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Mixing Competition/Learning Resource - January POLL ADDED!


51m0n
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Personally I like the challenge of just taking what is there and bending it to my will until I think it sounds as good as it could possibly sound. Like the hulk with a tank - "Puny drum sound, 51m0n smash!!!"

But you know, each to their own ;)

Currently I've got a great 'vanilla' mix, whereby everything sound lovely, it all fits, but it hasn't gone through a second stage of "How far should I push this thing", which I'll get on to as soon as my main mixing machine gets back from having its touchpad fixed :angry:

So as the rules stand, you can do whatever you like to make it sound how you want, but you do have to be prepared to explain how you did it.

I should have said that the lower the budget on the mix the better (since if you have to spend hundreds of pounds to reproduce this mix then it is less accessible for everyone else here) but I didnt so as it stands you can spend as much as you like to produce the best mix - hell send it to Abbey Road if you like :D

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[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1354582173' post='1887807']
I guess you mean particular tracks by other bands that we'd like to sound like, in which case no, we haven't got that kind of vision.
I can say that we like 70s reggae, funk and soul music and this song started with the bass line, at a time when I was listening to a lot of Fela Kuti.

We really appreciate the work that any of you put into it and there are absolutely no rules as far as we are concerned.
Feel free to make us sound however you feel works best and hopefully have some fun with it :)
[/quote]

^ Righto, that's cool with me mate. Thought I'd ask before I start messing around with it :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='butlerk02' timestamp='1357167204' post='1918692']
Right then, still not 100% happy with this so comments are welcome : )

[url="https://soundcloud.com/butlerk02/redstriper-1"]https://soundcloud.c...02/redstriper-1[/url]
[/quote]

Will try and get a listen to this this evening, about to finish doing dinner wight now. Mine still needs a bit of work, but its getting there...

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[quote name='butlerk02' timestamp='1357167204' post='1918692']
Right then, still not 100% happy with this so comments are welcome : )

[url="https://soundcloud.com/butlerk02/redstriper-1"]https://soundcloud.c...02/redstriper-1[/url]
[/quote]

Heh, this is very different from mine :D

Much more emphasis on the percussion than I have, love the way everyone hears it differently! I think its all a bit crowded down the middle if I'm going to be something of a harsh critic, and the drums are a bit lost compared to the percussion maybe?

Not a bad effort at all though, that reverb on the lead vocal is a bit roomy for my liking too. But then everyone may well prefer yours to mine anyway, so it could be exactly right and I'm completely talking out of my bum!

Mine is here:-

[url="https://soundcloud.com/51m0n-1/no-2nd-chance/s-6Tbvx"]https://soundcloud.c...-chance/s-6Tbvx[/url]

Feel free to rip it to bits :D

Oh and just to add this was done with Reaper, using Reaper's own built in fx and a few other vsts* (all of them free) plus some freely available reverb I.R.s. Total software outlay of $60 then :D

* Bootsy's Variety of Sound VSTs are as good as anything I've heard, they really really help to make a mix 'pop' for me. The inbuilt Reaper compressor is almost the single most underated compressor on the planet IMO, similarly the Reaper EQ is pretty much perfect for any kind of general EQing I need. I use a few other Compressors, EQs and Reverbs: mainly though not exclusively from Bootsy, I used to use SIR for convolution reverbs but dont anymore as it doesn't play at all nice in a 64bit environment - so now I use Reaverb instead, which is excellent, although the interface isnt as nice as the SIR one.

Convolution reverbs sound great but they arent the absolute be all and end all, there are some great free algorithmic reverbs, EpicVerb from Bootsy, Ambience, Glaceverb and the TAL reverbs (esp TAL II which is a really nice Plate reverb). All of which tend to be lighter on the old CPU than a convolution reverb is.

Edited by 51m0n
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I have had a go but.... apart from the fact I am guessing at most of what I am doing , I havent got this K meter thing sussed yet (or even reaper come to mention it) , now I have a 'mix' but it doesn't play in reaper any more :( , I did render it to wav so I have got something, but I need to adjust something but while all the tracks show in reaper, I can't hear it :angry: .
I will let the laptop cool down and start again on sunday , gig tommorrow, skirting board to fit, architrave to loft hatch and a radiator to fit to the front bedroom, half a tank of gas and pack of cigarettes................

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Ok , be gentle with me on this one but I have had a go , I will listen to the others as soon as I can , but like Skol I didn't want to have too much influence by others , not that I would have a clue how to do what anyone else does ,

[url="https://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/no-second-chance"]https://soundcloud.com/lurksalot/no-second-chance[/url]

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I have just listened to the 3 different mixes posted so far and I'm amazed by the differences.

This is very interesting and quite an eye opener for me, since I've never had anyone else mix one of my recordings and the differences really are staggering.
I had a feeling they would all sound very similar, but each one sounds almost like a different recording.
It really shows how the mix is such a vital part of a song and also how everyone hears things differently and has their own idea of how different instruments and voices should sit together.
I will send the links to the other band members to get their feedback too.

Thanks and respect to those of you who have been brave enough to take this on, I'm sure we will all learn a lot from the process.

Si - the mixed levels don't match, but it doesn't seem so important, I just turned the volume up and down when required.
The mixes are so different that the volumes shouldn't affect anyone's opinion of a particular mix.

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Ok, I'm done! Could have spent much longer messing with this, but it sounds about as finished as it's ever going to be…

https://soundcloud.com/skol-mixes/second-chance-by-tacsi

I haven't done the K-meter thingymabob yet, so it probably sounds quite loud by comparison. Happy to sort that out though (Si: give me a prod if you want me to do so).

Really enjoyed this process and now looking forward to listening through the other entries hopefully later tonight. This is the first mix I've ever done with someone else's material (other than the odd remix), and it was real eye opener (ear opener? Whatever). The mix was produced using [url="https://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/"]Propellerhead Reason[/url] using the software's own plug-ins, plus a couple of others (namely [url="http://www.softube.com/fet_compressor.php"]this one[/url] and [url="http://www.softube.com/trident_arange.php"]that one[/url] that I got on special offer last year - love 'em). Only the original stems were used with no overdubbing… although I was sorely tempted to dub the drums at one point!

Let me know what you think.

PS: this song has really grown on me! Good thing too :D

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Some really nice mixes so far. Si and Skol, I really like how yours sound really tight and together.

Si, personally, i think your snare is too up front for my tastes, but like you say, others may prefer this.

Lurksalot, your mix could benefit from a bit more eq'ing to create a bit more space for everything in the mix.

I've taken on board your comments Si and I'll have another soon.

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