Song Statistics via Cubase track analyzer:
Title; - "MC080_Eavesdrops__Alone__PistolPete"
Date;Friday, September 3, 2021
Loudness_Value;-17.05 LUFS *(Integrated LUFS)
Loudness_Range;9.88 LU
Max_True_Peak_Level;-1.50 dBTP *(this is the brickwall limiter set to -1.5dBTP, to prevent any overs, only 2 incidents i needed to change in the most powerful moment in the song)
Max_Momentary_Loudness;-12.21 LUFS
Max_Short_Term_Loudness;-13.39 LUFS
Sample Rate;48.000 kHz
Average RMS (AES-17) Left;-17.82 dB
Average RMS (AES-17) Right;-17.64 dB
Max. RMS Left;-13.64 dB
Max. RMS Right;-13.30 dB
Max. RMS;-13.30 dB
Min. Sample Value Left;-2.04 dB
Min. Sample Value Right;-2.86 dB
Max. Sample Value Left;-2.04 dB
Max. Sample Value Right;-1.50 dB
Peak Amplitude Left;-2.04 dB
Peak Amplitude Right;-1.50 dB
True Peak Left;-2.04 dB
True Peak Right;-1.50 dB
DC Offset Left;-79.13 dB
DC Offset Right;-80.15 dB
Bit Depth Left;24 bit
Bit Depth Right;24 bit
Estimated Pitch Left;1130.4Hz/C#5
Estimated Pitch Right;1332.2Hz/E5
Download Here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k_wG94 ... sp=sharing
Software:
Cubase 10.5
Computer and interface
custom built OLD X6 phenom 1090T (modern cheap laptops are better..LOL) with Steinberg UR22 connected to Presonus Central station for monitoring:
Plugins:
mostly waves, some Steinberg and analog obsession, Valhalla
Monitoring:
Strictly mixed in Sennheiser HD280s with Waves VX headphone correction. Checked in a old pair of Samsung Headphones and lightly played on my Foxtex PM5 monitors (rooms not eq or treated and thin walls with neighbors prevent me from mixing via monitor)
Visual Monitoring:
Waves PAZ analyzer, Waves VU set to -18, Waves WLM set to EBU 128 -18LUFS and main digital fader set to K-14.
Overview:
This was a really deep song, and the lyrics and singer portrayed a lot of emotion. My overall biggest goal was to focus on the emotion, the lyrics and the music transitions from quiet subtle vulnerable parts, to louder more powerful strong moments. Originally I did a full mix, but changed all of the instrument positions in the stereo field, however I was not happy with the mix, so I completely scrapped that project and started a 2nd mix from scratch. I tried to model the instrument placement from the original mix, as I didn't want to stray too far from the original, as that can either be really good, or really bad in the clients eyes... so I decided to stick to similar instrument placement, but focused on entirely different instruments in the mix to drive the emotion and power... Hopefully it is well received. The original mix instruments sounded good but I wanted the strings and piano to be more 3d forward in the mix and wanted the piano to really have strong transients as the keys really drove the song emotion. The vocals on the original also had some kind of mid "nasal" type of sound with a flange tail which i wanted to change (as described below). This was the original target goals I found after listening to the original mix.
Vocals:
Since this was a lyrically driven song, I put a lot of time into crafting the singers voice to sound sweet, vulnerable, clear but with a slightly modern twist. Since there was not a backup track, I created a Vox Reverb/FX channel group/bus, in which I automated the send, to create a backup type effect on the more stronger parts of the song with a nicely timed echo to carry on through the soft spots. This included a vocal rider (synced to the main vox) as well as 2 reverbs (one short echo and one large room) as well as a delay.
I had a hard time determining how I should eq her voice as I wanted to bring in more body and warmth, but decided against it since it was a more emotionally vulnerable feel to her lyrics, I wanted to keep it more timid sounding. I used a slight autotune on her vocals but kept it very subtle so you couldn’t really hear any changes, I also used Waves Butch Vig vocals plug to craft the tone and eq shape of her vox adding some, eq, tone, compression and de-essing as well. I added some abbey road saturation to bring out the sharper tones and clarity but give it some body, some delay/reverb and tape emulation to really give the vox a clear, up front almost whispery live sound with an echo that fades into the BPM of the beat and really gave the perception of distance/depth in the quite parts. I used waves smack attack very lightly on the vocals to really help give some nice dynamics and help work the transients as well.
I had an additional send for the vocals, which I sent to the Global Reverb bus/group and the send was automated to help build the vocal presence when the sound got louder.
Global Reverb Bus/Group Channel:
This was created as a send from the main driving instruments and vocals channel strips, to have a nice global spacious reverb to really help bring the instruments present and help them sit in the mix. I used a hi-pass filter/eq on it to cut much of the lows as didn’t want the low end to get messy with verb. 2 different reverbs were used, on to create a nice delay verb timed to the music to fill the silence, and the other was a large drum room filtered reverb to focus on the mids and mid highs and give a nice clear presence.
Guitar, Piano, Violin
The rhythm guitar, piano and violins I really wanted to stand out as well as they blended beautifully together. I really wanted each instrument to have its place in the stereo field, and each instrument to drive the emotion and transitions to compliment the vocals. A lot of volume automation between song changes was done to create fluid transitions and to keep the song active in the stereo field. On each instrument I eq, compressed and added delays and effects. I used waves smack attack on the piano and guitar to help bring out some nice transients and really give the piano a nice punchy crispness.
Each instrument was sent to its own group channel for volume leveling if needed in the final touch ups. I also sent each instrument to the Global Verb Bus/group, in which I automated the send to the bus on each instrument, to create loudness, depth and power at moments in the song to create build ups and emotion during the transitions.
Track cleanup:
In all of the instrument tracks, and vocals I removed out all of the dead air with automation and chops, to really keep a nice dead silence in the quiet parts of the song. With the vocals I minimized the breaths that were non vital by enveloping the automation to leave them in, but reduce their volume. Any background noises such as headphone bleed or other noises were removed. I like enveloping on breaths because it leaves just enough present to be caught by the reverbs and makes a almost whispy ghost effect.
*In the guitar track, I noticed in the very beginning what sounded like an accidental string pluck or hit on the guitar, which I tried to remove via automation, as it was also within the fading guitar sustain in the reverb. I couldn't completely eliminate it, as it would have made the reverberation sound odd, so I minimized it with volume automation. Normally (if allowed) I would have copy/pasted a different note in its place, but since I don't believe it is allowed in this contest, I didn't do that... so you can slightly still hear it, but its not as noticeable as untreated.
**In the guitar track during the final measures of the song, there is a sound which sounds almost like someone plunked their headphones down, or took them off. This happens right during the sustain of a guitar strum, and I couldn't remove it without creating an awkward silence in the strum, and like I mentioned above, normally I would replace the guitar strum note with a different one in the audio, but since thats not allowed in the contest, I left the sound in the track and did not address it. I actually liked it, as to me it sounded like someone taking off headphones and almost played into the track ending, like the artist was done singing and actually seemed to play a nice role in the song ending as it closed off. Im curious to know how others addressed this
Chello:
The cello brought a nice warm low end to the song and really helped blend everything together and give the track energy, so I wanted it to blend nicely, but not be too driving or distinct as I thought the other instruments and vocals deserved more presence and attention. I used CLA Bass which is a EQ, distortion, sub harmonics, compressor, chorus plug and found I worked nicely with the cello to bring out the low mids and make them nice and rich. I then used a DC offset eq and rumble reduction Eq to cut out the very low rumble and to allow the harmonics to work the magic. I used Waves Vocal rider and sidechained the chello to the bass, piano and guitar to help those instruments take more presence.
Cello and Strings PIZ:
I sent both of these to a PIZ group channel and processed them together since they were very similar in dynamics and sound. I used eq, compression, 2 different reverbs and a delay to really give them a nice warm presence, as well as a ping pong echo to opposite speakers to give a nice sense of motion. I used a lot of send and panning automation to give these 2 instruments life, and movement in the mix to help with the transitions of the song.
Master/Mix Bus:
All I used here was waves SSL bus compressor with a very light compression to tame the transients slightly and glue it all together. I gain/level matched it so there was no additional volume added. I ran the mix without a limiter and it had a 2 single peaks that were a little hot, so I slapped a brickwall limiter set to -1.5db and matched the input to the output so there was no crunch or effect to the song dynamics, and just for a protection on any overs at -1.5db. (see below for more details on the final decision for the mix)
Mix Checking:
I imported the final wave into a new project in cubase, ran track statistics (analyzer, see above for results) to make sure the track was within the contest parameters. It was a little hotter than recommended, but still within the contest rules.
I did bounce 4 other versions of the mix, each with the main fader slightly lower at -1db, -1.5db, 3db and 0db without brickwall limiter to see if I could get away without using the brickwall limiter...Although the RMS values of the other versons (other than the 0db one) were more in line with what is the recommended loudness parameters on the other versions, the vocals and instruments didn't sound as good so I kept the main fader at 0db, slapped a brickwall limiter on the main stereo bus to control the 2 (peak overs) and limit them to -1.5db and volume matched the input/output so there was no gain added and the mix was not effected. I think the reduction on the peak over was -1.3 for the 2 overs...if I can remember.
I also checked the mix via smartphone speaker, 3 sets of headphones (samsung open air, sony mdr 7506, and my sennheiser HD280s) as well as played it through my fostex pm5 monitors and it sounded good in all of them. I also compared it to the original mix on numerous listening sources, in which it sounded (IMO) better so I was content with the final version... Lets hope everyone likes it.. fingers crossed.
Well I hope it sounds good and people enjoy it. This was a great song lyrically and performance wise and very enjoyable to mix. Thank you to Square for the opportunity to remix it, and for Mister Fox for hosting such an awesome contest.