MIX CHALLENGE - MC060 November 2019 - Winners announced

[MattRocket]

Hi everyone!

mp3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8buhr43l7k2wq ... t.mp3?dl=0

wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2welyjakl4cpt ... t.wav?dl=0


bass drum: eq, envelope shaper
snare: eq, gate, reverb1
tom: eq, reverb1
overhead: eq, deesser, reverb1
orchestal percussion: eq, reverb1
drum bus: eq, comp

bass: eq, envelope shaper, saturation

lead vocal: DEESSER, eq, comp, saturation, longreverb, shortreverb
back vocal: eq, comp, deesser

mic guitar: eq, reverb2
guitar solo: eq, comp, delay, reverb2
cello: eq, reverb3
piano: eq, saturation, comp, longreverb2
violin: eq, comp, reverb2, longreverb2, delay

master: eq, comp

[TomImmon]

What a pleasure to mix this song! Unfortunately, I only had very little time for the mix this month, I hope it pleases anyway.



Wav File 48Khz 32bit
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8bp5usczm5t47 ... n.wav?dl=0



The lead vocals were the biggest piece of work. Greatly sung, but unfortunately interspersed with many clicks (especially at the beginning). Here I used Izotope RX. In addition, there were some nasty microphone resonances, which I have eliminated by EQ. Nothing else special in the vocals: EQ (Millenna NSEQ-2), CLA 76, a little saturation with SPL Double Tube. A little slap delay, a stereo delay (ducked), a bricasti plate.



Drums: Were great played and recorded. On all instruments I filtered out resonances (Izotope EQ) and raised important frequencies with SSL E-Channel and Scheps 73.

I amplified snare and kick in the transients (SPL) and compressed them with a destressor clone and DBX 160. The drumbus has tape saturation and the MV2.



Bass: Bx opto for compression, sweep Omni Channel as EQ



Piano: (unfortunately it was already recorded with correlation <0 in some places) EQ (Millenna NSEQ-2)



Guitars: Much subtractive EQ with Izotope Neutron. I used the line version, sometimes the mic version. All guitars got some SPL Double Tube or Little Radiator for the analog touch. In addition, the sound was optimized with a chorus reverb and a few delays.

Masterbus: Townhouse for Glue, Tape Saturation + a basic EQ for subend

[Lastdegree]

Hello,
Here is my entry,

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zmfz0nzcl4btg ... e.wav?dl=0

Plugins used (mostly free plugins):
Mcompressor,Mequalizer,TDR Nova, Mwavefolder, Msaturator, Izotope Trash 2, Freeclip, Lisp, Ultrareverb, Dubstation,Acon Multiply

piano lp at 6k
bass lp at 283hz

2.8s reverb with 23ms predelay, bus filtered (hp1500hz-lp5700hz) and compressed before the reverb.
bus delay and bus chorus filtered before the effect and compressed after.
I used a bus comp for glue but most channels already have a compressor set in parallel as insert.

[Franz]

Hi everyone,

Thank you Alexandre and Mister Fox for this very nice challenge with tracks of very good quality.

First of all I had to choose in which artistic direction to go with this title. I opted for a version that
I would call basically "acoustic pop-symphonic". So something quite aerial and deep at the same time.
Here is the outline of the mix done on Samplityde ProX3.

- The voice processing: yes, it was a little complicated: on the female voice first a de-esser, a limiter,
a reverb from LiquidSonics, EQ, the solid bus compress NI, a vocal strip from Samplitude again with a
de-esser and a compressor all coming in the software ERA4 to frame the very large differences of level
still existing at the end of this chain of treatment. The real difficulty is to keep a voice that is natural
with all its nuances without hearing the software processing.
The "male" voice was treated with a "double" effect from Eventide's H3000.

-The "percussion" part : the "snare" tracks have been cleaned manually -essential-,
mixed together with a distortion treatment (Vandal from Magix) then sent to the TCVerb
software from Eventide; the kick: EQ + limiter; some difficulty in "recovering" the hihat;
OH with an EQ by Ozone 8; the track "orchestral percussion" also posed problems because
there was already an existing reverb but after EQ, everything is back in order;
to finish two "special" effects: very long reverb with BlackHole (Eventide) on
the cymbal at the introduction and the cymbal of the end.

-The piano: EQ + NI compressor

-The bass : EQ + compressor

-The rhytmict guitars : before any treatment, mixing in stereo with modifications of the
"pseudo" polarity of the "pseudo" microphones (it is thus samples) by using the software "Polarizer"
from Lewitt; this allows to give an exceptional stereo image (100% mono compatible) and then EQ;
for the guitar solo first EQ followed by a PSP 2445 reverb (EMT type) and followed by NI Solid Bus Compressor.

-The strings: the big piece...excellent samples to keep a natural side while integrating them in a “pop-title”
so EQ and use the Eventide H3000 in the doubler function, reverb with PSP 2245 with an M / S coding.

The result is of course "colorful" and "oriented". From the original tracks, we could consider that all
these "effects" are "ornamentation" to sublimate a very beautiful song.

Returning to the competition itself, I listened to other candidates' versions and I must say that this is
really interesting: what I notice that apart from some "technical feats" is rather the musical cultures
of all these Countries of the world that appear: very positive ... this is the goal of this game or not ? ......

Good listening !

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rhizhmxrruj3u ... z.wav?dl=0

Cheers.

Franz

[wfaudio]

Hello!

It's my first mix here!

Started with balance the volume and paning, followed of EQ and compression.
I mostly used waves SSL E channel strip and CLA 76 and some impulse responses.

Wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o9zLUb ... sp=sharing
mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PcRxo5 ... sp=sharing
Screenshot 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c94MW6 ... sp=sharing
Screenshot 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HnXbeX ... sp=sharing

Best Regards

[fgfgfgfgt]

Hi Guys!

This is my first post here, I really hope you enjoy it. Let me know any comments thanks!

Wav: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GhbUT ... HZdWFfbPSz
Mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JhkGFO ... sp=sharing
Screenshot: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10EAFJd ... sp=sharing

Notes:

I saw this contest this morning and decided to give it a go, this song’s genre sounds pretty close to Rumer’s Boys Don’t Cry album, mixed by Michael Brauer, so I make this sounds like that album - warm,open and analogy, although the backing vocal has a modern touch, I actually like the artificial and wide feeling of BV. So the BV is definitely not a tradtional sounding. Please see screenshot for plugins used, I think some software instruments are still a bit lifeless, I put UAD ATR102, K STEREO, NEVE 31102 and Nomad tape emulation on them and commit the tracks, track name ends with .cm means committed tracks. Vocal went through RX to clear mouth clicks, there are a bit timing and tuning issues but I didn't do any corrections. That's it, I used UAD Neve 31102, ATR 102 and SSL E (some Neve 88R) on almost all channels, the drum is quite aggressive, definitely a pop drummer! if I have more time I'll correct the timing and tuning issue, oh yeah there's some plugin automation for versus to make things louder, the solo guitar sounds a bit weird, I actually didn't put much on solo guitar, just a bit comp and denoise. Thanks everyone

[iMax]

Hi,

Thanks for this very nice song and great job recording it.
Here is my mix version:

WAV
MP3

Drums: bx_console SSL 4000 used on the tracks, Airwindows ButterComp2 on the drum bus. Waves SSL G bus compressor for some parallel compression and Exponential Audio Nimbus for reverb

Percussion: iZotope Neutron 3 EQ and TR5 Black 76 for compression

Bass: iZotope Neutron 3 for EQ, compression and saturation

Guitars: Scheps Omni Channel for EQ and compression, Exponential Audio Nimbus for reverb

Piano: iZotope Neutron 3 for EQ and compression, Exponential Audio Nimbus for reverb

Strings: iZotope Neutron 3 for EQ and compression, Exponential Audio Nimbus for reverb

Vox: Nectar 3 on voice tracks, de-essing, EQ and compression. TR5 White 2A and Lindell TE-100 EQ on Vox buss. Exponential Audio R4 reverb and Wave H-Delay for depth

2bus: Airwindows Console6 for summing, Waves SSL G bus compressor, Airwindows ToTape5 for saturation and Elysia Museq for final tone shaping

[Pitta]

There goes mine. Couldn't miss one in Portuguese.
WAV
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkxSvx ... sp=sharing

MP3
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19WqAJ1 ... sp=sharing

DAW – Reaper
Audio interface – RME Fireface 802
Monitors – Genelec 8040

On vocals, quite a bit of clip gain automation, a plate (little plate-Soundtoys), a slap delay (j37-Waves), some “invisible” delays (Readelay) and some mono reverb throws. Made a fake room track, heavilly compressing kick, snare and toms, (Devil Lock-Soundtoys) and add some stereo chamber to it (MannyReverb-Waves). Added a plate were I’m sending snare and toms. Vocals, overheads, guitars and a whisper track that I added to strings, are being send to a common Hall (RVerb-Waves) that is a bit hyped on the highs.
From the get go I have on masterbus, a PuigChild doing nothing and a PuigTec with a smiley face. Later on added Api2500 (Waves) doing little (the needle doesn’t even move). I’m using one parallel channel were I’m sending everything but drums and bass and another were I’m sending drums and bass. Both have two CLA76 to compress Left and right independently.
For vocals, strings, bass and drums I use quite a bit of parallel processing but, to guitars and piano used saturation, eq and compression mostly with Scheps OmniChannel and SSLChannel(Waves).

Hope you like it.
Pedro Pitta Groz

[jeffssoloband]

Dear Eveline Martins and the Mix Challenge community,

Here is my submission for MC060:
WAV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9bj2toc0d41kw ... d.wav?dl=0
MP3 (for reference): https://www.dropbox.com/s/g5xidrm9sv73j ... d.mp3?dl=0

Ola! Here are my mix notes:

Everything was mixed in the box in Logic Pro X. Nothing was added or subtracted. To start all tracks were EQ’d with high- and/or low-pass shelves to get rid of any unnecessary information. Then all tracks were gain staged and reprinted.

The drum tracks were individually compressed and EQ’d as necessary. Panning was done as the client suggested. The tracks were bussed to an aux track, and hit with a bit of reverb and a compressor in parallel.

The percussion track was a bit hard to work with for me. I decided to focus on the higher frequencies to avoid too much muddiness in the overall lows.

Bass got compression and EQ, as well as a dynamic EQ to clear it out of the way when the kick drum hits.

Acoustic guitars were panned hard right and hard left. Then bussed to an aux track that was EQ’d, compressed, and hit with reverb.

Guitar solo was EQ’d, compressed, and hit with a bit of overdrive.

Piano was EQ’d, compressed, and hit with reverb. I was getting some cancellation when I checked my mix in mono, so I used In Phase (Waves) to do an offset by a handful of milliseconds.

Strings were panned at varying degrees of left, right, and center to give some spread to the overall image. Then bussed to an aux track for further EQ and a bit of reverb.

Lead vocals were pitch corrected, compressed in series, and automated the volume in a couple of stubborn spots. I then doubled the track and hit it with an instance of VocalSynth with a lot of automation to add some color. I blended the two until I was getting the sound I wanted.

I decided to embrace the “robotic” timbre of the BG vocals. I pitch corrected the track pretty hard, and EQ’d, compressed, and hit it with reverb. I used PanMan (SoundToys) to create a really fast, narrow autopan to try to give it some movement, and panned it a bit to the right.

Those nine groups were printed, and each was then further EQ’d and/or compressed, and hit with an instance of NLS Channel (Waves) for saturation. The master buss was hit with Abbey Road Vinyl (Waves) for further saturation and to fatten up the low end, and a final EQ to fine tune the overall curve.

Thank you for listening, and for your consideration.

Best regards,
Jeff
jeffssoloband

[shoma]

Hi everyone,

some great mixes so far! Thanks to the provider giving us the oppportunity to mix a really nice song.

So here is my submission:

WAV 48kHz 24bit
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mn7fe3wgm49hy ... 1.wav?dl=0

Pics:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zd4pey8agrehn ... 1.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xbr0jm4mgnuce ... 2.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6j1gljcdhc3d ... 3.png?dl=0

If you'd like to see some more just ask and I will happily provide some more pics


I used Cubase Pro 10.5. As you can see in the pics I used quite a lot on several channels, depending on the amount of work I had to put in. The most difficult elements in this song were the vocals, the Timpani Drums, the solo guitar and the virtual instruments. The latter having some issues in mono compatibility which had to be fixed and then I recreated a more stable stereo image that is working in a monaural situation.

The most of editing work went into the female vocals and the guitar solo. At first I tried to fix it it with Waves Voical Rider, which did not work quite well. Then I i tried it with automation, but gave up because of too many points to set by hand and finally ended up with cutting the files into little segments and gaining them seperately. For me this was the easiest way :-D



Drums

I doubled the kick drum and used one copy only as a "sub mic" to have more control over the low end. I used eq and compression and routed the kick to a group channel for further treatments

Both snare channels were also sent to it's own group channel after some basic eq and gentle compression. Further eq'ing and compression had been made in the group channel

The toms were treated the same way, except for some transient designing with Transgressor 2. Quite tricky though because of having high and mid tom on the same channel. Some eq'ing and compression again on the tom group channel

Hihat and Overheads got some minor tweakings (hipassing and some transient designing for the hihat). Both went into a overhead group channel and got some more treatments there. All theses groups then were sent to a drum group channel with eq and some glue comp.

Drumloop/Timpani

I used Deverberate to soften the reverb, eq, transient designing, and then some harmonic excitement to get it sitting in the mix. No group for this

Overheads, Timpanis, Kick and Bass were each sidechaind with Laser, a great little helper!



Bass

For the bass I just used some eq, VariMU compression for consistency, multiband compression and some harmonic distortion thx to Kush's Omega TWK to give it a little analog growl. On the group channel I used some stereo chorus from 400Hz upwards and bx_control to get the bass in mono

Acoustic Guitars

I used mostly the mic'ed guitars and only 50% of the line signals. The mic channels got some basic treatments with eq, Noveltech Character, Waves RComp and Gullfoss for the ease of use, the line signals were used "as is". On the group channel I used Brusfri (Klevgrand) for noise reduction, which did a great job, and some fairy dust on top with Oxford Inflator

The virtual guitars got nearly the same treatments

As mentioned earlier some special work went into the guitar solo and then additional help was needed by Waves Vocal Rider and different compression plugins, not to mention eq and some help from Valhalla Delay with some gentle slapback type delay to add some thickness and a bit of Breeze2 reverb

Piano

I used eq and Terry Wests "ReLife" to bring back some life into the piano. Bx_control for the mono compatibility and some Reverb from Breeze2, to give the piano it's own place to live. Again some futher eq'ing in the group channel and some fairy dust

Strings

I had to take care for the mono compatibilty so some treatments with MSED, m/s eq, multiband compression were needed. The cello had some reverb added separately before summing all strings in their group channel with further eq'ing etc,

Vocals

The backing vocals were quite easy to handle. It just neded some eq, compression and a touch of a room/studio reverb by True Verb, to get him virtually behind the lead singer.
The girls voice...well...that was a lot of fun :-D I must give some credits here to a new plugin called "Ceilings of sound" which was a great helper in finding the right eq shapes to give her voice a more charming sound. As this is a great cpu hog, I ended up copying the eq into my main go-to eq from CraveDSP

Stereo Bus

On the stereo bus I used some very gentle multiband compression by DynOne, a gentle overall compression by Slates FG-Grey just for the glue and finally a safety limiter to control some peaks


- 17.8 LUFS, - 5.7dB TP