MIX CHALLENGE - MC068 August 2020 - Winners announced

[IbanezoO]

Thanks Digital Sound Labs for providing this song! It was really fun to work on.

I have used the wet tracks except for the bass poly stabs. Here´s my approach:

Drums:

kick: Slate VCC, basic EQ, parallel processing for sub-bass and distortion blended together with the original kick
snare: Slate VCC, SSL EQ on lows and high mids, basic compression and parallel compression
hihats: panned hard left, reverb panned hard right, Slate VCC, SSL EQ boost on high mids and high end, saturation
sidestick: panned hard right, reverb panned hard left, Slate VCC, fast attack + fast release compression to get control over the transients

all channels send to reverb with different levels

drum bus: tape saturation

Bass:
Massive: Slate VCC, EQ boost lows and high mids, 2:1 compression, parallel compression and parallel distortion, pan automation
Poly Stabs: Slate VCC, low end boost, low mid notch, high boost, 4:1 compression, reverb send
bass: Slate VCC, high mid and high end boost, 4:1 compression, parallel distortion, delay send

bass bus: little compression, little saturation

Keys/Pads:
Layer 1 Serum: Slate VCC, high pass, low boost, reduced low mids, and high mids, little high end boost, 4:1 comp, parallel EQ and comp only for lows
Layer 2 Serum: Slate VCC, high pass, boost 240hz, reduced 440hz and 4.1k, saturation, stereo widening, reverb send
Pad Alchemy: 100hz high pass, pan automation, ping pong delay
Pad Air: Slate VCC, boost 360hz and 3.1k, 4:1 comp, stereo widening, M/S EQ with mid bass boost/side bass reduction and sides high boost/mid high reduction, ping pong delay
Pad Massive: Slate VCC, low and high boost, 2:1 comp, distortion, reverb send, automated stereo widening
Violins: Slate VCC, 4:1 comp, stereo widening

Key/Pad bus: saturation

Vocals:
Slate VCC, low end boost, low mid cut, high mid boost, 1/8th delay + ping pong delay

All delays and reverbs are sends to FX channels with different levels but without any further EQ or comp

Mixbus:
Slate Virtual Mixbus, tiny EQ high end boosts, low mid reduction, 2:1 comp with auto release and a little bit of tape saturation

loudness:
-17.7 LUFSi
-3.3dB true peak max

measured with Youlean Loudness Meter

file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18hMTSc ... sp=sharing

Cheers!

[d8bflup]

Hi folks,

In this one I'm really out of my depth. First time mixing Electronic music and first time 99% ITB.

Normally I work 99% OTB ((just use the DAW as a tape machine and some precision HPF or extra ccompressors if I run out of analog gear). But since we're in a heat wave over here, and my studio is in my attic, I decided to do this one ITB, so I could work on my laptop in whatever cool space I could find.
This was harder than I expected, specially gain staging. On my mixer, I know how hard to hit the channels, I know how loud to put the monitors,... So some false starts later...

DAW of choice is Studio One 4, EQ and dynamics is mostly Console 1 (stock SSL4000)

I only used the dry tracks and tried to spice them up with a combination of:

Console One punch and sustain feature, EQ and drive, no compression on the individual tracks
TC electronic 1210 plugin (was looking for an excuse to buy this) chorus/flanging/widening FX
TC Electronic REV250 plugin (a large and a medium hall)
Studio one analog delay for an effect in the outro

The only outboard I used was a dbx 510 subharmonic synth on the kick, I printed this on a new track, so I wasn't bound to the studio

On the main buss I placed a 4 band compressor, this was used, sometimes heavily, almost as an EQ I know this could be interpreted as mastering, but since it was not intended as such, and I liked the result, I printed the song as such

Had fun mixing this, no idea wether the results are anything resembling OK, since I have zero experience and connection with this type of music.

link to the file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dj7ro8f6fo05a ... p.wav?dl=0

link to some sccreenshots:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jzq1cbuwi2mg ... 1uNta?dl=0

thanks for the opportunity

[orsodevero]

Hello. Here is the documentation of the changes I did and the link to the mix.

Link to the mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OzAnvx ... sp=sharing

Hi Hats
Untouched.

Kick
Parametric EQ
90 Hz / peaking filter / 4.2dB / Q factor @ 17%
250 Hz / peaking filter / -8.0dB / Q factor @ 48%
1500 Hz / peaking filter / -18dB / Q factor @ 49%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / -8.3dB / Q factor @ 37%
5161 Hz / peaking filter / -8.3dB / Q factor @ 44%
10165 Hz / peaking filter / 7.8dB / Q factor @ 10%
154 Hz / low shelf / 6.4dB / Q factor @ 61%
137 Hz / 8th order peaking filter / -3.9dB / Q factor @ 19%
233 Hz / peaking filter / -2.3dB / Q factor @ 39%
498 Hz / peaking filter / -6.7dB / Q factor @ 39%
1557 Hz / peaking filter / 10.0dB / Q factor @ 39%
4278 Hz / peaking filter / -12.3dB / Q factor @ 10%
12309 Hz / high shelf / -3.1dB / Q factor @ 61%
45 Hz / 8th order high pass / Q factor @ 56%

Bass Massive
1) Mid side parametric EQ
Mid channel:
256 Hz / peaking filter / 5.5dB / Q factor @ 57%
75 Hz / peaking filter / 6.5dB / Q factor @ 30%
500 Hz / peaking filter / 3.4dB / Q factor @ 0%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / 3.0dB / Q factor @ 37%
Side channel:
256 Hz / peaking filter / 5.5dB / Q factor @ 57%
343 Hz / high shelf / 8.8dB / Q factor @ 27%
2) Mono parametric EQ
85 Hz / low shelf / -18.0dB / Q factor @ 100%
139 Hz / peaking filter / 7.5dB / Q factor @ 27%
311 Hz / peaking filter / 6.3dB / Q factor @ 27%
1500 Hz / peaking filter / 3.1dB / Q factor @ 27%
6506 Hz / high shelf / -18.0dB / Q factor @ 0.56

Pad Alchemy
Stereo enhancer above 200 Hz
Panned 17% to the right
Image increased by 43%

Pad Sylenth
1) Parametric EQ
90 Hz / Low shelf / -18.0dB / Q factor @ 27%
250 Hz / peaking filter / 2.7dB / Q factor @ 27%
500 Hz / peaking filter / 2.2dB / Q factor @ 27%
1500 Hz / peakiong filter / 6.9dB / Q factor @ 27%
1720 Hz / peaking filter / 6.5dB / Q factor @ 37%
5000 Hz / peaking filter / 6.8dB / Q factor @ 37%
8000 Hz / high shelf / 3.9dB / Q factor @ 27%
2) Stereo enhancer
Panned 15% to the left
Image reduced to 72%

Pad Air
1) Parametric EQ
424 Hz / high pass / Q factor @ 6%
250 Hz / peaking filter / 0.9dB / Q factor @ 27%
428 Hz / peaking filter / 3.7dB / Q factor @ 27%
5000 Hz / peaking filter / 5.0dB / Q factor @ 37%
2) Stereo enhancer
Image increased by 26%

Pad Massive
1) Parametric EQ
261 Hz / high pass / Q factor @ 3%
250 Hz / peaking filter / -7.7dB / Q factor @ 27%
500 Hz / peaking filter / 8.7dB / Q factor @ 27%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / -3.4dB / Q factor @ 37%
5000 Hz / peaking filter / 4.8dB / Q factor @ 37%
8000 Hz / high shelf / 3.7dB / Q factor @ 27%
2) Stereo enhancer
Panned 10% to the right
Image increased by 28%

Violins
1) Parametric EQ
250 Hz / peaking filter / 7.1dB / Q factor @ 27%
500 Hz / peaking filter / -3.8dB / Q factor @ 27%
1500 Hz / peaking filter / 7.2dB / Q factor @ 27%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / -2.5dB / Q factor @ 37%
5000 Hz / peaking filter / 6.3dB / Q factor @ 37%
8000 Hz / high shelf / 5.9dB / Q factor @ 27%

2) Stereo enhancer
Image reduced to 83%

Snare_dry
Parametric EQ
260 Hz / peaking filter / 2.8dB / Q factor @ 27%
425 Hz / peaking filter / 4.5dB / Q factor @ 27%
1266 Hz / peaking filter / 6.7dB / Q factor @ 24%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / 2.6dB / Q factor @ 37%
5000 Hz / peaking filter / -3.4dB / Q factor @ 41%
8000 Hz / peaking filter / -5.5dB / Q factor @ 37%

Sidestick_1_dry
Parametric EQ
500 Hz / peaking filter / 4.3dB / Q factor @ 27%
749 Hz / peaking filter / 9.8dB / Q factor @ 17%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / -3.4dB / Q factor @ 27%
5000 Hz / peaking filter / -4.6dB / Q factor @ 27%

Poly Stabs__dry
1) Mid side multi band expansion
Mid:
Band: [32 - 53] Hz
Soft knee
Attack: 0ms
Release: 85ms
Lookahead: 2ms
Sustain: 10ms
Threshold & ratio: I used a graphic plugin which does not use these two numbers. I think threshold -inf and ratio 0.8.
Parametric EQ
38 Hz / 8th order peaking filter / 5.5dB / Q @ 24%
122 Hz / peaking filter / -16.5dB / Q @ 24%
256 Hz / peaking filter / 5.5dB / Q @ 57%
75 Hz / peaking filter / 6.5dB / Q @ 30%
500 Hz / peaking filter / 3.4dB / Q @ 0%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / 3.0dB / Q @ 37%
Side:
131 Hz / 8th order high pass / Q @ 56%
255 Hz / peaking filter / 8.7dB / Q @ 69%
343 Hz / high shelf / 8.8dB / Q @ 27%

2) Stereo enhancer
Panning 21% to the left
Image increased by 58%

Bass_dry
1) Parametric EQ
38 Hz / high pass / Q @ 61%
2) Mid side parametric EQ
Mid:
294 Hz / peaking filter / -6.7dB / Q @ 39%
256 Hz / peaking filter / 5.5dB / Q % 57%
75 Hz / peaking filter / 6.5dB / Q @ 30%
500 Hz / peaking filter / 3.4dB / Q @ 0%
3000 Hz / peaking filter / 3.0dB / Q @ 37%

Side:
90 Hz / high pass / Q @ 56%
4198 Hz / 8th order peaking filter / Q @ 14%
1204 Hz / 8th order peaking filter / Q @ 4%
343 Hz / high shelf / 8.8dB / Q @ 27%

3) Stereo enhancer only above 181 Hz
Panned 34 to the right

Layer 1 Serum_dry
1) Phaser
Sweep frequency: 0.13 Hz
Min-Max depths: 0% - 82%
Stereo phase: 70%
100% wet

Daydreams chopp.
1) Stereo delay
Input panned 38% to the left
Feedback is pan-inverted
Feedback level: 24%
Feedback cutoff: 38%
Delay time: tempo-synced @ 3 beats
Delay offset: left channel is delayed by 20ms



FX send channels
There are 3 reverb send channels: large, medium and small reverb.
Large reverb used on: Pad Massive, Poly Stabs_dry, Daydreams chopp.
Medium reverb used on: Pad Air, Pad Massive, Bass_dry, Daydreams chopp.
Small reverb used on: Snare_dry, Sidestick_1_dry, Daydreams chopp.

Large reverb has stereo enhancer for +13% stereo image.
Medium reverb has a high pass at 52 Hz.

Further panning adjustments:
Pad Sylenth: L 6%
Pad Air: R 16%
Violins: L 6%
Layer 1 Serum: R 8%
Layer 2 Serum: L 6%
Daydreams chopp.: L 12%

Mix bus
1) Glue compressor
Threshold: -4dB
Ratio: 4:1
Attack: 1ms
Release: 200ms
Hard knee

2) Stereo enhancer
+100% above 150 Hz


3) LUFS meter
-16.6 LUFS integrated
-4.3dB true peak max

[VasDim]

Hi all,
this is my attempt to mix:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ntxhdv04j96kj ... 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

[Green-Dog]

Hi everyone,

Samuel thank you for sharing the song with our community!

In my opinion, the track sounds a bit raw, that's why I used modulation FXs and volume automation more than usual to breathe some life into it. Others things are pretty standard. A bit of compression, a bit of EQs You can find more information on screenshots.

Screenshots
Mix

Good luck to all participants.

Andrejs

[SaahasSarithaBala]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MP_8Ht ... sp=sharing

[Arthur Labus]

Hello everybody !

Specs:
Tracks set to 0 VU. Izotope Neutrino and NLS Channel (Neve) on every instrument bus.

DRUMS:
Variety Of Sound Thrillseeker VBL (vintage compressor) and Toneboosters TB Sibilance v3 (deEsser) on bus
Kick dry: Wavesfactory SK10 / Black Rooster Audio VEQ-1P Pultech EQ (low end trick)
Sidestick_1 dry: Soundtoys PanMan
Snare: Soundtoys Little Plate

BASS buss
A1 Stere Control (mono under 150 Hz)
Waves PuigTec EQP1A (bass trick)
Waves Scheps 73 (clean bass)
Wavesfactory Trackspacer 2.5 - sidechain from Kick to carve some space

Bass_dry: Waves Brauer Motion for some movements
Bass massive_dry: Waves CLA Bass for some sound shaping

Daydream Choppy Vocal dry: Waves CLA Vocals

KEYS
Pad massive_dry: Temper (distortion) and in parts two different settings of Soundtoys FilterFreak2
Pad Alchemy dry: tow settings of Waves CLA Effects
PadAir_dry: Soundtoys Effect Rack - ambient dotted eight Echo Boy
Violins: Variety Of Sound Thrillseeker VBL (vintage compressor) for some extra grit

Lot of volume automation

Master Bus:
NLS Bus (Neve) analog summing, Waves TG12345 console with subtle EQ, Density MkII compressor (glueing), Toneboosters ReelBus tape sim, Toneboosters Sibilance, Charly Limited analog gain, Barricade Limiter (just for sure), Youlean loudness Meter

Added 1 bar at the start and 3 at the end. Made an ending in last 8 bars.

WAV:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1udX87H ... sp=sharing

WAV 24bit/48.KHz round 3,8 dB headroom / loudness -17,2 LUFS

Good succes everybody !

[GB Real]

Here is my submission:

mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z2SdnM ... sp=sharing
wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xR-qhJ ... sp=sharing
capture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rc-_6n ... sp=sharing

Thanks for the opportunity to mix the tracks. Enjoyed working on it! Main philosophy was to use a parallel processing across frequency spectrum—duplicating all the basses and processing the low end and the mid-high end separately. Went heavy on compression and used saturation on the kick and snares.

[EchoOread]

Thanks for the music. I have fun (and at times scary) mixing it.

EQ and comp across all tracks. I only used the dry tracks; that's more than enough ammunition to wage world war 3 already, imo. EQs mostly to cut the lo mid. Lots of HP and LP. Compression is used primarily to tuck instruments in. Tons of delays; they are everywhere. The most notable are: 1. I use a fuzz and a deep HP+LP for the lead synth in the beginning along with automation to create exciment and 2. I used a flanger on the Pad Sylenth to give it more growl. I also strapped a distortion to the whole mix to try to bring out the snarl . Hope you like it, man. Thanks

I hope my link works properly now. You'd let me know, wouldn't you? Thanks.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lCvU3a ... sp=sharing

[Clueless]

Thanks for the music. I have fun (and at times scary) mixing it.

EQ and comp across all tracks. I only used the dry tracks; that's more than enough ammunition to wage world war 3 already, imo. EQs mostly to cut the lo mid. Lots of HP and LP. Compression is used primarily to tuck instruments in. Tons of delays; they are everywhere. The most notable are: 1. I use a fuzz and a deep HP+LP for the lead synth in the beginning along with automation to create exciment and 2. I used a flanger on the Pad Sylenth to give it more growl. I also strapped a distortion to the whole mix to try to bring out the snarl . Hope you like it, man. Thanks

I hope my link works properly now. You'd let me know, wouldn't you? Thanks.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lCvU3a ... sp=sharing

Only seems to be MP3?