Re: MIX CHALLENGE - MC087 August 2022 - Mix Round 2 until until 14-SEP-2022 23:59 UTC+2/CEST
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 04:28 CEST
Very gratifying to have made it to round 2 in this hotly contested edition. 
Following @Los_ady orientations, these were the changes I made:
Round 2 MIX: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12nbKJr ... sp=sharing
- In Desert Roses, I created some automations for a more adequate fitting of the beat with the moments of the song. Taking advantage of the Sonible Entropy that was already in the channel, I automated the low shelf to control the kick on the verses, tamed the groove a bit. In the first mix, I thought I could have taken out the kick at two moments before the choruses, but I chose not to because I didn't want to fade out the toms that occur there. But in this new mix, I found a clever way to do it.
Since the kick only occupies the Mid part of the stem and the toms are mostly situated on the R (side) channel, I used a plugin that processes the mid/side, the free MSControl from Tek'it Audio, automating the volume of the Mid part to practically eliminate the kick at those moments, without losing much of the toms;
- Vocals: In the first version, I had made a cut with an EQ on Fiona's voice, around 3 to 4 khz, which caused the lack of presence that Ady cited in my feedback. So I removed that movement. I gave a little more gain to the voice. I worked a little more on the send automations for the delays at certain moments. I also included some parallel compression with the excellent Comprexxor from IK Multimedia. For Lala's voice, I only added a little more gain.
- I softened the beginning of the song by fading it slightly;
- I worked the bridge a lot to bring back the crazy horns and I hope to put a smile on the musicians' faces this time : );
- I controlled the volume of the distorted guitar and cleaned up the mid-highs a bit to improve the relation with the vocal.
- In the bass I tried to improve the low-end and control the relation with the kick; I also gave a little more gain.
- In the first version I had removed a lot from the Calabash, both with EQ and with Cableguys' Volume Shaper to avoid clashing with kick. Now I have returned much of what I had taken out and the result was much better, including bringing back a note in the off beat that restored the entire groove of the instrument. This slip of mine in the first mix was very well noted by Ady.
So that's it. I hope it's gotten better. Once again I thank Ady for this opportunity to mix such an interesting song, which made me very happy with the result. Congratulations to everyone who participated, especially to those who made it to the second stage. Good luck to everyone!
Following @Los_ady orientations, these were the changes I made:
Round 2 MIX: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12nbKJr ... sp=sharing
- In Desert Roses, I created some automations for a more adequate fitting of the beat with the moments of the song. Taking advantage of the Sonible Entropy that was already in the channel, I automated the low shelf to control the kick on the verses, tamed the groove a bit. In the first mix, I thought I could have taken out the kick at two moments before the choruses, but I chose not to because I didn't want to fade out the toms that occur there. But in this new mix, I found a clever way to do it.
Since the kick only occupies the Mid part of the stem and the toms are mostly situated on the R (side) channel, I used a plugin that processes the mid/side, the free MSControl from Tek'it Audio, automating the volume of the Mid part to practically eliminate the kick at those moments, without losing much of the toms;- Vocals: In the first version, I had made a cut with an EQ on Fiona's voice, around 3 to 4 khz, which caused the lack of presence that Ady cited in my feedback. So I removed that movement. I gave a little more gain to the voice. I worked a little more on the send automations for the delays at certain moments. I also included some parallel compression with the excellent Comprexxor from IK Multimedia. For Lala's voice, I only added a little more gain.
- I softened the beginning of the song by fading it slightly;
- I worked the bridge a lot to bring back the crazy horns and I hope to put a smile on the musicians' faces this time : );
- I controlled the volume of the distorted guitar and cleaned up the mid-highs a bit to improve the relation with the vocal.
- In the bass I tried to improve the low-end and control the relation with the kick; I also gave a little more gain.
- In the first version I had removed a lot from the Calabash, both with EQ and with Cableguys' Volume Shaper to avoid clashing with kick. Now I have returned much of what I had taken out and the result was much better, including bringing back a note in the off beat that restored the entire groove of the instrument. This slip of mine in the first mix was very well noted by Ady.
So that's it. I hope it's gotten better. Once again I thank Ady for this opportunity to mix such an interesting song, which made me very happy with the result. Congratulations to everyone who participated, especially to those who made it to the second stage. Good luck to everyone!
