MIX CHALLENGE - MC071 November 2020 - Winners announced

[Mork]

Hi,

I think one could go on forever with a song like this, but this is what I could come up with in time:

WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nB4Q41 ... sp=sharing

MP3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x3BHGO ... sp=sharing

As you all know for yourself, this has been A LOT of sorting. To make life even harder I went with the wet tracks, I am just not that bright.

After I listened to the provided mix and the raw tracks one thing stood out: at all costs I had to avoid endig up in a wash, either pad wash or delay/reverb drown!

At all times there has to be a focal point to guide the listeners focus through the record. Some focal points are obviously the lead vocal but also at times guitar, lead synth and (to my surprise, had it way low initially) the sparkle synth.
I also wanted to bring out the motion of all the arpeggios and make the tragic moments „tragically heavy“. Since this not your „ordinary tune“ I tried to give the song a trademark by going more dryish (no delay throws or reverb wash), bold decisions like panning the low Arpeggio and leaving in, or even creating, imperfections. For example the sparkle synth has a Cyclosonic Panner on it, which is slightly wonky but I love how it creates a little friction (fiddled a long time, this thing is still new to me). Or the esses that hit you a little bit and create a nice tail in the plate. I took them out at one time and immediately missed them. Then there is the bridge... I just HAD to push it over the edge

I think for me the heavy lifting in this one was done by balancing and panning (including automation). Also filtering plays a huge role (used Pro Q3 for that), especially in regards to synth, some of them were really harsh. I didn’t use a lot of compression. Obviously the vocal needed control and is multi stage compressed (Tape Emu, MagicDeathEye, Distressor, L1) instead of hammered with only one comp.

Some (to me) noteworthy mentions:

Strings tragic level increased by Little Alter Boy pitched down one octave, mixed in very slightly.

The vocal refused to gel with the mix and raising the verb didn’t work in my „dryish“ soundscape. I ended up using a Crystalizer with some Reverse Echo preset that I tweaked further, into my standard vocal spread (MicroShift). The Crystalyzer is about 30% wet to allow some of the unaltered vocal into MicroShift. That did. the Trick without a wash

Bridge Vocal Effect is an H910 into Devil Loc Deluxe into MetaFlanger into Pro Q3. It’s supposed to disrupt, catch attention and make the moment something special and otherworldly. At first I had it mixed way more in the background, but then it’s just weird and lacks confidence and intent.

Cyclosonic Panner and Panman (or simply Panners) can be used to create space for other elements by spreading out or decreasing width and panning stuff out of the way. Also great to make small things noticeable.

Cheers
Mork

[simola]

Thanks for pointing out! Now it should be public.

Hi!

This is my version of the mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mjxLV7 ... sp=sharing

First I grouped the tracks to Drums, Bass, Vox and Synth in Reaper, checked the initial levels of the tracks to peak around -12db and made a static mix.

On every track I added Waves F6, SSL Channel and Waves NLS Channel plugins. Then I cut the offending frequencies with the F6, lifted the needed frequencies and added compression (if needed) with SSL and then the NLS to get some mojo going on.

On vocals, I made some volume automation pre plugins to even out the loud and quiet parts and then added CLA-76 to cut the peaks, and then CLA-2A to even out the vocals some more. Then I created a reverb bus with Waves Abbey Roads Plates plugin with the Vocal Plate preset and tweaked it a bit. Some vocals, snare and synths were then sent to that bus. I also have a saturation bus with Plugin Alliance Black Box HG-2 on it and some of the vocals are fed to it.

Then I sent some vocal lines to a delay bus with Soundtoys Echoboy on it and made some volume automations to the violins etc. to jump out or dip on right spots. I also added a "static" effect after the word static on the vocals Also I added a additional saturation on the vocals in the middle part of the song and a track with Soundtoys Little AlterBoy on it and send some vocals to it for a kind of a octave effect.

That's about it. Hope you like it

Bro, you have it on private. We want to hear you!

[Oba Ozai]

I withdraw my entry. I made a lot of mistakes, sorry.

[Mister Fox]

A friendly reminder:
We're in the final 24 hours to submit your mix.

[AdamTownsend]

This is the first mix contest I've done on this site and I had a lot of fun, thanks for the opportunity!

Here is my mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qxL6bz ... sp=sharing

Breakdown:

Drums:

I didn't feel as though I needed to do much with the drums as they were already quiet punchy and their dryness complimented the ambience of the instrument group quite well. Just some EQ and compression with an SSL emulation to get them sitting right with the rest of the mix. I panned the high hats and the intersnare opposite a touch to add width.

Bass:

Everyone loves a sub bass, but I had trouble hearing this on on my reference monitors. I did some parallel processing to add more harmonics without affecting the tone. I pitched it an octave up on one track and filtered it, also added a distortion track and filtered it. this allowed me to hear the sub bass even without a sub. I struggled to maintain the sub's width while keeping it mono compatible, and decided the best thing to do was to collapse it to mono (since subs should be mono anyways).

Instruments:

After balancing and EQing all the synths to sit well with each other, my main problem was mono compatibility. I went through and found the tracks with the most mono compatibility (mostly the melodic pluck synths) and left them wide, and the ones that lost the most in mono (pads and violins) I used M/S EQ or Ozone Imager to tighten a bit so they remained in my mono image. This also has the added benefit of leaving the sides for the arpeggiated synths and the center for the legato synths.

For the guitar, I tried to emulate the wet version best I could. I added an 8th note delay, panned it to the left 80% and the dry to the right 80%. I then added EQ and compression with an SSL emulation to brighten it up and mix it in. No reverb was added, as the mix was quite dense and I wanted the guitar forward.

I automated the violin levels with a controller to add swells in the transitions, most of all in the bridge where the violin takes second seat to the vocals.

Vocals:

After using Waves Vocal rider, an SSL EQ, a FET compressor, and a De-esser to get the vocals level and clear, I added space with a short 8th note delay panned 15% right and a short hall reverb panned 15% left. I then set up two long delays (4th and half note) and automated the throws as I saw fit, becoming more liberal near the end of the song. I automated the output of the vocal to stay consistent with the levels of the sections.

Mix Buss:

I started with some broad EQ moves to aid in translatability, the Slate MixBuss SSL emulation for colour, an SSL buss compressor emulation (-2 db max) for glue, and the Slate virtual tape maschine for colour and glue.

I hope that isn't too much information, best luck to everyone!

Adam Townsend
BC, Canada

[qhtrvw425]

Hello, just mixed this stems.
WAV : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SleRrT ... sp=sharing
MP3 : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jTyg1Y ... sp=sharing

I concentrate on the kick and vocal track. Processed with the EQuilibrium, Virtual mix rack(especially compressors - FG-stress, FG-401, FG-116), Decapitator, StandardCLIP. I want to preserve and intensify kick's attack and volume, and vocal's clarity and body. I don't use other tune plugins like melodyne.
On synth(Synth Motion and others), the Kilohearts Faturator, distortion, delay, reverb play a huge role. Quick EQ with EQuilibrium(It's 110 EQ is awesome!) is added. I want to preserve every aspects of synth rather than intensifying them, so I don't use many plugins.
On bass... no EQ or compressors
On mix bus, I used the Weiss DS1-MK3, my go-to bus compressor. Additional saturation with the Softube Tape.

Integrated : -19.7LUFS
Maximum short-term : -17.9LUFS
Maximum momentary : -16.9LUFS

Thank you.

[IbanezoO]

Hi all,

for my taste the original mix is very bright and even a bit harsh at some parts. So my main approach was to get a well rounded track. As always I created groups and subgroups to process tracks together. I didn´t use any dry tracks as I liked the FX on the wet ones.

Drums:

• kick: grouped to a subgroup. HPF at 30hz, boost at 85hz, transient shaper to enhance the attack

• snare: grouped to a subgroup, boost at 240hz and 7.5k, Distresser at 2:1 fast attack & medium release

• intersnare, hihat and crash without processing (only slightly panned)

• all tracks send to a room with heavy compressions

• drum buss: SSL console, SSL EQ with boost at 127hz, 3k and 7.5k, VCA compressor at 4:1, medium attack, fast release

Bass:

• bass hold: nudged 50hz, sidechain compression ducked by bass stabs

• bass stabs: no processing

• bass buss: SSL console, boost 7.5k, VCA compressor at 2:1, medium attack and fast release

Guitar:

• SSL channel, boost 7.5k, send to plate

Pads & Synths:

• tracks without any processing: rise long, downer, haunt high, SQ soft, sparkle

• haunt: stereo widening, nudged around 200hz, Waves H-Comp 5:1, fast attack and slow release

• blue in grey: stereo widening

• BinG high: stereo widening, additional reverb

• motion MVMT: stereo widening, nudged 400hz and 2.2k, high shelf at 6k

• arpegg: boost 200hz, high shelf at 1k

• SQ harsh: stereo widening

• violins: nudged 4k to make space for vocals

• serum lead: Waves dbx-160 at 4:1, -5dB with a wide Q from 500hz to 5k, Kilohearts Faturator to add some drive

• buss: HPF at 76hz, high shelf Neve EQ, SSL console, 1176 compressor at 4:1, fast attack and slow release

Vocals:

• SSL console, Neve EQ hi-pass 128hz, high shelf, 1176 at 4:1, medium attack and slow release

• a blend of plate reverb, hall reverb, 1/8th delay

Mix Buss:

• HP at 30hz, Slate VCC MixBuss, boost 100hz and 12k, nudged at 400hz

• SSL mixbuss compressor at 2:1, fastest attack and auto release into Slate Virtual Tape Machine

Loudness:

• -17.8 LUFS integrated

• true peak max: -2.8 dB

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

Best of luck to all participants!

[cpsmusic]

Hi Everyone,

Here's my submission:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xdL-EW ... sp=sharing

I had a lot of fun trying to get the bass under control in this one!

Basically, took a top-down approach grouping the tracks into seven groups:
Drums
Bass
Guitar
Synth FX
Harmonic Synths
Melodic Synths
Vocals

Overall, I was trying for a clean, modern "pop" sound.

I tried to separate the synths into two distinct front-to-back layers:
The melodic synths went to a "front verb" which was Arturia's REV Plate 140.
The harmonic synths went to a "back verb" which was Flux's Verb Session set to a large hall algorithm. They were sent via a delay and chorus to make them sound more distant. I used MSED on the two synth busses to create a dip in the middle for the vocal.

Every channel had Hornet VU Meter IV.

Processing was as follows:

Kick 1 - TB Equalizer 4
Kick 2 - TB Equalizer 4
Kick Bus - Overtone DSP DYN4000 - Compressing to give some snap, also gating
Snare 1 - TB Equalizer 4
Snare 2 - TB Equalizer 4
Intersnare - TB Equalizer 4
Snare Bus - Overtone DSP DYN4000 - Compressing to give some snap, also gating
Hats - TB Equalizer 4
Snare Verb - SoundToys Little Plate
Drum Squash - TR5 Black 76
Drum Space - TB Equalizer 4, Unfiltered Audio Instant Delay, TB Reverb 3, TB Equalizer 4, TR5 Black 76
Drum Bus - Waves SSL Bus Compressor, TR5 EQP-1A, SPL TwinTube, SPL Vitalizer, TB Sibalance

Bass Hold - TB Equalizer 4, Flux Elixir V3
Bass Stabs - Audiority Distortion 1
Bass Grit - Ampeg SVT, Camel Crusher, SPL TwinTube
Bass Bus - KH-COMP1, Drawmer S73, Syntorus 4

Guitar Wet - Lindell 6X-500, TR5 Black 76, Valhalla Ubermod, Voxengo MSED

Rise Long - TB Equalizer 4
Downer - TB Equalizer 4
Crash - TB Equalizer 4
Synth FX Bus - Instant Delay

Pad Haunt - TB Equalizer 4
Pad Haunt High - TB Equalizer 4
Pad BinG - TB Equalizer 4
Pad BinG High - TB Equalizer 4
Violins - TB Equalizer 4
Harmony Synth Bus - VLA-3A, TB Equalizer 4, Voxengo MSED

Synth Motion MVMT WET - TB Equalizer 4
Arpegg - TB Equalizer 4
SQ Soft - TB Equalizer 4
SQ Harsh
Serum Lead - TB Equalizer 4, Devastor 2, Syntorus
Synth Tops - TB Equalizer 4
Sparkle
Melody Synth Bus - bx_digital V3, SPL TwinTube, BitterSweet Pro, SSL Bus Compressor, SPL Vitalizer, MSED

Vocal Main - Waves Tune RealTime, Sonible Proximity EQ, TDR VOS SlickEQ GE, TB Equalizer 4, Lindell 6X-500, TR5 Black 76, VLA-2A, R-Vox, TB Sibalance
Vocal Thicken - Lindell 254E
Vocal Double - Eventide Quadravox
Vocal Air - TB Equalizer 4, AudioThing Type A, SPL TwinTube, Luftikus, TB Sibalance,
Vocal Grit - Vertigo VSM-3
Vocal Bus - Ebony D473 Compressor, Lindell TE-100, AudioThing Type B
Vocal Early Reflections - Waves TrueVerb
Vocal Reverb - TransAtlantic Plate
Vocal Slap - Instant Delay
Vocal 1/4 Note Delay - Instant Delay, Klanghelm DC1A3

Mixbus - Magnetite, SSL Bus Compressor, VEQ-1P, Bax EQ, bx_digital V3, Vertigo VSM-3, TDR Slick EQ M
Mixbus Parallel - IVGI2, TR5 VC-670

Meters - MTM Reference 2, Youlean LM 2 Pro, SPAN

Specs:
-18.6 LUFS Int.
-2.0 dBFS TP
24 Bit/44.1kHz

Thanks to the song provider and the organiser of the challenge.

Best of luck to everyone,

Cheers,

Chris

[MattRocket]

Hi everyone!

my mix: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ljplevh9p5ri ... t.wav?dl=0

1- gain staging
2- group traks
3- quick rough mix

4- the voice sound weird sometimes. Maybe the singer move too much in front of the microphone?
I used dynamic EQ to fix that (Nova) + compression ,deesser, EQ

5- I tried to mix in a compressor. MJUC Mk3 on the mix bus. First time I do that. Slow attack, medium release.

6- I used TAL-Filter to add motion. LP6db tracks 12,14,26. Panning track 26. HP12db track 17.

7- On "track 10 Bass hold" I used a gate with "kick 2" on the side chain

8- Automations

It was not an easy mix. Especially the low end.

Matt

[kirurg]

Hi everyone,

Thank you Patrick for a song to mix.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/swsjy2l1gpe87 ... g.wav?dl=0


There are 4 groups/buses: vocal, drums, synths, bass

Vocal:
EQ, De-Ess, TybeTechCL1B compressor, EchoBoy(short slap), reverb (UVI plate), EchoBoy (longer delays)
and RVox comp/limit. A few "esses" corrected manually.

Drums group:
Slate VCC Console, EQ, Multiband Comp, parallel compression by UAD Fatso Jr.
For individual tracks there is EQ for every track. For snare: Waves L1 limiter, transient designer, tiny amount
of short room reverb. For kick: no compressor nor limiter, but transient designer (cubase stock multiband envelope shaper).

Synths group:
Acustica Audio PINK4 preamp, PINK4 compressor, EQ.
The individual synth tracks having EQ and Compression. Synth motion (track 20) got additional (mono) Eventide Blackhole reverb.
Final serum lead has a little bit parallel saturation (guit amp re-amp), some pitch modulation as well.
Did use Soothe dynamic EQ plugin for couple synth tracks. The violin is a bit emphasized by UAD K-Stereo wideness VST.

Bass group:
Both basses itself having EQ and Compressor. Added UAD Culture Vulture for tone/saturation.

There are some side-chained compressions: the Bass Hold is side-chained by the kicks and Bass stabs. Kick 2 side-chained
by kick 1. Volume automation for many tracks used.

Did not listen to any specific reference track/song, but I've found some
indications about The Human Leaque, New Order or even Pet Shop Boys.

Mix bus: PINK4 Pre, EQ, plus Acustica Audio Magenta comp, Acustica Audio Celestial Mixbus saturation.