KVR MIX CHALLENGE - MC13 August 2015 - Winners announced

How to do this, that and the other. Share, learn, teach. How did X do that? How can I sound like Y?
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Hi all!
In this challenge I wanted to try a new eq plugin, the EQ81 from IK Multimedia, for it’s saturation, eq sound and m/s functionality, so it was used extensively. It is very heavy on the processor, so I can’t use it on every track. Also i wanted to try Reaper 5, so i updated and started to mix :tu:

WAV:
https://soundcloud.com/roberto-ortenzi/ ... -piranha81

MP3:
https://soundcloud.com/roberto-ortenzi/ ... anha81-mp3

DRUMS:
On kick I used BitterSweet to add attack, eq’d with TDR SlickEq in british mono mode (so track was monoed), cutting 140hz and boosting click @ 5.4k. Finelly an instance of GClip to prevent random clips from BitterSweet.
On snare some shaping via ReaEq, removing unwanted resonances and ultra highs-lows. Some distortion via Saturation Knob and low body added with RBass. Added some snare verb from send.
I compress on 90% of the time in parallel, a la Andrew Scheps, so I added a kick/snare parallel comp track, with NI Supercharger in punch mode also adding some dirt.
On Overheads there was come shaping eq via ReaEQ, mostly lows remove, and some saturation via Saturation Knob. Added some long verb from send.
On Toms BitterSweet for the attack, ReaGate to shorten the tail, TDR SlickEq to add attack @ 5.8k, Supercharger used in parallel mode for compression, A1StereoControll to narrow lows and widen the rest of the frequencies, and GClip to tame BitterSweet random clicks. Added some long verb from send.
Room was shaped with ReaEq and destroyed via RoughRider :evil:
Drum tape saturated via P&M Analoger, parallel compressed via TDR FeedbackCompressor, added low harmoics via RBass and then shaped a little via Acustica RedEQ and Ignite PTEq-1a. Added some room verb from send.

BASS:
Compressed with small steps in series: Supercharger -> Gclip -> C6 and before being feed to Ignite SHB-1 to avoid big tone changes during the song, then shaped a little with IK EQ81, removing low-mids and adding hi-mids. Finally RBass to add low harmonics.

RHYTHM GUITARS:
All rhythm guitars where bussed, panned and sent to the following Ignite chain: TS-999 -> Emissary -> NadIR with ENGL experimental IR, and finally ReaFir to remove noise.
On main rhythm bus there is some shaping via ReaEQ and TDR SlickEQ, to add mids and hi-passing, and ReaXcomp to tame excessive low on palm muted guitar riffs. Added some room verb from send.

LEAD GUITARS:
Main lead has the same chain as rhythm guitars, but with Torpedo WOS free as cabinet (with the Marshall 4x12 of course! :D ). Then the NI Supercharger in parallel used as a saturator, ReaFir to remove noise and a small amount of chorus. Delay and long verb from sends.
Wah lead was treated with Amplitube free and heavy ReaEq shaping. Delay and long verb from sends.
Leads bus was hi-low passed via EQ81, used also to add mids @ 1.5k.

PADS:
On piano I used EQ81 to add highs and remove some low-mids and for saturation, Supercharger to compress a bit in parallel and TDR SlickEq to add 1150hz. Delay and long verb from sends.
On synth A1 was used to enhance the width and narrow only lows under 260hz, then some RBass to trade some subs for their harmonics. Delay from sends.
On Violin EQ81 was used to remove some low mids and add highs. Some saturation via the usual SK. Long verb from sends.
On bus some RedEQ to add top shine and remove a little bit of lows.

EFFECTS:
Delay is NI Replika, verb is 3 instances of Sinus FreeverbToo: small room, cathedral and snare verb, alway corrected via ReaEq.
Some compression and chorus on ambients bus.

MIXBUS:
IK Multimedia EQ 81 in mid/side mode was used for small tone adjustments and saturation.
Some automation on tracks here and there.

...Ah, and I'm a prog metal guitar player! :D

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Hey all! Didn't think I would have time to get this one in. A lot of stuff going on this month. I gave it my best shot with the time I had available.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gncecu457q0uv ... 3.mp3?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggeyjzyx09biw ... 3.wav?dl=0

I'll update with my settings when i have a little more time.

Update:

Followed compyfox's lead and just took some screenshots. Didn't feel like I got a good sound from Logic's high gain amps. So I ended up trying Scuffham's S-Gear plugin. I'm still a super noob trying to figure things out. If anything looks weird or you have some suggestions please don't hesitate to let me know.

Arrangement View
ImageAudiosupernova-Elsewhere-Arrangement by slick3gz, on Flickr
Mixer View:
ImageAudiosupernova-Elsewhere-Mixer by slick3gz, on Flickr
Last edited by slick3gz on Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Here is my attempt...

FLAC : https://www.dropbox.com/s/714b3dpn6rw3k ... .flac?dl=0

MP3 : https://www.dropbox.com/s/wc6a7wih9u5dq ... s.mp3?dl=0

Description : Argh, I just realized today that I messed up my whole mix with a bad tape insert on the masterbus :( :( (though maybe some will like it more that way). Anyway, let's go with the mix description :
Made with Reaper (Sonar corrupted my first project so I had to start over... and I think I will leave Sonar and buy a Reaper license, tired of the crashes...)
- On each track : Gainer and console emulation (sknote tube C)
- On each buss : gainer and crosstalk, teslapro (us pre)
- on the mix buss : console buss emu (twest saturn/ us pre), amp sim, 670 compressor, tape (this is where I ruined the mix, lack of sleep, stress before deadline... if anyone is interested to hear the "original" I can upload it somewhere)

-- Drums :
- Kick : high pass > 1176 compression > transient shaper > clipper
- Snare : Eq > 1176 compressor > gate > tube eq > limiter
- overheads : gate > EQ > tape > bitcrush > limiter
- toms : monoizers > gate > eq > multiband dynamics > eq > clipper

-- instruments :
- piano : monoizer > harmonic enhancer > EQ > EQ > Transient shaper > limiter
- violin : EQ

-- basses :
- bass guitar : EQ > gate > distortion > monoizer > EQ > Compressor > multiband compression > multiband dynamics > EQ > multiband exciter > EQ > EQ > EQ > Bass booster > transient shaper > limiter
- bass synth : gate > monoizers > EQ

-- guitars :
- lead gt : EQ > gate > chorus > amp sim (Poulin Legion) > cabinet (Revalver ValveKing 4x12) > monoizer > EQ > pulltech EQ > EQ > EQ > Limiter
- rhythm gt 1 (1) : EQ > compressor (ThrillseekerVBL) > amp sim + cab (AcmeBarGig DIG 2.0 Suite) > Tube > Limiter
- rhythm gt 1 (2) : gate > Fuzz Pedal (Fuzz Stone) > Distortion (OhmForce Ohmicide) > Cabinet (Revalver 4 ValveKing 1x12 Combo) > Stereo Enhancer > Monoizer > EQ
- rhythm gt 2 (1) : gate > amp sim (Ignite Amp SHB) > amp sim + cabinet (AcmeBarGig Shred - Marshall emu) > EQ > Limiter > pan 30% left
- rhythm gt 2 (2) : gate > amp sim + cabinet (EddieVsHeaven - Audiorammer) > limiter > pan 30% right

- wah wah gt : EQ > distortion (OhmForce Ohmicide) > phaser > tape > EQ

-- Busses :
- Drums Buss : Compressor (dbx165 style) > limiter
- Basses Buss : slightly sidechained by the kick
- instruments Buss : tape : EQ > EQ > slightly sidechained by the snare


Good luck to all ! :hyper:
Last edited by Davias on Sun Aug 23, 2015 7:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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In before the deadline... (yes, I actually joined!)

Mix for Mix Round 01:
Elsewhere - MP3 Version (ca 8,1MB, 320kbitm, 44/24)
Elsewhere - WAV Version (ca 97MB, 44/24)



Screenshots say more than a thousand words (warning: 1680x1050, JPG, roughly 300kb/each).
Arrangement View (top half)
Arrangement View (bottom half)
Mixer View (Drums)
Mixer View (Guitars and Bass)
Mixer View ("Synths" and AUX)


Tools featured:
- Slate Digital (VCCv2 - Neve Console, VTM to tame guitars, FG-116 for mono drum bus slamming)
- EQ and Comps: "British" (Neve 1081 by Nomad Factory, ISA/RED by Focusrite), guest appearances by Klanghelm MJUC
- TSE Audio, LePou and Ignite Amps (Pedal FX and Amp Heads), guest appearances by Audiorammer and Distorque Audio
- Two Notes Torpedo WoS 2 (iLok version, Cabinets: 4x12 Engl, 4x12 Mesa, 2x12 HiWatt - for Bass 8x10 Ampeg and just the Power Amp!)
- Brainworx bx_control (to tame stereo fields of the synths)
. Melda Production MUtility, MBandpass and MAuoPan, not to mention Nomad Factory E-Gate (acting as expander) as add-on tools
- AUX: SoundToys "Lex Prime Time" clone, Arts Acoustic Reverb (Large Hall and Cathedral), TAL Reverb 3 (Plate), TAL Dub3 (Delay) and TAL Flanger (chaos for the drums!), VoS NastyDLA (Guitar Slap back), ACON Digital Multiply (Chorus)



PERSONAL SUMMARY:
In retrospect - I am mostly pleased with my "just in time" mix and it was a fun production (I got lost in listening to the guitars for hours after I shaped the initial tone!). The "noise" (16bit noise floor) was also fairly easy to address (was done, pre-mixing). I would eventually go back and change a thing or two of course. Mostly volume automation and the one or another EQ setting, cleaning up the project (unused plugins) and I'd run the mix bus a bit different (less hot or more hot - not sure, was a short night).

But, it's a starting point for the "client" to built upon. :tu:
Last edited by Compyfox on Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
[ Mix Challenge ] | [ Studio Page / Twitter ] | [ KVRmarks (see: metering tools) ]

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That's it folks, the first Mix Round of KVR MC13 has ended.
(with a couple of hours overhang)

Please update your posts with some background info, double check for broken links.
The next step is to wait for the official evaluation of the client. Will we see a "Mix Round 2"?



In the meantime, please spread the word of the challenge on your preferred social media, and/or follow us on our Twitter Account. We're also still looking for new source material. So please help us out.

Of course, feedback about the challenge is more than welcome. For example: What was your biggest issue with the challenge? What made you/made you not join? etc.

We would also love to see more(!) participants in the future. It's been a while that we exceeded 15 or even 20 entries.



(pst - this is the actual announcement post that closed Mix Round 1)
[ Mix Challenge ] | [ Studio Page / Twitter ] | [ KVRmarks (see: metering tools) ]

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Good luck to all contestants.
satYatunes - Sound and Graphic Designer
Beautiful UI and skins for VST plugins.
Website | Portfolio

Post

Just a short update on things:
The song provider is still doing the evaluation of the submissions. He will get back to this thread shortly.

So please have an eye on this thread.
[ Mix Challenge ] | [ Studio Page / Twitter ] | [ KVRmarks (see: metering tools) ]

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photonic wrote:Hi all,

Here is my mix from this challanging track.

MP3: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/717 ... otonic.mp3
WAV: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/717 ... otonic.mp3
Feedback:
Great mix and balance among the instruments in general. While I might suggest a tad more reverb on the sections where no lead guitar is present. The lead guitars reverb and delay sound great as is, no changes there. I’m not 100% familiar with all the plugins you used, so there is a possibility you have this going on already, but my ears tell me that there is either too little or no preamp effects in the amp chain creating some much needed distortion. Some amps have overdrive built in, but this still typically isn’t enough to make the guitar sound “metal”. The way I accomplish this both in the real world and in the virtual world is to have the guitar plug directly into both a tube screamer pedal, then distortion pedal , and then from there to the amp, cab, and post effects tacked on after that. The preamp use of distortion and the tube screamer give the guitars a really thick metal tone. In this mix the guitars sound pretty flat, and are in much need of some “beef” to fatten them up across the spectrum. There’s plenty of bass in the guitar parts, so focus more on the midrange, with a touch of treble.

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Sworduigi wrote:Hi All.
Here is my effort, i hope you'll enjoy it.
Feedback:
You had a good mix, but I recall letting you know that the tracks were misaligned. The soundcloud link is dead, so I can't give you further feedback at this point.

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mixedmind wrote:Hello,

this is my mix:
https://soundcloud.com/dilutedmind/audi ... nd/s-xg8eh
Feedback:
This is actually a pretty good mix, and I like that you tried some different things like the effects on the piano and violins, playing around with panning, etc. The guitar tone is actually one of the better I've heard for this months competition, so great job there. Unfortunately, your tracks are misaligned, so the instruments are all over the place. From what I can hear though, the mix is pretty good. My suggestion is obviously to first, fix the track alignment (listen to the source song, then adjust yours to suit). Once the alignment is fixed, I'd put a low pass filter on the kickdrum with a slow rolloff from about 100hz on downward, as the kick is a bit overpowered currently. Don't go overboard with the lowpass filter, but just a few DB reduction would sound better in my opinion. Piano sounds a little bit like a tin can, maybe cut a bit of your EQ boost on it. I can give more feedback once the alignment issues are fixed, but for the moment it's a little hard to make out all the parts.

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polygonsheep wrote:Hi,
this is my first contest entry so I hope this is everything needed.
https://soundcloud.com/polygonsheep/aud ... lygonsheep
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w1crkpu0do7lq ... p.wav?dl=0
Feedback:
This is an excellent mix overall. Drums, strings, and piano sound great, and I think you're off to a great start on the guitar tone. I would suggest working to polish the guitar tone though as that's one of the few weak points of the mix. Maybe up the gain on the amps (not the volume necessarily though), or bump up the amount of distortion/overdrive. There are a few spots where the guitars seemed to fade out at low volumes, probably due to less gain and compression on the preamp side than what I did in my mix. The wah guitar definitely needs some work, as the tone sounds more like a synth, and less like a guitar running through a wah pedal. Great work though overall.

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Kolyev wrote:Musical mode fixed the timing issues in Cubase (thanks for the hint Compyfox, although I could have thought of that myself :dog: ).
Nevertheless, I like prog metal and enjoyed this mix challenge. Great track!

Anyway here is my mix:

mp3:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ripn2ckshsc2r ... v.mp3?dl=0

wave:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1rwgjtbuvgtx3 ... v.wav?dl=0
Feedback:
This is an excellent mix. The drums sound like they could maybe use a tad less compression or maybe lessen the effect you have going on there as they sound a bit over processed to my ear. The wah guitar doesn't quite sound like a wah pedal to my ears. It just sounds a bit off, more like a synth than a guitar part. Clean sounding guitar from 4:27 to 4:30 sounds weird. Try to thicken up the rhythm guitars to make them sound more "massive". Lead should come in again at 3:35, but in your mix don't show up till 3:46. This may have been intentional, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

I'm not sure how many people are taking advantage of the multiple versions of the rhythms to create true double tracking or not, but that's one way to help if you aren't already doing so. I can't quite describe multitracking and tone fattening without going into a 10 page writeup, so here's my favorite video on the topic of KILLER METAL GUITAR TONE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6PHzkPjH7c

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vasdim wrote:Hi all,
this is my attempt to mix:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/700 ... VasDim.mp3
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/700 ... VasDim.wav

Good luck to all.
VasDim
Feedback:
First off, your tracks are badly misaligned, so the track is hard to make sense of. Most of the instruments sound alright, but the guitar tones badly need some work. They don't quite sound like real guitar amps, but again, it's hard to make proper assessments of the general quality of the mix with things misaligned. This may help some to help you know what I'm after on the guitar tone front:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6PHzkPjH7c

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piranha81 wrote:Hi all!
In this challenge I wanted to try a new eq plugin, the EQ81 from IK Multimedia, for it’s saturation, eq sound and m/s functionality, so it was used extensively. It is very heavy on the processor, so I can’t use it on every track. Also i wanted to try Reaper 5, so i updated and started to mix :tu:

WAV:
https://soundcloud.com/roberto-ortenzi/ ... -piranha81

MP3:
https://soundcloud.com/roberto-ortenzi/ ... anha81-mp3
Feedback:
Unfortunately your tracks are misaligned in the mix, so not all the instruments line up properly (sounds like it might only be the lead guitar that's offset). I love the wah effect you went with for this track. Overall the sound sounds a bit boosted in the treble and upper bass ranges(a V or U shaped EQ curve is what it sounds like), so it doesn't sound balanced on my studio monitors (applies to all instruments). I would try to aim for "flat" as in a nice even range of sound across the whole spectrum. I'm not a fan of boosting EQ's, so I wouldn't necessarily say to boost your midrange, but try to adjust things so the mix sounds a bit more even in that regard.

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slick3gz wrote:Hey all! Didn't think I would have time to get this one in. A lot of stuff going on this month. I gave it my best shot with the time I had available.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gncecu457q0uv ... 3.mp3?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggeyjzyx09biw ... 3.wav?dl=0
Feedback:
Like most of the submissions, the tracks are misaligned unfortunately. First suggestion after fixing that is to bring up the volume of the strings and piano as I can barely hear them. Guitar tone sounds a bit flat in most places, and as you mentioned in your post about trying different amps to get more "fatness" so to speak, I personally use preamp distortion and tube screamers to get the effect I'm after. Most amps just don't have the overdrive necessary to create those thick and delicious heavy metal guitar tones you hear in professional music. These are often courtesy of preamp effects (distortion, tube screamers, etc.) in combination with amps like those from Soldano, Mesa/Boogie, etc.
Last edited by audiosupernova on Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:36 am, edited 2 times in total.

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