MIX CHALLENGE - MC066 June 2020 - Winners announced

[Dodgingrain]

This one was tough. Here's the link.https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqpB-RLndYJrj8cFjn0 ... w?e=zh5Rlt

I did a fair amount of eq and compression on every track. There was a some vocal tuning and deessing done. On the drums I did some gated verb and spent a fair amount of time controlling all of the cymbal and hat splash. On the main vocals there is some delay, the usual add tracks, and a bit more of a modern brighter sound than in the reference. The keys/piano has some distortion, chorus, and subtle pitch shifting. On the bass I split it into a high and low track and eq'ed and compressed both separately to try and bring out some of the higher tones of the bass.

[Nonlinear]

Here is my mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sYHgMa ... sp=sharing
And partial screenshot of the session: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zr0coy ... sp=sharing

I did a little pitch cleanup of the vocal tracks but decided not to use Vox3 which I did not mute but rather pulled way down in the mix.

I like to bus common elements in a mix - all the drums to a drum bus, guitars to guitar bus, etc. - where I typically apply EQ and whatever compression or other FX it might need. The drums I broke down into further subbuses "toms", "cymbals", etc., where I EQ'd them separately before going into the main drum bus.

On the vocals I applied some vocal doubling and a bit of reverb - lead vocals also have 1/4 note echo, brought up with automation in some areas for effect. I high-passed at 50Hz with a dip at 344Hz and boost at 2900Hz for a bit more clarity. I followed with Soothe2 to control a bit of sibilance and resonances - nothing too extreme.

I used two reverbs - short for ambience on several instruments and vocals and a long verb for effects (guitar lead slide out, etc.).

I used volume automation throughout (some you can see in the screenshot) to bring up details where I felt it added flavor.

Otherwise, basic EQ, compression and level setting per my taste. Good, straightforward arrangement and well-recorded tracks.

Thank you, John, for sharing!

[MFTWC]

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4di7ctr1ibyk6 ... C.wav?dl=0

DAW: Cubase Pro 10.5.

EQ: Toneboosters Equalizer 4, Compressor: Toneboosters Compressor 3.

Kick: Made a copy, then applied eq to get some "snap" ,mixed with the original.

Snare: EnvelopeShaper (Cubase), Distortion (Cubase) for light saturation.

Cymbals: Exciter with the MUX modular plugin to add harmonics.

Hihats: Toneboosters Evoke 3 exciter part + the Mux exciter to add harmonics.

Lead Vocals: Some Variaudio for pitch correction, then the Klanghelm MJUC compressor.

Reverb: Signaldust Tila2. (Vocal & Drums)

[doobop]

Hi there,

tried to keep the 80s vibe of the original mix because I liked it, but with different levels of the instruments to meet my taste.
Hope you like it!

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hhnipulwitcq9 ... p.wav?dl=0

Cheers!

[hjchjc]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EZ4tz9 ... sp=sharing


Used the Scheps Omni Channel on almost everything - now my favorite channel strip, and one that greatly reduced my need for dozens of plugins!
I looked to "Crazy Train" of all songs as an inspiration, but I think it makes sense with the stylistic inspirations. This was a fun one!


Waves: Scheps Omni Channel, F6-RTA, CLA-3A, CLA-76, RDeEsser

HOFA: SYS CompListenMic

Valhalla: Frequency Echo, VintageVerb

Airwindows: Console6Channel (no bus - the channel plugin introduces a bit of distortion that I really like)

Black Rooster Audio: VPRE-73

Soundtoys: EchoBoy, Devil-Loc, Little Plate

[GB Real]

mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WdgZV8 ... sp=sharing
wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aaXo0Q ... sp=sharing
capture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rSL4_6 ... sp=sharing

Nice track! First aimed to balance, then referenced the following material to make tonal adjustments—Tame Impala, Depeche Mode, Joy Division. Enjoy the direction I took.

GB Real

[VasDim]

Hi all,
this is my attempt to mix:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/20on4wr9xk5oa ... m.wav?dl=0

For all track are used:
- Waves Q10;
- Waves C4;
- Db ProComp.

AUX Effect;
- Waves TrueVerb;
- Waves SuperTap;

Good luck to all.
VasDim

[ZioPaperone358]

Hi guys, here is my mix https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZMWsh3 ... sp=sharing

I took the opportunity of this contest to learn cakewalk and it was good fun!

Kick = eq and compression (channel strip) + vitamine to bring up some of the top + gated verb

Snare = eq and compression (channel strip) + gated verb + a bit parallel compression for the chorus

HH = eq and compression (channel strip) + exiter

Cymbals = eq and compression (channel strip) + exiter + a tinty bit of modulation on the 4/4 sections

Tamb = (autopan + 2 mod delays)>> tremolo + eq and compression (channel strip)

oh+rm1+rm2 = eq + automated stereo expander (chorus/verse) +reverb

Bass = SC with the snare + SC the low end with the kick + rbass +eq

Verse keys = eq and compression (channel strip) + chorus + automated imager (verse/chorus) + reverbs and delays

Keysound = eq and compression (channel strip) + delay

Piano = eq and compression (channel strip) +automated imager (verse/chorus) + reverbs and delays

Strings = eq and compression (channel strip) + reverbs and delays

Gtr = eq and compression (channel strip) + imager + vitamine + a tiinty bit of flanger + delays

Ldgtrs = eq and compression (channel strip) + exiter + saturation + high shelf boost + reverb and delay

Ldgtr verb = eq and imager

Ld vox = eq + De essing + vitamine + eq + compression + eq + a bit of de Essing again + a bit of MB compression + vitamine + eq + reverbs and delays

vox2 = eq + De essing + vitamine + eq + compression + eq + a bit of de Essing again + a bit of MB compression + eq + reverbs and delays

vox3 + vox 4 = eq and compression (channel strip) + delays and reverbs


BUSSES AND ROUTING

oh+rm1+rm2 >> OHBUSS = reverb

UHBUSS + kick + snare + hh + cymbals + tamb >> DRUMS = vitamine + eq and compression (channel strip) + tape emulator

verse key + key sound + piano + strings >> KEYS

LDgtrs + ldgtrverb >> ELGUITARS = eq and compression (channel strip) + chorus + reverb

vox + vox3 + vox4 >> BACKGROUND VOX = eq and compression (channel strip) + reverbs + delays

BACKGROUND VOX + ldvox >> VOCALS = automated doubler

ELGUITARS + gtr + KEYS >> INSTRUMENTAL = subtle eq + tape emulation

INSTRUMENTAL + DRUMS >> BASE

BASE + VOCALS >> MASTER = saphira + suble compression (all for glue)


The harderst part for me was the vocal, expecially "gluing it" into the mix, I'm curious what approaches did you take.

Thanks for making this contests possible

Good luck everyone!

[Green-Dog]

Hi everyone,

with this song was everything pretty much without any special tricks. On the master track I used some tape saturation and a little bit of EQing. Multi-band and Inflator just add a little bit of magic Everything else you can see on the screenshots.

Schreenshots
Mix


Good luck to everyone!

[Miha]

Hi everyone !

Here is my submission :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z4Dz7E ... sp=sharing

I mixed The Reason in Reaper with Softube Console 1 (SSL E series emulation) on every track, TSAR reverb and Soundtoys effects on send channels.
My main goal with this mix was to enhance the realism of the arrangement in an 80's spirit. I try to acheive this by adding saturation on the virtual insruments, create room ambiances and add slight variations with automation.

I used four busses to organise tracks :
- first one for lead vocal, vocal harmonies and lead guitar
- second one for the guitar, bass and pianos
- third one for drums and percussions
- fourth one for keys and strings
On every bus, I used a slight amount TPPRoAudio Tilt EQ to help balancing each group of instruments.

I didn't tune up the lead vocal but I did work on its stability using parallel compression and a doubling/micropitch effect. I also used a tape saturation, a de-esser (ozone spectral shaper) and un small amount of dynamic EQ (Neutron EQ) around 350 Hz.

I put on a short room reverb (0.38s) and a long room reverb (1.88s) to put the instruments in a "real" space. Every instrument is more or less blended with these two reverbs. The lead vocal and lead guitar are also send to a medium plate reverb (1.5s) with a delay before it acting as a pre delay.
For the rythm guitar, I used a send channel with Softube Vintage amp room on it and blended it into the mix as a guitar double. I am quite happy of what this does ton enlarge and thicken up the guitar sound.

I used volume automation especially on overheads, guitar, piano and lead vocal to balance them along the mix.

On master bus, I put a TubeTech EQ to boost highs and texture, a Drawmer S73 compressor with a very gentle ratio and again a tilt EQ to balance the low/high relationship of the overall mix.

Thanks again for sharing your work.
Good luck to everyone!