Mix Challenge

Hi, this is my first time as a contestant here rather than a song provider...

WAV:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yFI2Xp ... 8fUGm7Lz0M

MP3:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=16RwZx ... 7LQ7j5Rmno


Very nice song, I like it, great melodies and a good arrangement. Hats off!

My intention was not to stray too far away from the rough mix level and panning-wise, but I tried to give the song a more open, lively quality. Rather natural, not too processed.

vocals: the sibilants were hard to deal with, I tried a combination of sibilants copied to another track (polarity switched), dynamic EQ and de-essers. A few esses I just replaced with better sounding ones. Still not overly happy...
A lot of pre-gain automation to level the dynamics. A few notes needed a bit of tuning.
A little bit of a de-clicker for some of the noises. Serial compression, rather lightly on the track, then some heavier parallel on a send.
Several dynamic EQ bands, some for the resonances in the louder notes (800,3400Hz) and some for taming the harsh hi end.
FX: general room with extra pre-delay, a bit of widening with detuned delays, automated tape-delay that routes into a plate reverb. All vocal FX have another de-esser before them.

background vocals: yeah. badly tuned, but they're background, so what. Declick, heavy de-essing (manual and plugins, some timing correction, EQ to cut out mids, compression, further de-essing.
FX: Room reverb, 1/8 delay panned to the opposite side.

acoustic guitars: I didn't use the DI tracks, the mic tracks sounded ok. Needed a bit of denoising. Some heavy EQ especially in the low mids (lots of 200Hz cut out), parallel compression.
The solo guitar got some pregain automation to even out level differences and some serial compression. A bit of an 1/8 note delay.

piano: just a bit of EQ to pull out 200 and 2400Hz. lots of room reverb.

strings: I pulled them a bit forward in time so they didn't drag as much. EQ on the single tracks, removing hi end. I tried to make them sound a bit less artificial and put them in the background with a tape emulation and some LA2A compression. Just room reverb.

bass: duplicated the track, reamped one with amplitube, on the other put some distortion and mixed it slightly in. Then EQ (cut very low end and high end), serial compression (first low threshold/ration and short attack, then some LA2A style), then added a bit off 100 and ~600Hz

drums: gate on kick and snare, basic drum EQ, light compression and some parallel saturation/distortion on snare and overhead. Parallel compression on the drum bus. Separate variant of the room reverb with mostly early reflections for ambience. There was no drum room so I tried to fake one with reverb, compression and saturation and mixed it in. Snare got a bit of extra (plate) reverb.

orchestral percussions: I didn't want it to dominate. Cut some 100 and 850Hz, added some 230,440 and 3400 Hz. Added a low end shelf but ducked it with the kick. Some heavy 1176 compression and parallel distortion.
FX: room reverb and extra plate reverb with a bit of automation.

reverbs: I mainly used two reverb channels with a room reverb, one with a bit of predelay, more early reflections for sounds that should sit a bit more upfront (guitars, vocals), one with no predelay and less early reflections for background sound (piano, percussion, strings)

overall volume automation on tracks and busses.

on the master bus some tape emulation, light compression (max 2dB of GR), and a limiter just to catch the peaks, not doing much.

I think I used the words "a (little) bit" too often...

That was fun!

First, let me thank everybody's involvement in this mix. I am grateful to have a chance to mix anything, let alone such a beautiful song, awesome performances, and clever production.

My vision for this song is to give it a modern sound or die trying.

Hope my mix translates well on your ends. Because, ultimately, that is what we mixers seek. Thanks for the music.


Vocal: EQ/Comp/distortion, send: short delay, long delay, reverb. Paralleled. Minor automation
Male vocal: Same as Vocal
Guitars: EQ/Comp/EQ. Send: short delay, reverb. Ducks when vocal and solo come in.
Piano: EQ/Comp. Ducks whenever guitar and voice come in. Send: reverb
Snare: Comp/EQ. Paralleled
OH: Comp/EQ. Ducks whenever snare hits
Kick: Comp/EQ
Bass: Comp/EQ/distortion/delay. Ducks when kick hits
Solo guitar: Comp/EQ/Distortion. Send: long delay, reverb. Automate sends and volume

Plug-ins: Waves Renaissance bundle, Protools stock




Wave: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C9l6w ... EeiEf9PsGL

Mp3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Jv6fi ... Rsz7FVp0e5

Mister Fox wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 12, 2019 16:14 CET

Snarowitz wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 12, 2019 15:40 CET

I usually write up a pretty extensive recap of my mix process, but I'm not convinced anybody reads all that. So, this will be a test. Let me know if you have any questions.

It is part of the Rules and Guidelines!

Yes I know, but many don’t do it and I have yet to see a reprimand, warning, or request... moving forward I will comply, but I based on what I’ve seen the only reason you are mentioning it is because I did. Some rules like file format, sample rate, but depth, etc.. are very sternly upheld, but not so much for others.

If it’s a rule then there needs to be some accountability so that it is fair and equal for all.

Snarowitz wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 16, 2019 03:53 CET

If it’s a rule then there needs to be some accountability so that it is fair and equal for all.

That was an official warning from the host/CTO of this place.

With recent games, if a user didn't adhere to the rules given (including doing absolutely minimal documentation), the participant didn't even make it to Round 2 (I've made that clear to all Song Providers and constantly reminded them about this fact).

Just because I don't explicitly point it out or post warnings, doesn't mean rules can be evaded. I've also made that clear in recent newsletters.

Greetings Gentlemen!

Here is my mix... many thanks to Alexandre for providing the track.

WAV:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1p9eB6 ... 1uJgHxKlMc
mp3:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CxJgR ... 6ro_M1twu1

/////

Master Track
-----air
-----saturation

DRMS GRP
-----comp for punch
-----eq
-----saturation

DRMfx
-----plate
-----eq

KICKaux
-----eq
-----transcient
-----eq

KICKpar
-----transcient
-----comp

SNRaux
-----eq
-----transcient

SNRpar
-----comp

TOMSaux
-----eq
-----transcient
-----comp

BRIGHTaux
-----eq
-----comp
-----deesser

PERCaux

BASS GRP
-----eq
-----distortion

GTR123
-----dynamic eq
-----eq
GTRroom
-----room
-----eq
GTR1 GRP
GTR2 GRP
GTR3 GRP
GTR4 GRP

KB1 GRP
STRINGS GRP
-----eq
-----room

BGV GRP
-----eq
-----doubler
-----imager
BGVroom

LV GRP
-----eq
-----imager
LVsat
LVroom
LVddl

/////

Rules are made to be broken, maimed, modify, bend, and amended. That much we need to agree. Even the U.S. Constitution, to us Americans it is even more sacred than religious text, is amended quite a few times. I remember not too long ago at one time we didn't even "allow" the women to fart, er, I mean vote. Look at them go now!

I agree with Snarowitz for not wanting to write. What does "fast attack and medium release" in a, say, CLA-2A mean? and another: ...put the compressor in the front to provide some glue. What glue? Elmor? And, more importantly, would I, the reader, be able to duplicate the results doing the same thing, even with the same exact limiter? And finally, what hope the writer has to transfer such technique to the reader since 99% at the time the listening environments are completely different? What if the reader doesn't hear it that way? In fact, the reader might even think that a slow attack and a fast release would fix the sound. What then? Perhaps that is the reason no one reads those posts.

On the other hand, I agree with the Admin for educational purposes. Without writing it down for all to read, no one learns anything.

So there must be a middle ground somewhere, isn't there?

Why don't we do what mixers do? Describe the sounds as we hear them, how we want to improve it, and what tools used for such task. Economical in both terms: time and words

For example, using this song:
I think the vocal is a little harsh on the top end (I am glad we all agree on that). I wanted it to be sweet, intelligible, and strong and thick. I use: compressor/EQ/Comp/EQ/distortion/short delay/long delay/reverb, to achieve what I want. So here is what I'd like to write down:

Vocal: too much sibilant. Want stronger presence. Insert: Comp/eq/comp/eq/distortion. Aux: paralleled. Send: short delay/long delay/reverb/automation.

That is enough information, in my opinion. However, if anyone is interested in learning more (about the chain) can always write and ask, either publicly (preferred) or privately. Short, sweet, and right to the point, just like my bong.

Disclaimer: This is only my opinion. The only intention is to enhance the experience of the website to everyone since I think I owe the place that much. Any other intentions detected is purely accidental and unintentional Cheers!

to me, EchoOread's doc and audio together make perfect sense.
but of course, there are also some more ways to create an instructive documentation.

Hello everyone!
I tell you what I did shortly even though for me there wasn't much to do the stems were very clean like the percussions themselves, usually I find myself in much more noisy situations.
DAW: LOGIC
Drum: I fixed the sound with simple eqs.
guitars: only equalizer and reverb only on single string guitars.
Bass: eq only
for vocals: compression, equalization, deesser (for the girl I used a lot of deesser) .
for all other instruments only equalization.
Hope you like it.
Regards

MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vfxh37y79q0bu ... d.mp3?dl=0

wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o828s6760565o ... d.wav?dl=0

F3zM4d wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 16, 2019 17:16 CET

wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o828s6760565o ... d.wav?dl=0

Almost mono on purpose?

Henrik Hjortnaes wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 16, 2019 18:06 CET

F3zM4d wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 16, 2019 17:16 CET

wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o828s6760565o ... d.wav?dl=0

Almost mono on purpose?

yes, for my personal deformation, when I work I tend to keep the sounds mainly in the center because today's kids listen to everything from smartphones or mono Bluetooth speakers. if you used a lot of stereo, some sounds would risk disappearing.