Hello people!
Thanks to Mix Challenge and Arnwyn for this great event.
This is my mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14JXtR1 ... drive_link
The song was mixed ITB.
The standard setup for channels was Softube Console 1 SSL 4000 channel strip + Fabfilter ProQ2 for surgical eq.
I used a multibus approach. Usually i have 4 busses at my disposal but i used only 3 in this case.
Bus A: Drums + bass; Bus B: Guitars + piano; Bus C: Background vocals.
Each bus is equipped with Softube Harmonics (saturation) + a compressor.
I don't really care about the type of design of compressors i use, for me it is about features.
The compressor needs to have dual mono operation and a clean but aggressive way to deal with transients.
Attack/release time are very important.
So for me the Vertigo VCA does the job very nicely on each of my busses.
Compressors on these busses work very lightly, usually around 1dB or less.
Sometimes the gain reduction meter doesn't move at all but this doesn't mean the compressor isn't working.
FX used are Valhalla Plate/Hall/Room tuned based on the bpm of the song.
Delays on the vocals. Very subtle.
My mixbus chain is: VU meter/Softube Harmonics/Vertigo VSC/Leapwing Audio StageOne.
I make sure i hit my mixbus between 0/+2 VU (my VU calibration is -14dBFS = 0VU).
I could watch the VU on the Softube but i use another one before it because the ballistics of the Softube are too slow for me, not very informative.
The Vertigo VSC is going to compress around 4dBs when all the music is playing. Dual mono operation, 30ms attack, fastest release, 4:1 ratio.
The StageOne is a stereo widener that gives me the sound of analog summing. It creates a bit of separation and depth which i can't get in other ways. I use it very lightly: Width at 5, Depth at 10. Mono spread is bypassed.
All the mix has parallel compression from an 1176 working in dual mono.
It compresses all the mix around 10dBs and it is mixed with the original sound at very low volume.
If you remove it, the difference is very subtle and the volume difference is minimal, but it gives a touch more density to the mix which i like.
The mixbus and the parallel mixbus go to a mastering channel where i have a clipper + limiter.
Clipper works around 2 dBs or so of gain reduction.
This eliminates some excessive transients from the mix and also gives the opportunity to get -8 LUFS just by normalizing the mix.
The limiter is not compressing at all and it is there only for "safety".
Hope you enjoy my work and good luck to all of you