MIX CHALLENGE - MC062 February 2020 - Winners announced

[SEEL Mixing Farm]

Hi Gary and everyone, this is my mix. Given the nature and purpose of a soundtrack I have not removed reverberation but in some parts added both by compressing the existing one and using Fx .. I like the result, I hope you like it too. In the Mix Bus I compressed slightly (2db or so) with the FabFilter C2 (I always compress a little while mixing to get some glue but no mastering). Thanks to all the staff for these great initiatives, thank you very much .

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cm3mphl5znur5 ... m.wav?dl=0
SEEl Mixing Farm

[Emiliano Brescacin]

Hi everyone this is the submission link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cj8abygdempte ... n.wav?dl=0:

I mixed the song in Studio One 4.5, I always try not to use a huge amount of plugin just because I have them, what I try to do is having a reason for each movement.
My goal in this song was support the arrangement, using automation to enhancing all the different parts of the song, make sure that all the detail can be listened and creating space for each track.
I approached this mix like i normally do, so , first imports the tracks into my template in which I already different busses for each group of tracks: Loop and Percussion; Basses and Synths, those 3 busses are then sent to a main Music bus and all the Vocals are sent to a main Vocal bus. Then the Music and Vocal Bus are both sent to ma main stereo bus.

My most processed tracks are the War drum (which i want to sound massive and explosive ) and the percussion bus (in which i use compression and eq to shape the sound, an automated LPF to open up in the “choruses” and which I also make it mono up to 460hz)

The Music bus has only one band eq to cut a bit of the low mid sum and a 2500 with mainly 3-4 bd of compression

On the others tracks i mede eq movements to make it sit better in the mix and control the stereo image with bx_controve_v2 to

On the vocals i maded some eq movement just to fit better in the mix

On the stereo bus I just add 1.5 db at 16KHz to shine a little bit more, I also add a dynEq from 250 to 750 Hz to keep the mids in check but still present in the mix and a hi Freq limiter to keep the really top end under control.

Note that I do not consider this track as mastered since these movement on the stereo bus are pretty standard to me and i will not remove them if i would send the track to a mastering enginner because they contribute to the sound I had in mind.

The only mastering movement I did on the stereo bus are the api 2500 used as clipper with no compression and analog mode on, and the ozone 9 track assistant which i find extremely helpful for the very low end where is difficult to understand what is going on, especially in a non perfect room.

My insert plugin for this mix are:

Toneboosters tb_Equalizer_4.
My main digital all purpose equalizer for subtractive, surgical , curving space, dynamic control, hpf lpf on multiples tracks.

Stillwell Vibe EQ.
For color on Damage Industrial Hats and CS80 1

Soundtoys Sye EQ.
For color on Percussion bus addiing some bark at 700 hz

Waves Api 2500.
Bus compression on percussion, music and stereo busses and Slammin the war drums tracks.

Klanghelm MJUCjr.
Vary-mu style compression on ethereal vocal

Brainworks Bx_control_v2.
Augment or reduce stereo image and elliptic filter on various tracks.

Izotope Ozone 9 element.
Stereo bus gentle shape 3

Toneboosters Barricade 3.
Gentle limiter

T-Racks 4 Analyzer.
Stereo bus check overall balance

Presonus Level meter.
Stereo bus check loudness level



My FX plugin are:

Hofa System one plate reverb.
Enhance War drum, add depth to Stylus shaker, space for DoPahTet tracks

Izotope Phoenix Reverb.
On wind and DoPahTet tracks, also add space to ethereal vocal.

Presonus stock Phaser.
Modulation on DoPahTet tracks

Presonus stock Delay.
Add depth on ethereal vocal


Thanks.

[Snarowitz]

Here is my submission for MC062. I use Pro Tools 12.7.1, bounced at 24Bit 48kHz.

My biggest challenge here was the soundstage. With every track being stereo, and some panning and spatial effects printed in, it was tough figuring out how to situate it all on the canvas. I used a lot of gates to clip the tails, creative panning to separate the timbres, and M/S EQ to shape the dimension. Then I added back a small amount of reverb to define the space and bring it all together. I wanted it to sound big and open, but also controlled and orderly. Like a blood-soaked stone wall along the field of battle you describe in your preface.

There was a nice build up and release, to build up again, built into the arrangement; so I accentuated this with clip gain and level automation to highlight the dynamics of the song, since it is not a dynamic piece in the traditional sense.

I tried to define a space for all of the pieces within the soundstage, whilst blending them in a way that felt orchestral…. despite the synthesizer (obviously not an orchestral instrument). I wanted it to sound like a traditional epic film score, with a modern twist. Since the synth already sounds pretty close to a horn, I considered automating in some breath stops. But, ultimately decided against it since that would have been more a production choice than a mix choice.

I thought the voicing of the lead was beautiful and really wanted to highlight it, so I ducked the background vocals behind the lead and then automated a background vocal build up to close out the piece in giant fashion with the ringing of the bell.

I used various forms of saturation to give the instruments some character. I thought the original sounds lacked a sternness your preface suggested should be there. I sent the mix OTB through a couple hardware compressors (1176 and Quad VCA), barely moving the needles. I think it warmed them up nicely, in a very human way. I couldn’t fight the urge to darken it up a little, do to all the death and destruction a battle or disaster might cause. The synth, while regal, just seemed a little to happy to be wading through a field of dead friends, foes, and/or family. I think I was able to retain the heroic feel in the foreground, while generating a more serious vibe in the liners.

All said we’ve got a loudness range of 6.3 LU, and an overall program loudness of -17.7 LUFS according to my TC Clarity.

Thanks for letting me work on your project.

Snarowitz

WAV. - https://drive.google.com/file/d/16ZpsZh ... sp=sharing

MP3 - https://drive.google.com/file/d/12OUEOo ... sp=sharing

[shoma]

Hi everyone!

At first a big thank you to Gary Regnier, for letting us mix his wonderful track and of course to Mister Fox, who made this whole thing possible.

Here is my submission for this contest:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0g1bl4retctgx ... a.wav?dl=0

Some screenshots of the session:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lhoxchfaphov6 ... 1.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uql8rzbo9ds2o ... 2.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqlmn1w2zeb61 ... 3.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cyr1e1xno8dj5 ... 2.png?dl=0


I used Cubase 10 Pro for mixing.

At first I treated some of the files with several plugins to get the amount of reverb down to a usable level. For the rhythm tracks I used tools like Transgressor, MultibandEnvelopeShaper or simpler tools like GateyWatey and Transient+, but some of them were even used for the vocals.

I eq'd every track to taste and made decisions, whether to widen a track or narrowing down the stereo image. Plugins used for this task were MSED and bx_control. In the screenshots you will see VUMTDeluxe on some tracks. These were replaced by bx_control for the final mix I uploaded. I further added an AutoPan plugin on the stylus riser, but I simply forgot to update the pics...sorry for that :-(

Compression was barely used. I used Cubases' builtin Brickwall Limiter though on the group channel for the main beat just to tame some peaks that were not catched up by Waves AbbeyRoad Saturation or Softubes Harmonic Analog Saturation Processor. For the percussive elements I also used the new Type B by Audio Thing, just to give it some grit an creakyness. The War Beat has some Fairchild compression (Overloud GEM 670) and saturation (Softube) and some REVerence reverb on it's group channel. There is also Waves Torque and Airwindows Tape64 on the main beat just to beef up the bottom...There's some reverb by Orilriver on the Ambiloop Azur just to give the snare al little lift and a small room by REVerence on the Omnisphere Loop.

Main eq for most of the tracks was Gullfoss and some corrections with Cubases own Channel EQ and Frequency EQ.

Strings are untouched. I liked how they sounded and they still fit in my mix after all my treatments.

"Wind" and "Retro 1" have some coloration by Type B and a little amount of flanging for some movement

"Music Box" needed some coloration by Type B and then I took care about the attack to make it more audible

"Retro 2" I felt could need some soft phasing to make it more interesting. Of course I had to give it it's own coloration...done by a combination of Transgressor for the attack, some saturation by Abbey Road Sat. and Fazortan for some phasing excitement. Gullfoss is keeping the frequencies calm...

The bass tracks needed some bottom refinement with Waves Maxxbass but first I took care about the reverb on the original files and treated them with Transgressor and bx_control to make the bass mono up to app. 200Hz. followed by some Abbey Road Sat. There is Tritik Echorus on the Omnisphere Bass, but only above app. 500 Hz. Instead of using Gullfoss I preferred Waves F6 Dynamic EQ on the bass tracks.

Except for "Ethera" I wanted the girls to be as dry as possible just to build my own reverb scenario around it with the Vocalise C Pad quite upfront an all the other tracks more distant. The Vocalise Intro should mix nicely with the upcoming flanged wind and some Phasing, Delay and ambisonic FX by Natasha. Compressor used were GEM-670 (Ethera), VLA-FET vor Vocalise C Pad and Pulsar Smasher for the DoPahDets

Reverb for Vocalise C Pad was Verbum by United Plugins, Ethera is swimming in Zynaptic Subspace and UltraVerb and the DoPahDets are getting some space by Breathe 2

On the master out I had Gullfoss again. All instances of Gullfoss in this session only work in taming mode, mostly around 20-30%, so not that much. Next is Slates FG-Grey working at 2:1 with 1dB of reduction, again some Tape64 by Airwindows at very moderate levels and at last there is SC Focusrite. This is also doing some some compression with a 50% mix level, some THD and minor eq adjustments (+/- 1db). Absolutely no mastering treatments...only for the glue...

I'm sure I might have forgotten to mention something...just ask!

As stated by TBProAudio "FinalLoud_2" this mix is coming to you at -22.0 LUFS with a TP Max @ -4,5 dBTP. Sorry for being that low :-/

Cheers and have fun! :-)

[GB Real]

wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HQtzJK ... sp=sharing
mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NXLAvd ... sp=sharing
screen capture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZtffYD ... sp=sharing

This is my mix. Excellent production. Mixed ITB in Protools. Used native plugins and plugins from Flux, izotope, and Acustica. I brought the vocals out more than the rough mix, and also focused on tonal shaping on the strings/pads so that each layer is audible. Emphasized the kick/snare loop (Ambiloop Azure Drums) as well as the war drums. Thanks, looking forward to your feedback.

[ThaSome]

Hello everyone !

This time I'm very hyped for the challenge.

An awesome track, also very enjoyable to mix. Thank you.

This is my submission:

Wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tj1sw0z8qcvza ... e.wav?dl=0
Mp3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fv2bss1i12dw4 ... e.mp3?dl=0

I got used to Fl Studio so I tried to make the mix with it.
(photo) https://www.dropbox.com/s/13mxs9k0pp1jq ... 2.png?dl=0

In the image you can see little panning, this is because I've focused on the track to expand the stereo scene.

Instead of cleaning voices out of rev, I used a bit of convolving reverb to take advantage of the rev that some stems already have, so this makes it sound natural as the original piece.

Also used the plugin ANIMATE for clearer sound presentation and layering some instruments.

Thank you!

[policarpo_r]

Hey guys! Here is my submission.


MP3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tCqIgc ... sp=sharing
WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1npppns ... sp=sharing

Prints
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IIoisF ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wYk-M5 ... sp=sharing

Thanks! And enjoy the mix!

[VasDim]

Hi all,
this is my attempt to mix:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7x2zw5hqvtxch ... m.mp3?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jkkhoz00wfazb ... 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

[shroom feverish]

Hei.

wav
https://drive.google.com/open?id=12O-ny ... ckNA4kwmEy

mp3
https://drive.google.com/open?id=12O-ny ... ckNA4kwmEy

Multiband compressor/limiter, stereo managment and EQ cuts/boosts on Drums + Volume/Lowcut automation + Group Limiter/EQ
Saturationn, EQ, Limiter for Bass
Saturation, Expander, stereo managment and EQ cuts/boosts on Synths + Group Compressor/EQ
Compressor, Saturation EQ cuts/boosts on Vocals + Group Compressor/EQ
Synthetic reverb as send fx for synths and vocal.
Waves OneKnob Louder on Master channel.

[kevin gobin]

Hello,

Great cinema soundtrack Gary!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sxa6286upefz2 ... n.wav?dl=0


I mostly used equalizations and transient design on individual tracks.

I setup a 1176 smasher parallel bus for percussions ans Bass synths.

I applied a reverb with a slow LFO modulated pitch shitting on a lead synth.

Also there is an ambiance reverb on the main rhythm loop and a long reverb on the lead vocal.

No mastering at all, nothing on the 2bus.

Automation and balance was the key for me on this one.