June/July Mix Competition - THE RESULTS!

[Skol303]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1371559487' post='2115475']Can I re-do the bass line entirely..?[/quote]

I don't see why not... all's fair in love and mixing. Within reason, of course

Clearly xgsjx (above) isn't offended by your intentions - and rightly so - hence if you want to record a new take then go for it. There's risk of extensive overdubs straying into the territory of remixing, but let's not split hairs over it. I personally think it's great that you're prepared to put in this sort of effort!

[Twigman]

For all us Sonar users there's this:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2eecggyVr0[/media]

Edited June 18, 2013 by Twigman

[xgsjx]

As long as you don't do to me what they're doing to the poor drummer! He's getting replaced by a frikkin drum machine!!!




Edited to put the smiley in so no one thinks that I was being serious.

Edited June 18, 2013 by xgsjx

[JakeBrownBass]

I'm in this for this one, should be interesting.

What's the deal with playing with arrangement of the tunes, cutting sections etc..

Also, adding parts?

Is this purely a mixing deal or can we through some production in with it?

[51m0n]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1371562271' post='2115545']
As long as you don't do to me what they're doing to the poor drummer! He's getting replaced by a frikkin drum machine!!!




Edited to put the smiley in so no one thinks that I was being serious.
[/quote]

Mr_NigelClutterbuck_VST for you I'm afraid

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1371565303' post='2115579']
I'm in this for this one, should be interesting.

What's the deal with playing with arrangement of the tunes, cutting sections etc..

Also, adding parts?

Is this purely a mixing deal or can we through some production in with it?
[/quote]

As far as I understand it, you can cut, remove and add what you like, so long as the song stays essentially the same. Douglas is intending to re-record the bass track as there are a couple of fluffs in it; not massive ones mind. I'll likely leave it as it is. Some of my favourite songs have mistakes in the bass track that you don't notice until you hear it in isolation.

[51m0n]

The original intent was for it to be a Mix 'Competition', as opposed to a Remix Competition. Heavy on the sharing of the how you did something to make the stems available sound great, rather than replacement and reorganisiation for your own creative ends.

There are still good reasons to make some arrangement changes, (normally they would be more to do with muting unnecessary things) and given the issues on the stems there is a good (unusually so) argument for drum replacement.

Keep in mind the idea is to present as much as possible the performance you are given in the best light it can be, rather than turning it into an example of EDM when its supposed ot be reggae

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1371568109' post='2115634']
The original intent was for it to be a Mix 'Competition', as opposed to a Remix Competition. Heavy on the sharing of the how you did something to make the stems available sound great, rather than replacement and reorganisiation for your own creative ends.

There are still good reasons to make some arrangement changes, (normally they would be more to do with muting unnecessary things) and given the issues on the stems there is a good (unusually so) argument for drum replacement.

Keep in mind the idea is to present as much as possible the performance you are given in the best light it can be, rather than turning it into an example of EDM when its supposed ot be reggae
[/quote]

I've added in some bass drum samples just to clean it up a little, because I found that even when you cut out all the noise picked up by the bass mic between hits, even on the hits, you can hear other things, so I'm keeping it quite low in the mix just for the tone of it, and I have a sample sitting higher up in the mix, which is a lot cleaner. Got to make it sound more reggae now! I found the bass drum was entirely lost in behind the bassy bassline!

[MiltyG565]

There's also a lovely contrast between the 2 bass tracks.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371574316' post='2115751']
There's also a lovely contrast between the 2 bass tracks.
[/quote]
The original just had a clean bass. I recorded one with effects that's never been used. Never thought about using the 2 together though!

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1371576411' post='2115783']
The original just had a clean bass. I recorded one with effects that's never been used. Never thought about using the 2 together though!
[/quote]

I have them panned hard left and right. There are gaps in either one so it sounds good when used together, it's unfortunate though that only one track has effects

[xgsjx]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371577663' post='2115818']
I have them panned hard left and right. There are gaps in either one so it sounds good when used together, it's unfortunate though that only one track has effects
[/quote]

Why not try just a slight pan or putting one in mono & putting the other on a wide stereo spread? Might be too phat a bass sound (though I don't think there's such a thing as too phat).

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1371577984' post='2115822']
Why not try just a slight pan or putting one in mono & putting the other on a wide stereo spread? Might be too phat a bass sound (though I don't think there's such a thing as too phat).
[/quote]

That could work, but I'll need to get everything else right before I'll know if it's too much or not!

[Twigman]

I already HATE this song......

[MiltyG565]

I like this song, it's really upbeat and catchy. Although xgsjx, I hope you don't mind your band's song being completely bastardised, because that's what i'm doing

[MiltyG565]

I asked my mate if he wanted to have a crack at it. He's not a bassist, and isn't part of the forum, but he is a drummer, and therefore it's our duty to teach them, isn't it? Anyway, is there any issue with that?

[51m0n]

Not at all....

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1371596127' post='2116099']
Not at all....
[/quote]

Fantastique! I'll put his track up alongside mine when it's done. Proper anonymity, eh?

[RockfordStone]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1371552661' post='2115312']
PS: I use Reason as my DAW, which doesn't use standard VST/AU plug-ins (long story...).

So, if anybody can recommend any good quality - and free! - EQ plug-ins to assist with this month's challenge then please post links to them here. I think it'll be of great help to anyone who's new to EQ'ing and might be wondering which products to use.

Ta.
[/quote]

did i not email you an eq recently?
people might like that?

[Twigman]

don't expect much from me this month - my ears can't handle the aural assault - this track is horrid - what possessed you?

[51m0n]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1371596777' post='2116108']
Fantastique! I'll put his track up alongside mine when it's done. Proper anonymity, eh?
[/quote]

Get him to join BC, then if his is a killer mix he can tell everyone what he did

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1371633836' post='2116348']
don't expect much from me this month - my ears can't handle the aural assault - this track is horrid - what possessed you?
[/quote]

Aw now there's no need for that, is there? It has it's flaws, but I don't think it's "horrid". Sure, some things could have been recorded better, but still, it's a decent little song. I quite like it.

[RockfordStone]

im going to have a crack at this before i go on holibobs, my self imposed ban on writing doesnt extend to mixing

[Skol303]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1371633836' post='2116348']don't expect much from me this month - my ears can't handle the aural assault - this track is horrid - what possessed you?[/quote]

Let's try to keep it positive here, Twig'

The purpose of these challenges is for us all to improve our mixing skills by practicing on a wide range of material: some of it professionally-recorded, some of it most definitely not.

It might also mean working on material that you don't enjoy listening to yourself. Only you can be the judge of that, as you've already expressed. That's the joy of personal opinion.

I chose this month's track for three reasons:[list]
[*]Firstly because it throws up a bunch of challenges that we haven't encountered before.
[*]Secondly because the stems were offered by a fellow Basschat member and I think it right that we should use 'local' material for these challenges when it's offered.
[*]And thirdly because I thought it would make a suitable contrast to the previous session, where we got to work with lots of high quality stems (this being an exercise in working with far fewer and more challenging raw material).
[/list]
Rest assured I'm not 'telling you off' here! That's not my role and besides, I don't have the authority [i][cue Eric Cartman impression].[/i]

I just wanted to pick up on your statement that "this track is horrid - what possessed you?" and how that might be interpreted by the person who went to the trouble of supplying the stems (in fact the [i]only[/i] person who offered up stems of their own this time round).

I think Mike Senior set a fantastic example with his critiques of our last session, in terms of how to share constructive criticism. I'm guilty of jumping in with both feet myself when it comes to giving feedback on other people's work... so it's something I think we can all learn from.

If the quality of the stems proves to be a recurring issue, then we might be better off using Mike's online library as a basis for these challenges. I'm personally keen to use material of all sorts from all sources, but it's obviously something for us to decide as a group next time round.

Peace, etc.

Paul

Edited June 19, 2013 by Skol303

[Skol303]

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1371630513' post='2116294']
did i not email you an eq recently?
people might like that?
[/quote]

Indeed you did, Rob! Good call

As I remember you sent me the VST attached to an email (but I could be wrong...). If poss, please could you post a link here to where folks can find it online.

Thanks mate.