Hi All,
Thanks to Olly for providing an interesting song and to Mister Fox for managing the competition! :-)
The mix that was provided seemed to be way too bass heavy with a lack of mid-range information.
While the corrective work was minimal on this track, I found the bass and the lack of mid-range information in the mix to be the most challenging to get right.
The bass needed a lot of processing to get it to sound rich enough but also punchy so I ended up using a combination of an octaver, transient designers, exciters and compressors to get it to sit right.
I thought that the drums needed more punch and the synths needed to fill out more of the mids.
In many cases, I avoided adding processing to the synths as they seemed to have enough processing applied to them.
While I applied small amounts of reverb to a few synths just to push them back, in general I used delays to avoid washing out the sounds.
It was fun to mix this track and I actually enjoyed it more as I progressed.
Cheers,
Anto
WAV:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1S_bKC ... W1bM4eUCup
MP3:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AeAVp ... 1cI5FBiXj4
Submission notes
Bass
1. Added an +1 octave with ReaPitch to increase the bass density
2. UAD SPL Transient Designer: +7.5 dB attack, -2.2 dB sustain to strengthen the bass and remove some of the ping pong delay on it
3. JS Exciter: 20% harmonics above 100 Hz
4. ReaXcomp multiband compressor: to tighten bass, remove some mud and increase mids. 2:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction across all bands
5. UAD Teltronix LA-2A: gain reduction around 1dB just to add some harmonics
6. TDR Kotelnikov GE: 2:1 ratio around 1-2 dB gain reduction
7. UAD SSL E Channel: HPF @ 45 Hz, LPF @ 3 kHz, +3dB @ 100Hz shelf, -9dB @ 300 Hz narrow Q, +3dB @ 800 Hz wide Q, -9 dB @ 2 kHz shelf
Sent to Bass Mono: Stereo widening 11% above 280 Hz
Rhythm Bus
Bass and Kick sent to TDR Kotelnikov GE compressor: 4:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction
Metallic Bass
Panned 28% Right
ReaEQ: HPF @ 119 Hz, 2 Oct bandwidth, +2.8 dB @ 3 kHz
BlueCat Flanger
JS Exciter: 43 % harmonics
Synth Drive control dry
Panned 24% Right
Flute
TDR Nova GE: Removed resonances @ 844 Hz, 1991 Hz and 4.7 kHz with a wide dip -2.5 dB @ 1991 Hz
JS Stereo Width: +3dB, 18% balance
Guitar Emu Dry Dune
ReaEQ: HPF @ 145 Hz, 3 oct bandwidth, panned 60% left
Sent to NI Guitar Rig 5 Modulator (Monologueistan preset) panned 60% right
Lead EFX Sidechain
ReaEQ: HPF @ 169 Hz, 3 oct bandwidth, -5 dB @ 5 kHz shelf to push it back
Lead Guitar Dry
Panned 80% right
Sent to NI Guitar Rig 5 (Oxygen preset) panned 80% left
Athmo Texture
ReaXcomp multiband compression: 2:1 ratios on all 4 bands, 1-2 dB gain reduction
ReaEQ: HPF @ 96 Hz (3 oct bandwidth), +2 dB @ 200 Hz, -2.2 dB @ 7 kHz shelf to push it back in the mix
Pad Synth Comby
Panned 24% right
ReaEQ: HPF @ 67 Hz (2.8 oct bandwidth), -6 dB @ 3.5 kHz shelf
SFX Noize and SFX Up Drive
No processing
Percussion 1 and 2
Bussed together and compressed
TDR Kotelnikov GE: 2:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction
Drum Bus
Kick, snares and high-hat bussed and compressed (TDR Kotelnikov GE (2:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction)
Kick 808
UAD dbx 160: 2:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction
UAD Little Labs VOG (40 Hz)
ReaEQ: HPF @ 40 Hz, +1 dB @ 189 Hz, +1.2 dB @ 2.9 kHz, LPF @ 3.5 kHz
Snare Marshe
UAD dbx 160: 1.5:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction
ReaEQ: HPF @ 100 Hz, +3.8 dB @ 185 Hz for beef, +3.4 dB @ 9.8 kHz for smack
Snare Synthetic TR
UAD dbx 160: 1.5:1 ratio, 1-2 dB gain reduction
ReaEQ: HPF @ 50 Hz, +2.8 dB @ 196 Hz, +2 dB @ 7.8 kHz
Hats Hybrid dry
No processing
Reverb Short
Seventh Heaven Pro: Ambience RT 1.4 s
Reverb Long
Seventh Heaven Pro: Medium Hall, RT 1.4 s, pre-delay 10 ms
Short Delay
Replika XT: 1/64 note time-synced, 7.5 % feedback
Delay TS32
Replika XT: 1/32 note time-synced