Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC070 October 2020 - Submissions until 21-10-2020 23:59 UTC+2/CEST
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 23:52 CEST
Here is the mix (48k/24; -16.2dB integrated, -3.03dBTP, according to Mastering The Mix Expose)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQaxkZ ... sp=sharing
Here are the screen shots:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Hello Adrian, band, staff, comrades!
I hope you will enjoy my mix. My goal was to recreate the "cultish" lush sound of some 80ies bands, but also use some earlier types of sound shape like the tomtom sounds, or a more general snare sound used in certain european pop rock releases some years ago.
It is not perfect, if I get the ticket I offer anything Ady wants to change, but would begin with more detailed harmony vocals, and more automation on the reverbs.
I had no problem with the track count, thanks to Tracktion 7 and a gaming notebook. This ends up with 106 tracks because of the meticulous bus tree structure (see it in the screen shots).
CPU load is only around 50 percent.
For the tracks that needed a channel strip, I deliberately used two different ones. bx_console-N (Neve) for the more modern and "wet" sound shape, and SSL 4000G for the more classic, dry rock type sounds. The snare top has a Lindell Channel X for its compressor, saturation, and air band boosts.
The vocals should lie in a bed of silk and velvet guitars. To embed them seamlessly, I used a trackspacer technique with TDR Nova GE, where I can pick 6 signature frequencies of the vocal, to be protected from the guitar total bus.
I tuned the vocals with a one-knob plugin (free teaser version of a more complex tool), but one phrase shortly before the tomtom bridge seemed a bit extra flat, so I cut it out as its own clip, and then used clip pitch. For the last part, the tuning was turned off.
Vocal goals: not to sound nasal, silky clarity, adult full type of voice, feel as relaxed as possible.
I used also the SPL deesser with automated intensity.
With Nova GE in assistant mode I defeated a lot of mic and room resonances. Noveltech Character dialed to a lower frequency made it sound fuller.
Then, there is a ton of parallel and serial compression, and some automation in volume, detune thickener stack (8 printed tracks), and reverb.
The reverb uses Oril River, preprocessed by a multiband comp (suppress high frequencies, and block louder vocal phrases from having louder reverb), and also a slow vintage tape delay goes before the reverb.
There is another reverb aux with Little Plate for kick and snare and a couple of other sounds.
The snare has an inline Ariesverb 4 beta additionally for some 80ies vibe.
The bass and the dry guitars have also a side chain ducking from the kick. I can still add the snare to this for round 2.
Also I decided that the bass should become tighter, and I heard some stronger pulling of the strings, so let's always try something new and unpredictable, I used the Nectar Element with its assistant mode, and let it do strong pitch discipline, and some "clarity" parameter (which in detail is a result of the analysis), and some "dynamics".
But the heart and fullness of the bass is done via the Ampeg SVT from the DI. I approached the spot where it begins to distort.
The D112 is blended in around a sharp 3k band for some crunch and string sound.
The SM57 has a chorus, but due to the Nectar it is mono. Seems inaudible, but switch it off and the vibe breaks down remarkably.
The guitars should not become too bright, I also took out some midrange, and cleaned up the reverb mics with Nova, to defeat room modes.
My approach was to put all guitar room mics in a Git ROOM Bus and treat that one with a bright compressor.
The intro guitar got two different room EQ settings for its two solo parts.
The guitars got a lot of sensitive hipass tweaking, to leave no gap between bass and git sounds.
I did a very special trick, it is said to be used by Pink Floyd. I blended in the DI signals (with tape sim and sometimes EQ), to make the sound appear cleaner.
The verse and the dirty git tracks have got another special gimmick. I used the DI source to create the impression of additional instruments, and gave them e.g. Valhalla Supermassive, Haas delays, and a stereo chorus, and used that to complement the guitar sound from the regular tracks.
Stereo bus: EQ suggestion by Ozone (within 1 dB), Alpha compressor, exciter. I have to get a sound that sticks and has the full features, so any mastering would not audibly change the character of the sound, just add loudness and some brilliance. This type of music used to be very compressed.
Thanks so much, and I hope you will have fun with this.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQaxkZ ... sp=sharing
Here are the screen shots:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Hello Adrian, band, staff, comrades!
I hope you will enjoy my mix. My goal was to recreate the "cultish" lush sound of some 80ies bands, but also use some earlier types of sound shape like the tomtom sounds, or a more general snare sound used in certain european pop rock releases some years ago.
It is not perfect, if I get the ticket I offer anything Ady wants to change, but would begin with more detailed harmony vocals, and more automation on the reverbs.
I had no problem with the track count, thanks to Tracktion 7 and a gaming notebook. This ends up with 106 tracks because of the meticulous bus tree structure (see it in the screen shots).
CPU load is only around 50 percent.
For the tracks that needed a channel strip, I deliberately used two different ones. bx_console-N (Neve) for the more modern and "wet" sound shape, and SSL 4000G for the more classic, dry rock type sounds. The snare top has a Lindell Channel X for its compressor, saturation, and air band boosts.
The vocals should lie in a bed of silk and velvet guitars. To embed them seamlessly, I used a trackspacer technique with TDR Nova GE, where I can pick 6 signature frequencies of the vocal, to be protected from the guitar total bus.
I tuned the vocals with a one-knob plugin (free teaser version of a more complex tool), but one phrase shortly before the tomtom bridge seemed a bit extra flat, so I cut it out as its own clip, and then used clip pitch. For the last part, the tuning was turned off.
Vocal goals: not to sound nasal, silky clarity, adult full type of voice, feel as relaxed as possible.
I used also the SPL deesser with automated intensity.
With Nova GE in assistant mode I defeated a lot of mic and room resonances. Noveltech Character dialed to a lower frequency made it sound fuller.
Then, there is a ton of parallel and serial compression, and some automation in volume, detune thickener stack (8 printed tracks), and reverb.
The reverb uses Oril River, preprocessed by a multiband comp (suppress high frequencies, and block louder vocal phrases from having louder reverb), and also a slow vintage tape delay goes before the reverb.
There is another reverb aux with Little Plate for kick and snare and a couple of other sounds.
The snare has an inline Ariesverb 4 beta additionally for some 80ies vibe.
The bass and the dry guitars have also a side chain ducking from the kick. I can still add the snare to this for round 2.
Also I decided that the bass should become tighter, and I heard some stronger pulling of the strings, so let's always try something new and unpredictable, I used the Nectar Element with its assistant mode, and let it do strong pitch discipline, and some "clarity" parameter (which in detail is a result of the analysis), and some "dynamics".
But the heart and fullness of the bass is done via the Ampeg SVT from the DI. I approached the spot where it begins to distort.
The D112 is blended in around a sharp 3k band for some crunch and string sound.
The SM57 has a chorus, but due to the Nectar it is mono. Seems inaudible, but switch it off and the vibe breaks down remarkably.
The guitars should not become too bright, I also took out some midrange, and cleaned up the reverb mics with Nova, to defeat room modes.
My approach was to put all guitar room mics in a Git ROOM Bus and treat that one with a bright compressor.
The intro guitar got two different room EQ settings for its two solo parts.
The guitars got a lot of sensitive hipass tweaking, to leave no gap between bass and git sounds.
I did a very special trick, it is said to be used by Pink Floyd. I blended in the DI signals (with tape sim and sometimes EQ), to make the sound appear cleaner.
The verse and the dirty git tracks have got another special gimmick. I used the DI source to create the impression of additional instruments, and gave them e.g. Valhalla Supermassive, Haas delays, and a stereo chorus, and used that to complement the guitar sound from the regular tracks.
Stereo bus: EQ suggestion by Ozone (within 1 dB), Alpha compressor, exciter. I have to get a sound that sticks and has the full features, so any mastering would not audibly change the character of the sound, just add loudness and some brilliance. This type of music used to be very compressed.
Thanks so much, and I hope you will have fun with this.
INFORMATION: