MIX CHALLENGE - MC075 April 2021 - Winners announced

[dnlptn]

Hi All,

Thank you for a fun song to work on.
I tried to keep the track relatively dry to make it seem more personal (maybe slightly disorienting) and to enhance some of the pronunciation in the lyrics (mega, -iac). However, I still wanted it to feel big during the dense sections.

Vocals
Mostly focused on automation enhance the phrasing and bring out certain words.
The main reverb has a small amount saturation blended in.
There are reverbs/delays automated in for effect during certain sections.
I also had blended in some tape saturation for a bit more warmth.

Vocal Harmonies
Wanted these to have strong impact when it came in. I used Maag eq plugin for some clarity and some saturation for edginess.
Used plenty of volume automation to create more impact.
Reduced verbs in sections to bring out parts of words like“-iac”.

Drums
Worked on the phase as best as I could.
Added Ocean Ways reverb for some body and added amp saturation to the room mics.
Saturated Gated Verb on the snare to keep the sound tight.
On the drum bus - UAD 670, UAD Pultec EQ and Blackbox 2ms for saturation.

Bass
Fabfilter compression, blended in with Sans Amp saturation

Stomp
Compressed with UAD LA-2A
Bax EQ for a touch low end
Plate verb

CH SNR
On one of these, I used Decapitator and a small amount Devil-Loc
Grouped these into a UAD LA-2A compressor
Gated Verb

Piano, Electric Piano
Mostly Klanghelm IVGi2, but some Studer Tape saturation in certain sections
EQ,Comp

Acoustic Guitars
UAD 1176 Comp, Maag4eq. Some of these had IVGi2.

Drive link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cRSniR ... sp=sharing

Hope you enjoy listening to it. Cheers,

[Alex Van mixland]

Hello,
Here is my mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17NMdDH ... sp=sharing

I changed a little bit of piano character, because i thought that it is too much high end and with too much attacks. Attacks was killing my ears and sounded not so proffesional so i changed it.
Kick: i added high and cut out mdiragange
Snare: same as kick drum
Instruments: i didn't changed too much. Most of the tracks has vererb and hpf.
Cheers!

[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...

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

Cool cheers, that would make sense, it doesnt sound out of place and its only slightly noticable on headphones, just a curiosity that i couldnt figure out from another track i listenned to a few months back and never asked. Its got a very particular type of frequency dispersion with a bit of an almost sparkly granular seperation. Its neat. Thanks for solving that tiny mystery for me

[jeffssoloband]

Dear Edincott Dread and the Mix Challenge community,

Please find my submission for MC075 here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0iiy3xb9x01ds ... d.wav?dl=0

I instantly thought that this song sounded like Pink Floyd and Smashing Pumpkins had a baby, so that's the vibe I tried to achieve.

First steps were to organize the tracks into folders, subfolders (stacks), and busses. (I basically ended up with 12 busses.)

Drums: I kept it pretty simple. I flipped the phase on the kick, and got more oomph. I flipped the phase on the snare during most of my mix process because I liked the effect it gave, but I ended up putting it back for my final mix. Other than that, it was just EQ, compression, saturation, and reverb. I also used a transient shaper on the room track to enhance the sustain. Oh, and I used a parallel compression on the drum buss.

Percussion: I mostly used EQ and transient shapers to get the attack and sustain I wanted from each part. I ran a vintage-style limiter on the buss to slam it in hopes it would really give you that "We Will Rock You"-ness.

Bass: The main bass track got some tape saturation and vintage board emulation for character. The DDL got some saturation, and was run through an auto-panner with som reverb to give it some otherworldly-ness.

Acoustic Piano: The beginning was replaced as requested. The buss got a little lift around 7000Hz to give it some air, as well as a little compression and excitation, with a little hall reverb.

Electric Piano: I rolled off the lows at 100Hz, and I rolled off the highs at 5000Hz. I tried to tame the attack a bit with a transient shaper, and then hit it with an exciter, and some saturation.

Electric Guitar: Got a filter sweep for movement, and panned pretty hard right for vintage-sounding separation.

Acoustic Guitar: Just some compression, and and vintage board emulation. They are panned one way, and then their reverb is panned the opposite way for space and movement.

Synths: Honestly not much other than panning, reverb, and some saturation.

Lead Vox: The MST Raw Stem wasn't touched. At "flutter and wow...", I duplicated it and ran it through a tape emulation with the flutter and wow setting engaged, along with a talk box effect, and that was blended in for added drama. This lasts until, "in on the joke." The LV Saturn Parallel was left as is and blended with the main until "someone please...", where an auto double tracker is engaged to give it some more drama. The buss is compressed and hit with a "live stage" reverb.

Chorus Vox: All were hit with tape saturation, compressed in series, and high passed at around 450Hz. Each subgroup is panned at various degrees to give it a wide, effect. The buss then was hit with yet, more saturation, a tiny slapback echo, and a wide plate reverb.

Vox FX: just compressed a bit with a little tape saturation, and some automation on the volume.

Applause: Just some pan automation for drama.

There is a compressor on the master buss to catch any rogue transients.

Feel free to hit me up with questions/comments/concerns. Thanks for listening.

Best regards,
Jeff (jeffssoloband)

[bexplorers]

Hi guys

Here´s my link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fNg09O ... sp=sharing

My starting point on this mix was to get the best rough mix possible as all tracks were very well recorded.
After only using pan pots and volume faders and getting very happy with my rough mix I starting cleaning up some tracks with EQ and getting rid of dynamical issues with compression.

After that boosted some of the good stuff, added a bit of distortion and compressed for tone fatness. My main goal was to get a well sonic balanced and put everything in its sonical space mainly on sections of the track were it gets busier.

For ambience I have used a slapback style delay with reverb and EQ on to create space and a Reverb with some EQ to push some elements to the rear.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for another great challenge!

[White Punk OD]

Big hello to the Endicott Dread,
hi Mr. Fox and mixing fellows,
please enjoy my entry:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lzthi5 ... sp=sharing WAV 44100 LUFS int should be 16.0 (Mastering The Mix-EXPOSE)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing screen shots


Very good recording, good initial balances, but with this, the more it becomes a challenge to take it to the next level, without becoming too cheesy and lost in gimmicks.
Some sounds are "modern", this sets the limit and can't be rolled back. But still, I used only effects that have been around since the 80ies.

That bipolar thing with being a Magaloniac or what's that at all, comes into the mix with somewhat exaggerated dynamics (if you master it, you might create a smoother radio version), and with widening the chorus part. In the verses, sometimes a spooky phasing delay pops up, but very subtle.

I will refer to track numbers, which is faster, thanks to the numbered package in this season of the challenge.

I cleaned up 44, 45, 62, 63 in the audio editor, for little noises, pops and glitches, that might come up after compression and boosting air band. I used the spectral display and the FFT free-draw filters, for which I had a number of presets.
Editing by the producer was diligent already, so this means the last 2 percent only.
Also, it sounds all tuned the way the artist wanted, including "detune" effects, so I did not tune any vocals and did not mess with that.

I transformed everything to 48k and processed at that rate, after the fact used EZ-CD (top notch algo!) to convert the mix back to 44100. 48k available for external mastering at request.

I used 4 channel strips, see screen shots: 4000G, bx N(eve), Lindell X, and a free general Hornet console, for reasons of style and vibe by the particular instrument. This makes the sound also modern, because adding them up, it does not have a distinct flavor that comes from a particular vintage console. There are many channels in the mix not using a console strip.

3 EFFECT Auxes:
* Little Plate hipassed 600Hz with some extra EQ to brighten up, modulation is switched on only during the orchestral part
* SIR bright which uses a self-made gated impulse with a predelay
* Vault ghost echo, using MoebiusFilter (a phaser going upwards only), and a multitap delay, and some compression



VERSE
With the verse vocals, on 63 I went a bit further, and used RX7 DeClicker, DeEdger (TDR family), and then Klanghelm MJUCjr to smoothen the performance, and bring it forward at the same time, and ending with Airwindows ToTape6. Very little EQ, which is a hipass 62Hz/6dB, a little boost at 142Hz, and the "Pensado" proximity trick (shelf up at 820, down again at 5.6k, only half a dB), and this last EQ is bypassing the reverb send.
Trk 62 has less, but still the tape, Luftikus (air), and the SPL dual band De-Esser hi band only, with somewhat lower volume.
The vocal bus for the verse has the one-band SPL De-Esser.
Only 63 has a reverb send, it goes to LittlePlate (EMT 140 emu; the DAW causes latency here, which happens to have a useful few milliseconds), and there in the reverb plugin we do the classic "Abbey Road" 600Hz hipass, and modulation is on for the bridge only.
For some parts, there is a dynamic send to a "ghost effect".
I didn't search for a "better" reverb, because this EMT gadget sounds immediately familiar for this type of song.

I used another instance of the De-click/DeEdger combo on 68, as there was some harshness and some crackling; also tape and De-Esser, and a Haas delay.

CHORUS
The mega vocals are bussed in a complex way, see the screen shots. I used the analytic SPAN to find out what's going on.
I brightened up 41-43, I thought this cannot come in "shy".
A group of tracks sound fat with soft treble, I had to control that strictly with TDR Nova GE and used the intelligent function (has a minor similarity with soothe and gullfoss but not self-adapting after initial setup). Brighten up with Luftikus. Some of these have a Haas delay for "depth".
Other groups have tracks with bright and clear singing.
Some vocal tracks of that pack received individual treatment to push them up.
Only 46-55 have a send to the SIR bright gated impulse. There is no general reverb on the chorus. This cleans it up and makes it more punchy.
Nova with analysis mode was very crucial to get clear and strong chorus vocals.

DRUMS
Snare was processed with Lindell Channel X. Then bussed together with Kick, and runs into a clipping limiter, and then the old Ariesverb4a with strong modulation, this makes it very organic.
Toms run into that too.
The limiter together with the compressor in channel X have strong impact on the snare sustain vibe.
Drum ambience: 01f - Klangheim tape and mpressor; 01g - bright Melda saturator
Hihat, cymbal and tambourine see screen shots. Some tape, and tambourine also has a Haas delay and Little Plate rev.
11-13 were running through 1:1

STOMPS 04-10
Basic trick is a multed low f trk 04, it runs through a very short gate and aggressive saturation, and reinforces the deep attack sound.
The whole stomp bus runs through a limiter. That's all about it!

BASS
14 as well as 29(!) have an Ampeg SVT-VR with some crunch.
15 has a printed ADA flanger (this gadget refused to work live in this big mix, I created a separate edit with just one track to print this effect.)
No extra EQ on the bass, the Ampeg does it all, but there is a little final hipass.

I checked piano and guitars early, there was a lot to do to refine the sound.

GIT
20 has SPL Vitalizer, nothing else.
Acoustic guitars needed a full, classic sound with some variations:
26a has Lindell 354E which, the way I use it serves as an EQ plus dynamic exciter.
26b has Vitalizer and tape, to make a difference. Same functionalities but different feel.
26c has Lindell 354 and a saturator.
27 this pair has strong and different processings with 4000G, like compression, mid scoop, bass boost. I picked this channel strip because I judge the instrument as the clean rock melody guitar, and it sounds very straight.
26c and 27 are grouped to the Acu Mega BUS where we have another Nova GE, tuned with analytic mode, as there were many ringing frequencies.

Orchestral sounds
24 and 25 are grouped to the "Mellotron bus", that's what I aimed for. There is Thrillseeker LA as a saturating compressor boosting 2.5k, and then a little surgical EQ for profile.
Applause has just clip gain, in the middle of the song it was too loud.

22, 31-34 go to the orchester bus. The trick is SPL IRON with M/S mode, to keep things together, and push some sounds strictly to the sides. There is also a strong Haas delay for the 3D to put them behind the vocals, and a 4-band instance of Nova to even out the harsh and aggressive highs.

PIANOS
I invested a lot, please listen, I hope you will be satisfied. I created a piano bus for all piano tracks, for easy volume automation.
The little piano solo (bar 67) got Valhalla Supermassive with a lot of modulation, to make it sing a bit.
Now what happened to the acoustic piano:
No digital sample pianos back then I really wanted something different.
Townhouse comp for the uneven attacks, it was automated to become more limiting from the middle of the song. This comp is really "disciplining".
To revamp the sound, there is Phil's Cascade which also changes phase relations, and then the incredible MorphVerb that makes the sound really alive and puts it in some real space. Then Console N for the mixing, and a send to the SIR bright reverb, but very decent.
EPIANO has practically nothing, but 17 needed a hipass, and the whole gets a Haas delay and the bright reverb, to put it into the same space as the acoustic piano, but on a different pan.

STEREO OUT:
iZotope Ozone Elements 8 was used to suggest a light mastering EQ, the maximizer was turned off. In case the mix should be delivered less bright, here with the autopilot it is easy to change. I made the footprint EQ early in the mix process, because it should reflect the production as such, and spare some EQ moves. Done again it would react in a different way. But this is potentially R2 version, hoping humbly..
Then we have a Melda Saturator, SPL Iron with "kissing the needle" for some glue in the chorus, and a Limiter that shaves off some peaks, but is inactive most of the time.

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your mix.


Please keep the Rules and Guidelines of this game, and possible server glitches around the deadline in mind (the server has been more wonky than usual lately, apologies for the inconvenience).

[Jerze]

Hello All,
Thanks for the chance to mix this song. I would have say to this was a hard one to mix. I did not have the time to do much automation, with all the different sections (dynamics) so if I make it to round 2 will look at it then.

Mix 44.1/24
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h6ua34qjhjjxp ... e.wav?dl=0

Mix notes:

As for plugins mostly used EQ not much compression other than a few here and there.
I used Abby road chamber to give the instrument a space
All BGV were sent to a buss, processed, and blended as a group.
Drums struggled with just couldn’t get them to set right’

Anyways thoughts or questions let me know!

Stay safe Jerze

[PEKUTO]

Hi, everyone.

Thanks for this great track, it was great fun to mix it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZLw__8 ... sp=sharing

I did everything in ways everybody here has already done, but two things, first Moog Grandmother's filter for acoustic guitar, and second Calrec PQ1161 vintage EQ for main vocal and Juno bass. IK SunsetSound Studio Reverb did a great job for the big chorus part!

Cheers,

[Herbalizer]

Mix: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gpa1cr9qrz1r8 ... r.wav?dl=0

Hello all:)

I started mixing mono as far as possible and soon noticed that everything was so well recorded that I made decision to minimise eq usage and did only a small corrections and focused on levels.
Tracks I used Softube saturation plugin were: Kick, snare, tom, bass and vocal bus
Busses that I used Softube Tape were: Drum bus, acc bus, chorus synth bus, and vocal bus
Delays and reverbs were Logic X Pro stock plugins.
I also used a lot of Infecter Mushroom Wider plugin to make better stereo separation between sounds and instruments.
I created a different kind of moods to song parts by using mostly reverb and on vocals in the beginning of the song I used PSP Lotary speaker emulation

Biggest chance to original was bringing the delay bass track in front of the mix where it sounds really cool:)

This mix was me trying to get my head around using saturation plugins to create a balanced mix without overdoing it.