KVR MIX CHALLENGE - MC06 November 2014 -Winners announced

[XorXisT]

Hey mixedmind, lovely mix!

After reading the rules again, I think i got it, but if I did something wrong, please feel free to me

Here is my mix:

https://soundcloud.com/xorxist/satyatun ... 06-xorxist

I tried to make the vocals and shakus the headliners.

Here's what's my console:

Host: Sonar X3 Producer, built-in effects + 3rd party Plug&Mix Analoger.

Crash rev, Windchimes, Crash: ProChannel QuadCurve EQ, HF Exciter

Beat: ProChannel CA-2A, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ, ProChannel Tube Saturation, HF Exciter

Bass: Sonitus Compressor, Plug&Mix Analoger, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Pads: Nomad Factory Blue Tubes Analog Phaser, Nomad Factory Blue Tubes Compressor, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Shaku 1, 3, 6: ProChannel CA-2A, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ, Breverb 2

Shaku 2: Nomad Factory BlueVerb, Overloud Breverb 2, ProChannel CA-2A, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Shaku 5: ProChannel CA-2A, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Vox 03, 05, 06, Outro: VX-64 Vocal Strip, ProChannel Ca-2A, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Tabla 2, 4: PX-64 Percussion Strip, Sonitus Reverb, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Guitar 2, 3: ProChannel CA-2A, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ

Thunder: ProChannel QuadCurve EQ, Nomad Factory Blue Tubes Delay & Analog TrackBox

Summer Rain: ProChannel PC76, ProChannel QuadCurve EQ, Nomad Factory Blue Tubes Analog TrackBox

Master: Nomad Factory Blue Tubes BrickWall

Any feedback is welcome!

Feel free to point everything I did wrong. Means a lot to me.

EDIT: forgot to add, no samples replaced.

[camsr]

Well the BEAT stem was not mono-compatible to start with, so when it's collapsed to mono it phases heavily. I fixed this in my entry, should have it in sometime soon.

[XorXisT]

Well the BEAT stem was not mono-compatible to start with, so when it's collapsed to mono it phases heavily. I fixed this in my entry, should have it in sometime soon.

Thanks for the feedback!

I'll fix it later (not on my daw now). I know, can't upload anymore, but I'm just starting this hole production thing so, again, thanks for your feedback!

[3ee]

wave: https://app.box.com/s/gsatqredeil4sv2njrgt
mp3: https://app.box.com/s/p19e6nmac12cdxj443i4

btw... in two places, the signal is peaking a bit above the -3db...
I rendered this mix so many times that I won't do it again for this minor thing, sorry

anyway let's see what I did:

Right from the start, it was obvious that the time-stretching artifacts were all over the place so I tried to minimize them while still mixing freely.

---Beat---
EQ:
-cut the side channel bass up to low-mids so the kick would be solid after further processing
-cut about 2.5db @ 260 Hz ...that also helps to fit the drums with the other instruments that have fundamentals around that area.
-boost 2 db @ 3k to get some presence on the hats and snare
-boost high shelf 4db @ around 6,5k to brighten up the drums as well as lelev the hi-hats up... and finally have a LP filter to get out the unneeded top end (especially where some time-stretching artifacts are present.

Multiband-saturation (FF Saturn)
Used this to get tone and density through saturation... but also masking the stretching artifacts some more...

Waves RBass:
Used this to sub the kick a bit @ around 45Hz

---Bass---

EQ: HP filter at about 30Hz to phase-color the bass and align it with the kick in that respect
FF Saturn: for color and a bit of extra harmonics
Presswerk: for sidechain comp against the kick doing about 4-5db of GR

---Tabla---

-Nugen Audio Lineup to phase invert one channel because it was out of phase if monoed
-Presswerk doing about 2-3db of GR to tighten dynamics and accentuate snap a bit + smoothed the snap with the built in dynamic saturation.
-EQ to cut the sides out of the bass and about 2 db boosts @ around 3k for tone
-and since the NuGen Line-up plug made a narrow image (but correct one) I used the Waves Doubler2 to make it stereo wide.

-I have 2 sends for it: one to a Spring reverb (always great on percussive stuff and for color) and one for a warmer stareo image to the TAL Chorus LX setting II

---Pads---

EQ: HP @90Hz, gentle 12 db/oct to eliminate some pretty significant DC offset and tame some fundamentals
-about 3 db cut @ 430 Hz to tame some low-mid upperharmonics which were making the sound resonant/muddy
-broad 3db @ 4k boost to make the pad brighter.

---Shaku---
-Some EQ to shift for a bit brighter tone which also involves a gentle 12db/oct HP @ about 200Hz
-Presswerk to keep dynamics in check, doing about 3 db of GR on loud parts
since not all Shaku samples were the same, I narrower the stereo image pretty significantly and I used some sends to give a more uniform stereo image back.
I have a send to a big bright reverb and one to a stereo 1/4 time delay

---GTR tracks---

EQd them separately for less lows and more presence and have separate sends (like choruses and doubling delay) but some common effects are used on a GTR bus:

-Presswerk barely doing any GR but the analog mode and a bit of dynamic saturation smoothed some transients up.
-UHBIK-G (grain delay) doing some grain delay which is set up an octave and backwards..
-overall EQ: 3db cut @ 360Hz to fit the GTR fundamentals with the track and a 3 db boost @ 4,7k for presence.

---Mystique Vocals---

Have 3 separate mixer tracks doing some separate processing and some sends (including that large bright reverb and stereo delay) ..but all are going to a VOX bus:
-Presswerk doing some gentle compression and saturation
-A Waves doubler... down an octave switch on and used the built-in filters for the Wet signal to get some "mystical cave" sort of effect going...
-EQ: shifting the tone to a brighter one: 6db/oct HP @ 224Hz and a 2.5 db High Shelf boost at about 4,5k


---Master pre-submix and Master Bus---

tried an experimental trick and it worked pretty well with the "down an octave" switch with the Waves Doubler on the pre-master track, so that's on almost all tracks.... shaped the tone with the built in filters and blended in subtly and it gives the whole mix extra thickness and stereo image.
After that I have a Waves S1 stereo shuffler to give some extra wideness.

On the master bus: Presswerk doing about 1db GR in M/S mode and it's in it's about 75% wet so this makes it 25% parallel compression.
-TB ReelBus tape emulation for some extra color and glue... and that about it.

Cheers"
3ee

[clepsydrae]

Here's mine. Thanks to the organizers and sponsors for hosting this neat contest.

https://soundcloud.com/casey_connor/sat ... clepsydrae
http://lacinato.com/pub/audio/SatYatune ... sydrae.wav

Generally speaking, I used iZotope Alloy 2 for most channels, and did a fair bit of mid/side processing to reduce the out-of-phase low end on a few tracks that others have mentioned. Mixed in Reaper.

Beat loop:
- weird eq curve to bring out certain ranges, suppress others
- some transient shaping to increase snap and clean up some of the sustaining wash
- compress the highs a tad to reduce harshness
- JS/Thunderkick for some kick subs

Tablas: brought out the low end for the bigger of the two drums and tried to maintain the sharp clarity of the highs as well

Crashes: eased off of these a little so they were subtle

Bass: brought out 1-2k, rolled off the highs, lots of transient shaping to get some more attack and presence from it, some mid-range "exciter", and multi-band compressor.

Vox: strong eq curve to clean up low end and bring out clarity.

Guitars: brought high frequency up in the sides

Shakuhachis: clarifying/brightening eq, and some compression in the higher frequencies to avoid harshness in a couple spots

Pads: brightened the sides

Windchimes and rain: brightened the sides (noticing a pattern? )

Thunder: besides centralizing the bass frequencies, tightly compressed the low end and applied general compression. I replaced the thunder sample with Mike Koenig's Thunder Strike 1, 2, and 3 from soudbible.com: e.g. http://soundbible.com/2015-Thunder-Strike-1.html

Effect busses:

- a slight ping pong delay on the beat loop
- a long "space" delay receving a variety of stuff (ReaVerb with a convo impulse)
- a shorter but still pretty long "room" delay (ReaVerb with convo)
- a couple other "weird" convolution reverbs receiving the vocals and guitars
- a super-long wash reverb for the ending

I'll be out of town for the US holiday as of ~24th until ~Dec 1, so if I should be so lucky as to be requested to change some things in the mix, I won't be able to during that range.

Thanks! Good luck to everyone,
-c

[Doc Jon]

Didn't think I'd make it this month but grabbed a few hours today to do this:

WAV
https://soundcloud.com/docjon/satyatune ... 06/s-PQg4Y

MP3
https://soundcloud.com/docjon/satyatune ... 06/s-PQg4Y

Wot I did:

Replaced the thunder and rain samples
Beat - Multiband saturation affecting mainly the mids to give it a bit more definition and presence, mono-ised everything below 200Hz
Tabla/Crash cymbals/Windchimes - HPF, nothing else
Bass - Little bit of distortion/saturation with octaver effect for more definition and presence, small EQ boost at 400Hz
Guitars - HPF, lightly amped and panned
Pad - HPF and stereo enhanced
Shakus - HPF, mono-ised, compression/levelling
Vocals - HPF, compression, doubling, delay, saturation
Single ValhallaRoom reverb on send for the shakus and vocals - Wide Stereo Hall preset
Stereo bus - 'Glue' style compression with about 1-2dB reduction at most, nothing else
Voxengo Span to keep an eye on everything

Jon

[camsr]

WAV: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/15bdf945
MP3: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/d6ab89cd
Unclick the bloatware box before downloading

MIX NOTES
I'm gonna list the effects used on the stems, not how they were setup or routed, just for simplicity

Bass: SoftClipper, EQ, EDGE subharmonic enhancer, Classic Chorus, Reacomp (sidechain to kick)

Guitars: FL Delay Bank, FL Convolver

Pad: EQ only

Shaku: EQ, FL Convolver, a stereo enhancement I brewed up, Reacomp (parallel comp), send to delay bus

Vox: EQ and level automation on each stem, signaldust's Dancing Boy VCA on the bus (parallel comp), send to delay bus

Beat: A lot of mid/side tomfoolery and EQ, Valhalla FreqEcho, FL Delay Bank, FL Convolver, FL MB comp, Reacomp (parallel), Acon Multiply

Crash: Both EQed and routed into the beat

Tabla: Nothing, just left it as is

Windchimes: Nothing, except a send to the delay bus

Rain: Some EQ, then sent serially thru the delay bus

Thunder: I edited the sample in AudioTerm, by using it's Loop Synthesizer to add some random copies of the sample into itself, then used it's Resynthesis module to morph it with the original sample. After this I took it into Edison and used it's Blur function to remove the appearance of any small transients. Then EQed up the bass to make it sound loud and blend with the bassline.

Delay Bus: Some EQ, Float Crush, FL Delay Bank, Valhalla FreqEcho

There was also a bus for the harmony instruments, with some EQ.

Made it sound rather heavy and smooth.

Really nice tune, should have been longer.

[Compyfox]

PSA:
And now we're in he last 48 hours.

[Aditya.inHim]

Ok.. This is my quick mixing

MP3
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/h98 ... Him%29.mp3

WAV
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/npo ... Him%29.wav

This is what I did for a short time in my DAW Reaper :

Managing and balancing all of track then grouping

I have special secret master bus that I run first before anything else
Such a kind of tape saturation, analog depth, and bus compressor
I inserting Stripbus Console Emu for almost all tracks

And then,
Beat :
ReaEQ for remove 200, 500 a bit
Nova67P for tone shaping
Rdeeser remove harsh a bit
TDR Feedback comp II to snap it out

Tabla BUS :
I want make it for mono compatible (and remove weird image IMO) so invert phase one channel (L)
Vee3 for dimension
Reacomp compress a bit
ReaEQ for hipass and remove 300 a bit

Cymbals & windchimes
only ReaEQ and delay (TAL Dub) for one cymbal for fx

PAD
tone shaping with Stripbus Pararel EQ Air and remove the low end

Shaku BUS :
TAL Dub for ping pong delay
ReaEQ

Vox Bus :
I EQing each track before for each freq problem
Then in bus I shaping it with Overtone PTH2A, remove low and boost & atten. in 5k
Microshift a bit
TAL Dub for pingpong delay, just for image

BASS :
Compress and drive it with supercharger
ReaEQ

Guitar :
ReaEQ and Tone Shaping with Stripbus

I only resample Thunder and Rain Sound, with 3 sample that I found and layering it

I use Vee3 for reverb, reverb for big and wide FX, and simple medium hall.

And I did many automation for micro dynamic of song
Sorry for my quick explaination and my bad english.
I don't expect something for my quick mix, but hopefully all of you enjoy and be blessed with my mix

God bless you all

[westcoast2]

My mix

mp3 https://soundcloud.com/dwgh/satya-choud ... coast2-mp3
Wav https://soundcloud.com/dwgh/satya-choud ... westcoast2

A nice, relaxing track.

Mixed in Reaper.

Main plugins used were:
Eq1 - TDS VOS slickEq, Eq2 - ReaEq, Gate - ReaGate,
Reverb - Ambience (smartelectronix), Compression - Klanhelm DC8C2,
Transient shaper - Transient (Sleepy-Time records), Expander - Modern Expander (Antress)

Individual Tracks/Groups:
Bass - Eq1, EQ2, Compression

Pad - Eq1, Eq2, Reverb

Beat Group - This proved challenging. Various ideas were tried including Monoising, different Eq on each channel and combinations of track splitting.
The final resulting submix was:
Orignal Right Channel only sent to new stereo tracks with Eq1, Eq2 and reverb
Orginal Stereo channels sent to seperate Hi, Mid and Lo tracks.
Hi Track had Eq1, Eq2 and Gate.
Mid Track had Eq1, Eq2 and Expander
Lo Track had Eq1, Eq2, Gate and Compression.

Shaku Group - Eq2 and reverb
(Shaku 5 had slightly different reverb)

Tabla Group - Eq2, reverb

Guitar Group - Eq1, Eq2, reverb

Vox Group - Reverb only except Vox (outro) which had reverb and Eq2 with a high shelf filter.

Percussion Group:
Crash rev and Crash - Eq2
Windchimes - Eq2 and Reverb with left to right automated panning.

Fx Group: - Retained original samples. Volume automation.
Summerrain - Eq2, Reverb, DVS Ping Pong (ver 1), FerricTDS (VOS)
Thunder - Eq2, NastyDLA II, DVS Ping Pong (ver 1), FerricTDS (VOS)

[Davias]

I hope I'm in time...
2 months already that I miss the deadline, I'm sad because I was confident in the previous mix (Photonic's track) but less in this one. But after so much work I need to upload ^^

Here explanation of what I did : Console emulation, limiter on all tracks, eq when needed, correcting phases problems in the snare, pad, compression on beat. panning, stereo enhancement and saturation sometimes. adding reverb. On the mix buss no compression this time just an amp emulation and a little bit crosstalk.

mp3
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aajgkoeusk75q ... s.mp3?dl=0
flac 24 bit
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1jw8dutpwr02e ... .flac?dl=0

Good luck to everybody !!

PS : If Photonic or anyone is interested to hear my mix of his track, just ask ^^

[Compyfox]

PSA
A bit more than 6 hours left for submissions.

[Compyfox]

We have it 4am PST and 2pm GMT+1.
The MC06 (first) submission period has officially ended.


Please sit back, relax a bit, wait a couple of days for the song provider to give comments and/or maybe ring in a second mix round.



In the meantime - if you have a track that you'd like to see mixed for free by our talented participants as part of the Mix Challenge, don't be shy, please get in touch with us.

[Compyfox]

A small update on things:
Satya grabbed all files and is currently in the evaluation process. Please sit back for a couple of days until he took the time to take a closer listen.

In the meantime, the usual-usual...



STATISTICS:

General Statistics:

The KVR Mix Challenge 06 saw 11 participants. Compared to KVR MC05, that is 7 people less, and compared to MC04, that is 17 people less(!!!). We would definitely appreciate it, if you could spread the word about the KVR Mix Challenge. Through whatever social community (Twitter, Facebook), or music community you know.

We do have a Twitter hashtag, called #kvrmixchallenge
I mostly announce the start of the next challenge there.



The Statistics Sheet:

The most current mix statistics sheet can be found at the following link:
KVR Mix Challenge 06 - Statistics Sheet



More in the next days.
Thank you for your participation.

[PALU]

Hey, Compyfox - could you help me interpret the statistics?

As I understand they mean that:

1) I was overshooting the True Peak Volume (I was aiming for -3dB with Elephant (oversampled if I remember right - that should catch the inter-sample peaks...). Do you know any free or cheap plug-in that would help me with metering?

2) my average RMS and max RMS are the highest of all mixes - does that mean than my mix have the lowest dynamics?

3) LRA tells the same thing, isn't it (that the mix lacks dynamics)?

4) should I worry about DC-Offset (it's -100.0 dB instead of minus infinity)?

If you could help me with that - it would be great Thanks!