MIX CHALLENGE - MC075 April 2021 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

A quick one on the topic of "too many tracks to work with", as this is coming up ever so often.

I can definitely assure you, that we will continue to see a lot of variety between 16 tracks to 96 tracks in the future. It is definitely a challenge to work with this amount of material, but this is also a real-world scenario and IMHO the best learning experience and preparation one can get.

1) A high track count, with the nested bussing I get close to a 100.
One needs to have all their tech skills and hardware put together, to meet this challenge.
Know what eats up YOUR cpu (systems can be widely different), and how to print intermediate tracks/stems in smart and versatile ways.
As a case study, I did not even bother. I have an ASUS TUF 2 years old, 6 kernels doubled by hyperthread.
A new computer might even have double that capacity. Very fast SSD is also crucial.
My DAW is the free Tracktion 7 running on 32 bit! I want to use some plugins that have no update. No problem at all.
I throw heavy plugins on issues that deserve it, and spare them on many other channels. The piano eats at least 20% but who cares, I can freeze it.
But I did not freeze anything and still have room.

The integrity check and some "quick mixing tests" were all done on an Intel i7 920 4-core from end of 2008, overclocked (thermal paste not replaced in years), RME hardware at 128 samples buffer size. All 80 tracks (dry tracks and guides) were streamed off of a WD 500GB HDD with 16MB of cache, and I've used Cubase 10.0.x in 64bit.

While this project was really pushing my HDD (hint: have a fairly empty one, defrag and fully optimize, then start a new project), and an SSD does run this project way snappier indeed, notice that you can still mix the whole project on a very old rig like this one. Without freezing of tracks even. You just need to know how (hint: proper grouping and a definite set of global AUX effects)



I agree with you though, that the story-telling and back-and-forth dynamic of this song was among the biggest challenge this month.

[RoadieShow]

Oh oh! Just realized my mistake!

Sorry, I meant to copy and paste both a mp3 and wav version of my mix on the post. I usually provide both versions of the file so people can listen to it on mobile but pasted only one (and the wrong one) on my post. Well, there goes a few hours of work in the trash!
Unfortunate mistake, but hey, rules are rules!

<banging my head on the wall>

Good luck everyone!

The good news is that you learn something with every submission to the Mix Challenge. Sometimes you learn a new mixing technique, sometimes you learn to proofread your posts carefully before submitting. That goes double for emails, always proofread before you hit 'send'!

I feel for you buddy, thanks for having a good attitude and embracing the rules. I'd certainly vote for you to be a wild card submission, we'll see what the artist thinks!

[White Punk OD]

My biggest CPU hogs were:
iZotope Moebius (oops why? sure I could search for a similar effect, but would take some time to set it up)
TDR Nova GE (I used 6! tweaking is fast with these.)
Morphverb
Klanghelm MJUC
Airwindows ToTape6 (used 5)
Phils Cascade
Lindell X channel
RX7 declick (used 2)
Ampeg SVTVR
and I don't even have any Acoustic Audio which are legend for bringing systems down quickly.

So yeah, the skill is really crucial to know what to do within the limits of one's own equipment.
I had it easy, but I agree that almost anyone should be able to find a way to do it. It's not a song that needs any of those hypermodern reverbs and EDM granular spectral AI spaceship wonders.

[Clueless]

Just checked Mister fox’s documentation
My mistake on the naming of track came from copying the details from the main dL & just placing my name at the end, I apologise for my error, if I get a chance to do future mixes I will make sure not to make the same mistake again

Also, @ Mister Fox & White Punk OD
That’s one of the reasons for my using grouped eq with an older machine, & maximal use of Airwindows & AO
I find TDR use a lot of resources, so have attempted to reduce use totally.

If anyone is interested in listening to my mix and commenting, I will look to return the favour, if you think that it will be of benefit??

[Edu Cesar]

Oh oh! Just realized my mistake!

Hi Cesar, I like your mix a lot, sorry for the dropout, but perhaps you get the wildcard ticket.
Very clear and precise, and sounds beautiful.
Personal taste, I have the following issues:
The attack of the electric piano is not beautiful, many mixes have too hard attacks on the pianos, like a "toing/teng" sound. Perhaps it is the use of the compressors.
The drums in the two last sections are very loud, but we need the "maniac" kick in after, with rage and stomps, which is not possible by this.
The mix is very dry, perhaps give it a percent more ambience, because of the applause. There is some scoop in the mid-range, while my mix might have a bit too much of mid and ambience.
The ideal might be somewhere in between?
Good luck, we never know what happens. Your work has been heard, it is not in vain.
We don't live for winning free plugins, it's just a little reward for having luck in a time-consuming game.

Thanks for the input on my mix! I will definitely have to review my setup, I’m probably having problems with acoustics/calibration of my speakers, since I also noticed that I tended to cut mid/low mids. I had to move some stuff from my room and mix in an untreated enviroment.

I agree with the dry/ambience you said completely!

I will also revisit the electric piano and drum parts, thanks!

[White Punk OD]

(a beautiful piano attack is only hard when you hit the instrument hard, and it evolves strongly and very alive through the whole tail -- for such a mix, 3 seconds should have to be in the ballpark - there are samples around that aren't doing this right).

@Clueless
true, but in case, you can let TDR analyze and watch what it is doing, then either print, or notch out the frequencies it suggests with the stock EQ and occasionally automate that.
I'm not good enough to do it in a minute just by ear. I sweeped a number of EQs but it took its time.

[Edu Cesar]

Oh oh! Just realized my mistake!

Sorry, I meant to copy and paste both a mp3 and wav version of my mix on the post. I usually provide both versions of the file so people can listen to it on mobile but pasted only one (and the wrong one) on my post. Well, there goes a few hours of work in the trash!
Unfortunate mistake, but hey, rules are rules!

<banging my head on the wall>

Good luck everyone!

The good news is that you learn something with every submission to the Mix Challenge. Sometimes you learn a new mixing technique, sometimes you learn to proofread your posts carefully before submitting. That goes double for emails, always proofread before you hit 'send'!

I feel for you buddy, thanks for having a good attitude and embracing the rules. I'd certainly vote for you to be a wild card submission, we'll see what the artist thinks!

Thanks for your words!

I think I know what I did wrong...
I wrote a lot of stuff on my documentation, formatted the text and saved a draft to check later for spelling/language mistakes (English is not my mother tongue). Somehow the version of the draft I loaded didn’t have the second link to the WAV file (which I was sure it was pasted), so I corrected some spelling and format and just hit send.
I was so focused on my text that I forgot to scroll all the way to the end to double check the pasted links!

Anyway, I hope my mistake helps others not to do the same!

[RoadieShow]

A few tips for those struggling with CPU issues:

- Make sure you're only running your DAW. Don't have any other apps running when you're mixing, if you can.
- Check out your computer's audio management. What kind of software is running? Does your operating system have some kind of "audio enhancement" software running like Nahimic or similar? Turn them off if you find them. You don't want your computer to be processing a bass boost audio profile for video gaming while you are trying to mix a song.
- Find out how to control your processor speed. Most PC's these days have a bios with a TON of options, many have apps that you can run to control your processor's speed on the fly. Example: My motherboard (MSI Prestige x570 Creation) bios has software called "The Creator Center" that allows me to access many bios controls while running in Windows. I normally run in "silent" mode that drops CPU frequency and voltage, allowing the fans to spin slowly or even shut off. If I'm about to edit video or mix music I turn the bios up to run in "balanced" or even "high performance" modes. You can often find controls like these in the "power" section of your operating system, especially on laptops. You want to run your machine in high performance mode before you start up your DAW.
- Clean your computer! Don't use a vacuum, you need compressed air. A hot machine runs poorly and eventually breaks down. You need your machine running like race car if you expect it to perform well under heavy loads.
- Defrag your hard drives.
- Put your projects on smaller, faster drives with very few items stored on them. SSD is preferred but not necessary.
- Biggest tip that most people overlook: Make sure that hard drive that holds your operating system is as empty as possible. Windows machines particularly do NOT like it when the OS drive is 95% full. A good rule of thumb - don't let your OS drive get more than 75% full.

[Mister Fox]

For @Clueless and @White Punk OD

Klangehlm MJUC can be CPU hungry, but you can just step back on oversampling to reduce processing power. Tokyo Dawn can be "trimmed" in terms of resources if you switch to "ECO" mode and also turn off the analyzer. There have been updates that optimized the CPU usage - maybe check which version you're currently using.

Anything iZotope RX is technically not for "real-time" use. I often catch myself using those tools in realtime regardless. But sometimes they can introduce some insane and unwanted latency offsets. In this case... a quick "bounce-in-place" does the trick (do you really need realtime de-clicking?)

Another thing you could do to improve your processing power (especially on older and/or weaker rigs), is to just bump up your sample buffer. Instead of using 128 samples, maybe start with 512, and then work your way up to 2048 (if available for your audio device) for mixing only.


Once more, we might have future Mix(ing) Challenges again eventually, where we exceed 48 tracks. It is just inevitable for some games. But these challenges are also the best way to streamline your work process/setup.




Please keep up the feedback for everyone.

Everything "Rule Set related" has been moved to General Gossip (I am not letting this get out of hand this month).

[White Punk OD]

I'm wondering myself with how much I can get away.
Declicker did run with low latency mode. Wish I had the decrackle also.
I should automate the De-Esser more diligently, for a couple of sentences there is an issue.
The vocal mic can sound a bit scratchy.

Would be interesting to read some comments about how pristine we could or should make the voice, or not.

--
While it is still quiet here, another inspiration for thundering sounds.
I'm a big fan of https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=phil+tan
He says he often uses inline effects, and also no consistent channel strip, but just the minimum that the instrument needs.
For the following mix, the producer told him, regarding level, to use no compression at all, only saturation, automation, clipping:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2AqGffHuZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgjkth6BRRY
If you compare the 2 versions, for me one explanation would be that the first version was targeted to a TV set of 2005.
The noise part of the stomp is chopped by a subsonic frequency (probably intermodulation by clipping), which is a known psychoacoustic trick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgy7vEje5-w and another thundering kick by Phil