MIX CHALLENGE - MC097 April 2024 - Winners announced

[Mister Fox]

Okay, this is where I step in as host and "Keeper of the Code" (the Rule Book)

Hi sorry my english is not the best, but yes I use a trigger to get the sound I wanted on the snare, I could not do that?
I will change it back to brusches and reupload it

I kindly ask you to re-read the following:

• the "Before we get started" section of post #001
• Rules for participants of the Mix Challenge
• the MC097 Mix Pack bundled "TL;DR Rules.txt", most notably paragraph's 3 and 9

If you have trouble understanding / interpreting, please utilize a service like Deepl.

There is no excuse of "I didn't know this".
By joining any game on the Mix Challenge audio community, you agreed to the given terms and rules.



I've caught you breaking three rules now:

1. you didn't use the provided filename template, and actually changed the filename before you read my PM about this where I actually allowed this "just this once". In fact, you also ignored my PM with Mix Challenge 092 / June 2023
2. you used Drum Sample Replacement, despite multiple versions of the rules clearly stating "no drum sample triggering / replacement" (which will result in instant disqualification)
3. you assumed you are allowed to re-upload you entry (which you did on 05-APR-2024 08:30 and changed at 10:30) - you are mistaken. Your entry is final! (this also results in instant disqualification)

I am sorry, but your entry is now fully tagged "OUT" (no chance to advance with the help of a Wild Card).

Please consider this to be an important learning experience.
There is only so much leeway I can give to users -- and this will end now.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	A final heads up: To all new users, and those that haven't joined in more than two years, please get acquainted with the official Rules and Guidelines. Bar minimum, consult each Mix Pack bundled TL;DR Rules.txt Make sure that your entry is in order and within given parameters prior to submitting to MC097. Your entry is final! There are no changes allowed, unless you are selected for Mix Round 2.

Have fun, and good luck, everyone.

[TSTstudio]

This was only practice for me, delete it and I'm fine,
I'm 75 years old and do not see so well and I have a problem reading a whole book of rules anyway
Good luck

[BenjiRage]

Hi everyone

It's great to be back participating in the challenges this month. @A Future in Noise, thank you for doing the honours and keeping the challenge alive. The song is a fantastic arrangement and when everything is put together it truly comes alive with a 70s vibe, so this is the sound I aimed for - I used some Carly Simon tracks as a base reference and went from there.

I've tried to keep things quite subdued, not a lot of compression, careful with EQ'ing so the bass doesn't get overpowering and it doesn't get too bright, with lots of dark plate reverbs and subtle delays to try and emulate the era.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y6FAwL ... sp=sharing

Here are my production notes:

► Show Spoiler

• I started by doing my usual session organisation and grouping, creating busses for the drums and vocals; then had a quick listen through doing some level balancing and adding some initial reverbs to the Wurli and vocals.

• I've used both provided kick drums (these needed phase aligning in places) and both provided Wurlitzer tracks pretty much in equal balance, but I chose to use the DI guitar tracks only and not the pre-amped ones as I felt the amping done already sounded a little outside the era.

• The lead vocal chain focussed on creating a soft and gentle sound, airy but without harshness - I used an LA2A type compressor, various EQs, a de-esser and soothe2 to achieve this. Reverb and a quarter-note stereo delay were applied to taste with automations coming in and out as the track progresses. There is also quite a lot of level automation so the lead vocals don't seem too quiet nor too loud in places such as the middle break and coda.

• There is also a lead vox doubler effect that automates in for the chorus sections that gives the vocals a wider, more chorussy sounds reminiscent of the reference tracks.

• The line "self-defeating actions" in the intro vocals had a really unnatural sibilant so I copied a small section from the earlier phrase "the struggle", using the "ess" sound from here to replace it so it sounds more natural.

• The choir tracks were panned 80 L/R and 60 L/R to give a wide sound stage and I used an auto-panner on the wail track so it steadily flows left to right to back again rather than just being static in the stereo field.

• Similar panning was applied to the acoustic guitar, cello and trumpet tracks, splitting the pairs between left and right, while the Wurli's remain at 100 L/R in their stereo pairs.

• Reverbs of choice for this mix were Valhalla Vintage Verb for vocals / instruments and Valhalla Room for the drums.

• I added some additional amping on the bass guitar with an Ampeg SVT-3 plugin to get it to sit better in the mix.

• I used a little bit of tape saturation via Waves Kramer Tape on the master bus, making use also of the slap delay feature, to further try and emulate the era.

• Compressors of choice were mostly PSP Vintage Warmer, Bomb Factory BF-3A, and Massey CT-5 for this one.

• EQ's used include FabFilter Pro-Q3 (really surgical and great for spectral analysis), Massey VT3 (wonderful for broad strokes in three distinct bands), BX SSL 4000 E-Channel and Waves Kramer HLS.

• Master limiting with DMG Audio Limitless.

• Loudness monitoring with TC Electronic LM2n.

• Mixed in Pro Tools.

All the best

Benji

[UHLS]

hello and thank you for the opportunity to mix this beautiful song. i didn't use any special tricks - just automated the vocals and some of the other instruments. since the song is on the peaceful side, i used relatively little compression to preserve the existing microdynamics of instrumentalists. unfortunately, the main vocals, and especially the backing vocals of the main singer are quite noisy. so all other tracks are subordinate to the main vocal, because of the noise levels.
in any case, i enjoyed mixing the song, knowing that a different selection of instruments in different sections could support the song even better, such as other drums in the chorus. this would allow another mixing options, such a more overdrive on guitar, and another posibilities.
but i like the song on that way too.
plugins used:
e-gtr di: bias amp 66 british tb30
solo gtr di: bias amp british plexi 50w
delays: 3 x waves super tap
reverbs: 3 x waves h reverb
eqs: waves f6, noise ash rule tec, kuassa eve at-1
comps: waves dbx 160, kush audio ar-1

my mix:
https://workupload.com/file/p88nmBn7Rxr

[benammi]

Hi this is my mix :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N7CeKR ... sp=sharing


As I mix this rock anthem, I blend the electric guitar's raw power with the ethereal beauty of feminine vocals. The electric piano, bass, and acoustic drums form a dynamic foundation. Careful balancing ensures each element shines. I sculpt the vocals to draw listeners in. The bassline anchors the groove, while the acoustic drums add warmth. Panning and effects create depth and movement. Every adjustment captures the song's emotional intensity. The final mix embodies the spirit of the original performance, a testament to music's power.

[yoruhitp]

It's been a really long time since I participated in a contest.
How is everyone doing?

Please download the sound source I mixed from the URL below.
https://tinyurl.com/22g25uhw


Well, this song is a very good song that reminds me of my favorite ABBA.
The vocals are very nice, like Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
So, I decided to mix this song with the atmosphere of "Fernando" and "I have a dream" as a reference.

Since this song is both aggressive and silent, noise is the enemy, so we removed noise from each track.
We did it thoroughly.
Acoustic guitar pick noise, electric guitar line signal de-hum, vocal and chorus mouse noise, headphone bleeding, etc.

Each track has a saturator inserted at the beginning that emulates the OLD Neve mixing console.
Basic sound creation was done with bx_Focusrite.

In order to support the bass part of the song with the bass guitar, I set the kick signal below 100hz to be reduced by 6db using the bass guitar's side-chain input.

The drum snare didn't have enough attack, so I duplicated the snare track and added a high pitch snare-like attack sound through Metric halo's MH Thump.

The electric guitar was reamped. The rhythm guitar is an Orange cabinet emulation, and the guitar solo is a Vox cabinet emulation.

For the Wurlitzer, the line sound was too raw, so I used an emulation of Blue line 65 cabinets to create the feel of a Wurlitzer 210 recorded with a microphone.
Additionally, I used the BOSS CE-1 Chorus plug-in.

For the vocals, I used the IR reverb plug-in to add only ER and passed it through the plate reverb plug-in.

For the trumpet and strings, I added reverb using IR from Japan's ONKYIO Haus studio.

[MartialFromentin]

Hello there!

Nice song and very nice voice!

I used an Helios channel strip (preamp + Eq) on every track to get a vintage vibe. I love the Helios germanium preamp, the Eq is not the most versatile but it sounds good and it forces to make choices. The mixing approach is quite simple:

- kick (both tracks): dbx160, Helios CS
- snare: transient shaper, Helios CS
- toms: dbx160, Helios CS
- hihat and cymbals: Helios CS
- bass: Helios CS, Distressor
- acoustic guitars: LA2A, Helios CS
- electric guitars (DI and amp together): LA2A, Helios CS
- wurlitzer: chorus, opto comp, Helios CS
- strings: Helios CS
- trumpets: opto comp, Helios CS, Saturation Knob
- lead vox: Silk Vocal, Helios CS, serial comps, Fresh Air, tube saturation, limiter
- backing vox: Silk Vocal, Helios CS, comp, limiter

- 1 reverb for drums
- 1 reverb for some instruments (acoustic guitars, wurlitzer)
- 1 reverb for the lead vox
- 1 long reverb (strings, trumpets, vox wail and choir)
All the reverbs are subtle and filtered (HPF and LPF), there's an automation to send the lead vox to the long reverb, just before the guitar solo.

There are also 2 parallel comp buses :
- NYC comp bus (drums): Eq, 1176
- Rear bus (bass, instruments, vocals, reverbs): dual mono comp

- Mix bus: SSL bus comp, tape saturation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1237Olh ... drive_link

Good luck everyone!

[zed999]

Many thanks to Future in Noise and Mr Fox for the opportunity to mix this beautiful well arranged, well recorded song.

In the circumstances, rather than listing vst plugins and specific technical talk (the "how") I thought I'd stick mostly to the "why" I hope that's ok. Whether I got anywhere towards succeeding in my intentions on my mix is another matter.

Because it was so well arranged and recorded I felt a new freedom to concentrate on trying to respect but magnify the arrangement with automation, widening, panning, reverbs...There was a certain amount of production and arrangement (and great performance) baked into the tracks which I let lead me (there were reverbs, echos on some tracks for example).

I gave the supplied master a quick listen but after that I didn't reference it again or anything else.

I wanted an open mix with space for everything including "space" - faders up it's a busy flat mix. My general philosophy was to have the main players spread but comparatively central with drums bass and main vocal right in the centre then clear everything else out the centre stage.
Pairs of instruments that were playing off each other were panned on opposite sides to create interest and movement then sometimes exaggerated with automation.
I used a lot of mid/side and width vsts (all free ones) for example on the stereo strings track I used 2x width maximisers, then completely cut out the mids leaving just the sides, then I added a reverb send so that the only part of the strings between the speakers is reverb.

I tried to make the chorus parts wider and fuller. That's where the widened, panned tracks are mostly and they also have reverb. To help make space for that reverb I used the clean guitar track with a clean amp sim and used the supplied processed one in the verses and towards the end of the song. Every little helps?
I didn't use any echoes but my mix has plenty of atmosphere reverbs. I used a ducked Bricasti (long room) IR on the main vocals, another the same but not ducked on all the other vocals and choir vocals. For everything else I used VSTs of Quantex room and "Evolution" Reverbs mixed up depending of how far back I wanted things. The Bricasti kind of leaves the source where it is, the Quantex Evolution is good for taking it's source back with it

Ha-Ha, I know that all sounds pretentious, I do know that, but trying to home in on and bring out the intended emotions of a song is the job right? Ask any pro mixer (not me!) and they'll say song, arrangement, performance, production - when you have all those you can have fun instead of fixing things.
@Mister Fox - is this sufficient? I can detail the mechanics more if necessary

Here it is anyway.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ubjg62d4 ... 8so5w&dl=0

Edit: I thought I'd just do it to be safe and possible interest, I thought about it and I enjoy listening to the uploaded mixes while reading the details so here it is:

► Show Spoiler

Drums -
Used alternative kick and Claro eq - I like this one for it's auto volume control
Snare - Claro eq
Hats - nothing
Toms - some cuts to remove some click and resonance, clip gain
cymbals - Silk vocal tamer thing (free at the time)
Drum bus - Voosteq model N channel strip: pre amp, compression, eq tamed the kick subs and helped the snare to punch without changing it really! Not free but dirt cheap and highly recommended Neve channel emulation. Definitely sub £20.
Love the brushes.

Bass - TSE Audio BOD bass overdrive to taste. (free)

Keys - As bass on the overdrive track, about 50/50 with clean track, slight bass shelf cut on it's bus

Acoustic 1 & 2 - nothing but panning
Acoustic sampled - Wider (free) Ozone imager (free)
Acoustic bus - low and high pass

El Guitars -
DI - Ampcraft SIM,
FX track eq,
Solo - Ampcraft SIM, FIRComp (free) Replica echo (free)

Vocals - the usual overdone compression, multi-band this and that and de-essing spiral... then clip gain, scale all those things right back/remove them. Vocals, the most important and the most difficult.
Under - compression, eq
Wail - nothing
bus for those ended up empty.
Reverb as mentioned earlier.
Choir panned, eq and reverb send on bus

Strings as detailed earlier + eq
Cello - both tracks just reverb, panning

Trumpets - nothing, panned, they already had reverb that was perfect
bus - eq

mix bus - tickle of slow compression, eq, limiter to chop just the few errant peaks that sometimes happen as instruments combine.
Some automated fairly subtle spacial effects and low-mid harmonic generator.

Stacks of volume, clip gain and effects automation.

No chorus, flange, doubling, shapers, very little compression - just eq, balance, pan, spacial effects and automation.

[doobop]

Hi everybody!

I always start with a rough mix to get the feeling of the song and evaluate the raw tracks.

Then I started the mix and I used a lot of EQ, compressors and FX.
I didn’t use delays on Vocals as it is heard on the master, I liked better the feeling of natural space for this particular song so I only used Reverbs.
My goal was for every instrument to be heard but with perspective what is important and what is coming as a fulfilment of the arrangement.

Have a listen and tell me your thoughts!

Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9cthqq09 ... qumg9&dl=0

Bye,
Doobop

[Rockincher]

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

(text translated from French with Google translate)

Hello everyone,

This is my first participation in the Mix Challenge. I work on Studio One with a harmonic multibus processing chain based on Mickael Brauer's technique.

I start by cleaning up my sources with subtractive EQ and clipping compression (if necessary). I then send them into subgroups to apply a channel strip and a more typical compression according to needs, and other ameliorative treatments. I then send my subgroups to their respective groups to provide final processing such as preamp emulation and compressors which provide harmonics. These groups go into a summing slice on which I apply a tape magneto emulation which I send to my main slice on which I pass through an SSL type compressor, a magneto emulator and various other treatments in order to obtain the levels recommended by the specifications (-16db LUFS and -1db TP, in this case).

I mixed following the song's supplier's guidelines, trying to give a more natural sound to the drums, keep all the sounds present enough to be audible and have a better balance between the Rhode and the guitar on the intro. Finally, I wanted the whole thing to remain in a vintage atmosphere to stay in the spirit of the piece.

Thank you for this initiative which makes you want to surpass yourself.

Here is a short video to present my session (in French) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXKQChsPj4E