Mix Challenge

Alex Van mixland wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 01, 2021 17:28 CET

Hello,
Here is my entry:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2btlffgx6eqd0 ... d.wav?dl=0

Drums: I mixed intro and chorus drums one more time, because i think it needed some changes in balance and eq. I add some high end on kick drum and cut low rumble. Snare i almost leave the same. Some hihats are wide in my mix.
Guitars: I cut harsh frrequecys and add high end on solo guitars.
Bass: Cut midrange
I added reverb on some instruments.

Cheers!

Good job leveling out the solo guitar on the second verse. Overall, very nice balance. Everything has a space.

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 13, 2021 05:12 CET

jaganeee wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 08, 2021 06:24 CET

hi,

i am new to this mixing concept.
i need some clarification.
i have seen a sentence in the txt file

All the instruments that are "printed" may stay "as is"

how to find the instruments tracks that are "printed" ?

For clarification:
"printed" in this case means, the tracks have been recorded or rendered with a "certain sound right from the start".

The prime example in this production are the guitars, as they have been recorded through an amp, and then that has been directly recorded "to tape" (hence: "printed to tape", and old audio term). There are no DI tracks available for these guitars. That is basically all there is to it. If there are DI tracks "clean/dry" ones available, that is usually pointed out in the file names.

The drums are available as "mixed" (PREMIX) or "split and unprocessed" (Loop sub folders). You are only allowed to use either/or, as using both would result in phasing issues.


There is more to read in the bundled TXT files.

Thanks a lot for ur clarification

Thank you Mister Fox for facilitating... and to Treeeye for the song.
Without further ado, here's my mix:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KqNdN6 ... sp=sharing


///// TRACKS WITH PROCESSING /////
GTR BRIDGE
- eq into saturation

BRIDGE RISER
- imager into brauer motion


CHORUS LOOP KICK
- eq into transient designer into compressor
CHORUS LOOP SNARE
- eq into transient designer into compressor
CHORUS LOOP GROUP
- dynamic eq
CHORUS LOOP PLATE
- plate into eq


VERSE LOOP KICK
- eq into transcient designer
VERSE LOOP SNARE
- eq
VERSE LOOP GROUP
- dynamic eq
VERSE LOOP PLATE
- plate into eq


///// GROUPS /////

D&B GROUP
- GLUE COMPRESSOR
- DYNAMIC EQ
DRUMS GROUP
- DRUMS SUB
DRUMS PARALLEL
BASS GROUP
- BASS SUB
- BASS OVERDRIVE


GTR SPRING REVERB
GTR CATHEDRAL
GTR RHY 1/2 GROUP
- eq into saturation
GTR SOLO VERSE/ GTR BRIDGE GROUP
- eq into compression into saturation
GTR RHY 3/4 GROUP
- eq into saturation
GTR SOLO 4 GROUP
- dynamic eq into imager
GTR SOLO 1/2 GROUP
- dynamic eq into imager
GUITAR BRIDGE GROUP
- eq into imager


JEMBE GROUP
- air into dynamic eq
BRIDGE LOOP/ BELL GROUP
- no processing
CHORUS KEYS GROUP
- dynamic eq into saturation

/////2BUS/////

- TAPE SATURATION
- COMPRESSION
- TRANSFORMERS

Hello, here we are; there's a little surprise at the end, have a nice trip.
If any of you has any question about the flow, free to ask!
Greetings from Italy


pls tell me if the link works, thx
https://mega.nz/file/9z42ERqS#3A953hz1U ... 65ZWzHXcII

Greetings!

This is my first mix challenge, I appreciate your input and apologize in advance if I have made any errors in posting. I'm excited to join the community and look forward to being involved however I can.

Thanks to TREEEYE for submitting the song, I really enjoyed mixing it! I responded immediately to their description of the song ("Selga" which means in Latvian 'Deep place (in the sea, in a big lake, in a wide river) far from the shore') and took their title selection as my inspiration for this mix. I live on an island and grew up in the sea, I think (hope) I understand the mood they are going for. I tried to emphasize space and motion, creating a three dimensional mix while trying not to rely on thick reverbs to create ambiance. I also wanted to be as true to the original guitar tones as I could be; most guitar players agonize over perfecting their tone and I don't want to rob them of that effort.

The .wav file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ryKYFR ... sp=sharing

Mixed using Presonus Studio One v. 4.6.1

ITU-R BS.1770-3 Loudness: -18.72 LUFS
Peak Amplitude: -4.25 dB
True Peak Amplitude: Left -4.10 dBTP, Right -4.07dBTP

Details:

I started with the drums, choosing to mix the original files rather than use the premixed files provided. I decided to use the strength of the drum samples (their consistency) to move effects around the sound field. For example: The verse high hat file has a reverb and a delay that are panning at different rates and amounts, an excellent trick made so much easier with the Movement plugin (by Output). That got me started with a space that felt like deep water without being buried in thick reverb. I continued that philosophy with the rest of the drum tracks, using panning to help reinforce my three dimensional soundscape. I used the SSl G Channel and SSL Bus Compressor when needed. The shaker, bell and cymbals were key here, they had to placed just right to create the depth I was going for.

Bass - I doubled the bass track; using one for thick low end and the other for clarity. I ran both through an SVT plugin as will as the SSL G Channel from Waves.

Guitars - I only used the SM tracks to save on phase correction. I used panning and extremely mild reductive EQ and compression as needed using the SSL G channel. I tried to preserve the fragility of the guitar solos while still bringing them forward in the mix.

Keys/Synths - More panning, mild EQ and compression using the same SSL plugins. I reinforced the bridge riser track using BBE's Mind Bender guitar pedal plugin. Provided more of the sound without changing it too much or increasing the volume drastically.

Jembe - After phase correction I decided I only really wanted the fleshy sound of the skins, not the tone of the drums themselves. EQ and compression to the rescue.

In the end I ran 4 busses for shared EQ and compression (drums, keys, guitars and bass) and used 5 FX sends for reverbs, an extremely light parallel compression for cymbals and the jembe tracks and the Waves Abbey Road Saturator to help juice the guitar leads.

On the master bus I used the Waves Abbey Road Redd17 console emulator and the SSL Bus Compressor set to 4:1.

Reverbs: MPXi NativeVerb (multiple), Movement.
Kick drum extra: Bark of the Dog (subharmonic enhancement)

That's about it! I hope you like it and look forward to any suggestions. I can certainly make the track louder if I make it to round 2 but I wanted to see if I could mix well within the volume constraints of the contest rules. I can't wait to hear your mixes. Thanks to Mix Challenge for hosting this!

Løü wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 17, 2021 18:53 CET

Hello, here we are; there's a little surprise at the end, have a nice trip.
Greetings from Italy


pls tell me if the link works, thx
https://mega.nz/file/9z42ERqS#3A953hz1U ... 65ZWzHXcII

Seems to dL okay

Thank you!

Hi All,

Hope everyone is doing well! This is my first ever submission, so hopefully I'm doing everything right!

Here's the link to the WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Oz22cu ... sp=sharing

Explaining every element of the mixing process would be a massive post, so below are the more interesting (at least I think they're interesting!) methods used:

• The verse guitars have a subtle flanger and delay to add a nice pad to the section.

• In the chorus section, I've automated certain chords to jump in volume slightly to emphasise the rhythms being played.

• I parallel compressed the bass, but only the 200-500Hz ish range, so that it never gets lost.

• There is an "infinite" reverb on all the guitar parts, which adds a nice depth to the overall production (you can really hear it right at the end of the song)

• There are several different delays used on the drums and guitars to add movement in different sections

• I've used a weird pultec thing on the guitars, where I boost and cut a lot of 30Hz, but then filter this out with a second EQ. It's a technique I heard about recently and it somehow makes the top end of the guitars come forward in the mix, probably with some interesting harmonic distortion thing happening...?

Awesome song, great vibe. Looking forward to hearing everyones mixes and would love any questions/feedback from people!

Hello, all right, sending my Mix, thank you.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdak6q9liwn1y ... o.wav?dl=0

In the mix I basically used ClaMixHub, in the Kick and Snare channels of part 2 I used MixHub and TR5 eq81.

In Bass I did a parallel compression with LA3A, I also used RBass.

The entire Mix goes to aux channels of separate mix buss, where Avid's Phoenyx II Tape is inserted in them.

Mix Buss by Gtr and Keys I used the A1 Alex Hilton to open the Stereo image further.

My Master Buss has an SSLComp, ClamixDown and PuigChilg 670 inserted, all to give presence and glue.

In the Mix Buss of Gtr solo I used Soothe 2 to take some of the roughness out of the audio.

In Percussion only eq and compression parallel to LA2A.

Snare Reverb with PhoenixVerb, ReMatrix for the rest

Hello!

It was fun mixing this one.

Link to wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JtCwqG ... sp=sharing

Screenshot:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H1D2ij ... sp=sharing





I didn't do much on this one, i used the pre-mix versions of the drums as they were absolutely fine and probably what the band wanted in the first place.
Then, i listened to the guitars and decided for each track what microphone I would use.

I followed one simples rule in the mix: "The quality of a mix can be judged not by how many plugins you used, but by how many you didn't use"

I worked a lot with faders and panning, i wanted to give the impression the sound was in front of the listener, and not only in the center of the speakers. Creating a sound stage was really important in giving the mix clarity, as the chorus of the song gets very full with the rhythmic guitars giving the body to it and if you just let it go, then all it does is actually mud the hell out of that part and instead of it getting wider and stronger it gets thinner and weaker. Getting the bass, guitars, drums and djembe on that part to sit well together was a challenge, but i think the result was interesting.

Cant wait for your feedback.

E.C.Miraldo