MIX CHALLENGE - MC075 April 2021 - Winners announced

[tiagogardner]

Hi y'all,
Hope you're doing well,

I'm stoked to to be taking part in this challenge mixing Endicott's song !!!

Here's the link to the mix:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/imkvg46m5cy0j ... r.wav?dl=0

I made a few changes and edits in the song:
I used the raw kick track as a room/overhead, and used the sample kick as the main kick
Turned a few stereo tracks into mono, to make their placement more manageable
2.50min - the acoustic gtrs we're muted briefly
3.06min - added a couple of the existing 808's w/ delay in this section

Thanxxx
Take care

[Euphony]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xabmloegnu8x7 ... v.wav?dl=0

[AskAndy]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x4nfPi ... sp=sharing
Very Nice piece. I approached this with an other than usual method .Instead of starting with the drums ,then bass, then vocals and so on. the theatrical structure of it lead me to mix it in successive sections. of which , i came up with 13. so the drums didn't get mixed until Act 5. With the exception of the ambient crowd at the top , I started at the beginning and as I progressed thru the song, I mixed. The piece seemed Trumpian, totally self-involved , like a daydream , that is how I came to managed the ambient crowd stem, which appears in three places ; top, middle , and close. First, you drift into the dream , out of the train depot reality. so I slowly began to fade in a SuperTap 6-Tap . The middle plays as the apex of the daydream; its transformed into a massive crowd for the Megalomaniac; to do this I have the SuperTap 6-Tap at a 50/50 mix ( and EQ of course ) . At the close , its supposed to be like coming out of the dream , where the cheering crowd fades back the ubiquitous public . The Megalomaniac goes from the center of attention back to anonymity; just another of the many. soSuper Tap gets faded out .
My other goal was to isolate the mid elements( in my mixes better. so i used some MID/SIDE compression on the instruments with Slate's FG-MU

[Edu Cesar]

Thanks for the opportunity to mix this song! I really like the recording and the song in itself, very interesting melody and structure.
It reminded me a lot of some songs from Apollo Sunshine and Akron/Family and I kinda used them as a reference too:
Apollo Sunshine - Sheets With Stars: https://open.spotify.com/track/7DOQrC9G ... 7Qtgm7tU-Q
Akron/Family - Ed is a Portal: https://open.spotify.com/track/4X12urH3 ... 6Km9RL6apg
Akron/Family - Phenomena: https://open.spotify.com/track/5fdBvmGg ... uGsmOr6osQ

I started the mix about 2 weeks ago and had a few problems with my studio, so I had to rush it yesterday. Because of that I had to finish mixing using headphones and uncalibrated speakers/room.

I started by grouping the tracks as it made more sense to me and setting the levels. Then I used minor EQ to cut problematic frequencies on some tracks and proceeded to apply compression when needed.I did some basic panning and automation to polish it more. Then I set up a few delay/reverb busses and routed some groups/specific tracks to them. I can give further details if anyone is interested, but here's a brief summary on what I did on some specific tracks:

Vocals:
I sent all the vocal tracks to a buss containing a short delay followed by a compressor (side chained to duck it during the start of the words). Then I set a reverb after it and did the same trick (side chained again). That way I tried to accomplish a more subtle ambience. I also automated the volume of this buss across the song to better fit the parts.
I also set another buss for the dry vocals and added a chorus followed by some overdrive (FF Saturn 2) in M/S mode. My idea was to thicken up the vocals a bit and give them more movement on specific words/parts of the song by automating the amount of volume of this bus.
I think I could have done a better job and spend more time on these automations. Not sure I like it or if its overdone/too subtle.

Pianos:
On the acoustic piano I did some basic EQ and compression and added a slight tape delay. I was a bit confused if I was supposed to replace the first 15 bars of it was optional. I think I prefer the original one, but I replaced it anyway.
On the electric piano I added the Spreader effect from Logic to get more stereo movement and make it sit differently on the mix compared to the acoustic piano.

Drums and Bass:
Applied some EQ and parallel compression to make them fit together and stand out in the mix. I did some automation on the bass to lower the volume during the quiet parts and boost it a little on the high energy sections.

Percussion:
I used a plugin called Animate to make some elements wider and some reverb on the "We Will Rock You" part. I also did some frequency adjustments on the low end/mids and highs to get the elements to sound cohesive.

Synths:
Some EQ to make them sit in the mix, Spreader on some tracks to make them oscillate in the stereo field and add movement.

I also added Slate's tape plugin on all group tracks to add some color/warmth and that analogue feel. On the master buss only slight EQ adjustments to shape it after the tape plugin and a very subtle buss compressor to glue the tracks a little.

I have mixed feelings about this mix, I really wanted to focus on some details but got some ear fatigue due to having to switch from headphones to speakers as I said before. It was a good experience anyway, I'm glad I finished it and didn't give up. Feel free to post any critique or advice, I appreciate it. I hope you like it!

Here's my mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iLs-pc ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kKz44V ... p=drivesdk

Cheers!

Edit:
Just realized I left out one link (to the actual wav file, I was supposed to post both. Sorry!

[fdelmo]

Hi everyone!

Here is my mix (first challenge I participate in, so any feedback is more than welcome! ).

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


It was a very fun project to mix with a lot of different possible takes on it. I tried to go for a rather simple and (hopefully) powerful approach: keep the voice nice and clear in the front, both lead and choir, and try to use the rest of the instruments to maximize the stereo image of the song (making sure the balance is nice so it can be listen to it in mono too). A big focus of my mix is to try to maximize the dynamic range between the choir+electronic drums and the quieter parts.


(All tracks have DensitymkIII (Compressor) and BootEQmkII (EQ), which I use as my “channel strip”in Reaper 6.27)
Drums (“acoustic” set): I tried to get a tight snare and kick, which I think it works pretty well with the quieter parts of the song.
Drums (“electronic” set): Tried the opposite effect. A big nice kick with both distortions panned L and R for a bigger sound to make the chorus feel as big and in your face as I could. Both set of drums have EQ and a bit of compressor in their respective Buses to “glue” everything together.
Bass: I added a subtle delay with a “ping-pong” panning effect to create width. It can be clearly noticed in the intro and quieter parts but it does not get in the middle of any other instruments (hopefully). I used a MSpecrtalDelay by Melda Productions in combination with a BOSS DD-20 pedal.
Piano: Not much going on here. Just a bit of boost in the mid lows to make them a bit more present and “resonant”.
Keys: ALso not much going on. A bit of EQ for coloring and a bit of panning. Great sound from the start.
Acc guitar: Tried to get as much width as possible panning left and right all doubled tracks.
E. guitar: cut low frequencies and boost high to get “bright”.
Used EQ to “clarify” the sound removing a bit of body for space for the drums and bass.
Synths: Very subtle EQ, specially to boost highs. Again trying to get as much width playing with panning and the “auto-wide” effect from Reaper. Here I use a combination of the BootEQmkII and the BaxterEQ, depending on the track. I tend to go to the Baxter when I want to get an overall subtle but brighter sound.
Lead Voice: A bit of fader play to control volume changes and compressor and EQ (like everywhere else)
Choir: (Loved this! Amazing work on the composition and recording!) Not much going on. A bit of compression and a bit of EQ to cut bass and boost a little the top end.

There are for different reverb busses going on: One for the intro piano, one for the lead voice, one for the instruments and one for the choir. All the busses run the epicVerb plugin with slightly different settings.

Mix-Bus: DensitymkIII compressor to “glue” all together.

[MartinDalesio]

Hi guys and gals!
Hope you're doing well.

I'm so glad to be taking part in this contest, first time! Thanks to Endicott Dread for providing this killer song.

Here is a link to the mix: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ahb99vzqKSOvk5tTGzp ... Q?e=pC5StL

I enjoyed mixing this song very much. The arrangement was 100% respected, I didn't mute/cut/otherwise alter any of the tracks, other than the processes applied for mixing strictly. I started by loading all the tracks (a few!) to my template, and getting acquainted with the structure and arrangement of the song. Then I had a listen to Endicott's mix reference, to get a feel for the kind of balance he is after. I also loaded the various reference stems (drums, piano, guitars) to my session, so that I could A/B with my own mix, just to make sure I wasn't straying too far from the artist's original vision.

I started mixing the loudest section, as I usually do, and then working my way backwards to the quietest. The main challenge was to get all of the vocal parts to work nicely together, since they were quite dynamic (and there was a bunch of them!). Dividing them between lead and backing vocals did the trick. Another big challenge was the "we will rock you" rhythm parts to be big and punchy yet controlled.

For the lead vocals I used a de-esser going into a compressor (medium attack and fast release), then a Softube Saturation Knob for some grit, and finally a multiband compressor for a bit of control over the tonal balance. The backing vocals were treated with the de-esser, compression and eq, but with different EQ settings to make them a bit less shiny than the lead.

Reverbs used was mainly Valhalla Vintage Verb on the plate, hall and room modes, while the delays are the stock Studio One delay treated with some reverb as well.

I went as light as possible on the mix bus, only using some eq and M/S compression (Waves AR-TG) to add a little width to the mix, and a limiter to prevent any unwanted peaks above -1.0. That's it!

Thanks to mix-challenge.com and to Endicott Dread for the opportunity to participate, and looking forward to reading what you guys think of my mix! All criticism is welcome. Now I'm off to listen to all of the other mixes! =)

Martin Dalesio.

[Blang]

Hi everyone,

Since the song, arrangement and lyrics are quite theatrical, I felt a dramatic mix would only be fitting. So I wanted to further contrast the different sections, giving each it’s own vibe.

Le mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-tWalx ... sp=sharing

Since it contains a lot of tracks I used the following busses/groups to be processed together:

Drum kit (UAD 1176, Devil-Loc both parallel)
Bass (+ synthbass)
Guitars
Keys + synths. Puigchild, J37, MV2 (Low level upward compression)
Vocals (UAD La-2a and Puigchild parallel)
All Busses (except drum and bass): Tiny bit of dynamic EQ to reduce harshness in vocals (mainly in the chorus) @ 2.3k en 3k with TDR Nova.
All percussion, stomps, claps went directly to master.
Master: slight bit of saturation, Kompreskimo.

The kick was a bit to bright for me, but the difficulty was the all other drumtracks also had the brightness of the kick in it. But they would become to dull if I just EQ’d them acorss the board. To solve this, I ducked the OHs and room mics a few dB when the kick was kicking.

Since there seems to be a Beatles vibe mainly in the beginning, I added a slapback to the piano (Sexy Sadie-esque) to give it more character and sustain.

On most sources or groups there is a Waves J37 tape sim to tuck in the transients and add some 60’s flavour.

The “Flutter and Wow” part was begging for some weird FX. The acoustic guitars got a phaser/vibrato and the vocal a different phaser, both made in (Max for) Live.

Main reverb is UAD EMT140 Plate A.
The echo’s are plugins I designed in Max for Live.
The Soundtoys Crystallizer (octave up delay) was used to add a pad like quality to bridge. I mainly sent the piano to this bus and sometimes a vocal here and there.

I really enjoyed mixing this song because it offers and allows a lot of creativity!

[Clueless]

Youlean
16.8 lufs
1.3 true peak max

I grouped the tracks
Beat
Guitar
Synth
Piano
Vocal

Then threw everything but the kitchen sink at them

Most groups were eq, rather than individual tracks

Has it worked, not too confident


https://www.dropbox.com/s/kilvcf64qk1ze ... s.wav?dl=0


All, the too many effects I used

► Show Spoiler

N492ME AO, Pop, Buttercomp, Accelerat ion2, dcfilter, Span, Correlometer

Mwaveshaper, Freeamp, Prepondrrant, Varimu, Ironverb, Revplate
As_fbcomp, G395a, Fircomp
Purestgain, bx_cleansweep, phasenudge, ReaEq, Reverb
Mackity, Fracture, Distance, air, guitar conditioner, freeverb, pafnuty, verbity, density, debess, edisdim, spacelifter, sweetvox, minus delay,

[fofocruz]

Here's my mix!

Let me know what you think!
thank you for the artist for providing the music,

let me know if you want me to elaborate on the mix, and also what you think about it!!




wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1djGh5y ... sp=sharing


Rodolfo Cruz

[ICMix]

Hi everyone!

First of all, thanks to Mr. Fox for his continuous support to the site and Endicott Dread for submitting this song! The tracks are really well recorded, so less processing was used than I thought. Also, trying to replicate the 70’s style, I tried to make use of Console channelstrips (SSL, Slate) , EQs (API, SSL, Pulteq), Compressors (Fairchild, 1176, API, LA-2A, PIE) and reverbs (EMT140, Abbey Road Plates) that were popular and available at that time, always trying to keep everything simple in terms of the amount of plugins added to each channel and following the L-C-R panning approach.

Once I downloaded the files, I made the necessary section replacements requested by Endicott Dread and organized the tracks, grouping most of Background vocals, percussions and the Juno Keys to process them into stereo stems for easier processing.

Since this is a very vocal focused song, I spent most of the time trying different combinations of effects and delays that would fit the vocal syle and the song, being the Soundtoys Echoboy and H-Delay the most used ones.

The keys had minimum processing, just some EQ to clean up mid frequencies, stereo widening and compression. I added a bit of chorus effect to make them less agressive.

Acoustic guitars also had minimum processing with EQ, compression and saturation. For electric guitar I added a chorus effect with Echoboy.

For drums I mostly used SSL EQ and compressors, adding some low end to the kick drum with Brainworx’s subfilter. Percussions had low & high pass filters without compression.

Bass had a similar processing approach with SSL and API EQs, saturation and some sidechain dynamic eq to give the kick drum more space.

Finally on my mix bus I had a tape simulator, console summing simulation, mild saturation and a limiter that slightly controls 1-2 peaks in the whole song.

Here's my mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I8f-q4 ... sp=sharing

Good Luck Everyone!