MIX CHALLENGE - MC052 March 2019 - Winners announced

[SeldomSeen]

Hello fellow mixists,
This is my first time here, just stumbled across this site and I am glad I did because this is exciting!
Just barely getting this uploaded in time!
Thanx Olly for letting us get intimate with yer music.

I put a little treble on the bass and a little bass on the treble, just like everyone else did,
but with my plugins,
which you can see in the screen shot and you can see how I bus audio,
says it all right there. oh yeah, I used my ears a little too,
just like everyone else.

~MIXES~

MC000_Olly Audio_Illusion of the Sand World_SeldomSeenMIX.wav

MC000_Olly Audio_Illusion of the Sand World_SeldomSeenMIX.mp3

~SCREEN SHOT~
HIGH RESOLUTION MIX WINDOW LINK

P.S. The 33609 is my Master Bus Compressor
and I wish UAD plug-ins would should their EQ curves in Pro sTools

[Olli H]

Cool song with lot of experimental ideas.

I’ve been listening Daniel Lanois lately. So maybe for that reason I experimented with different kind of delays quite a lot. Otherwise my mix was basic eq-adjustments.

Preview mix was extrelmely low end heavy, so I quess also competition mix should be that. But I didn’t make it that low heavy.

KICK
I used melodyne to match the pitch of kick to key of song. Some saturation and short 16 note delay.

SNARES
Airwinodws Distance2 to add analog character snare. 8th-note delay with feedback.

BASS
8th and 16-th note stereo delays with some chorus. Parallel saturation and compression

GUITARS
Hank Marvin style delay.

PERCUSSIONS
8th note delays to opposite channels

SYNTHS
ALmost nothing, some saturation


WAV: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UTQlE ... aRQJQf7Qtd
MP3: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PCGdF ... t9LgIp5dGs

[anto]

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

[thiagoborn]

Hello everybody.
First, thanks for this site, I love this mix-challenge ideia since it was in KVR but never participated.
This is the first time I join the competition, and it's already helping me a lot to improve my skills
good luck to all

mp3:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=17ZYh4 ... qs85Pd6kyV

wav:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TKcHa ... ToTmAcdV-X

mix screenshot:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=17QgBt ... 0REJ2i0bAX

[philk]

Hey!

Here is my entry for this month. This was very interesting, because its way out of my comfort zone.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/am3qa2iqkpogf ... k.wav?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j30kf83unjesz ... k.mp3?dl=0

I used nothing fancy, EQs on every signal to make in work together, delays and rooms on the drums so make them more vibey, limiters on the bass and synth to make them less dynamic, rooms and distortion on synths to make them more gritty and give them texture. Some stereo widening to get some elements more on the sides than others, some 2bus comp for movement in the track.

Good luck to everyone!

Cheers, Phil

[Green-Dog]

Hi everyone,

This is my first entry in the mix challenge and I am very glad to provide my input for the contest. It was a real challenge indeed!
I have tried to keep the balance like in the premix and add something interesting with the help of automation. I have used a lot of saturation such as tape and distortions.
I have also tried to separate the instruments as much as possible. For this, I have used different spaces and equalisation.

Mix:

mp3 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/kvjw93c8w4g7x ... 9.mp3?dl=0
wav - https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2tk1dxracow2 ... 9.wav?dl=0

Files with correct names:
WAV
MP3

SCREENSHOTS:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ar0utrbah4gupb/1.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rcnjc0b8es9n3rs/2.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9aczsfop6d70b5d/3.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rws8qvz9hsielxy/4.png?dl=0

Good luck to everybody!

[3ee]

Hi folks

Here's my mix..

wav: https://app.box.com/s/hzifjy4hdh2fnd60ehmbmobj8xhz7hdp
mp3: https://app.box.com/s/0nvkxl0znviw8eryfbkvgm28erhbs1y3

kept master-bus processing lite'n'gentle but normally I'd push a little more (as the song asks for it, not playing a loudness war of course)
Many things happening in this mix but here are some interesting stuff:

sprinkled bit/SR reduction on some tracks to give a more 'sand' flavor.. on the bass and on the metallic bass solo multiple settings sounded cool so I have an S/H LFO to cycle through them that way, it also gives some more movement.

On the flute there a 'stutter' delay with some pitchy modulation... gives a nice "illusion of the sand world" vibe..
Used both flute tracks as I found that the -24st one gave a nice 'shadow'

Metallic Bass Solo... cut most of the lows to fit it better and diffused + sweeten it with a select chorus/doubler for extra modulation and to fit it better in the stereo mix... I also have some 1/16 gate type mod in some parts of the song.

The El GTR Emu... I tried some GTR amp and extra dist but I didn't quite like the sound... it sounded a bit like a 'phony' gtr .. so I saturated it a bit and cut the highs for a bit more hidden character.. didn't treat it more like a gtr tho but more like a synth instead.

The Athmo Texture .. tried to smooth it out so among other processing like gentle of eq/filtering and compression, I have a subtle phaser and lots of tape for extra softening especially to tame those bell-like spectrals and bring more density.

The Kick was a bit of a challenge to keep the boom, contour the punch while keeping a 'fair' balance with the bass and rest of the elements so I went for parallel processing which also includes saturating/dist the lows. Also, tuned it to about -1 st to fit with the key of the song.

The TR snare also got some parallel processing exciting both the low punch and the highs separately .
The hats were hard work to shifting the energy lower in spectrum while keeping the transient and aesthetics more or less.

I have TONS of send/returns of mostly everything... reverbs, delays, echo/doubling, chorus, stereo spreaders (always checking in mono ) , pitch-shifters etc etc...

If someone wants to know anything in particular, please let me know and I'll try to explain.

All the best"
3ee

[Lewshwa Music]

Hello, All.

Thanks, Oily, for a cool contribution.

Mix Notes -

First thing I added was Delay on the SNARE. Really defined the direction for my mix.
Low End was especially difficult to suss out. I used several eq tactics before eventually phase-aligning the PERC tracks to the KIK.
Also added sub freqs. to kik
Transient Designing on almost all the DRUMS including a bit of Slate FG-X on the Drum Bus for detail and clarity
Parallel Compression thru VEQ4 into CLA76 on all drums
Snares sent to CRUNCH channel
Verb on Drum Bus
Bass opened up when I cleaned up perc and kik conflict. Still tough to really bring it out, so I let it sit with the Synth Bass Pad as the song develops.
Trade the lead from Flute to Synth Bass Lead to Guitars and back again. Added distortion on last guitar to give a peak to the song after the breakdown.
I tried to let each element to have it's moment, and used panning and mid/side processing, in addition to eq and compression, to achieve this. If you haven't used BYOME yet, good lord is that guy fun.
Parallel Comp on Guitars, Keys and Horn
Entire Mix running through Waves NLS. SSL emulation. On every channel and on 2 BUS
Bits of Delay and Verb to round everything out.
Some repair work with dynamic eq on the TEXTURE and GUIT 2 parts.
CRUNCH channel is Sausage Fattener and King's Mics
Several elements were also sent through a PUMP, using H-EQ and H-COMP, keyed to a muted digital kik on every 1/4 note, and blended in with the track.
2 BUS has Maag 4 EQ for clarity and air, and Elysia Alpha Comp to clean up the mids in the mid channel and boost the highs in the sides.
Entire Mix then run through my Hardware JOE MEEK SC4 stereo compressor. I know this may seem like mastering, but it's a brilliant mid/side processor that glues mixes together and helps define the spacial arrangement while still leaving room for the Mastering Engineer to take it further.

Hope you enjoy listening. I enjoyed working on it.

Do you like Casino Versus Japan? major reference for me, here.
I also used LORDE (sober, perfect places) and POSTAL SERVICE (recycled air) for additional reference, along with those provided

z

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z7uhj35pnahqo ... r.wav?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2qgu1lo9dauch ... r.mp3?dl=0

[iMax]

Hi,

Thanks for submitting some electronic music for a change, was really nice working on this, as I am more used to listening to this kind of music. :-)
Here is my take on it:

WAV
MP3

I did not go too crazy on the mix and I tried to keep it relatively bass heavy, as this seems to be what the track was going for, although I was aiming to tame it a bit.

Drums: Waves SSL E Channel for basic EQ and some compression, Airwindows FathomFice and bx_subfilter for the Kick, TDR Nova GE for Hihat to remove some harshness

Percussion Loops: Scheps Omni Channel

Bass: MaxBass on the Bass track and TDR Nova GE sidechained to duck the Bass buss out the kick's way a bit

Guitars: Airwindows Cstrip, reverb, delay

Synth/Pad: Airwindows Cstrip, Waves PS22 for stereo image enhancing

SFX: mostly unmodified

Athmo: Waves PS22 and Soundspot Nebula to introduce some movement
Flute: Sonible smartEQ2 to reduce unwanted frequencies

Cheers!

[DimitrisPalantzas]

Hello, thanks for the chance to experiment with some really interesting soundscapes.
I'm pretty new in mixing and I've only used ableton's stock plugins.

Here's mine:


WAV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wsqqv5 ... sp=sharing

MP3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TVedY6 ... sp=sharing



Documentation:

Session,volumes, etc. : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uMx8kw ... sp=sharing

FX Page1 : https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Mtdu- ... sp=sharing

FX Page2 : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BrjOH1 ... sp=sharing

FX Page3 : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fHiX9z ... sp=sharing

*The tracks that are not demonstrated, don't have any effects on them.