MIX CHALLENGE - MC084 February 2022 - Winners announced

[Christoph_K]

MC084_The_Buddy_Blake_Band_Time_Capsule_Christoph_K

Here’s my entry:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxyhp5eooa951 ... K.wav?dl=0

I really had fun mixing this one! I tried to not overprocess any of the tracks, I wanted to keep a live band impression throughout the song.

I used the UAD SSL Channelstrip for the overall console fingerprint.

Vocals: A few Melodyne edits on the Lead, I liked the passion of the performance and thought that too much tuning would destroy the overall feeling. I also allowed myself to add the missing „ss“ at „emptiness“ and "evidence" from elsewhere in the track. I used a quite heavily compressed and distorted copy of the track so that it cuts through the mix better. UAD 1176, LA2A for dynamics. I used the UAD EP-34 and a slap delay to get some vintage vibe. EMT140 in the chorus to separate it from the verses a little bit. Ocean Way on the bus.
The BGVs got some Autotune with 1176 for compression. After putting them in the OceanWay Recording space I added Soundtoys Microshift for thickening/widening and UAD AKG BX20 as reverb.

Keys: The Hammond goes through the UAD Ocean Way to put it into perspective, LA-2 for dynamics. The Synth comes as delivered.

Acoustic Guitars: EP-34 on the mono track and OceanWay on the bus for placing them in the field.

Electric Guitars: EP-34 on the Lead. I separated the solo parts and sent them into the Ursa Spacestation (love that one!) in the solo parts. The Rhythm Guitar has a mono spring reverb on it. Ocean Way on the bus. (I also time corrected the Lead at 1:09). I decided against changing the pan position for the solo parts too drastic. It just irritated me every time the guitarist jumped into the center. But maybe that’s just a matter of taste.

Bass: As the track was quite spitty with lots of transients I put a Softube Amp Room to tame it. I duplicated and low passed the original track and used it mainly for the low-end. Slight Slap delay with a band passed PrimalTap to give it some ambience. Dbx160 for compression. Low cut to get rid of rumbling.

Percussion: Nothing fancy, I just pushed them a little bit into the background with the Studer 800 and the UA Ocean Way. EMT140 on the tambu hits.

Drums: Here comes the fun. OCD wise I tried to „repair“ the overheads, because the kick was all the way on the left. I duplicated the left track, put it on the right side, low passed it and with an additional copy of the kick track I somewhat managed to give the overheads a more natural image of the whole drum kit, not sure if that mattered at all in the end result. They all go though the ATR-102 and got some OceanWay as well. Finally I added a Studer Tape Plugin and a deesser for taming the transients from the ride bell.
I used parallel processes like dbx160, 1176 and Distortion on kick and snare and the fatso on the overheads in the chorusses. The snare track has the most plugins on it: A gate, Waves RBass for low punch, UAD SSL, UAD Distressor, L1 limiter, Decapitator and a plugin called „SnareBuzz“ to generate a little bit more „Snare bottom“ mic sound. Finally I added a PA SPL Transient Designer in parallel to add more snap. The Snare has two reverbs on it: TSAR-1R and a Plate. On the bus lives the Chandler Limited compressor from Softube (what a beast). And the Elysia Alpha Master to shave off same of the transients with the soft clip module.

FX: A Slap delay on the announcement and some reverb on the explosion to give it more impact.

Mixbus: SSL COMP from TimP, UAD Pultec, PA Knif Soma for widening and the PA Shadow Hills Mastering Comp. All goes to ATR-102 and the Oxford Limiter - which is not doing anything.

Some tracks have the LUNA Studer on it, API Summing for all the groups and the mixbus.

[PGPMixing]

Hi,

here's my submission. I had a great time mixing this song.

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

and here's my documentation focusing on the main points...

Drums
They were difficult as there were many ride hits poking through and many ghost notes were played on the snare (which is great, but difficult to mix).

• OH: Saturation and minor EQ adjustments to smooth the top end. The main goal was to reduce transients on the snare and the ride cymbal.

• Snare: Pre-triggered gate (75 % mix) to remove cymbal bleed and minor EQ adjustments in the high end

• Drums "High Bus": Snare and OHs are routed to this bus. Reason: I phase-aligned the snare to the OHs - if I want to do major processing, I need to process both tracks at the same time to stay in phase. On this bus I used a limiter to grab the loudest snare peaks. Also: a compressor, a clipper, a saturator and an EQ to create a punchy and aggressive sounding drumkit.

• Kick: Pre-triggered gate (100 % mix) to shorten the kickdrum. Compression, EQ & Pultec to form the sound of the kick.

• High Hat: Muted. There were already enough cymbalistic shenanigans going around.

• Toms: Minor Compression activites to shape the sound and some EQ.

• Drum Bus: 3 compressors (punchy, aggressive, slow) used with different mix settings to blend in the desired groove. Saturation to make the drums even more aggressive.

• FX: I used 3 reverbs blended together and one drum room simulation. Why? Why not.

• Automation: There's some volume automation going on on the "High Bus" especially due to the wild ride hits that were poking through occasionally.

Percussion

• All: There's little processing going on. Mainly saturation to shape transients and EQ. On 2 shaker tracks I used an 1176 to flatten them out completely.

• FX: percussion is dry

Intro Sample

• Some EQ & a wide Chorus Effect (automated).

• I also used volume automation to enhance the bomb blast at the end.

Bass
Good lord...

• Splitted the the high end and low and to compress them sepeartely

• EQ & Pultec to shape the sound. Especially the top end was a big point as I needed to tame it drastically.

• Some minor sidechain is going on triggered by the kick (5 % mix).

Electric Guitars
Great sounds .

• Splitted the the high end and low and to compress them sepeartely

• Lead Guitar: Panned to the middle. Saturation, Compression and EQ to shape the tone and reduce some unwanted frequencies. Reduced the range around 3k in the verses and choruses to have space for the vocalist. Chorus Effect to make it more supernatural, reverb as FX.

• Rhythm Guitar: Panned to the right complementing the acoustic guitar on the left. EQ & compression. Reverb FX panned to the left.

Acoustic Guitars

• Acoustic 1: Panned to the left complementing the rhythm guitar on the right. Reverb FX panned to the right.

• All: Compression & EQ to tame and shape the sounds.

Synth, Hammond

• All: Chorus Effect to make them more supernatural. EQ & Saturation for sound shaping. Reverb as FX.

Background Vocals

• All: Limiter to control the peaks, Saturation and Compression to control the dynamics. EQ to shape the sound accordingly to leave space for the main vocal and all other instruments. Some chorus effect to give them a wider feeling.

Lead Vocal
Ok here's my solution...

• Limiter & Clipper to control the peaks before going into compression

• EQ & Multiband compression before compression stage to shape the spectral sound of the vocal.

• Compression stage: 2 compressors (one fast & one relaxed) blended together to shape and tame the vocal.

• Exciter: 1 % mix (almost nothing) to give the vocal more sparkle.

• EQ finishing the sound.

• FX: 3 reverbs mixed together to give a nice blended 3D feeling. The reverbs are only used very subtle because the main FX is an automated pingpong delay with a pseudo-random panning input (panning knob is controlled by a sine wave as a function of my computer's system time).

Edit: Mix Bus

• Used a Neve compressor / limiter simulation to mix into.

Have a great time mixing and greetings from Germany.

[LowlandsWave]

This was a lot of fun!
Nice track with a lot of energy.
Tried to keep it a bit rough.

here's my mix: MC084
DAW: Logic pro

General:
Align kick and snare tracks to match the snare hits
Time corrected some parts of the lead guitar
Instruments were routed to instrument busses
Instrument busses were routed to mixbus

Mixbus:
SSL native buscompressor
Softube Tape

Kick:
SSL native channelstrip -> higpass at 25 Hz / cut at 350Hz / boost 2,5 and 4 kHz / Gate to tame ghost notes
PA Bettermaker EQ -> boost/att at 30Hz / cut at 100Hz

Snare:
SSL native drumstrip -> gate / boost transients / LMC
Klanghelm MJUC
BigFrEQ: cut at 350Hz / boost at 7kHz / high and low pass
Send to Aux channel with reverb Neoverb

HiHat:
Neutron 3 -> gate / EQ boost 285HZ and 6kHz

Overheads:
panned hard left and right
Neutron 3 -> EQ highpass at 160Hz boost at 4 kHz / transient shaper boost transient in low freq's

Cowbell:
Send to aux with Neoverb

Bass:
Line 6 Helix: Mesa boogie emulation
Bx SubSynth
Arouser compressor

Rhythm guitar:
panned left a bit
Doubled with Helix re amp with mesa boogie emulation

Lead guitar:
Split track in lead rhythm and lead solo
Solo lead: SSL channelstrip / SSL native X echo / Blackbox saturation

acc guitar:
tape emulation
Maag 4 eq for some air
Klanghelm MJUC compressor
Neoverb

Vocals:
SLight tuning
De essing
CLA76 compressor
tape emulation

[VasDim]

Hi all,
this is my attempt to mix:

https://mega.nz/file/Guxg3LJY#jCDNTjiUl ... wmXBBVsT3M

For all track are used:
- Waves Q10;
- Waves C4;
- Db ProComp.

AUX Effect;
- Waves TrueVerb;
- Waves SuperTap;

Good luck to all.
VasDim

[zajus]

Hi All,

Many thanks for the opportunity to mix this fun song. Here is my take on it: MC084__The_Buddy_Blake_Band __Time_Capsule__zajus

For my mix I decided to focus on the "modern classic" aspect, and tried for the sound to fit within contemporary rock rather than pursuing a "retro" sound. At the same time I did not want to kill the "live" vibe of the recording, hopefully I managed to balance it just right!

Unless I had to do some notching, I used mostly analog emulation plugins (majority of these being stock from my DAW of choice, Studio One) to give myself some limitations.

Drum bus: A touch of compression and an EQ to reduce low-mids and increase highs.
Kick: Gating did not work so I isolated each kick individually, compressed it and used a transient shaper to add some punch. EQ to reduce mids and increase highs.
Snare: Notching some ringing and small EQ moves (reduction of mids, increase of lows) to make it stand out in the mix. No compression or gating due to the spill. Sent to a plate.
Toms: Small EQ reduction in low mids to remove "thump" and a transient shaper to add punch
OH: Only EQ to reduce spill from the kick and snare
I have copied the OH, EQ'd it drastically to remove most of the highs and some mid-range and added a reverb to create a fake "room" sound to get more ambience

Percussion: Nothing at all, just panned it around where it fit appropriate with the rest of the arrangement.

Bass: EQ to boost lows, transient shaper to reduce clicking at attack of some notes. Distorted copy of the bass to make it cut through the mix better. Compression for consistency.

Guitars:
Solo guitar: Fairly aggressive compression, EQ to reduce high-mids and notch one ringing frequency. I have employed Haas trick quite a lot to make the guitar wider at times. A touch of phasor at first few moments and for the final solo. Sent to short delay and on some moments to a spring reverb.
Rhythm guitar: Similar EQ moves as with Solo guitar. Haas trick to make it wider towards the end.

Acoustics: Only very gentle touch of compression and fairly substantial low cut to remove the body and make space for other instruments.

Hammond and synth: Narrowing down the stereo image a bit and removing some mids to make space for other instruments, panning automation to make it gel with vocals and the lead guitar.

Vocals: I have done some minimalistic tuning in Melodyne, only gentle moves on notes which grabbed my ears and distracted from the overall musical experience, while ensuring the tuning stays invisible to the listener. Manual clip gain to make the vocals a bit more consistent before EQ and compression.

Slightly distorted stereo vocal added to the refrain. Haas trick used for backing vocals. Vocals sent to a plate reverb and a slap delay.

Mix bus: an invisible touch of compression and a gentle EQ moves to add a bit of brightness.

[unclesnuggles]

Hello everyone, here is my mix.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15PinP2 ... sp=sharing

CubasePro 10.5 / FocalCMS40 / Uad-Softube-Cubase plugins.

In the first part of mixing, adjustment of gains, alignment of drum tracks, corrective equalization, pan ...
I wanted to keep the live side of the song.

Individual tracks:
kick: saturation // Datube + comp // vintagecomp
Snare: Studer-Neve1081-com//-rgb
Bass: Bass amp(Softube)-1176(ratio12)
Grp Overs: low cut
I created a Room track with a +1176 reverb, to give character to the drums.
A Drums group with a comp (CL1b 5tubetech) -1db max reduction.

Vocal Lead: Studer + Comp// 1176+LA2a (post fader) volume automation + Delay (echoplex style) reverb.
Backing vocals: Rvb(Tsar Softube)- Enhancer

Gtr lead: Magneto(Cubaseplugin)- eq Uad neve1081-Gate - CL1B - delay reverb
Gtr rhythm: Magneto-CL1B
Gtr acoustic: Magneto-CL1B

Hammond: IVG2- Tsar reverb
Synth: IVG2- Tsar reverb

I also made a comp // in Dual mono (2 1176 post fader) including vocals and gtr lead.
Lots of automation throughout the song.

MIXBUSS 1: tubetech Pe1c at the very beginning of mixing, magneto.
MIXBUSS 2: Bx DIGITAL, CL1B
MIXBUSS 3: Pultec - AMPEX en //

I had a lot of fun on this mix, congratulations to the Band!

[Orifice Studios]

Alright, happy to join in! Here's my take:

-Orifice Studios

@Orifice Studios
Great mix!

Thanks! I dig yours too. I think we both had some of the same ideas. I’ll have more to say in the “critique” stage.

[zed999]

Alright, happy to join in! Here's my take:

-Orifice Studios

@Orifice Studios
Great mix!

Thanks! I dig yours too. I think we both had some of the same ideas. I’ll have more to say in the “critique” stage.

Both great mixes. Nice work.

[Arthur Labus]

Hello everybody !
Great challenge and i did it with a little help of Flux capacitor

Specs:
Tracks set to 0 VU. Izotope Neutrino and NLS Channel (Neve) on every instrument bus.

DRUMS
Bus: Thrhillseeker VBL vintage comp,
Kick: Waves CLA Drums, Pultec Kick trick, BusDriver (drive & extra compression)
Snare: Waves CLA Drums
HiHat: bx_console N
Toms: Waves CLA Drums
OH: Waves CLA Drums, Toneboosters Sibilance
Cowbell: Waves CLA Drums
Percussion: Nembrini LoFi

BASS
Waves Scheps 73 EQ with extra drive, Focusrite Red 3 comp, Toneboosters Sibilance

GUITARS:
Acoustics: Instant Audio Quick AG, 2/3 panned opposite, 1 center
Rhythm guitar: Waves CLA Guitars (no reverb), SEND to OldSkoolVerb panned opposite in parts when Lead Guitars play solos
Lead Guitar - split in lead and solo parts : Waves CLA Guitars on right side
Solo Guitar - Waves CLA Guitars in center

KEYS
Hammond - Mastering The Mix ANIMATE for extra richness and grit
Synth - Audio Thing VALVES - slightly distortion added

VOCALS:
Intro sample: Cymatics Origin adding extra "old times" vibe
Main vocal: Toneboosters Sibilance CM, Hornet ThirtyOne Mk2 EQ, Waves CLA Vocals, Waves CLA-3A compressor, TDR Nova dynamic EQ - ducking 850 Hz and 2200 Hz
Backing vocals: panned 25% opposite,Toneboosters Sibilance CM, Waves CLA Vocals, Waves CLA-3A compressor

All groups are also send to "fake room" track with Acustica Silver (adjusted Chiesa di San Camillo room)

Master Bus:
NLS Bus (Neve) analog summing, Waves TG12345 console with subtle EQ, Density MkII compressor (summing), Toneboosters ReelBus tape sim, Toneboosters Sibilance, Charly Limited analog gain

Metering: Toneboosters TB_Barricade, Youlean Loudness Meter

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15rB00a ... sp=sharing

WAV 24bit/44kHz, round 4,3 dB headroom / loudness -16,2 LUFS

Good succes everybody !

[Christoph_K]

Alright, happy to join in! Here's my take:

-Orifice Studios

@Orifice Studios
Great mix!

Thanks! I dig yours too. I think we both had some of the same ideas. I’ll have more to say in the “critique” stage.

@Orifice Studios
Thanks! Shortly before publishing my entry I was listening to all the other versions so far and I was amazed at how similar our mixes sound (at least in parts). If they like the approach it’s a hard choice I guess