Mix Challenge

All,

Here's my submission this month: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oxZlKX ... sp=sharing

Had a lot of fun with this one! Eager to get feedback from anyone interested in sharing it. I tried to develop a bit of extra contrast in between the verses, choruses, and bridge, by effecting the vocals differently at these stages, and playing with the levels (most notably "blip arp").

Here's what I did per-instrument:

BASS: Pro C-2 with sidechain input from the kick, really helped lock them together. Also Plugin Alliance Ampeg SVTVR classic, which is a great emulation especially for being free a few months back.

DRUMS: Not a ton done per-channel here, actually. Autopan on the shaker for some movement, gated plate on the snare, subsynth on the kick. Entire bus has my Audioscape d-comp on it, which I'm growing to love.

VOCALS: Bus has Pulsar 1178 doing some work, which I like. Individual parts have a bit of EQ, chorus parts have a bit of extra reverb / pitch shifting. GTR 1 and 2 both get sent to my RSP saturator in mid/side for some grit, and GTR 1 also has some sidechain compression keyed by the vocals to help resolve conflicts there.

KEYS: Bus (piano + rhodes) has Black Rooster VLA-2A, Rhodes has Fuse Bucket-500

Other instrument tracks are run basically dry; didn't feel they needed much else to fit in.

SENDS:

ValhallaVintageVerb receives from most channels in some amount, in Chaotic Hall mode.
RSP Saturator receives from a few different tracks, especially guitar, for distortion / harmonic enrichment depending on the need.

A fun track to work on! Thanks to the song provider and Mix Challenge staff.

Howdie fellows,

late but still! Here comes my contribution to the Mix Challenge this month. And it was a phenomenal song! Thank you "Suspicious Flashlight", Christoph_K and Mister Fox for this great one. I enjoyed it!

I tried, always in respect to the raw mix as a reference, to map bass and kick as a unit, but with a groove and each instrument in its "pocket".

In the choruses, I tended to go for a more dominant snare, as I found the sound quite fitting for the vibe.

By the way, I used mostly stock plugins from Pro Tools. Starting with the trusty old EQIII-7, Lo-Fi of course, Pultec EQP-1A and even the BF-2a and BF-76. Even the main reverbs are ReVibe II.

Only 3rd party plugins were some "Sooth" used on the vocals and McDSP AE600 as Dynamic EQ and FutzBox for some FX on the female Backings and the last Lead Vocal chorus.

On the stereo bus I used DynOne and Unisum for glue-ing.

Oh, and I also only used the raw main files and not any of the guide tracks (though I definitely used them as a point of reference)

In fact no big witchcraft, no sidechain tricks or M/S refinements :-)

So, here we go:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/58oe22ur2kgh5 ... h.wav?dl=0

Enjoy, thanks for the opportunity and for listening!

Dig in! Cheers!

Really nice song with great production!

I really dont know how to mix. But i balanced it so i could listen to it better. So nothing done to it, just turned som faders down and up.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vc1l4pn0ds2nr ... r.wav?dl=0

Great stuff everybody else!!!!

N

Hey Guys!

Mixed in Pro Tools, mostly brainworx plugins (Townhouse Bus comp, elysia mpressor & musEQ, SSL 4000 E, Purple Audio MC77), Sound Toys (Sie-Q, Echoboy) and FabFilter (Pro-Q3, Pro-C2).

Great work by everyone else!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OmE-_4 ... sp=sharing

Nigel

My MIX:

https://mega.nz/file/QGIS3BSB#OZhv8sCUq ... sEoWJGET8M

Hi !

Here is my mix: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TkVkOu ... sp=sharing

I tried to keep some 80s vibe.

Bass: Did split the track for low and highs. Rbass, and MV2, 80Hz peak
BD: 60 Hz peak, Some bass mint
Vocals: I made paralell processing on main
Bvocals: I was trying to play with panning

Mixbus: Studer, townhouse

Cheers

Here is my mix

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0wz5zz67wbqjg ... t.wav?dl=0

Mostly Fabfilter and Slate plugins

It is the 22nd May 2021, 00:30 UTC+2/CEST - the first Mix Round has officially ended

Another very warm welcome to all new participants and as usual, a huge thank you to everyone that is spreading the word about the Mix Challenge. Please help get the Songwriting Competition as popular (less than 3 days left).


STATISTICS:

• If I didn't miscount, we have 66 submissions this month (66 prior to the deadline, 68 including entries after the deadline)
• We have 2 submission after the deadline (as of 22-MAY-2021 1:05 UTC+2/CEST)
• We have 1 submission that could not be downloaded by the time of this post and is therefore disqualified
• We have 0 submissions that has been withdrawn (but counts as entry within the deadline)
• Overview of Submissions - is your entry within given parameters? (PDF - updated: 13-JUN-2021, full sheet)
• Overview of Submissions (disqualifications only) (PDF - updated: 13-JUN-2021)

INFORMATION:
Statistic sheets have been updated (on 23-MAY-2021 and again on 13-JUN-2021)
Statistic sheets are not available yet, please wait for the official announcement post



INFORMATION:

Until the end of 2020, I provided a data sheet each month showing all entries and what values they have in terms of loudness (LUFS ILk), maximum signal strength (dBTP), if they are in the correct bitrate and sampling rate, if they were downloadable, etc. You can read about the whole process here.

As of 2021, I'm continuing this endeavor as additional learning tool for the Mix Challenge. This data sheet is not an automated process. I will post separately once I have the data sheet prepared and uploaded (which will be linked to from this post you're reading right now).



INTRODUCING "WILD-CARD" GAME MECHANIC:

As talked about in the General Gossip Thread, MC075 / April 2021 introduced a new game mechanic that will be a test run throughout Q2/2021 (MC075/April to MC077/June). In a nutshell, this game mechanic offers participants with minor issues to their mixes, a chance to still advance towards the next round. At the cost of using a "wild card".

This option is not there to straight up ignore established Rules and Guidelines. However, sometimes slight mishaps do happen. I also had song providers write me a couple of times "pity, I've really enjoyed this entry - but rules are rules". This is your chance to learn from your mistake, fix it, and grow from this experience.

You can read up more about the concept here:
viewtopic.php?p=10333#p10333



I now open the field for everyone to give each other feedback (highly encouraged). This will be independent to the client feedback however.


Please watch this spot for the client feedback and Mix Round 2 participant announcement.

Good luck to all participants.





The Songwriting Competition 45 (SWC45) is still in full swing.
The deadline is 24th May 2021, 23:59 UTC+2/CEST. The genre is "Electronic music (general)" - interaction is highly encouraged.

Please spread the word!

Here's my mix:

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

A lot of work on this one.

Just got Smooth Operator by Baby Audio so I used it on almost everything I still haven't completely figured out what it is exactly doing, but it's pretty easy to come up with something that makes an improvement.

I also heard a very Daft Punk vibe to the song so the idea was to make it as clean and funky as possible.

First of all a big „THANK YOU“ to everybody who takes part in this months Mix-Challenge (@Mister Fox included). The effort you guys put into your mixes (and maintaining this platform) is beyond sanity!

Second I want to make clear, that I will pick the winners by personal taste. As probably in every mix competition it is about taste, not about anything else. But what is a „good mix“ then? I would say it is very subjective and when you have 60+ mixes to choose from it is also about comparison. Each mix has its own strengths and flaws. And for the vast majority of the mixes I’d say, you could fix the problems somehow quite easily. But I have to choose the 10 to 15 mixes, which are more close to what I want then others. That’s the game…

All that in mind it hurts me to tell someone that her/his mix does not work good enough for me. It could work for someone else though, but someone else wasn’t in the jury this time. So please don’t be too sad or angry when I didn’t choose your mix for round two. I also took part in quite a few mixing competitions and I know how that feels. It was all the more interesting to sit in the chair of the jury this time. It is very instructive to take this perspective because you actually pay attention to other things than perfection or technical aspects of the mix. In the end, you choose the mix that has the right vibe, drive and feeling, and that is - as said - highly subjective. Alright, enough of the preface. Stay tuned, my feedbacks will follow as soon I am ready (I guess Tuesday or Wednesday this week).

Cheers and stay musically safe…
Chris