Mix Challenge

Hello everyone, CeZar and Mister Fox,

Excellent track to mix this month.
The original mix, very well done but hyper mastered is a bit confusing compared to the tracks,
knowing that the goal is only to mix.
A lot of work nevertheless on the tracks, despite a simplistic false appearance.

- first rectification of certain notes in stringed instruments (bass among others).
- keep as much as possible the sound of an "acoustic" drum by avoiding the excess of
plugins which end up deteriorating the original sound; so give back to the original set
all its dynamics and all its nuances.
- for the song I tried to find a timbre of voice at the same time intimate and open. So de-esser,
equalization and compression.
- The choirs were no problem.

Concerning the guitars, it was difficult to mix the amplified sounds and the direct sounds well.
To give space to these instruments, I used a 3D audio processor (anagilph) which allows them to be
placed in space. Obvious when listening with headphones but above all also audible on the speakers.

The title has a very good dynamic and the differences between the "soft" passages and the more "vigorous" passages
were relatively difficult to contain. So I opted for the use of a "limiter" and not a compressor on the master output.

And it works well. You can listen to it here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9lpbnwezet6h ... v.wav?dl=0

Good luck to everyone !

Cheers

Franz

Hi everyone, i'm a new guy here thank you for the chance to mix this lovely song.

So here is my mix for the song, i did lot of mouse ride through all the tracks especially with OH track, to get the ride cymbals feel.
Since i don't really have a good amp sim plugins i didn't use all the clean DI track, but i end up using the Gtr Licks Ending and add some chorus and bit of drive to it. For Drums and Guitar i did lot of EQ changes i think i stacked up 3 - 4 EQ lol. With Vocal there's not much tweak just put a verb and gain ride.

I mix this with protools, all the plugins i use are from waves and PT stock plugins. Hope i'm doing fine with the mix and also i hope everyone can enjoy my mix.

Thanks and good luck to all.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bq229dprc01q1 ... r.wav?dl=0

Hello everyone,
Realy good song with nice recorded tracks.
This is my final mix:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SdXlk ... yigitvdAdx
For drums:
- kick:500hz cut
- Snare: high boost
- OH: cut some midrage
For bass:
- Add low and cut at 500hz
for vocals:
- add a little bit highs and add a mutliband compression

Cheers!

After supplying last months raw project I thought I would join in the fun especially with it being such a good song and great performance. Outline of process was:
Lots of gating and clean up. Phase correcting multi mic guitars. Clip gaining vocal tracks. Once everything was tidy then started looking at basic EQ and compression ready to freeze in place before final mix through console emulations. As always with these challenges and fun stuff I like to use plugins that normally dont see the light of day and break from my usual tools. Prior to the console and automation stage I did the following,
Vocals - Air EQ premium, Noveltech vocal enhancer to bring out some air, spl de-esser, DSM V3 for light compression
Main Acoustic - serial compression, dynamic eq and tape compression/saturation
Stereo acoustics - SPL Iron compression and some eq
Electric guitars - riffs made stereo and lightly compressed, chunks re-amped with Chandler
Synths untouched
Bass - split through xover and maag magnum and waves MV2 on low end, with Ampeg B15N on mids/high, glued and tightened up a bit with TrueIron
Drums - general EQ and DW drum module used on kick and snare, also torque used on kick to tune below the bass.

everything then frozen ready for 2nd sweep through when adding Lindell Neve console and Bus plugins

Vocals - Soundtoys FX
Main Acoustic - stereo expanded and set back a bit
Stereo acoustics - Native Raum Verb fx
Electric guitars - Quadravox added to arp gtr, EQ tweaks
Synths untouched
Bass - pitch track eq added to fundamental and 1st harmonic
Drums - Automation

Lots of automation in small increments all over the place

Mix bus - BX control monomaker on lows, Nova dynamic deresonating, VMR console bus, high pass/eq etc, Bus comp very light glue

https://app.box.com/s/hy4cqfi9ozk25qp4glqitg7l9w17e4gr

I was trying to do just a modern pop mix. I was referencing against Michaels Brauer's mixes.

I had only half of my plugins in use for I had to buy me a new computer with Catalina on it, and it seems that quite many plugin companies are not yet compatible with it yet.

This was just a perfect song to rebuild my template. Great recording and great performance. If my mix doesn't sound good, there's only me to complain.

In my opinion these tracks didn't need much to be done.

ALL TRACKS
Some eq on every track, mainly ReaEQ

DRUMS
Nothing special.

Parallel compression on kick and snare.
Kick and snare went through Noveltechs Vocal Enhancer.
Room had SPL Transient Designer.
Little plate on snare
Drums Bus had some bx_subfilter.

BASS
I sent bass through bx_bassdude.
Little bit of parallel compression.
Also bx_subfilter.

INTRO ACOUSTIC GUITAR
I used only track "18 AcgMain"
Some small room reverb + delay

VERSE EL GUITAR
I used it as such
Some small room reverb + delay

CHORUS ACOUSTIC GUITAR
I used only Rode-versions
Some widening
Some small room reverb

CHORUS EL GUITARS
I sent DI-mic through bx_rockrack and bx_megasingle amps
Some delay

SYNTH
Eq + widening

VOX
EQ + Parallel compression
Short plate for width
Short delay
Longer plate for tail

MIX BUS
Only smiley eq


WAV: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1f_jqX ... mJC7JmOhwo
MP3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1U3vI_ ... bNIOkrjsqH

Great track to mix, thank you CeZar for the great record and composition, had a lot of fun and creative space for Fx and panning !

And here it is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/om0ngqurz7yq2 ... y.wav?dl=0

Around -16 LUFS

Documentation:

Mix Prep:

- Grouped all tracks in sub busses
- Import files, cut empty spaces
- Adjusted Phase on Drums
- All Tracks volume lowered - 3 dB
- Get a satisfying balance and panning

Step 2:

Basic EQ and subtle compression

DRUMS

- Simple REQ from Waves for basic comp moves, mostly low cut's to give space for Kick & Bass
- CLA 1176 for maximum 2 dB gain reduction on Drum elements

Adjusted Back Vox tracks to the same gain for more control

DRUMS:

Kick doubled, one track for high's with Scheps Omni Channel, second for lo-lows with Rbass

Snare only REQ and bx_Console_n on Snare Bus as I love the Gate on it
Snare Top Track doubled and EQed the 300 HZ for more body

HiHats: Low cut, added some 8 KHZ and then OneKnob Drive subtle distrtion to smooth out harshness

Overheads: Adjusted Left/Right volume balance, cut 350 HZ to get the nasal stuff out

Toms:

- No Gate used, parts cut manually and fades adjusted to avoid the Cymbal hit's

- Only edited TOM Bus with RChannel, boost at lo cut, boost at 128 HZ, fat cut at 300 - 400 HZ area, light push at 5 KHz

- Added SchepsOmni Channel because I love the saturation on Tom's and 4 dB Thumb option

Drum Rooms:

Left / Right - MS EQ, got almost all the low end out to not interfere with Kick, pushed harmonic High End Shelf with RS56 EQ

Center: Compressed heavily with Kramer PIE, lo cut and 2KHz boost, pushed it subtle back

Drum Reverbs:

Snare and Drum Bus: Abbey Road Plates
BassDrum a littl bit, cheap and cheerful Rverb
Toms: IR Convolution Reverb

Drum Parallel Compression with Shadow Hills Compressor and big cut on 350 HZ, Lo's and Top shelf boost a bit

BASS:

Was the trickiest part for me and found the simplest solution

- Added GTR3 Bass amp to DI track (I don't really like this emulation but here it worked haha)
- Subtle EQ, low shelf until 60 dB, slight boost at 4 - 5 Khz
- Kramer HLS for more body
- REQ to push 110 Hz (and 110 Hz Cut ad Bassdrum) and 1,5 KHz Push
- C4 multiband Comp, got the 120 Hz and bypassed the other frequency bands so I can control the low end totally
- PLL Track with Rbass for some more lows

Electric Guitars Melodies:

For the melodies I put some atmospheric delay in the back from SoundToys (EchoBoy)

I enjoyed playing with the panning, 1st Verse I let it as it is, 2nd Verse I changed the melody coming from left and right

The Guitar C have only a lo cut and a dip in the scratchy 2 KHz, Center for the end of the track

Electric Guitars:

Simple cut's with REQ and added Lindel's 80 for more punch and power for the Chorus, subtle hi boost, small things

Guitars with Delay are pushed left right, wide
Distorted guitars are panned 35% percent left / right to make it more dense

Added reverb on the opposite sites with a short decay, almost "Van Halen" 80's to make the mix even more dense

Acoustic Guitars:

I didn't like this rumble low end in the stereo guitar, so I cut it and added a littl plate to it

On the other hand I loved the other guitars and gave them a top boot to cut through the mix and a nice plate reverb

Voice:

Great voice, really enjoyed working with it !

- I adjust manually the volume of all words that got lost
- Then basic cut at 90 and 250 HZ for nasal sound, littl dop
- Deesser
- Compressor for peaks (CLA 1176)
- SSL-E-Channel fore more definition
- CLA-2A for more boost
- SIE-Q for a bit more drive and top end

Then one more Parallel Compressed Vocal Track with Rvox

FX:

- Short Revebr
- Long Reverb
- Short Delay
- Long Delay
- L/R Harmonizer

Back Vocals:

Only edit on the Bus:

- Lo Cut
- Scheps 73, MS Mode, lo Cut and Top Boost for a wider vocal
- PLL Comp with Rvox
- Ping Pong Delay
- Long Reverb

Synth:

- EMO 4 Stereo EQ for crazy depth
- EchoBoy delay, heavy distrotion with Bezerk, widening with Brauer Motion

After I was happy with it I added volume automation on:

- Drums
- Snare
- Vocals
- Guitars

For more Punch in the right moment and some nice vocal fade out from chorus back to Verse (Vox down, Vox FX Up, Back Box Up)

from Chorus 1 to Verse 1 was a guitar break that needed help, so I added H-Delay one the guitars to make the transition smooth & Interesting

Master Bus:

SSL Comp with subtle 3 dB compression Max.

Izotope Insight to see what's going on

Enjoy The track Every feedback is welcome !

WAV: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ReelL ... 17wc-gwpPY

Mixer view:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1h5Ar6 ... op3oglvGVx

Lots of plugins used even though most of them are doing very little.
lots of paraller compression

i used rear buss technique on this one (paraller) (everything else going in expect drums) Dual mono compression on it,
some automation on fx returns mainly volume and mute automation
Feel free to ask any questions

Hi everyone! I decided not to listen to the initial mix to avoid being influenced. I did the mixing on Saturday and Sunday the 7th and 8th march.
Listening to the song I felt both sweetness and sharpness. So, since there are a lot of guitars, I wanted to make a contrast between acoustic and driven guitars, trying to make the sweetness of love and the cruelty of pain after. Also, in the final part I added a delay on the voice to make the sentences almost a thought, a dream.

First I opened all the tracks to listen to the song
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w4abiqp9cccp5xg/001.png?dl=0
I divided the tracks into goups voices, drums, guitars and others
I then downmixed the drum tracks to get a bass drum, a snare drum and a mixture of the rest tracks, applying gates and a little eq
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yns2wsc03iwyriy/002.png?dl=0
Then I prepared the others tracks (bass and synthesizers) adding some saturation to the synthesizers while I made a 50% reamp of the bass which I then equalized and compressed
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1czqj0w0q0q4e1/003.png?dl=0
Later I arranged the acoustic guitar tracks
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oqtszds6ibnogx1/005.png?dl=0
For electric guitars I had to use a reamping because unfortunately they were recorded with the effects already applied, which does not allow me to change the effects according to the mix.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a9d275fzqagh5ei/007.png?dl=0
Also for the voice I performed some downmix obtaining the voice of the verse, that of the refrain and the choirs aside
On the main voice I applied a light and neutral tape saturation
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ig3y6aey6xxw7iw/008.png?dl=0
So I started mixing the tracks I got
https://www.dropbox.com/s/btwkykmawv0gqix/009.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rdo8r3g4cz52dlw/010.png?dl=0
In the end I exported the tracks separately but processed to apply an analog console simulation and raise, without compressing, the final level to comply the needs of the contest
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wthoctq36v7hd4a/011.png?dl=0
After 9 replays in the following days and 9 different versions I decided that this is the best version, I hope you enjoy it!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xkksv9midhf7c ... x.wav?dl=0

Hi all,

First, thanks to CeZar for providing a great song for mixing, I had lots of fun working on it.

On the drums I haven't done anything too special: gating, some EQ and compression and parallel compression on the bus.

On guitars I used the "Gtr drive" DI track with a HPF to add some pick sound hiding the strings. Other than that usual stuff, EQ and Mutiband compression.

On the synths I added a flanger effect on the bus, simply I liked how it sounded, and I side chained them with the lead vocal to open some space on the mids at the chorus part.

On vocals: EQ, more EQ, 2 Deessers, Saturation, MB compression around the 5kHz range and a tape delay on some parts of the song.

I've used 3 reverbs and 2 different sends with the same delay effect.

A short reverb used on everything except vocals, kick, toms and bass. A longer reverb used on the guitars, synths and a little bit on some drums. And another reverb just for the vocals.

The first delay is used on guitars and synths and it only has some EQing on it.

The second delay it's for the vocals, apart from the EQ it has some saturation giving it a nice effect.

Finally, both the vocal reverb and delay are side chained with the vocals, so they only show up on the empty spaces.

I had nothing on the mix bus this time. It sounded good enough without anything there.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cCL1E3 ... sp=sharing

Hi guys this is my first mix

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1l0T1G ... pisYVjf7ia

I used Studio One 4 Professional, so i made:
gate eq and compress in every drum channel
in Acustic and electric Gtr 1176 and Pultec
In Voice track i used Proeq and 1176 like compressor

In the master bus just a little compression and a trim.