compression and sound polishing, I’ve included a chorus effect and a bit of RBass to reinforce the low end. Some parts of the bass track benefited of parallel distortion.

Acoustic guitars
I’ve polished a bit the attack of the guitar playing (anyway they sounded great). A touch of compression helped to glue the different tracks. I’ve worked quite a bit on panning to fit nicer the guitar sound in the track.

Synth and piano group
Lots of level, panning and chirurgical EQing to fit everything into the mix. I’ve accentuated the vintage vibe of some tracks with tape saturation

Vocals
I’ve put vocals in the front, where I’ve intensively worked on EQing, compressing (Kramer Pie), de-essing. Maag’s EQ4 helped to give air without harshening the sound of the voice. The BV benefited from a vintage compressor and Maag’s EQ2. I finished with several sendings to reverbs and delays.

Master Buss
Black Box’s and tape saturation to glue everything.

All the best to the participants!
Pablo

[Coiled_Ear]

Hello all. My mix is here - https://www.dropbox.com/s/i5m4kwg2xt3wc ... r.wav?dl=0

Well, my initial thought was that this track should sound as clear as possible. There are several reasons on it
1. It's well arranged (nice track indeed!)
2. Megalomaniac associaceted with sterile and strange person O_O. Even since author said that it's all about irony in the track I found it...well...dramatic and mad? I think so.
3. The voice should really sing in the head of listener (nice vocal man!)
4. A lot of instruments. The more we have - the less reverb we need and etc
So at first panning really helped me to arrange sides in the mix. And then cutted a lot of mids to make things crispy. And of course add a lot of low end to the bass and drums, in case author wanted to make an impact in the chorus we absolutely need for that.
And for the clean side - soothe2 is really playing the ball here, really helps to make things in the focus without any sacrificing in high frequencies, brilliant plugin for that purpose. But you don't want to really overdo it ;-)

So that was my info on the mix. Good luck to all!

[KrissK]

First of, thanks to Endicott Dread for the song. It was really well recorded.
Also, thanks to Mr.Fox who is willing to spend his time making this happen.


Drums :
No EQ and Compression, just NLSChanel and saturation. I also mirrored the overheads, to get the ride on the audience's POV. Subtle saturation on snare and room mic's. FX: Room Reverb on snare.

Bass :
No EQ and Compression, just NLSChanel, RBass and sub harmonizer.

Acoustic Guitar :
No EQ and Compression, just NLSChanel. FX: AIR Reverb

Electric Guitar :
No EQ and Compression, just NLSChanel. FX: Spring Reverb and Room Reverb.

Piano/Electric piano :
No EQ and Compression, just NLSChanel. FX: TrueVerb, Slap delay.

Synths :
No EQ and Compression, tiny bit of reverb.

Lead Vocals :
No EQ. I used NLSChanel, saturation and a tiny bit of compression. FX: Plate Reverb, delay.

Choir :
No EQ and Compression. NLSChanel, and they are sent to a bus with SSL style bus comp, saturation and to C6. FX: Plate Reverb.

Master Bus:
TRackS5 : bus compressor, EQ and saturation.


Wav file : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d4orPd ... sp=sharing

Good luck to everyone!

[RoadieShow]

Greetings!

Thanks to the host (and of course the artists) for keeping this competition fun and interesting. I really enjoyed mixing Megalomaniac, the pacing and density of sounds made it an exciting challenge.

I started by grouping the vocals, drums, keys and bass sounds into busses to get some order and control. I muted everything except the vocals and started EQing and placing each vocal part in the stereo field. Once I had the vocal bus more or less sorted I moved on to the drums & percussive elements. More EQ, compression and some nice Abbey Road tube saturation on the snare did the trick. I took extra care with the stomps, really tried to make those BIG. The keys and SFX elements came last, each requiring their own tweaks to fit in the mix. Once I had the busses sorted I moved on to effects. I used Pancake to do some creative panning and selected a few key vocal tracks for relatively heavy effects including a phaser, several delays and an autofilter. Careful use of MPXiNative reverb blended together with Waves Abbey Road chamber simulations helped me create a sense of space. A nice, mild SSL compressor is gluing everything together on the master bus.

The download link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e5xq6tx5zmfzm ... w.wav?dl=0

DAW: Studio One Professional version 4.6.2

UPDATE: Screenshots!
Tracks 1-16: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zafuhg7wh2u3r ... 6.jpg?dl=0
Tracks 17-32: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o6vnwnx4j6sqd ... 2.jpg?dl=0
Tracks 33-48: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gshjtd8mv6nt3 ... 8.jpg?dl=0
Tracks 49-64: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jic7unl86dl41 ... 4.jpg?dl=0
Tracks 65-74: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p7f0majh5freu ... 4.jpg?dl=0
Effects and Busses: https://www.dropbox.com/s/brhgvnfug3hap ... s.jpg?dl=0

ITU-R BS.1770-3 Loudness: -16.19 LUFS
True Peak Amplitude: -2.72 dBTP(left), -3.36 dBTP (right)

Channel Strip/Console Emulation:
Waves Abbey Road TG12345, REDD17, SSL G Channel

Vocal Chain Effects (used on different channels):
Waves JJP (comp, de-ess, EQ), Presonus EQ, Presonus Beat Delay, Presonus Groove Delay, Presonus Phaser, Presonus GTR Rack Doubler (used like a Harmonizer), Output Movement, MPXi Native Verb, Presonus Autofilter

Reverb/Motion:
MPXiNative, Output Movement, Waves Abbey Road Chambers, PanCake 2

Amp Simulation:
Brainworx Ampeg SVT Classic

Subharmonic Enhancement:
Boz Digital Labs - Bark Of The Dog 2

Compressors:
Rough Rider 3, SSL G Channel, SSL Bus Comp, CLA-76

Thanks for listening, I appreciate your feedback!

[d8bflup]

@d8bflup hey, question, what is that effect at 1:06-1:08? It sounds a bit like a rainstick in the back (it obviously isnt, but whatever causes it sounds sonically similar), it only lasts for 2 seconds, but ive heard this sound a few times lately in other productions, and cant for the life of me figure out what the source is for this type of sound...

I'm not 100% sure what you are referring to.However, what I think you hear is some chorus from the acc. guitars, caught in the reverb tail of said guitars.

thanks for listening.

cheers,

Philippe

[SuC76]

Hello, Mix-Challengers,



Here's my mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sx1EuQ ... sp=sharing




KICK, SNARE - , stock eq, added some parallel compression

808, STOMP, TIMPANI, CLAPS, FINGER - subbed into one group, stock eq , cla76

BASS, BASS AROOM, BASS DDL, OSC BASS - subbed into one group, Waves cla76, Waves la3a, stock eq

ELEC PIANO, PIANOS, JUNO, CHOIR, STRINGS - subbed into one group, little bit of single eq and group eq, room reverb

ACCOUSTICS - subbed into one group, stock eq and compression

LV, LV SATURN, LV FX - subbed into one group, added some parallel track to lead

CHORUS VOC, VS BGS - subbed into one group, stock eq , cla2a

little bit of automation



DAW: Ableton Live 10



Mixbus:
VTM Brit-N, UAD-Pultec, VTM