KVR MIX CHALLENGE - MC08 February 2015 - Winners announced

[ThePresent]

Hi there,

This is my take on the song. First time I'm sharing a song by Dropbox, hope I'm doing this right.

mp3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xdpa5ft8t1cki ... t.mp3?dl=0

wav:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xshvd62quph0 ... t.wav?dl=0

MC08. Palu-Matsumia Experience, mixed by ThePresent

FX channels:
Reverb Hall centre, Left and right.
Modulated (Acon Multiply) Reverb Big hall (Epic Verb VOS) at centre.
Delays Left 1/4, right 1/2, right modulated.

Drums:
Parallel compression channel, Rough Rider compressor
Drumbus channel:
Linear Phase EQ at resonant freq, VOS SLick EQ Highshelf boost at 4.3K 3 dB, chann EQ Rolloff at 16 K
Kickdrum: Group EQ and Ferric TDS.Chann EQ, High shelf boost at 730 Hz. Kick Out: Low Shelf boost at 100 Hz
Snare group: MEQualizer boost at 200 Hz, Highshelf boost at 2K.VOS Slick EQ High shelf boost at 4K. Ferric TDS, dlM 65 compressor. Sends to Reverb centre, Left and Right.
Tom group: EQ boost at 2 K, VOS SLick EQ dip at 460 Hz, High shelf boost at 3.7 K.
Distortion, Molot compressor and Gate. Sends to Reverb centre, Left and Right.Sidechain comp send to clean bass.
Hats: Ferric TDs, compression. LP EQ at 120 Hz, Sens at Reverb centre and right.
Overheads: stereofield narrowed a notch, HP 820 Hz.Sends at Reverb hall C.

Bass Group: Sidechain comp receive from toms. Ferric TDS.
Distort Bass: LP at 20Hz, Cubase Marshall Plexi Ampsim, VOS Thrillseeker VBL comp.Lo and Hi shelf boost, dip at 300.
Clean Bass: LP at 20Hz,compression, Ignite SHB-1 Bassamp, speakercab NadIR

Shred Guitars:group send to monochannel, panned centre, send to Reverb centre.
Group: Ferric TDS, EQ boost at 1000 and 2000Hz.Molot comp, Stereo enhanced.Sidechain receive from clean bass.
Shred Guit L: Linear Phase EQ at resonances, TSE808 dist, Le456 amphead, Poulin LeCab, Ferric TDS
Shred Guit R: Linear Phase EQ at resonances, TSE808 dist, Le456 amphead, NadIR cabinet, Ferric TDS

Clean guitars:sends to Rev Centre, Left, Right, Big Hall.
Clean right: pre EQ, compression, Chorus, Hybrit ampsim, Poulin LeCab, Send to Delay R.
Clean left: pre EQ, Chorus, Ignite SHB-1 ampsim, NadIR cabsim, Send to Delay L.
Clean Centre :pre EQ, Ignite Anvil preamp, TPA-1 poweramp, NadIR cabsim, Stereo Delay

Pads: Mellotron send to Reverb centre.

Stereo buss: Buss compression VOS Density MkIII, VOS Slick EQ 80 Hz 0.5 dB boost.

Automation at volumefaders, effectparameters and sendlevels.
Minor timing and glitch corrections in bass and guitars.

[geroyannis]

Here is my take on this piece.

mp3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ta5gzk52904nl ... s.mp3?dl=0
wav: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m7ikfmujwcdg4 ... s.wav?dl=0

I mixed it in Cubase and I took the liberty to edit out the finger slides on the clean guitar chords, plus I time-corrected a few notes here and there. Also manually decliped the bass track. For regular EQ on most tracks I used Melda MDynamicEQ.

Main melody track: Reamped in GuitarRig5, also used the PM Multi-Tap delay.
Clean chords guitars: Reamped in GutarRig5. After compression I also used Cubase's MonoDelay for extra depth.
Heavy guitars: Reamped with LePou Le456 ampsim and ReCabinet. I like this combination for really heavy stuff.
Mellotron: Nothing fancy, a little EQ cleaning up, and then a little chorus with PM Dimension 3D for a fake stereo effect.
Clean bass: TSE BOD, and PM Clarisonix for bass boost. Then a little compression, of course.
Drive bass: TSE BOD with dirtier settings this time, compressed with Supercharger.
Drums ambiences: I didn't use the Amb bullet, Amb Mid, and Hi-hat tracks. The Amb Close and the Overheads tracks gave me all I needed.
Toms: PM Clarisonix used for that extra oomph on the low frequencies.
Snare: After EQing I used Cubase's Envelope Shaper to enhance the attack.
Kick: I mainly used the Inside mic, EQ for click, and then Envelope Shaper for extra attack.
Drum buss: A little dirt from KombinatDVA, compressed with T-Racks Classic compressor (lately I like it a lot for drums), and then used GClip to tame all those snare and kick spikes.

FX sends: I sent the main melody guitar, the heavy guitars, toms and snare to Acon Digital Verberate using a plate reverb algorithm. Also used PM Chorus Ensemle for chorusing the clean bass and the clean chords guitars.

Finally, I put the TDR Kotelnikov compressor on the mix buss for a little glue. Ready!

[PALU]

Thanks for the newest mixes! I'm really happy that so many people participated!

[Compyfox]

I am ringing in the last 48 hours of this month's mix challenge.

[Compyfox]

After a long hiatus (since MC03!), and an even longer evening of heavy editing, I'll try my luck with MC08 as well.

I really enjoyed this mix, I could try new tools and deepen my knowledge on guitar sound design. So thanks for providing the track.


My mix can be found here:
Palu - Matsumia Experience (StudioCompyfox) (WAV, 48/24, ca 106MB)
Palu - Matsumia Experience (StudioCompyfox) (MP3, 48/24, VBR 320kbit, ca 11,3MB)



I am not a man of many words this time around. Just some bullet points:
- work time: roughly 10-12 hours on and off over the course of the month (something I need to work on - time management and having some spare time for fun stuff like the Mix Challenge, due to this, I am always finishing last minute and can't take a day off to re-listen to the material and do small changes)
- plugins used: Klanghelm VUMT, Slate Digital (VMR/VCCv2, VMR compressor and Neve EQ (on bass only), VTM (to tame the drums and the whole mix), Nomad Factory (British EQ, Liquid Gate, Cosmos), Focusrite (Midnight Compressor), ArtsAcoustic Reverb, TAL Dub2, Guitar stuff: Distorque, LePou, Ignite Amps, TSE, TwoNotes (a shout out to the guitar "mentors" here on KVR) and Melda Production MPhaser
- the mix is in -18dBFS avg, max average signal strength is -15dBFS with a digital peak up until -2dBFS (due to the drums, mainly the very transient heavy snare)



Probably missing the one or another plugin, and of course the fine prints (settings), but you can take look at the following three screenshots for inspiration. (screensize 1680x1050, ca 350kb each, JPG)

Screenshot of the Cubase Mix Console, full mix
Screenshot of the Cubase Mix Console, Guitars (sound design and routing)
Screenshot of the Cubase Mix Console, Drums (modern mix!)

I could have run everything in realtime, but I felt more comfortable with freezing the guitar tracks. I also realized, that I've never used that many plugins in a project. Though in this case, I used a lot of VUMT instances to check levels. Oh and yes, I used automation in this track. Mostly FX automation and fader movements of the Mellotron however.



There're still a couple of hours left for this challenge (about 4 at bar minimum). I'll close the submission round once I'm awake again. So this is your final chance to sneak in your mix.

[PALU]

There're still a couple of hours left for this challenge (about 4 at bar minimum). I'll close the submission round once I'm awake again. So this is your final chance to sneak in your mix.

Come on guys!

[bjporter]

Joining the party


Info:
Bjporter used Cubase 6, and the mix is roughly -4dBFS to -3dBFS. This was mostly a light mix for him, he didn't go too deep, so maybe spent a few good sessions on it. He used the Haas effect to good effect on the guitars, and the mellotron. This brought the mono sound to stereo life without using any effects. He simply added a delay set to 100% mix offset with no feedback by about 25ms which gave enough Haas to sound decent. Didn't work much on the drums, but he did some EQ preparation like high pass filters, and a few boosts on the kick to bring it out more. Some of the drum parts were clashing, and I sorta fixed the kick a bit, but not quite.

You Wa Shock
Waves RBass
George Yongh Limiter W1
Cubase Ping Pong Delay
Cubase VST Amp Rack
Cubase Channel EQ
Valhalla VintageVerb
Tal Reverb 3
Kjaerhaus Classic Reverb

Picture of daw (minus some automation lanes):


WAV: Download Here
MP3: Download Here

[Compyfox]

Nice to see you joining the Mix Challenge, BJ. So your body was "beyond ready".


Anyway... Seeing as it's currently 3:30am PST, I am closing the first submission period (mix round 1).

If I didn't miscount, we have 20 submissions(!) this month (though I thought, camsr also joined after his preview, he's not in the list). Good job people, I'd love to see such numbers every month!

The challenge is now going it's usual course. Our "client" will listen to the songs, give feedback and decide if we go into mix round 2. So please watch this spot the next couple of days.

[PALU]

Thanks guys for all the mixes! I'm really grateful that you have taken the time to work on my music. I’m surprised with all the good words about the track itself - it gave me a big motivational push to make more music. Thanks for that!

I've started to listening to the mixes already today and it's a great fun. I'm writing some feedback about every mix and will post it as soon as I listen to them all in a few days.

THANKS!

[bjporter]

Thanks guys for all the mixes! I'm really grateful that you have taken the time to work on my music. I’m surprised with all the good words about the track itself - it gave me a big motivational push to make more music. Thanks for that!

I've started to listening to the mixes already today and it's a great fun. I'm writing some feedback about every mix and will post it as soon as I listen to them all in a few days.

THANKS!

+1

To be honest, I wasn't at first super interested (maybe due to lack of vocals and obvious hook line?)... but after a few proper listens, this track started sounding really really good. A few things that stuck out:
- Expressive guitar playing, and beautifully written solos
- The contrast between soft and very hard fast sections made the total experience exhilarating
- To add to the above: The atmosphere and space of the non heavy parts was refreshing. Perhaps it was the delay / Reverb. The harder parts seemed a bit less spacey in contrast, which made them both diametrically harmonious.

Good luck everyone

[bjporter]

Ahhh crud I forgot to automate the delay in on the solo guitars in the intro!!!!!!!

[PALU]

To be honest, I wasn't at first super interested (maybe due to lack of vocals and obvious hook line?)... but after a few proper listens, this track started sounding really really good. A few things that stuck out:
- Expressive guitar playing, and beautifully written solos
- The contrast between soft and very hard fast sections made the total experience exhilarating
- To add to the above: The atmosphere and space of the non heavy parts was refreshing. Perhaps it was the delay / Reverb. The harder parts seemed a bit less spacey in contrast, which made them both diametrically harmonious.

Wow. Thanks!

Ahhh crud I forgot to automate the delay in on the solo guitars in the intro!!!!!!!

[bjporter]

Nice to see you joining the Mix Challenge, BJ. So your body was "beyond ready".

I am now assimilated

[Uncle E]

- plugins used: Klanghelm VUMT, Slate Digital (VMR/VCCv2, VMR compressor and Neve EQ (on bass only), VTM (to tame the drums and the whole mix), Nomad Factory (British EQ, Liquid Gate, Cosmos), Focusrite (Midnight Compressor), ArtsAcoustic Reverb, TAL Dub2, Guitar stuff: Distorque, LePou, Ignite Amps, TSE, TwoNotes (a shout out to the guitar "mentors" here on KVR) and Melda Production MPhaser

Nice mix, Compy! Your mix really sounds nicely glued together, do you attribute that to the VTM? Also, I like your snare compression, what is that?

[Compyfox]

Nice to see you joining the Mix Challenge, BJ. So your body was "beyond ready".

I am now assimilated

Welcome aboard.

Nice mix, Compy! Your mix really sounds nicely glued together, do you attribute that to the VTM?

I used two instances of VTM. One in 15ips mode and one in 30ips mode (I think), one of them had a "bass compensation" edit however. It did tame some "harsh" sound of the drums (the 15ips machine on the drum bus, was most noticeable with the overhead and ambient channels - without it, too aggressive, sticking out), and did a general "subtle glue" effect (sum). So yes, I'd say it did attribute to the sound.

After sleeping a night about it, I am a bit sad that I didn't put more time into it (my own fault). The Haas effect seemed to be very popular with this mix to "fatten" up the guitars. Never thought of doubling them (I liked them as is). I also realized, that I totally ignored ACON Digital's chorus for this track (I didn't find suitable ones last night).

I'm still satisfied with the outcome however. Oh and - NEVER overdrive a Trident console with metal drum kits. This console is IMO more oriented at classic rock and pop rock.

Also, I like your snare compression, what is that?

Please take note of the screenshot of the drum channels.

I didn't like that the top snare had so much bleed. So I tried to "gate" it away. Listened to several plugins until I settled with Nomad Factory's Liquid-Gate (which wasn't perfect either - I don't have the funds for Accusonus Drumaton). This made the top snare super transient heavy (normal for heavy gate usage). I then did general sound shaping with an EQ (my main weapon of choice is the NF British NEQ aka Neve 1081) and ran the snare into the Midnight Compressor (ISA/RED3), with fast attack and fast release - I wanted to tame the peaks, but got that "In your face" sound in return. So I settled with it. The bottom snare only uses EQ and was blended accordingly. The snare(s) also got a reverb as send FX (I think I only used a preset as well - not my usual in-depth settings with a plate for the snare). And that's about it.

The uber-aggressive sound from the whole set comes from heavy compression of the ambient tracks. I did compress the overheads by a couple of dB (2-3dB to "glue" things together, and I added a lot of upper end - and since this was too harsh for the cymbal channels especially, I used NF's British NEQ LPF setting at 12kHz!), I did heavily compress the Ambient Channels (think 1176 style - fast attack, fast release, low threshold - only that I used the ISA/RED Midnight Compressor). Then mixed to taste. I was(!) struggling with the toms however. They sounded too aggressive to me. But I didn't want to gate them, and I didn't find the ringing frequencies last night anymore. In the mix, the combination of slight compression and heavy EQ is working.

I also didn't like the "bullet" Ambience track. So even if you see FX on there (screenshot), the fader is at -inf (aka off). I did try to do some parallel compression (compressor destroyed mix), though I realized that already a subtle blend is more than enough (subtle "added compression"). The drum's "ambient sound" mainly comes from what was recorded with the samples.



BTW:
What you hear is the provided drum set. I did not add anything in terms of "triggered samples". I only used one tool to add some sub-sounds to a kit piece. Everything else is EQ, compression and regular mixing. On second thought, I kind of overdid it and got that uber-popular "modern" sound in return. But this is a prime example of what you can do with effects and EQ alone.