Mix Challenge

Hello, this is my first time participating in a mix competition.
I'm using Studio One 5. I did most of the mix using AKG K612 Pro headphones with Sonarworks, and then checked the stereo width on my studio monitors.
I mainly used parallel compression throughout the mix.
I hope you like it!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vW68Ff ... sp=sharing

Hi, thanks to Mr Fox and Strange, the song provider for this month's challenge, it's very much appreciated.

Link to my submission for this month's challenge.

challenge.https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3rkjaru3 ... a8q8r&dl=0

Equipment: 2015 MacBook pro, DAW Studio one 7 pro, Headphones ATH40X, Correction Desonic Realphones.

This month, I've tried to produce a light, bright, bouncy version of the song. The main aim was to have something similar to the old movies, where people would just burst into song for no apparent reason

It was mostly mixed with the BX Lindell channel strip. I then had several buses for an FX, Hi Ins, Low Ins, and Vox.

My biggest challenges I found were the main vocal, which I did a bit of clip gain DeEssing and DeBreath manually, followed by plugins EQ and sidchain saturation. I also had a lot of (fun) trying to get the claps to sound the way I liked with a lot of trial and error and some extreme EQ and compression moves, I got to a sound I liked.

I am very grateful for any and all critiques, comments, questions, and thanks for listening.
I wish everybody good luck.

Hello everyone,

My approach to this song was to keep the dynamic rang intact. I felt that soul of the song was in the rhythm and bounce of the track. I started with vocals, next the bass, then the drums. These three elements were important to me to have that rhythmic balance. Then I started bring all the other elements in, to fit into that pulse of the song.

I used the Audeze MM-500 headphones to mix this track.

Track Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l_8996 ... share_link

Thank you @Strange for the opportunity to mix this song.

Thanks to the song provider, this was a fun one to mix! I felt the song already had a carefree bouncy production and arrangement, so my intention in my mixing was to honor that and enhance it as I could in small areas with some panning automations, reverb swells, compression and saturation …more details under Spoiler section below.

Song: MC103__Strange__WegZuDir__VividPhase

Hi, guys.

This is my mix. Please check it!
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jjg7g44a ... xfdqw&dl=0


The kick sound was hard for me because the kick's fundamental tone is good. But I want more attack sound. So I added a saturation.

Also, I always use Metric A/B from ADPTR AUDIO. If you don't have it, you should get it.

I use my go-to saturation in always situations.
So saturation has many types. Distortion, comp, EQ, Clipping, and more.
I choose on a case by case.


Thank you and enjoy!

Hi everybody,
here's my mix. I mixed on AKG K702 with Sound ID Reference on and with 6-way In-Ears, no speakers in this case which I usually don't do that often.

I like to hear the song as a very personal message, so I wanted to keep that directness alive while still going for enough room & ambience which I think is needed for the arrangement to work. I tried to set a contrast in the bridge with the drum bus und vocal saturation which adds weight to the message - i'd be happy to adapt to the producers wishes. I started out with drums, bass, guitars and vocals came in late when I had the overall balance.
I took all the guitars as they are, but I added a second amp setting in the bridge, adding width. There's also PanMan doin' some rhythmic stuff. In the verses I tried to keep the guitarfills a little further away and not at the exact same level and brightness as the main guitar.
I added alterboy with the robot settings in a bus to glue the call/response thing between lead- and backingvocals together and automated it.
I'd say most of the drumsound is done on the bus with an Devil-Loc, Decapitator and Clearmountains Phase's. I had to add some weight to the snare underlining the strength of the message and dancey feeling. I took the drum room as it is, only high- and lowcutting it and adding additional reverbs.
For the driving rhythm in the chorus i tried to focus on drums, bass and Rhodes - everything else are add-ons in my ears and so i.e. the crunchy guitar is on the left side, not conflicting the hats and the warmer rhodes is more on the right side. I had to compress the vocals in several instances and edit it a little bit to make shure everything is understandable. Then I made a vocal bus with dynamic eq to get low mids and high end under controll.

If anybody has questions I'm glad to answer and looking forward to listen to the other mixes as well.

https://1drv.ms/u/c/9D268414961FA329/EZ ... w?e=8oYnvR

All the best,
t

Hello everyone, I'm sending my mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10OjCWM ... drive_link

When I listened to it for the first time, I thought it was a combination of Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas with the atmosphere of Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks. And this thought accompanied me while working.

A few details, from the perspective of the big picture:
- Bridge - I suggested stronger everything here - the snare is more massive and with a long tail, the vocals are diffused with delay and the compression of the whole thing works harder. In contrast to the original, there is more guitar in the front than synth. This is because the synth has a very strong rotary effect, but for me it was uncomfortable when listening on headphones, so I tamed it by setting it quieter and compressing it through the side chain to the drums.
- On the choruses, I emphasized the perfectly recorded conga, a little compression and reverb was enough and it thickens the rhythm nicely.
- At the end, I added some movement, changing the proportions of the instruments that appear smoothly over time.

A few words about the processing itself:
- On the vocals, kick and bass I used gradual compression, mainly based on the 1176 and LA2A, I also processed the snares dynamically, combining all into one track.
- FX bus to Plate and Lexicon 480 to which I sent elements as needed. Although a few instruments have additional reverb directly on the track.
- Mix bus to SSL BUS Comp and Tape simulation Ampex ATR-2

My monitoring is: Audeze MM-100 headphones and JBL LSR305 near-field monitors with Sonarworks correction, in an unadapted room. And small Bluetooth in-ear headphones

Thank you!

Thanks to @Strange for the chance to work on his material! Thanks to @Mister Fox for organising the competition!

I edited the vocals and the crunchy guitar to enhance the bouncy feeling. To my ears there were a few spots were the guitar was not so tight compared to the rest. The lead vocal also needed some time correction + the background vocals weren’t aligned as I wanted.
I also spent 2 or 3 hours with Flex Pitch in Logic to make the singing performance more in tune with the music.

So here is what I did + some infos:

Pitch and time editing on vocals and guitar crunch for the bouncy feeling

Bass: Ampeg SVTR Classic, Compression, EQ, TDR Nova for kick sidechain
Git Verse: IKM TONEX, TDR Kotelnikov
Git Fills: UAD Marshall Plexi Classic, TDR Kotelnikov

Synth Pad: MCenter, HornetSleek to tame the shrill high note
E-Piano Chorus: Gem Mod

Kick and Snare: 1176 RevA, EQ
Drum Bus: SSL G Buss, EQ, HornetMBC

Guitar Delay: Arturia Delay TAPE-201
Vocal Delay: Echoboy
Synth Pad Reverb: NI Raum

In the bridge the vocals needed a deesser so I automated this.

Most elements have TDR Kotelnikov and EQ.

All instruments + their fx are routed to the „instrumental“ bus with AMEK Mastering Compressor for glue and SPL PQ for a little treble boost. There is also TDR Nova as dynamic EQ to give a little room for the main vocals.

Instrumental bus + vocals are routed to „Mixbus“ with API 2500 and PSP E27 for the final touch.

I used TC Electronic Clarity, Youlean Loudness Meter, MMultiAnalyzer, MCompare and OScope as analyzer and reference tools.

Mixed on Focal Solo 6 Be + Focal Sub 6 in a treated room using Sonarworks SoundID as correction. Also checked on mac mini, ipad, iphone speakers and on crappy earbuds.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fJtAJ7 ... share_link

Thank you for this nice song, I like the lyrics and groove.

I liked to get the groove more prominent than in the given mix. therefore all the drums and percussion have more highs. I also liked to get the funky guitar in the verse more to stand out, and gave it more room than just left side. I duplicated the track, did another EQing and dynamics processing. I also wanted to sound the bass more natural.

Further more, nothing special on the other tracks, mostly EQing and dynamics. Most of the instruments go to an Amb and a room reverb, with different levels. Drums and percussion have their own reverb, amb and plate. The vocals have am and plate reverb and a bit delay, short for "something behind". The vocals didnt need much treatment. just dynamics and a bit EQing, lowcut, 4oo cycles down, smooth high shelf.

Link: https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/CtNgW5tFm

Ciao bluesation

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum and this is my first post.
Here’s my mix.

Mix

First of all, I want to thank you for providing such a great track—it's both fun and relaxing to work on.

My monitoring setup includes Focal Alpha 65 speakers, and I also use AKG K240 Studio headphones. I have an acoustically treated room and usually use SoundID Reference by Sonarworks (although I didn’t use it for this mix since I need to re-analyze the room after some recent changes). My use DAW Pro Tools.

I approached this mix imagining the singer telling the story while driving, so I kept the lead vocals slightly wet with reverb. The background vocals in the verses are pushed back to serve as subtle support, while in the choruses, both the lead and background vocals are brought a bit more forward and widened to create the feeling of more people singing along.

For the instrumental, I focused on keeping everything clear and natural, just cleaning up frequencies that clashed between instruments and working on stereo placement.
For the kick, I aimed for a tone similar to the reference track "Happy," but didn’t go all the way there—I actually liked how it sounded with a bit more punch than “Happy.”

In the bridge section, I leaned into the mysterious vibe created by the synths and added some delays to the vocals to enhance that atmosphere, giving the feeling that something is happening in slow motion inside the car with the characters.

Hope you enjoy it!
Regards!