Mix Challenge

Manu, thanks for answering, you worked really fast and efficient!

White Punk OD wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 19:39 CEST

paperthin, very appreciated, but the waveform looks like you locked down your transients with a limiter at -1 dB. this may or may not be seen als close to "mastering" techniques. just saying, with this genre it would be interesting to debate, what mastering engineers are expecting, because many mixes would not really workr or translate, when they haven't been closely developed towards the end product already.

You sir have a very keen eye I did limit my peaks at -1dB. There are clear rules as to what our entries' PEAK and RMS values should be, so I use a limiter to make sure I'm in the right ballpark. I know it's a hot topic but - from what I gathered on this forum - this sort of thing is legal. And I guess you have to trust me when I say that there isn't much limiting going on that particular limiter, maybe an occasional dB on a snare hit here and there.

We can discuss this further of course. Say I put a limiter on my drum buss instead. Arguably most (if not all) peaks in the final waveform come from the drum hits. Say I set the ceiling on that limiter at -1 dB. You'd probably see something very similar on the resulting file – peaks locked at -1. Would it be considered mastering?

from my side it's a waiver and average loudness seems not too high, just still a lot, and worth talking about, within the genre.
because I have seen many releases that are totally flatlined, but still sound good and on the dancefloor do what they ought to do.
seems to take quite some skill to prevail on the volatile market...

White Punk OD wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 23:34 CEST

Manu, thanks for answering, you worked really fast and efficient!

Thank for your comment, and sorry for my bad english, i'm a french guy

I have take approx. 30 min to import, organise ans coulour the track, and approx. 1 hour to mix them.

I was started by the voices, that i think i have the more work to Make sound like i would. (Eq, comp, deesser, and reverb to define a Space for the track)
And then, i construct the mix to englobe the voices.
Many eq, fx and reverbs was set when all the tracks running together.
that gave me the static mix posted.

if I had an hour more, I would have worked on tracking tracks for a more dynamic and lively.

but the plane would not have waited for me....

Here's my submission...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vLNw- ... 2K5v02vWV5

Started with the rhythm - 1st kit balanced, 2nd kit, remaining drums. Bass was tough - featured throughout the song with multiple parts but I got it to sit nicely (some compression and chorus on the main bass, some fuzz on the solo br).

Then the vox: I tried to get a good blend of the lead and double. Decided on my reverbs and delays. Tried some different effects on the opening Soundscape (finally decided on some slight tremolo). Got the intro vox balanced, put in the pads, the Moog and the piano. Steelpan and strings. Finally the guitar.

Devin Wickens
Dwic

White Punk OD wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 19:39 CEST

paperthin, very appreciated, but the waveform looks like you locked down your transients with a limiter at -1 dB. this may or may not be seen als close to "mastering" techniques. just saying, with this genre it would be interesting to debate, what mastering engineers are expecting, because many mixes would not really workr or translate, when they haven't been closely developed towards the end product already.

paperthin wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 11, 2019 23:38 CEST

Would it be considered mastering?

Depends...


Since this topic doesn't want to get a rest, I took a look at your WAV file:

Avg Signal Strength (LUFS): -13,6LUFS ILk, -10,8LUFS SLk max
Avg Signal Strength (RMS): -12,5dB RMS (mezzo forte) to -10,5dB RMS (roughly, during forte fortissimo parts)
Loudness Range: 7,4LU (the mix is fairly "busy" in terms of instrument layers)
Maximum Signal Strength (dBFS): -1,0dBFS
Maximum Signal Strength (dBTP): -0,36dBTP

I take it you're not using a reference work level of -18dBFS (EBU convention (R68))....

If the song would be pulled down to -16LUFS ILk (iTunes, Spotify, etc), with your peak limited material, the maximum signal strength would be -3,4dBFS (dBTP could be higher still). The Dynamic Range (ILk to dBTP max) would still be 13,24dB, that's fairly dynamic considering the program material (this mix) being a very busy/dense mixed pop production.


TL;DR:

Your material has been rendered quite hot, you went against the Rules & Guidelines recommendations but it's still dynamic enough to edit it further (if needed). If I were to master this, I'd have no problem with it whatsoever. But if needed, I can repair the transients easily.

The rest is up to the song provider.





A friendly reminder:
Including today, 9 days left to submit your edit.

Thanks for the music. Awesome song! I can feel the sadness, the loss, and the sacrifice, based on my limited understanding of the lyrics.

A lot of tracks. Spent most time gathering them to groups for ease of control and strapped an EQ and compressor across all groups. Spent the rest of time negotiating with the bottom rich saw-tooth synth. They cover much wider bands in the audio spectrum. And for that reason, I did a lot more automation and side-chaining. A cut at 90-ish Hz and an octave above on most of them, some deeper than others. In such a dense mix, separation, I was told, should be the goal. Automation and side-chaining do help.

Added long ping-pong delay to the whisper voice in the intro and automate the same effect on the main vox in chorus. Cut out some of the esses from the main vox. The same de-esser was used for the snare (in the intro part) to tame the top end of some sort of reverb embedded within. It bugged me to no end; I spent 3 days trying to fix it. I ended up with what I have but wished it could still be a little drier. Other than that the song mixes itself .

Thanks for listen. Happy mixing!


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eBJ4i ... gBmE087qNT (mp3)


https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lZQtC ... V4U7MSdBiY (wave)

A friendly reminder:
Including today, 7 days left to submit your edit

What a monumental piece, thank you for the music!

I spent significant amount of time aligning multiple vocals, configuring groups and busses and balancing all the tracks as they are.
After I was happy with the initial balance, I used stock Logic EQ and Compressor to blend things together.

Vocals are running through Neutron 2 and de-essed after that.

There is a separate FX reverb used on the vocal in the intro, another vocal reverb used throughout and delay.
Master buss compression with SSL G comp from Waves hitting about 2-3db reduction for glue.

Enjoy and good luck everyone.

Wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/b9ix13hfe3moy ... n.wav?dl=0
MP3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5o10qro7u56s6 ... n.mp3?dl=0

Hey. First time here. Not sure how I even found this site. oh KVR?

Anyway. All in the box. Protools. Mixed on Focal Listen headphones and Focal Shape 65’s in my new music composition room in Vancouver Canada.

Mp3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8t6m2uhh9r6cn ... n.mp3?dl=0

Wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cgr0h9awibh7 ... n.wav?dl=0

Drums: Decapitator, Nonlin verb Lo-fi, parallel bus comp and Eq. Transient Designer. Waves API550, 1176, Pro Q
Bass: Abbey Road rs127, Waves Meq-5, Pro-Q, SSL bus comp.
Vocals: Meq-5, Maag EQ, Waves Vocal Rider, 1176, La2a, PSP 2445 plate, Soundtoys DDL. Maserati VX 1
Guitars: API 550 & 560 eq
Keys: decapitator, Aphex Exciter, Waves transX, Fabfilter Q, API Eqs. Rvox, some digidesign harmonic plugs. Talk box, ensemble, fuzz wah
Also, soundtoy PANSCAN baby!!!
Master fader: EMI TG12412, Waves Hcomp bus comp. 2:1 ~5db. 30% wet, ProQ
Bridge FX Waves Enigma & PS22 Spread
Mutes, cause they’re fun.

Thanks for listening. Hope you enjoy my take on this song.
I’d love to hear your feedback...