MIX CHALLENGE - MC096 February 2024 - Winners announced

[JeroenZuiderwijk]

Hi all

First of all a big thanks to Jorgeelalto and Mr. Fox! Happy we still have a mix to challenge. Great track, very powerfull and with lots of twists and build ups to keep the energy going throug the whole song. Nice!

For me this was a challenge because I am more used to mix pop – rock music. But the provided tracks are of great quality and that gave me the change to spend more time on the creative side of mixing.

I grouped the tracks into 3 different categories 1) drum 2) bass / synth 3) special effects (like risers and short sounds).
Group 1 and 2 are effected by the kick with side chain compression to give a little bit of pumping effect.
The drums are split into a clean and a parallel compression group.

I spend a lot of time on the kick sound. I wanted it to be very loud but still having enough room in my mix for the other elements. I used eq and different types of compression and transient shaper to shape the sound into something I felt that was working well for the mix.

I pesonally like mixes with lots of grittyness. Clean sounds are not my thing I guess. So I used lots of distorion plug ins and exciters to make it less clean. To keep the mix from turning into chaos I automated the effects and volume.

For the break at 2:30 I used an automated pich-shifter for a more dramatic effect on the bass/synth.

There is a plug-in called time-verb that is a free reverb effect. It is everthing a Lexicon is not….it sounds harsh, metalic and is way too easy overdone. But used with care it can sound amazing you can hear it on the vocal track.

But for the most part…automation was the trick. Lots of moments there was too much going on at once so I needed to create space with volume automation and panning automation.

Here is my mix.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/baqjt16v ... kklx5&dl=0

LUFS-I (-16.1)
True peak (-1,9)
WAV, 44kHz, 24bit

Cheers,
Jeroen

[cpsmusic]

Hi Everyone,

Here's my entry for Mix Challenge 096.

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

Thanks to the song provider and to the challenge organisers.

This was a really interesting song to mix for several reasons. Firstly, the reference mix was excellent so the bar was set very high! Secondly, with EDM it's difficult to know how to balance the individual tracks as many contain abstract sounds so the process is very different to that for acoustic instruments such as drums where you have a rough idea of the individual balances due to the nature of the instrument itself. Thirdly, because a lot of the tracks have been created by the producer it stands to reason that they already sound the way the producer wants them to sound. All this makes mixing EDM quite a challenge! So with that in mind, my goal for the mix was to create something with enhanced clarity and space while remaining true to the genre and the direction of the reference mix.

As with previous mixes I tried to limit the number of plug-ins used. Claro was used on most channels for subtractive EQ-ing while bx_console SSL 4000 E was used for EQ boosts. The stock Studio One compressor was used for basic compression duties.

Something that I thought would be fun to try for this mix was using some of the enhancer-type plug-ins that I've collected. I generally use these pretty sparingly on acoustic tracks as they can sound a bit artificial. However, they seem to work pretty well for synth tracks. A hardware SPL Vitalizer was used for a submix of mid-high sources. Noveltech's Character was used on some of the pads. Slate's Fresh Air was used on the kick.

The two vocal tracks had their own ping-pong delay using TB Reelbus with 1/8 and 1/8T settings for the L/R channels.

As this is EDM I thought I'd better add some pumping to the mix, but rather than using compressor-ducking I opted for Cableguys Volumeshaper. I also used Focusrite Reveal to "duck" a few of the tracks that clashed with the lead tracks.

Spatial effects were pretty standard although I tried to keep them subtle. Dry sounds had an ambience added which was a combination of Waves TrueVerb and PSP 2445. There was also a 1/4 note delay with minimal repeats, as well as a long, dark hall reverb from an SRV-330. The hall had additional ping-pong delays, saturation and chorusing added for extra depth.

The mixbus was as follows - TDR Limiter 6 was used for clipping to catch stray peaks, Sonimus N Console (in bus mode) was used for warmth, IK Precision Compressor (2-3dB of gain reduction) was used for "glue", while McDSP MC2000 was used for tonal balance. Inflator was used for "forwardness", while TB Reelbus was used to reduce digital harshness, I find that Reelbus is great for this thanks to its Hysteresis and Tape Age settings. Finally, the God Particle was used without the limiter engaged and in external mode, a trick I picked up from Panorama Mastering.

Specs:

24-bit/44.1 kHz
-16.5 LUFS (int.)
-4.8 dBTP

Good luck to all contestants and once again thanks to everyone involved in the challenge.

Cheers!

[ConcreteMixer]

Thanks to Jorgeelalto and Mark II for providing the track.

This particular track was super fun to work with because there is so much candy to manipulate. It was almost overwhelming!

For this mix, I took the approach that I was going to do my own style with this so I really turned this into a glitchy, 2010'sish Dubstep inspired mix without any real adjustments to the arrangement, moving parts around, etc. This means there is Ohmicide all over this track completely mangling and distorting the synths and basses. One of the most interesting items was the ride cymbal which created an almost "whipping" sound when run through a preset filter in Ohmicide.

Another notable aspect of the mix is the automation. There is a ton of automation going on: panning, filter sweeps, wet to dry and vice versa, etc.

Mixed in Ableton Live through Slate VSX monitoring.

ConcreteMixer's Mix

[ggibson1988]

Here is my mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VtD8qq ... share_link

This was super fun and much appreciation to Mark II for providing this song and MR. Fox for providing this service.

My Process:



Kicks:
Kick Punch: Pro Q 3 and Oxide Tape saturation. Sent to 2 aux with low pass at 50 Hz and boost at 30 Hz. Added plate verb on second Aux and sent back to first Aux for additional sub bass.
Kick Tail: Gated to get out of the way of the main Kick. Pro Q 3 high pass at 90 Hz.

All Kick tracks and Aux routed to Kick Bus with Distressor, Pro Q 3 and plate verb to taste.

Snare Roll: Scheps Omni Channel with added saturation, slight gating and compression.

Added Lofi for additional distortion / saturation and Pro Q 3.

Hats all had Lofi and Pro Q 3.

Ride as requested had quite a bit of distortion / saturation via Lofi and Oxide Tape.

Synth Shots and Extra Tops had Ozone Imager for additional width as well as Pro Q 3 for equalization.

All Above routed to Drum Bus and Drum Bus 2 for parallel comp.

Drum Box featured clipper, API 2500 compressor and Pro Q 3 for additional cleanup.

Used Sequencer 1 as main synth bass and duplicated, using low pass on 1st and high pass on second. Pro Q 3 on both and slight compression on both.

Sequencer 2: Pro Q 3 and Ozone Imager for width.

Sequencer 3: Separated out Middle section and duplicated. Processed each each with different filters to create bass track and melody track.

Ozone imager added to all Sequencer 3 tracks.

Choir: Pro Q 3 and Ozone Imager

Distorted Stabs and Dub Pads: Just EQ.

EDM Stab: Sans Amp for distortion and Pro Q 3 for EQ.

Only 1/8 and 1/4 delay on FX

Lead 1/4 delay and Pro Q 3.

Reece: Pro Q 3, distressor and Ozone Imager.

Sequencer 4 and Atmos: Pro q 3 and Valhala Space Mod .

Vocal: Lofi for distortion and delayed pitch shift for falling-off tails.

Minimal Processing on Mix Bus with only EQ, API 2500 Bus Comp in Glue 1 preset and Tape Saturation.

[AlexAlba]

Hi! I recently discovered this site - it's great that something like this exists. Thank you, Mark, for providing the awesome track, even though EDM isn't really my musical home. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun mixing the song.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xd4ui- ... sp=sharing

For documentation of the most significant modifications:

I used an instance of Waves SSL E Channel on nearly every channel for basic EQ and minimal compression.
I created a copy of BD Punch and attempted to remove the attack using Pro-Q3 and an envelope shaper to bring out the 1/16 delay. The channel was heavily distorted and subjected to a lot of automation.The ride cymbal was distorted using a bitcrusher.I emphasized the upper mids of the snare rolls slightly using an Ozone equalizer in transient mode.The claps were selectively given delays. After the breakdown, I copied the Sequencer 2 bass and ran it through an amp emulation. On the original track, I applied a subtle phaser and ozone imager for extra widening. Now onto the track Sequencer 3: I automated the reverb send so that the sequencer "sneaks in" from the background. I applied an instance of Soothe2 to the lower mids to dampen some resonances. All tracks were routed to one of three reverbs. On the stereo bus, I used the SSL bus compressor with 1-2 dB of gain reduction and applied some EQ.

Thank you once again for the opportunity to participate here!


24-bit / 44.1 kHz
-18.6 LUFS-I
-1.9 dBTP

[Pitta]

Hello good people!
Here's my mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I-o__d ... sp=sharing

Thanks @Jorgeelalto for the opportunity.
Never mixed nothing in this style before, neither I usually listen to. So, it was a fun challenge.
Wanted to make the kick shorter so I used compression with slow attack and releasing before the 16th notes tail to bring them up too. Complementing this, I've side chained the rumble with the kick ducking and releasing so it accentuates and shows his head on the 4th 16th of the tempo. The subs are being ducked on the rumble and sequencer1 tracks when the kick hits.
Used a bunch of instances of Waves NLS (nonlinear summing) and played with driving and choosing different busses and channels. The rest was mostly hipass, low pass filters and some low mids control.
Then, had some fun playing with panning, mutes, modulation, distortion, phaser, phase, tremolo, reverb and delay throws, I'm sending kick and hi hats to a delay that I ride in same moments to add more movement and a kind of a tom sound. For now, that’s what I remember that might be interesting for you.
Thanks for listening. Cheers

Pedro Pitta Groz

[Pitta]

Hey AlexAlba. I think your link isn't working. You have to give permission.

[PeterGomes]

Hello all,
Below is my entry:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqOBOoU-WAHagu8Mist ... w?e=R4lycK

First I would like to thank Mister fox for hosting the competition and @Jorgeelalto for providing a really nice track.

Here is a breakdown of my mix

Kick – Pro Q
Rumble -soothe sidechain
Snare- Pro Q
HI HATS – Pro Q and Vahala Plate
Bass- Pro Q, and a send to a parallel that has a blackbox
Synths – EQ and send to parallel bus with the black box. Also send them to a reverb bus
Pads- eq and verb
Master bus – unisom, shadow hills, fab MB and EQ

Good luck to everyone

[rvalle]

Hi.

Here's my mix
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VQi4_A ... sp=sharing

Very nice Techno tune!
This time, I worked on the kick to get a bit more distortion, using the Soundtoys Decapitator.
In the hats, the concern was to reduce the harshness and also to control some more apparent resonances in the treble region.
I used a fairly discreet delay and reverb for the ambience.
I also opted for a little distortion on the synthesizers.
And then, some gain automation.

Thanks @Jorgeelalto for this challenge.

[Davias]

So glad to mix some electro this time ! Very nice track again.

Sadly no time to add transition FX, so I post the mix "dry"

I did mainly stereo compatibility stuff, saturation on some elements like the retro bass, reverb on some elements, API compression on the beat, Vari Mu compression on the main mix followed by a pulltec and a slight tape saturation, also a little bit of EQ here and there, SSL console emu on all track to give some vibe.

Here is the mix, I hope to improve the transitions (like in the original mix) and the disto on the ride cymbal if I ever make it to round 2

Mix : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KITFRLsYCTktyBH6U5I7txMlPJy-6DYW/view?usp=sharing

Good luck to everyone