GearFest Mixing Contest

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chater-La
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
This has been a lot of fun. I've replaced the audio file a bunch of times now, but this is my very final submission!

 
So many great entries and crazy ones! Good luck to all!
 
Pas de probleme mon ami j'etais sincere ;)

Oh I am too shy to post my link but i'll certainly do it if i'm in the top 16 :)

By the way what are the very best mixes you have come across ? I mean really stallar ones
 
OtherExacerbate said:
(I know the 10 post thing was supposed to be disabled for this but can't seem to get around it?)
Didnt get to put the final touches i would have liked to as i realized the 11:59 pm deadline was central European time but any feedback is appreciated!
soundcloud.com/otherexacerbater/liza-colbly-mix

So many great entries and crazy ones! Good luck to all!
Click to expand...

who told you the deadline was 11:59pm central europe time?
 
aarvin2 said:
Pas de probleme mon ami j'etais sincere ;)

Oh I am too shy to post my link but i'll certainly do it if i'm in the top 16 :)

By the way what are the very best mixes you have come across ? I mean really stallar ones
Click to expand...

Sois pas timide, balance ton mix qu'on écoute ça en famille ! ;) La critique ça fait pas plaisir mais ça fait avancer.

I didn't come across a stellar mix, it's hard to put one above the other, but for example I did like soundofwool mix (even though the bass too present and vocals not enough), I did like this one too https://soundcloud.com/arekwielgosik/oh-baby-gearfestpuremixcontest or this one https://soundcloud.com/davibaeta/oh-baby-gearfestpuremixcontest ... I did like many other ones, but I didn't keep a trace of them.
Verdict in 3 weeks!
 


This is my entry for the PureMix.net GearFest Mixing Contest.

My approach for this track was similar to many of the other live multitrack recordings I've worked on. I wasn't looking to embellish the track with lot's of flashy processing and FX, but rather leave the track similar to its original form and just bring it to life a bit.

First, I wanted to give the recording a sense of space and depth (which can be difficult with only one guitar track to work with). So, I decided to pan it a bit left, send a signal to a convolution reverb, and pan the return mid right. This didn't change the fundamental tone of the guitar track, but really added the space I was looking for.

To balance the track a bit with the dry guitar sitting on the left, I decided to pan the bass guitar track just slightly off center and to the right. I'm big fan of asymmetrical panning schemes and since the bass was frequently supporting the melody and not just providing a little low end, I felt it needed to be very present in the mix (almost like a second guitar track).

The instrumental recording reminded me of a 70s era rock song and I wanted the drums to reflect that. I softened the kick, but left enough punch to still retain the rock feeling to it. The recording of the direct snare and overheads was pretty nice to start with, so some compression, minimal eq, and a touch of room reverb (and a plate) is the direction I took here. I still felt we needed to thicken it up a bit though, and adding just a touch of a Black Beauty sample from Steven Slate (10%-20% mix) provided just a little more sustain to the snare that I feel nicely compliments the attack we get from the original stems. It also helped mask some of the hi-hat bleed in the original snare track and hide any side effects from gating/editing.

The vocal was the centerpiece, and I wanted to leave it pretty much true to the original performance. Just some compression and saturation was used with a touch of reverb using a Bricasti M7 impulse from Samplicity.

Overall it was a pretty basic mix. Just some compression here and there on some tracks/buses, some reverb, and minor EQ corrections. I did utilize some additional side-chain compression on the bass track which helped preserve the low end without mudding up or taking power away from the kick (only 0.5 to 1db reduction), but that's about it.


HARDWARE
Steinberg MR816x (D/A)
Tannoy Active Reveals w/ Sub

SOFTWARE

DAW: Cubase 6

Compressors: Stillwell Rocket & Bombardier, Waves Renaissance Compressor, Slate Digital FG-X Compressor


EQ: Voxengo Gliss, FabFilter Pro-Q
Reverb: Steinberg REVerence (stock and Samplicity Bricasti M7 impulse responses)
Other: Slate Digital Trigger
 
I can´t post URL from other site

In my version I used mainly equalizers and compressors from REAPER

Waves PuigTec (Pultec) on vocal

Reverb from Valhalla Room

I use Waves SSL on master bus.
 
Just curious...how many are downloading mixes to listen?...I've noticed quite a few downloads on mine - Personally, I'm just streaming to listen.
 
My Entry, Gearfest Mixing Contest - Bryan Holt mix "Oh Baby" by the Liza Colby Band

Here's my entry for the Gearfest 2013 mixing contest:



My intention was to portray and enhance the live setting of this recording.

Kick -

SoftTube VC160 - 2.51V Thresh, 4:1, 2.5+ Gain
Transient Master - +Attack, -Sustain, +Gain
Solid EQ - HPF 30Hz, +1.8dB 102Hz, Cut 435Hz, LPF 5kHZ

OH -

SoftTube VC160 - parallel
Transient Master - +Sustain, +Gain
Solid EQ
Enhanced EQ

Snare -

SoftTube VC160 - 4:1, Thresh -1, Output +5dB, parallel
Transient Master - +Attack, +Sustain, +Gain
EQ - HPF below 82Hz; Cut 244Hz, 351 Hz; slight boost around 4.5kHz
Reverb

Drum Bus -

SoftTube VC160 - Thresh 101mV, 2:1, +3.1 Gain, Parallel
SoftTube VC2A


Bass DI -

SoftTube Vari Comp
Solid EQ
Guitar Rig 5 - ReAmp -- Bass Pro Amp; Control Room 4x10 Cab

Guitar Amp -

Solid EQ - HPF 50Hz, 98Hz +2bB, 987Hz -1dB,
Transient Master
Guitar Rig 5 - ReAmp -- Plex Amp, Tube Compression, 4x12 Cab, 57 mic, slight delay, medium reverb

Vox -

SoftTube VC76 - Attack 2.7, Release 6.3, Input 22.1, Output 18.3, 4:1
Solid EQ - HPF 40Hz, -2dB 200Hz, -3.9dB 349Hz, +3dB 4.1kHz, slight HF Shelf
Transient Master - + Attack, + Sustain, +3dB Gain
Chamber Reverb - very slight


Master Bus -

Izone 4 -- Loudness: Threshold -6.9dB, Margin -.6dB; Mastering Reverb 19%Wet
 
fHumble fHingaz said:
Just curious...how many are downloading mixes to listen?...I've noticed quite a few downloads on mine - Personally, I'm just streaming to listen.
Click to expand...

Me too...I just streamed the various mixes to listen to them....though I don't think I want to hear that song any more for awhile. :D ;)

I got one download so far...but as long as it was downloaded by the contest judges....I'm OK with one download. :)

Gearfest Puremix - "Oh Baby" mix.
 
aarvin2 said:
By the way I absolutely love the balance of your mix, and u're one of the rare guys who had a beautiful high end instead of a washy amateurish high end.

Also the belting out on the last chorus specially at 3:31 ... amazing energy!!

Seriously one of the best I heard out there (and i'm not saying it to be nice) ;)
Click to expand...

That's one thing i worked really hard on my mix, the high end. It's wasn't easy getting it right with all the resonances present in the vocals and not getting a hihat wash. Anyhow, i think i did a pretty good job, check it out! ;)

 
soupiraille said:
Sois pas timide, balance ton mix qu'on écoute ça en famille ! ;) La critique ça fait pas plaisir mais ça fait avancer.

I didn't come across a stellar mix, it's hard to put one above the other, but for example I did like soundofwool mix (even though the bass too present and vocals not enough), I did like this one too https://soundcloud.com/arekwielgosik/oh-baby-gearfestpuremixcontest or this one https://soundcloud.com/davibaeta/oh-baby-gearfestpuremixcontest ... I did like many other ones, but I didn't keep a trace of them.
Verdict in 3 weeks!
Click to expand...

La critique n'est pas le probleme, bien au contraire, ca permets d'apprendre ;) Jsuis juste unpeu discret comme personne :)

Bon voila, here you go :)

https://soundcloud.com/arvin-peopleinlove-2/track-title
 
Last edited:
ALEKNOSTAR said:
That's one thing i worked really hard on my mix, the high end. It's wasn't easy getting it right with all the resonances present in the vocals and not getting a hihat wash. Anyhow, i think i did a pretty good job, check it out! ;)

Click to expand...

Nice clarity and definition of the elements and things don't sound washy, I just feel that the mix would feel more powerful with a bit more low end presence and weight and create an even better balance. Also it would benefit from a tight punchy kick drum to drive the song even more. I also didn't hear the toms well, although the snare was spot on.

I think that darker effects would bring out more of the sex and rock and roll in your mix though.

Sound like hard work my friend :) Not like the other lazy entries I heard lol
 
Last edited:
aarvin2 said:
Nice clarity and definition of the elements and things don't sound washy, I just feel that the mix would feel more powerful with a bit more low end presence and weight and create an even better balance. Also it would benefit from a tight punchy kick drum to drive the song even more. I also didn't hear the toms well, although the snare was spot on.

I think that darker effects would bring out more of the sex and rock and roll in the song.

Sound like hard work my friend :) Not like the other lazy entries I heard lol
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments buddy! ;) I kept the low end conservative by choice, if i were to master the song i maybe would add a DB or 2 with a pultec type EQ. About the kick, i find it pretty punchy already... i didn't add too much "click" sound to it as i didn't feel it fit the song style. About the toms, you really didn't hear them enough? I've taken all the tombs hit and made a new track out of them.
 
soupiraille said:
Sois pas timide, balance ton mix qu'on écoute ça en famille ! ;) La critique ça fait pas plaisir mais ça fait avancer.

I didn't come across , it's hard to put one above the other, but for example I did like soundofwool mix (even though the bass too present and vocals not enough), I did like this one too or this one ... I did like many other ones, but I didn't keep a trace of them.
Verdict in 3 weeks!
Click to expand...


Nice mixes! I cant post url yet...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top