MIX CHALLENGE - MC090 February 2023 - Winners announced

[Franz]

Hi all,

Excellent title with remarkably well recorded tracks... So enough to make an excellent mix...

In the box with Samplitude Pro X7 in which there is a saturation software with almost
unlimited possibilities called "Vandal"

- drums: the snare: multibandgate, equalization Wawes Q10, Trax, Vandal, C1 gate of Wawes, PSP impressor,
Wawes Abbey Road Saturator, Morphverb. The kick: Vandal, PSP Impressor, Wawes q10, Wawes C1 compressor,
MJUC, Wawes Abbey Road saturator. The hi-hat: C4 mono from Wawes. The OH: Wawes C4 stereo.
Toms: 1/2 octaves lower, gate, Impact (equalization), Wawes Saturator, Mjuc compressor, Vandal.
To obtain a coherent stereo space, the whole (except the kick) passes through the Tverb of Eventide.

- bass: guitar Rig from Native Instruments, bx subfilter, MJUC, Kramer HLS and Ozone 9
- solo acoustic guitar: guitar rig
- acoustic guitar: Stereo Savage, Impact, Bx Shreader, Kramer HLS, Auburn Panagement
- rhythm guitar: Kramer HLS, Auburn Panagement
- lead guitar: guitar rig
- wha-wha guitar: Lifetime Expanse
- organ: Kramer HLS
- piano: Reel ADT, Kramer HLS
- Rhodes: Stereo Savage, Kramer HLS
- Vocal: vocal rider, Kramer HLS, Auburn Panagement, PSP Impressor, Morphverb
- Backing vocals: vocal rider, Kramer HLS, Auburn Panagement, BX solo

The general idea is to get a wide mix with a lot of depth. This is certainly the opposite of many
current mixes in many musical fields in which the rule (or fashion ?) is "ALL IN FRONT".
Personally I do not adhere to this idea because it absolutely lacks depth and we are only in a
two-dimensional space and not three. It's all a matter of taste...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hvw8PW ... share_link

[DennisBastioni]

Hi guys, here is my subscription for the contest.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VsB3Hh ... sp=sharing

This are the process i did for this mix:

Drum Bus: "smile" eq with pro q2, tape saturation (saturn2) and compression with Iron

Kick: Amek9099 for compression and low and hi boost and then a parallel compression with the dbx160 to bring out the higher transients of the kick.
Snare: ssl9000j to compress and boost hi "bite"
Toms: ssl9000j (compression and "smile" eq)
HiHat: only compression
Ride: corrective eq
Crash: no processing
Overheads: Cla76, proq3 for correcting mids and a limiter to attenuate the bleed from the snare
Belltree: no processing
Claps: shadow hill compressor (the classic one with blue leds) and millennia eq to boost high and cut the lows (both shelf)
Tamburine: proc2 and tube vitalizer
Reversed cymbal and reversed snare: no processing on both
Room: just corrective eq
than i add another room reverb and a short hall reverb with valhalla room and R4 reverb

Bass: proMB, RComp, saturn2

wah wah sound: no processing

GTRAcoustic solo: proq3 and nls channel

Electric rythm guitars: proq3 and saturn2

Electric GTR Solo: amek9099 and stock reaper eq to correct, than i add an enough amount of room reverb with psp 2554 reverb

Rhodes: Saturn2

Organ: amek9099 and consolle n (plugin alliance neve style channel strip)

Piano: black box hg2ms

Strings: i just add sustain with spl transien shaper plus

Lead Vocal: proq3, saturn, rcomp, stereomaker (only4%) and pro DS
than add room, medium hall and ping pong delay that i automated during the mix

background vocals: I make a bus and apply ssl9000 to compress and eq for hi and low freq

I also make csome master bus processing to create glue and movement with a bit of compression (-1 dB) with the shadow hill class A, than saturn 2 (transformer), Amek250 eq to boost hi mids with a shelf and spl vitalizer.

I hope you will enjoy my mix, and good luck to everyone.

[Piranha]

Mixed 100% in the box in the last version of Reaper

DRUMS: two parallel compressions to enhance attack and color, Dbx 160 and Fairchild:
Lindell SBC with fastest attack on the buss to grab peaks, Deviloc, a bit of smile eq and clipping.
Some eq shaping with MDynamicEq on every drums, no compression except for a MC77 on snare top and NLS on snare mics in mic mode to shave peaks.
BASS: Fairchild compression, eq, saturation and Smooth Operator
GUITARS: API2500, heavy saturation, delay and reverb on acoustic solo, Lindell 50 on acoustic, a bit of eq on electric rhythm, Lindell 50, MDynamicEq, heavy dist, delay and reverbn on electric solo.
KEYS/FXS: nothing on FX1 and 2 and strings, just eq on wah, organ and rhodes, eq and a bit of 33609 compression and limiting on piano.
VOCALS: Lindell 50 and MC77 on every track, Lindell 902 for de-essing where needed and more on the bus with MDynamicEq. FireTheBus on vocals bus. Parallel distortion, reverb and delay on all vocal tracks.

Authomation used to bring instruments forward or back when needed and to follow the dynamics of the song.
WAV

[Michael_K]

Great track and very well produced and recorded!
My instinct was to go for a retro-ish sound.

Drums:
Kick and Snare: eq and some saturation.
Toms: eq individually, grouped and compressed as a group.
Drum Bus: Light Fairchild style compression.
Bass: eq and la2a style compression
Guitars: eq and tube compression on the acoustic, la3a on the electrics. The dry signals went through heavy saturation.
Keyboards and strings were treated with subtractive eq. E.Piano slightly compressed.
Lead Vocals: Mild De esser, eq, 1176 style compression, la2a.
Backing Vocals: eq and vca compression individually and compressed slightly as a group.
Automation on the organ during the guitar solo building towards the end.
Also automation on the effects to create additional build in the solo, and the ending.

Here is the mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mXyjvF ... z_SnY/view

Good luck everyone!

[Davias]

Another great mix to do this time, with very clean takes so it was easy to bring it to some direction. very musical track so I tried to give some space and make the elements dance with the groove.

Aside from the classic EQ and some compression I worked a bit more on the reverbs, I tamed some of the guitar fret noises with RX Elements and manually, I kept the effects from the provided track on the voices because my cpu was dying already , I tried to have a punchy beat, almost hip hop like.
There is some shadow hills compression on the mixbus, VCA mode, I used Reaper "normalize mode" for the render for the first time, the mix should be at -16dB LUFS-I (was at -15.9 just before )

Here is the wav : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V63Yyk ... share_link

Good luck to everyone

[studio equator]

a little bit short on time and i hope my link is working




https://www.dropbox.com/s/c10r50335gksa ... r.wav?dl=0

[rbwolk1]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W9fitc ... sp=sharing

Hey all,
Very fun track to work on, many thanks to Christian for providing such cleanly recorded performances. Apologies in advance if I’m TOO detailed…

I’m using Logic and mostly Plugin Alliance, besides a few Waves and, of course, Soothe and Pro-Q 3.

I took a kind of “Chris Isaac plays Neo-soul” approach, in that I wanted it to feel like a band in a room with the produced elements (doubled vocals, fx, strings) simply accentuating the performance. For example, the claps are there (and doubled, and spread wide, and slap delayed) but they’re in the back. I wanted to feel them making the snare punchier instead of hearing them as if someone walked onstage and started clapping.


A few other general things:
There’s some doubling and spreading with Waves Reel-ADT:
-Claps: everywhere except the quiet part after the guitar solo
-Organ: the whole time
-Vox 2, Vox 2 (artificial 3rd), and Vox 3: they’re only at the end… they got wide.
-Strings were widened (and warmed) with this great plugin called Manifold. Kind of a weird chorus? It’s a secret weapon, for sure.

Unless you got wide, I left you more or less centered. I’m pretty hesitant to pan nowadays and every part of this arrangement has a clear role. Nothing is exactly centered, +3, -5… stuff like that. Guitars and keys are more like 10/15 so that we get some space in stereo, but the mono mix isn’t SO different. Toms are panned so that they resemble the Overhead image. To be honest, I’m still tempted to center them and pull the OHs back.

I omitted the un-amped guitar tracks, I prefer to commit to what the artist was vibing on unless it’s problematic, but I dug all these tones. On the contrary, I omitted the treated vocals because I wanted to do my own compression/etc.


THE MIX!

EQ: EVERYTHING. Mostly taking out unnecessary lows, the most extreme being the Bell Tree with a high pass at 3k. Backup vocals, the guitars, and the ride cymbal all have additional dips to manage 200-800hz. I found myself itching for more highs/sheen in the lead vocals and acoustic guitar, so there are also shelves there around 5k. I also threw Slate’s Fresh Air on the lead vocals. The kick has Unfiltered Audio’s Bassmint because I wanted to feel it more. I love the bass tone, lots of lows but also good finger noise. I feel like the kick and bass are complimenting each other pretty well, but… y’all be the judge.

Compression:
-Vocals: a double treatment of Purple Audio’s MC77 and Waves CLA-2A.
-Electric Guitars: Lindell SBC (mostly just adding intimacy).
-Acoustic: Waves TG1234 (honestly, just the “Smooth Acoustic” preset with some minimal tweaking)
-Bass: Millenia TCL-2, fast attack, slow release. I wanted it all.
-Drums: the shells are parallel compressed with Sknote’s Disto-S. It’s being hit HARD.

Reverb/delay:
Vocals: The lead has a little Abbey Road Plates (I favored highs), the backups are going to Abbey Road Chambers (I favored distance).
Guitar Solo: Waves H-Reverb, “Guitar Room” is my go-to for solos.
Acoustic licks: Waves H-Delay. Couldn’t resist. Tried to keep the repeats in the background, but I loved what they were doing for the groove.
Bell tree/FX: a wee bit of Valhalla Shimmer.
Everyone: Waves IR-1 with “Westlake Studio D”. I was futzing with a number of things but this just seemed to boost the overall smack and feeling of “a band in a room”. A happy accident, I’m still stoked.

Others:
Vocals: Aphex Vintage exciter and Sibilance. Just trying to boost the highs and add some excitement. It’s not that it’s a boring take, I just want to feel like I’m front row and you’re singing to ME.
Soothe: overheads, crash, ride. Attenuating the wee bit of whistles and trying to kind of dry out the cymbals. Again, I was thinking Neo-soul or at least a small intimate venue.
Everyone: bx_console AMEK 9099. I wanted some analog vibes, but this console sounds a little more polished than the others. Pop, but analog. Almost every instance is just providing a random channel except for the few previously mentioned places where I boosted the highs.

There’s some volume automation in the vocals (the end) and lead guitar (also the end). The acoustic riffs alternate slightly left and right. Otherwise I only muted the Reel ADT on the claps in the “bridge”. They MIGHT be too quiet because of that.

I have some metering (SPL Hawkeye and Logic Multimeter) and the Logic Gain set to mono on the stereo out. Just to check levels and hear it in mono from time to time.


That’s it! I hope I kept it simple and only boosted the original vision of the song. I had a lot of fun, 10/10 would repeat. Enjoy!

[MixedbyDane]

Hello everyone!
My name is Dane, and this is my first time joining one of these contests.

First things first, I do have to shoutout whomever recorded these tracks because they sound so beautiful. And Shoutout to Cristian for letting us have the stems to practice our mixing! I am in love with this song, and it has been stuck in my head this whole month.

Now with the mix breakdown, I would love to write everything going on in my thought process but It would fill pages and pages so i'll try to keep everything concise and to the point.

Firstly, I grouped the instruments (all guitars, piano, rhodes, strings, etc.) into an instrument bus. That bus contained saturation with the J37 plugin, compression with the H-comp plugin, a little EQ with Scheps73 plugin (shoutout Mr. Andrew Scheps), and some S1 Imager for some extra stereo separation. Each individual instrument had EQ as well by scheps73 plugin as well.

Next, DRUMS. Every drum including transitions and effects went to drum bus and like the instruments I EQ everything with scheps73 and each drum had compression with the CLA76 plugin. The Bus itself contains more compression by H-comp and SSL Drumstrip v6 for some extra oomph. And some secret sauce the izotope trash 2 plugin for some saturation

The vocals were very nice to mix. My biggest friend was panning but some EQ with scheps73 compression with RVOX and Waves DeEsser. Then some reverb with Trueverb plugin by waves and H-Delay to mesh vocals with beat nicely. All vocals tracks went to Vocal bus and that contains R Axx plugin by waves for compression and AVOX warm by Antares for some warmth. Only the main vocals i put autotune by antares on at about 14 retune speed.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wTfoet ... share_link

Good Luck to everyone and thank you again for providing this song!!

[J.Golden12345]

Here's my mix on the last minute. Just for the fun.

To my process:
Actually, I did 2 Mixes: one where I did everything I would normally do
(clean and perfect) and one wehre I did loose all restraints and tried Mixbox
on the acoustic guitar.
And since I had the time I experimented on the second more while taking some inspiration from
Toto (Toto IV - Waiting for your love) and on the solo guitar (Santana).
My basic approach was to use channel strips, eqs and compressors while using here and there Mixbox
with some unusual/strange settings.
Waves NLS Summer played also a big part in the whole process and was to be found on all buses.

On the last part I placed a console emulation and a tape emulation on the master bus as well as some EQ and a limiter
to catch some peaks above -0.6.

Some tiny automation was done on an extra Delay for the final vocal at the end part and a gate on the drum bus.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19kZob9 ... share_link

[Mister Fox]

It is the 22nd February 2022, 00:20 UTC+1/CET - the first Mix Round has officially ended

Another very warm welcome to all new participants, nice meeting you and I hope you'll enjoy your stay. Also, a huge "welcome back" towards old regulars. It's a pleasure seeing you. As usual, a huge thank you to everyone that is spreading the word about the Mix Challenge. I am curious where all of you come from. We haven't seen such a participation in years!

Please help get the Songwriting Competition as popular (less than 3 days left, currently 6 entries).


STATISTICS:

• If I didn't miscount, we have 96 submissions this month (95 prior to the deadline, 01 after the deadline)
• We have 1 submission after the deadline (as of 22-FEB-2023 0:20 UTC+1/CET)
• We have 3 submission that could not be downloaded by the time of this post and is therefore disqualified (re-checked 24-FEB-2023 10:30 UTC+1/CET)
• We have 0 submissions not submitted in public, but via PM (see Rule Book, post #6, Upload and Submission Guidelines)
• We have 0 submissions that have been withdrawn (but counts as entry within the deadline)
• Overview of Submissions - is your entry within given parameters? (PDF - updated: 26-FEB-2023 11:30 UTC+1/CET, full sheet)
• Overview of Submissions (disqualifications only) (PDF - updated: 26-FEB-2023 11:30 UTC+1/CET, full sheet)

INFORMATION:
Statistic Sheets have been updated (on 27-FEB-2022 06:00 UTC+1/CET)
Statistic Sheets are not available yet, please wait for the official announcement post -- sheets will arrive by mid 26-FEB-2023 latest
.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	Important Update: As of MC081, the Song Providers can now decide from the start, or once the Statistics Sheet has been provided, which route to go in terms of providing feedback. You can read more about this in the Mix Challenge - changes to main game (October 2021) thread. Our Song Provider for this month, @cristian_condrea, decided to go the "(Feedback for) Top 15" route. We will keep you updated.

.


I now open the field for everyone to give each other feedback (highly encouraged). This will be independent to the client feedback however.


Please watch this spot for the statistics sheet, client feedback and Mix Round 2 participant announcement.

Good luck to all participants.





The Songwriting Competition 066 (SWC066) is still in full swing.

The deadline is 24-FEB-2023, 23:59 UTC+1/CET. The genre is "Hip-Hop Music (Trap, Crunk)" (Theme: "It's a trap!"). So far we have 6 entries, with some interaction. Please share feedback, and maybe join yourself.

Please spread the word!



Additionally:

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	The Song Pool has run dry! The Mix(ing) Challenge can not continue without your help. Unfortunately, known "multi-track repositories" won't work for our community due to a myriad of reasons. Please reach out, become a Song Provider. Else, this might be our final Mix(ing) Challenge on the platform in the foreseeable future. I have been offered two more tracks, the "Integrity Checks" are also already finished. However, I am waiting for updates. Read more about the Song Pool Campaign and how to become a Song Provider here: Song Pool Campaign (Homepage) Song Provider Guidelines (Mix Challenge Rule Book) Thank you!