MIX CHALLENGE - MC098 June 2024 - Winners announced

[asiohead]

Hey Everyone. I really had a great time working on this beautiful song !
Thanks to Arnwyn & Mr Fox

here is my mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfZXcT ... sp=sharing

drums
EQ, gave the kick a bit more volume, and removed a bit of the top thud , added some VintageWarmer
did the same with the toms, more volume and added a little bit of Raum reverb
tiny bit of reverb on the stick & hats

bass
EQ, denoiser & Fundamental Bass

piano
PSP Infinistrip for EQ & comp + denoiser

guitar
EQ

vocals
de-essing on the lead focals, some EQ, FAT Channel compression
some EQ & OrilRiver reverb on the backing vocals

[Davias]

Here is my mix : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uJxH7dW_zP9ZxaZp1MRrlzw-dWHglce3/view?usp=sharing


Hope I"m not too late, coz I didn't read it was UTC +2 this time and not +1...

For he mix I mostly cleaned with EQ, table saturation, compression and stereo imagig

[shoma]

Hi @all!

At first a big "thank you" to Arnwyn & Mr Fox for giving us the opportunity to mix this wonderful song.

This is my submission:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pc5WzU ... sp=sharing

So...what have I done to achieve my mix? Well...a lot :-D

At first I imported the files into Cubase 13 Pro and used the internal funktion to gainstage every track to -12 dB. I like to have headroom. ^^

I started with a static mix without any effets to see what is needed, set the levels of each track and to get a feeling for the athmosphere of this song.

Then I treated every channel:

Kick:

UAD Century Channel Strip for basic analog feel and a rounder tone. CraveEQ für surgical EQ, smartEQ for dynamic eqing and Eventide Omnipressor for some shaping. Newfangled Punctuate for controlling the transients

Sidestick Snare

UAD Century Channel Strip, CraveEQ and SplitEQ for softening transients

Snare:

UAD Century Channel Strip

HiHat:

UAD Century Channel Strip

Toms:

UAD Century Channel Strip -> Tom group -> Eventide Omnipressor and Punctuate for softening the transients

Cymbals:

UAD Century Channel Strip, CraveEQ and UnHarsh2 to soften harshness -> Group channel: Soothe2 and Omnipressor to get some softer results

--> SendFX for snare and toms with Relab Lexicon480 Small Room

--> SendFX for Cymbals with Tai Chi "for some ambience)

Drum Group:

Just some very light compression (-1 dB) with Steven Slates VBC Rack. I only used the fairchild portion in this rack.

Bass:

UAD Oxide Tape, UAD Century Channel Strip, CraveEQ and Waves RBass --> Bass Send FX with Sonsig ACE and LoCut

Piano:

SmartEQ4 for dynamic eqing, CraveEQ for the surgical stuff and Maag RQ4 sor some soft "glitter", SplitEQ for controlling the transients, soft compression wth UAD LA-2A and Soundtoys Superplate as an insert effect.


Guitar:

I've used both tracks and treated them with dynamic eq by smartEQ4 and soft compression with Kiive Audio Tube-KC-1
I added some manual time correction because of the phase issues of the 2nd guitar

Guitar Group:
SplitEQ for transient control, MaagEQ4 for some magic, UAD Capitol Chambers for a little room reverb, some widenig with Leapwing Stage 2

LeadVocal:

Unharsh2 for softer treble and some kind of deessing, smartEQ for dynamic eqing,CraveEQ for the surgery, GainAim for levelling and Kiive Tube KC-1 for compression.

Same goes for the doubled vocal, but for this one I added a Send FX with Soundtoys Primal Tap with a minimal amount of Slapback Echo...

Both Vocals the went into a group channel with UAD Capitol Chambers and dynamic eq with SmartEQ4

--> SendFX for all vocal (including BackingVoc) --> Reverb Foundry Tai Chi

I thought of adding somethig "robotic" to the vocals and had something like a Vocoder in mind. But that would have led to adding a chord track as a carrier or modulator and I thought this might not be allowed...

Backing Voc:

For every track: CraveEQ for minor eqing and UAD LA-3A for soft compression.

--> BackingVoc group channel:

UAD Capitol Chambers, Gullfoss for minor correction, Stage 2 for some widening and CraveEQ for some further minor corrections.

That sums it up so far. Any questions? Just ask., I will happily answer :-)

[rvalle]

Thanks @Arnwyn for the opportunity.

A minimalist mix, but no less enjoyable. Very good music with beautiful vocals.

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

Drums: A good challenge because there were few parts to achieve good cohesion. I had to sink the kick and also the hats, which ended up standing out when compressed on the bus. No unusual processing. Room-simulating reverb inserted into the drumbus.

Bass: soft equalization and compression; I used the Acme Opticom because of its coloration.

Piano: Soothe2 to hold down the lower frequencies a little; an equalizer to control one very prominent resonance around 2khz.

Acoustic guitar: I adjusted the volumes of both tracks, opening them slightly in the panorama; RC-20 on the original guitar, with its wobble and distortion modules for a highlight compared to the processed guitar. The two tracks were grouped into another channel, in which I used Soothe2 to attenuate some resonances in the bass and treble, as well as Trackspacer to make room for the vocal.

Vocals: the difficulty was controlling the sibilance, which became very pronounced after processing the channels; I used two or three de-essers, as well as equalization and parallel compression. On the doubled vocal, I made cuts separating the monotonic phrases pointed out by the artist and placed them on another track in order to process them individually; I applied Vocalsynth to achieve the robotic voice effect and blended it very subtly with the main vocal.

Ambience: one room reverb and one long reverb, plus a spring delay.

2Bus: saturation with the BlackBox and Tape Machine 440.

thank you som much and good luck to all of us!

[MemphisB]

Hi All,

Here is my mix
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A1sOJW ... drive_link

Separated all vocals into 3 Bus routes Main, Backing & Ending
Used a fair bit of Compression (Atone,Comper,Tessla and daw eq , De-ess, and saturation to smooth them out
I went with a spacey Reverb feel using VOS Plate and Cloud , & room verb

Drums & Bass went into there own Bus
Kick had some Low end added & EQ to make it nice and solid. Room reverb to give them a little space
Spent a bit just tone shaping and balancing the tracks to make them sit nice

Guitars and piano again Mild compression & EQ ,Saturation and Transient shaping to keep them nice tight. Panned one guitar left and piano more right

Master Busses all had ThrillseekerVBL for a touch of transformer tone shaping

Master Buss had a fair bit of Compression,Tape,Upward Comp and some tone shaping to keep the lower mids clean

A few automated parts to try and make the song build

Good luck to all

Pete

[Gunnar]

Hey Everyone,

great Song, it was fun to mix these tracks! Here we go:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1eim9tbz5uzi0 ... v?e=1&dl=0


1. I did some editing:
Bass, Vocals: time and pitch correction
Guitar: time correction

2. Mixing (just the most importand processings):
Drums:
EQ, clipper, Saturation to get a less clickier sound
Toms: 4000g with comp after eq
Tape Saturation on the Bus
2 sends to Room+Reverb for more natural sound

Bass: hi shelf eq at 500hz for less mids and more body, compression
send to ambience verb (hipass 500hz before the verb). btw first time i put verb on a bass but I think it fits quite well here

Bass+Drums Bus: shadow hills + MB comp

Guitar: I blended both tracks
sendd to verb

Keys: 4000g channel
send to verb

Guitar+Keys Bus: little compression with free klanghelm DC1a3 (allways great on accoustics!!!)

Vocals:
Main Vocal: 1073style Preamp with saturation, Deesser
4000g on every Track (except main vocal. Here I used the focusrite channel, it sounded a little bit smoother), all vocal Tracks to a Bus

Vocal Bus: Shadow hills
Delay + Reverb

I struggled with the harsh s. I didn´t get it right with deessing, so I edited every "s" and "sh" by hand.

The lulluby part:
I copied the main vocal 2 times:
first copy: hipass at 5k + compression + saturation. this should simulate a whisper wich I blended in to create an intimate moment
2nd copy: pitched down an octave + lopass at 500hz blended in just a little bit

Master Bus:
Coralbaxter Shelf EQs
Red 2 EQ
elysia alpha compressor
digital eq
Limiter


3. Automation:
Drums: Tom levels, hihat at the end
Guitar: I played a lot with the levels of both tracks
key: eq and levels
Vocals: Deleys/Reverbs, levels


Cheers
Gunnar

[againstpower]

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/67ie2l2d ... it2g4&dl=0

Excuse me for the Google translate, I'm working so the time is not so enough.
-------
I enjoyed working on this month's song, seeking the balance between the instruments, the voice and the arrangement.
In detail:
I grouped several instruments by type thus creating stereo busses for drums, bass, guitar, piano, vocals and background vocals.
There is parallel compression for kicks, snares, vocals.
I used 3 reverbs short, medium, long; Chorus (Bass, background vocals) and a stereo delay (guitar).
For each track I used EQ and Compression. A further compression of 1-2db maximum is done on the buses.
In parallel I also have saturators (blackboxes). One for each instrument including voice.
The guitar has a reverse panned mono delay as does the piano which ends up in the guitar and piano stereo bus respectively.
I duplicated the bass track to pass through an ampsimulation. On the bass bus there is the sidechain with the kick. On the vocal bus there is a de-esser followed by an EQ with notch filters to eliminate hiss (2000-3000 Hz). Then compression, EQ, further 1 db compression.
For the backing vocals I used all the tracks provided to create a stereo opening. The stereo sub-buses of the stereo pairs flow into the chorus bus where they are equalized and compressed.
On the master buses of the different instruments, including vocals, there is a dynamic equalizer with sidechain with the competing instrument(s).
Finally, on the mixbus where the master buses and effects returns converge, there is a dual mode Kramer pie compressor, with max 1db of reduction. It is followed by the optical mode only shadow compressor.

-----—-- Allego in italiano, tradurró meglio -----

Mi è piaciuto lavorare sul brano di questo mese cercando l equilibrio tra gli strumenti la voce e l arrangiamento.
Nel dettaglio:
Ho raggruppato diversi strumenti per tipo creando così bus stereo per batteria, basso, chitarra, piano, voce e background voci.
C'è una compressione parallela per kick, snare, voci.
Ho usato 3 riverberi corto, medio, lungo; Chorus (Basso, voci background) e un delay stero (chitarra).
Per ogni traccia ho usato EQ e Compressione. Un ulteriore compressione di 1-2db massimo è fatta sui buss.
In parallelo ho anche dei saturatori (blackbox). Uno per ogni strumento voce compresa.
La chitarra ha un delay mono pannato all opposto così come il piano che finisce nel bus stereo di chitarra e piano rispettivamente.
Ho duplicato la traccia del basso per farla passare in un ampsimulation. Nel bus del basso c'è il sidechain con la cassa.Sul bus della voce c'è un de-esser seguito da un EQ con filtri notch per eliminare i fischi (2000-3000 Hz). Quindi compressione, EQ, ulteriore compressione di 1 db.
Per i cori ho usato tutte le tracce fornite per creare una apertura stereo. I sub-bus stereo delle coppie stereo confluiscono nel bus cori dove sono equalizzate e compresse.
Sui master bus dei diversi strumenti, voce compresa, c'è un equalizzatore dinamico con sidechain con lo/gli strumento/i concorrenti.
Infine sul mixbus dove confluiscono i master bus e i ritorni degli effetti c'è un compressore Kramer pie in dual mode, con max 1db di riduzione. È seguito dal compressore shadow solo modalità ottica.

[Mister Fox]

It is the 22nd June 2024, 00:10 UTC+2/CEST - the first Mix Round has officially ended

Once more, a very warm welcome to all new participants, nice meeting you and I hope you'll enjoy your stay. A huge thank you to everyone that is spreading the word about the Mix Challenge. And to those coming from Sonic State, hello!

Please also help get the Songwriting Competition as popular (SWC082 is still in full swing - 3 participants so far, 3 days left).


STATISTICS:

• If I didn't miscount, we have 95 submissions this month (95 prior to the deadline, plus 00 after the deadline, not counting re-submissions)
• the multi-tracks have been downloaded 150 times
• We have 0 submissions after the deadline (as of 22-JUN-2024 00:10 UTC+2/CEST)
• We have 1 submissions that could not be downloaded by the time of this post and are therefore disqualified (re-checked 22-JUN-2024 00:10 UTC+2/CEST)
• We have 0 submission not submitted properly or not submitted in public (e.g. submitted via SoundCloud or via PM - see Rule Book, post #6, Upload and Submission Guidelines)
• We have 1 submission that has been withdrawn (entry counts as "submission within the deadline")
• Overview of Submissions - is your entry within given parameters? (PDF - updated: 28-JUN-2024 05:00 UTC+2/CEST)
• Overview of Submissions (disqualifications only) PDF - updated: 28-JUN-2024 05:00 UTC+2/CEST)

INFORMATION:
Statistic Sheets have been updated (on 28-JUN-2024 05:00 UTC+2/CEST)
Statistic Sheets are not available yet, please wait for the official announcement post -- sheets will arrive by mid 25-JUN-2024 latest
.

⚠	Moderation Message from Mister Fox
	Our Song Provider for this month, @Arnwyn, decided to go the "(Feedback for) Top 15" route. There might be additional feedback, but this is not a guarantee. 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 082 (SWC082) is still in full swing.
So far, there are 3 entries, 3 days left -- this month's theme: "Summer Dreams" (Picture Theme), genre: free to select

Please spread the word, get involved, and just make music!




EDIT: 22-JUN-2024 0:10 UTC+2/CEST - initial post
EDIT: 28-JUN-2024 5:20 UTC+2/CEST - Statistics Sheets posted

[PonySho]

Hi rvalle

What a great mix. Your minimalist approach is great...punchy, clear and well balanced IMO.
I think your mix really breathes.
So nice to hear a mix that's not over compressed.

[PonySho]

Hi All,

Here is my mix
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A1sOJW ... drive_link

Separated all vocals into 3 Bus routes Main, Backing & Ending
Used a fair bit of Compression (Atone,Comper,Tessla and daw eq , De-ess, and saturation to smooth them out
I went with a spacey Reverb feel using VOS Plate and Cloud , & room verb

Drums & Bass went into there own Bus

Hi Pete. Nice bottom end on your mix!