GearFest Mixing Contest

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OldCurtP said:
I'm pretty sure that creativity is allowed and encouraged but people with bland, ultra clean mixes with bouncy clean bass lines and the guitar dead panned in the center sure do seem to be a bit full of themselves on the comments!
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Yeah. There's not enough remixes out there.
 
Dan Nery said:
Why in mono?man.
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1. Mono was the preferred format for Phil Spector and Lee "Scratch" Perry (my personal heroes!)
2. The placement of home stereo speakers will greatly change the sound of a song.
3. The end system is most often earbuds or other headphones which exaggerate the stereo field.
4. Many home stereo setups (probably 50%) are wired out of phase, confounding the mix.
5. Buy Pet Sounds in Mono, and tell me it doesn't sound better than the stereo version.

But most importantly:
6. I only have a Mono mixer (Altec 1567A.)
 
Curtis Heath said:
1. Mono was the preferred format for Phil Spector and Lee "Scratch" Perry (my personal heroes!)
2. The placement of home stereo speakers will greatly change the sound of a song.
3. The end system is most often earbuds or other headphones which exaggerate the stereo field.
4. Many home stereo setups (probably 50%) are wired out of phase, confounding the mix.
5. Buy Pet Sounds in Mono, and tell me it doesn't sound better than the stereo version.

But most importantly:
6. I only have a Mono mixer (Altec 1567A.)
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While phase may have been an issue with stereos in the 70's and maybe the 80's, 99% of stereos now have phase aligned connectors. They only fit one way. And, if you ar one of those people who considers themselves an audiophile but cannot get the speakers wired correctly, it's time for a new hobby.
 
I've done a few minor revisions to my mix. Feedback is as always welcome. Specifically I'd like to know your view on the balance of the hi-hat and cymbals and if the chorus is too edgy with too many elements fighting/masking each other? Of course some edgyness is desirable as this is a Classic punch rock song after all ;-)

 
Hi there

here under my version of Oh Baby for the biggest mixing contest of all time by Puremix
Has been mixed in Studio One in the box
I tried to reproduce the vintage rock vibe of the song.
I used Softube plugins (tube delay, spring reverb, FET compressor, tubeTech compressor) SSL channel from Waves for the drums and the LA2A and 1176 from WAves on the vocals. (trying to reproduce the tip explained on "mixing open eyed" video)
Reverbs are coming from Sonnox and Waves.
Stock plugs from studio one also used everywhere.

Do not hesitate to comment !

 
99%...? What's your source for that number?
Out-of-phase speakers are my big pet peeve. I work at Fry's Electronics, and would counter that practically ALL made in China consumer stereo systems simply have a black wire, and another black wire with a white stripe on it. Even if the consumer is paying attention, the terminal inside the speaker cabinet is very often soldered arbitrarily by the manufacturer. Even my Yamaha HS80Ms bought as a pair from Guitar Center were out-of-phase on arrival.
Personally, I'd rather listen to a stereo mix. But, yes, there is no way to know if your speakers are in phase unless you run an Absolute Polarity Blind Test. I'd wager that 0% of consumers do this. I'm guessing most people on this forum don't either.
 
Hey Jimmy said:
99%...? What's your source for that number?
Out-of-phase speakers are my big pet peeve. I work at Fry's Electronics, and would counter that practically ALL made in China consumer stereo systems simply have a black wire, and another black wire with a white stripe on it. Even if the consumer is paying attention, the terminal inside the speaker cabinet is very often soldered arbitrarily by the manufacturer. Even my Yamaha HS80Ms bought as a pair from Guitar Center were out-of-phase on arrival.
Personally, I'd rather listen to a stereo mix. But, yes, there is no way to know if your speakers are in phase unless you run an Absolute Polarity Blind Test. I'd wager that 0% of consumers do this. I'm guessing most people on this forum don't either.
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Are you replying to Curtis??
 
Hey,
Would be glad to get some comments on my mix! (mix in progress)

 
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jasperhb said:
I've done a few minor revisions to my mix. Feedback is as always welcome. Specifically I'd like to know your view on the balance of the hi-hat and cymbals and if the chorus is too edgy with too many elements fighting/masking each other? Of course some edgyness is desirable as this is a Classic punch rock song after all ;-)

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Great mix dude! Goodluck!
 
Hey Jimmy said:
99%...? What's your source for that number?
Out-of-phase speakers are my big pet peeve. I work at Fry's Electronics, and would counter that practically ALL made in China consumer stereo systems simply have a black wire, and another black wire with a white stripe on it. Even if the consumer is paying attention, the terminal inside the speaker cabinet is very often soldered arbitrarily by the manufacturer. Even my Yamaha HS80Ms bought as a pair from Guitar Center were out-of-phase on arrival.
Personally, I'd rather listen to a stereo mix. But, yes, there is no way to know if your speakers are in phase unless you run an Absolute Polarity Blind Test. I'd wager that 0% of consumers do this. I'm guessing most people on this forum don't either.
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Oh! Well you work at an electronics store? Your ears are clearly better than the majority. I would dare to guess as well that there is a very small number if any at all of speakers that are hand wired in those factories. I have a $300 power cable that will improve your sound immensely.
 
Aviel said:
Hey,
Would be glad to get some comments on my mix! (mix in progress)
went for a reverb-y feeling. used Sknore Strip Bus on all channels for more glue, some free plugins, and some waves stuff

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Nice punchy kick. But vox too much verb for my taste.
 
Curtis Heath said:
Everything was done on a 4-track Tascam analog tape deck.
Drums went through Altec 1567a, and sub-mixed to mono.
All 4 mono tracks (drums, guitar, bass and vocals) were then assigned a channel on the Tascam. I hit the tape pretty hard for a Motown/Stax kinda feel.
Purple audio LilPEQr provided eq on the way out, Overstayer for drum compression, Roland Space Echo and my bedroom as a reverb chamber.
Mono mix back into Logic.
I don't have a lot of gear, but this song seems to fit the gear i have!
Comment and suggestions welcome.
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nice sounding mix, very warm.. Mono are most save in any listening situation.
 
hueseph said:
Oh! Well you work at an electronics store? Your ears are clearly better than the majority. I would dare to guess as well that there is a very small number if any at all of speakers that are hand wired in those factories. I have a $300 power cable that will improve your sound immensely.
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I don't claim to have golden ears. But I do know what consumers are listening on: Beats, iPod docks, Sony Mini Shelves, and earbuds. If you're making mixes for audiophiles, best of luck to you.
But let me ask you this, why do top mixers continue to rely on Auratones? Because they're cheap, non-ported, limited bandwidth speakers that sound very much like consumer systems. I'll play the Marxist and say that most people can't afford to be audiophiles. They buy the thing with the most features that costs the least. And their systems WILL have phase and diffraction issues. That bothers me. It bothered Phil Spector too. He was vehemently opposed to stereo, claiming it took control of the sound away from the musician, and gave it to the manufacturer and listener. Almost all dance music is mono as well.
 
Goodluck everyone, unfortunately I cannot post my URL until I have posted 10 posts but I have listened to many of these mixes and they sound great good work everyone.
 
"Oh Baby" Mix - Puremix Contest

Hey guys!

Many great mixes here! This is a Live-Mix, i tried to keep it simple!

Feel free to comment on my mix and I'm happy about feedback to improve my skills! i'm new so i can't post my link but plz go to:

soundcloud -> martinholter

Thanks !!

greetz Martin:guitar:
 
Hey Jimmy said:
But I do know what consumers are listening on: Beats, iPod docks, Sony Mini Shelves, and earbuds. If you're making mixes for audiophiles, best of luck to you.
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I agree. Part of my mix check chain are the iPod earbuds, laptop speakers (Mac and PC), it has got to translate well on those coz people use them all the time - at work, at school, on the way to wherever.
 
Just a few more days to go. Best of luck to all that joined. This mixing contest was an even playing field, hard to screw up coz of the few elements, thus a lot of mixes turned out really nice. I never win anything but this was a lot of fun! Cheers!
 
My Equipment
Desktop computer Compaq Presario using Windows Xp
Daw Cubase Le4 with a Zoom R16 as controller
Behringer Ms20 Monitors
Maudio 2496 Soundcard

This contest was fun, just finish and posted my version to Soundcloud! I tried to keep the live sound. Here are the plugins and settings I used for each track:

Overheads:
Eq=Waves API 560 "overheads" setting
Eq2=Cubase Le 4 High Pass @ 170hz, -3 @ 2K
Compressor: Waves Renaissance -21.9 Threshold, Ratio 2:00, Attack .50, Release 49.9, gain +4.2
Reverb1 Room=Waves Renaissance Room "Studio A" preset 10% wet/dry, Send level -4.25
Reverb 2 Hall=Waves Renaissance Hall "Vocal Hall" preset 10% wet/dry, send level -19.63

Bass DI Pan L50: I used this sound more predominant than the amp version
Used Waves Renaissance Bass freq 80Hz
Cubase Eq=Low shelf +1 @ 80hz, -3@800hz, +4@2000, High shelf -8@10000K
GVST free plugin High pass filter @32hz

Bass Amp pan R50
Compressor=Waves Renaissance -24 Threshold, 4.01 Ratio, .50 Attack, 100 Release, +7 Gain
GVST free plugin High Pass @100hz
Clone ensemble bass chorus free plugin
Cubase Eq=Same Freq as for DI with exception 100 hz is High pass with a 12. Q and 10000 is Low Pass with a 12Q

Kick
GVST free plugin= High Pass @50 hz
Cubase Eq=+4@80hz, -4@150hz, -4@500hz, +10@3000hz Q all freq 12

Snare
Cubase Eq=+5@200hz, -8@630Hz, -5@1500hz, +6@6000hz
GVST free plugin=high pass@200hz
Reverb 1 Room=Same as overheads Send level -16.23
Reverb 2 Hall=Same as overheads Send level-16.62

Guitar Amp pan full right
Cubase EQ=+4@250hz, +4@1200hz, +2@2000hz
GVST free plugin=High Pass@210hz
Reverb1 Room=Same as Overheads, Send level 0
Reverb2 Hall=Same as Overheads, Send level 0

Vocal: Probably could have gotten by without most of the effects. Eq'ed mainly because there was already so much low end in the music with all of the bleed over. Probably could have used more compression, but I did not want to go overboard, I love the grit of the vocal.
De-esser= Renaissance De-esser setting female wide, adjusted threshold for 0 attenuation, set Threshold to -28.4, freq 8294, range -13.5
EQ1=Waves API 560 "Lead Vocal" setting,
EQ2=Cubase High Pass @ 230 Q=.5
Reverb 1 Room= Same as Overheads Send Level -17.00
Reverb 2 Hall=Same as Overheads Send Level -15.11
Cubase Ping Pong Delay= 120 Delay, Feedback 50, Spatial 50, Mix 50, Send Level -25.10
with the reverb and delay I wanted to make it almost non existent to capture the live sound.
Compressor=Renaissance Vox Gate-65, Compression -6.0, Gain -5.0


Good luck to all who joined!
 
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