MIX CHALLENGE - MC096 February 2024 - Winners announced

[Christoph_K]

First - as always - a big thanks to the provider @Jorgeelalto for giving us this fun track to play with!

I am always fascinated how mixing can get you falling in love with a genre you normally don’t listen to. And this track went on heavy rotation in my car and got me vibing into the day

May way to the mix went this way:

Phase one: The conservative route.
The tracks were a breeze to work with. Nice production, everything had its pocket right from the start (more or less). My first goal was a static mix with a good balance. I then sidechained some of the tracks with the kick and bussed all in one music bus except the kick and sidechained that again to get more punch. On that musicbus is the silverbullet mk2 plugin to get some nice saturation.

Phase 2: Finding the edge of boom.
I just got my Neumann NDH30 for checking the low end: I love these cans! They helped me a lot to take a closer look for matching kick and Bass SEQ with bx_digital V3. Smack attack for the smack (obviously) and Acustica Audio Ash for clipping. I kept myself oriented at the original mix regarding the hi passed sections. The Bass SEQ has a bx_subfilter for low end punch and Basslane (the free version) for widening. Yes, I love stereo basses

Phase 3: Get crazy.
I made heavy use of ShaperBox 3. Yes, please don’t ask for details, I don’t understand this plugin yet. I just fiddled around until I found something interesting. I used it do duck, stutter, slowdown, distort, add ambience and what not. The rest is some bx_digital V3, smack attack on some stabs, SSL4k for some tracks to add top end and saturation.

On the mixbus there is the Softube bus processor, Ash Ultra for clipping and the El Juan Limiter. A quite minimalistic setup for me

Here’s my entry:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5eii43k80b4wj ... K.wav?dl=0

Good luck everyone!

[MartialFromentin]

Hello everybody!

This is the link to my mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hPe-Ky ... sp=sharing

I listened to the release version just once so as not to be influenced.

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Technical choices:
As usual: frequency cleaning, gain staging, panning (true stereo panning for stereo tracks), first balance...

Drums:
- blended kicks: compression, Eq
- snare roll: transient shaper, Neve Eq
- percs: transient shaper
- drums bus: saturation, transient shaper, clipper, air, 1176 parallel compression

Bass:
I decided to use the "Sequencer 1" track as main bass track.
- "Bass" and "Sequencer 1": dynamic Eq
- bass bus: compression, Basslane plugin to keep the low end in mono, dynamic Eq (kick sidechain, ducking at 50Hz)

Synths:
- complementary Eqs on some tracks
- stereo widening for some tracks
- synths bus: saturation, Basslane plugin

Vox:
- cleaning with Izotope RX Repair
- Silk Vocal
- Neve Eq
- compression

Reverb:
A single reberb for the whole mix.

Mix bus:
- a little bit of Eq for the global tone
- SSL bus comp
- tape saturation

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Creative choices:
- snare rolls: stereo widening automation (mono at the begining, 100% stereo at the end)
- ride: chorus to create a little movement and to get it wider, pumping effect automation during the first snare roll (0% pumping at the begining, 100% pumping at the end)
- synths: auto panning ("Distorted synth shots" and "Synth shots" are panned automatically on the opposite side)
- FX: auto panning (the two tracks are panned automatically on the opposite side). Fracture plugin (glitch) automation on the "FXs 1" track (0% at the beginning of the first snare roll, 100% at the end to get a nice "total destruction and chaos" effect. 50% glitch after the final kick hit at the end of the track)
- vox: "Spiral Delay" plugin (with a compression sidechained to the vocal track for ducking)

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I'm quite happy with the result and I think I can't do more for this first round.

I am really curious to hear all the different mixes... So many possibilities and creative choices!

[juhu]

My unfiltered initial reaction: the Official Release version sounds pretty close to perfect already, thus setting the bar rather high... On the fence about participating... Anyone else feeling this way for this reason, or am I the only coward?

Definitely try then! I recommend not listening to the original mix anymore and comparing with other tunes.
That way you can have a frame of reference but you don't necessarily try to get close to the demo. Cheers

You may have talked me into it - in fact, I've already started my mix, and I must say I'm having lots of fun doing it as the material offers lots of different options in terms of what kind of groove to aim for, I just hope I'll find the time to complete it before deadline, and that it won't completely deflate after A/B-ing against suggested reference tracks with fresh ears

[alavault]

Hello.
Mix: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lc_-u4 ... drive_link]

Overall idea: I felt the original lacked a bit of aggression and ambiance for my taste. In other words, reverb and saturation to the "rescue".
Overall process: negative EQ (what is too much), positive EQ (what is not enough), saturation (what is not enough, but in terms of spectral content not balance), compression (is the punch and sustain alright?).
Drums and percussion:

• Kicks: the main kick was hard clipped to make the pitch glide more apparent while retaining some punch. The "rumble" track was gated to not muddy up the bottom too much.
• Hi-hats: overall saturation and slight panning
• Ride: trying to distort was not really a thing I liked. Some I went for the bit crusher route
• Snare: nothing too fancy. Saturation to make it pop out of the rest of the saturated mess.
• Ambiance: 2 reverb - a room and a chamber. Everybody goes to both except the kicks.
• Parallel compression: a fast attack-fast release for the kicks and hi-hats

Bass: OTT all the way! And saturation.
Lead: Nothing too fancy here. Again, saturation and that's about it. Plate with pre-delay and 1/4 note delay for ambiance.
Sequencers:

• Overall: you guessed it-saturation.
• Sequencer 1: since it's quite low, it needed to be buried out. For that, multiband saturation with everything above 2k.
• Sequencer 2: similar to seq1 in terms of parts but higher. This one does not need the multiband saturation, but a bit of EQ.
• Sequencer 3: a kind of low lead. Overall same treatment with added compression and hard clipping (to push the volume up)
• Sequencer 4: Arp like on the sides. Lacked a bit of width for my taste=widener! Mostly because it interfered with Seq3 in terms of width separation.
• Ambience: Room+Chamber for everybody. Seq3 has a plate with pre-delay (the same as for the lead) and 1/4 note delay.

Pads:

• Saturation to bring them out. And widening for everybody.
• Phased pad: stole the pumping effect from @Christoph_K. Might as well steal from the Greats!

Shot synths:

• Shots: spread left and right + reverb. This allows to make room for the EDM Stab in the middle.
• Lead Stab: Sent to the lead plate + 1/8D note delay.

FX&Reece:

• You know the drill by now.
• Voice sample: Reused the idea of delay throw of @Christoph_K with a 1/4D+1/2 note ping pong delay. Because I fucked up the feedback it went into a spatial noise that was quite fun to listen to.
• Ambience: used a long hall reverb with no predelay. Push the FX&Reece into the back.

Mix Bus:

• Tessla for drive and width. And a ReaLimit. That's it.

[kombainera]

@Mister Fox sorry if this is a flood for the topic but i keep reading that people put limiters on there mix buses i know that its not a big deal but kinda feel that its a bit unfair for the rest of us that don't do it. At the end when someone must choose the louder mix will sound better every time even with 2 db above the rest.I have no idea if this has been discussed before but I'm really interested to see what you all think about it. I know that if I use a multiband compressor at the end it is almost the same as putting a limiter -1 - 2 db, but nevertheless I have the feeling, at least for myself, that I should keep my limiters for the "mastering challenge"

[Christoph_K]

As we must not exceed -16LUFS here that shouldn’t be a problem at all. Other thing is that the provider is (hopefully) listening to the entries with gain compensation. I use Hornet Autogain for that. So there’s nothing to worry about IMO.

[Mister Fox]

Yes, the loudness limit is -16 LUFS (for the Mix Challenge) and ideally, the Song Provider listens to all entries loudness normalized.

However, the use of Summing Bus Compression and Safety Limiting has been a (valid) thing in recent years.

It just depends on how you use these tools.


To give you an example: both Rock and Electronic can benefit from "compacting" a mix ever so slightly (also known as "Summing Glue"). Some people already start with this at the beginning of mixing (aka the infamous SSL Console Summing Glue trick), others at the end of it (to add some final touches). A subtle 2dB to 3dB of gain reduction can go a really long way. Although maybe careful grouping of sections might work better for you -- you never know.


"Safety Limiting" is a different topic. In some cases, it's good to have. Another example: Let's say your mix has an average signal strength of -16,5LUFS -- it might be "on the hot side", but you're within given limits.

However, the mix you worked on has a lot of transients, and they tend to go rogue. In this case, a True Peak Limiter at -1,1dBTP (some limiters can still overshoot!) on the summing bus as absolute safety net is still feasible to keep things in check. Although, maybe you can already prevent that excessive "rogue peaking" while mixing with other means (for example: maybe check your transient shapers, or use a clipper on the individual signal or on a group at a more reasonable setting).



This is not an invitation to "always have these things on". It really depends on the production you've been given to work on. Some tracks might not need this at all. For others, a suitable stack of groups already does wonders. And for some, "a 2dB gain reduction touch" is the solution to get the final spark going.

The overall goal of the Mix(ing) Challenge is to create a well balanced mix with barely any needed after-touches after all.

So far, neither I nor any Song Provider did object to you (the participant) using such measures, as long as it remained "tasteful", and the final product sounded good (also see Rule Book -- which do need the occasional update, indeed).


Whatever works for you - and you never know how your opinion might change over time.
This is what the Mix Challenge is all about. Learn and grow from the experience.

[cpsmusic]

My unfiltered initial reaction: the Official Release version sounds pretty close to perfect already, thus setting the bar rather high - therefore, as a hobbyist mixer, I know for sure that I personally lack the experience required to reach anywhere close to that level. That being said, this would be a good opportunity to at least try to improve my mixing skills relative to my own current level, even if I know I won't reach the bar set above - maybe I'll at least improve over my own current shadow? On the fence about participating... Anyone else feeling this way for this reason, or am I the only coward?

I'm definitely putting in a mix, but I feel like I need to do a bit of homework first regarding the musical style and what's appropriate. Back to school I go...

Cheers!

[cpsmusic]

Hi All,

In the notes it mentions "The ride cymbal track is provided clean but I would like you to create a distorted sound with it. What I'm doing in the original mix is some distortion and then low frequency ring modulation to simulate it being distorted with a low frequency signal." Is the "Ride - Ring Modulation - example with kHs Ring Mod" capture what the song provider wants us to use?

Cheers!

[Mister Fox]

I can not speak for @Jorgeelalto, but I can at least talk about this particular screenshot.

This is but an example of a tool you could use. While testing the multi-tracks myself, kHs Ring Mod was the first Ring Modulator I reached for, did some experiments and got close(r) to the sound of the initial multi-tracks I got to take a look at (which had the Ring Modulation "printed"). Jorgeelalto used what was built into FL studio.

I would say: please use whatever you think gets the the required "distorted sound". Be creative.
Maybe your approach is different, which works better for the final mix.