Hello all, here's my first ever entry:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jadzf1icoaupx ... t.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrr360l7s7qkc ... t.mp3?dl=0
Screenshots:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/051neth9d705p ... 1.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f2en0gs49373w ... 2.png?dl=0
I've gone for a live stage kind of feeling, adding more dirt than what was removed (plosives intentionally kept, for instance). In this "under-produced" spirit, just for kicks I've also done without a few things: no side-chaining, no reverb, no automation, not even gain staging.
The mix is done on Qtractor, with plugins mostly from the Calf Studio Gear and Guitarix suites, plus BassUp from the EQ10Q suite, Declipper by Steve Harris, Luftikus EQ by lkjb, DR14 meter by Robin Gareus.
As for the track processing, all drums have parallel compression (Calf), and kick, snare, and toms also have some transient shaping (Calf); other than that, in detail:
- Kick (in and out): lowpassed around 7kHz, boosted around 100Hz both by Equalizer 8 Band and by Bass Enhancer (Calf)
- Snare (top and bottom): high-passed around 180Hz, boosted around 3.8kHz
- Hi Hat: high-passed around 660Hz, high-shelved up around 5kHz
- Overheads: high-passed around 660Hz, high-shelved up around 2.4kHz, a further bump up around 5kHz
- Toms: each with high-pass and a boost according to their content
The bass EQ has a lowpass, a dip that mirrors the kick's boost, and a boost around 135Hz; then compression, BassUp, GxCabinet (Guitarix), Bass Enhancer and Saturator (Calf) both focused around 135Hz.
The printed Rhythm guitars are simply high-passed and high-shelved, with panning similar to the reference mix. The "broken" one also has 4:1 compression (Calf) and GxMetalAmp (Guitarix).
The vocal tracks share some common treatment with slightly different settings: Declipper, EQ high-pass, parallel compression, and Exciter (Calf); other than that, in detail:
- Lead: Vintage Delay (Calf), "air" band boost by Luftikus, Deesser (Calf)
- Chorus 1 (panned left): GxMetalAmp, Tape Simulator (Calf), Deesser
- Chorus 2 (panned right): Multi Chorus (Calf), GxMetalAmp, Deesser
- Hi pitch chorus: "air" band boost by Luftikus
- Ad-lib: GxMetalAmp, "air" band boost by Luftikus, Deesser
Finally, the master buss only has safety pass filters on EQ, the Tape Simulator set on parallel, for its saturation rather than compression, and the meter.
The peaks are safely below -1dB, but the integrated LUFS is slightly higher than recommended in the guidelines, almost -15. The dynamic range however never falls below 12, so it should still be quite mastering-friendly.