Let's have a mix off 2

CharlesFerraro · Post by **CharlesFerraro** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:41 am

This is again another DS-10 demo song but this time from the updated "plus" cartridge so it has twice as many tracks. Mixing so many tracks can easily bog down your computer so I recorded them into Cubase at 44.1k 16bit. I uploaded a zip file for convenience instead of creating a few separate downloads like last time. Included is the original song file with Delay effects as recorded straight from the DS for reference.

http://en.file-upload.net/download-7672 ... s.zip.html

I don't particularly care for the composition but think of it as if it were a client's song. As a professional you would have to mix whatever the customer wanted to the best of your ability. Of course there are no rules to make the song sound its best so you can replace parts, shuffle the composition, sidechain to heaven and employ whatever mixing secrets you have up your sleeve.

The goal here is to gain knowledge and experience from other peoples work.

Pecca · Post by **Pecca** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:07 pm

Downloaded the material. I will try to do something with it within the next few days or so (if i´m not too lazy).

CharlesFerraro · Post by **CharlesFerraro** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:12 pm

Cool I look forward to it!

CharlesFerraro · Post by **CharlesFerraro** » Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:21 pm

Finished tinkering maybe a few days ago and have been meaning to post the results. Again I just mixed on headphones and did not listen on any pro monitors...

Raw mix as recorded from the DS: http://soundcloud.com/wolf-ray/ds-10-demo-1-2-raw

Mixed result: http://soundcloud.com/wolf-ray/ds-10-demo-1-2-mixed

Speaking of headphones I almost took up a good offer on Beats by Dre Pro's. After looking at some reviews though they apparently aren't that great for mixing. Plus I read that they "decompress" Like, what? That's like having emphasized low end and ending up with a mix lacking in low frequencies content... or in this case, ending up with an overcompressed mix.

CharlesFerraro · Post by **CharlesFerraro** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:01 am

Since the DS-10+ lets you stack song files on top of each other, I also decided to mix the stripped down version of the Demo-1+ song by itself without the other song file layered on.

Original: http://soundcloud.com/wolf-ray/ds-10-demo-1-raw

Mix: http://soundcloud.com/wolf-ray/ds-10-demo-1

I actually took the liberty to mix through nearfields this time.

mariachisocial · Post by **mariachisocial** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:19 pm

Thanks for sharing this information.

CharlesFerraro · Post by **CharlesFerraro** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:46 pm

First of all, that is a great screen name. I didn't really give much information as far as what I did... For the second version I was practicing using different reverb techniques. I had uploaded a version without these special reverb treatments but since deleted it in favor of the new one. Here's what I did.

I used an insert on the snare for added sustain by using an unnaturally bright sounding reverb with a short pre delay of about 25 milliseconds.

I used another reverb as a send for blend purposes that was set up to have a 10-20ms pre delay with a short natural tail. I sent the snare and whatever else I thought was sticking out too much in the mix to that.

I think I may have used a size reverb too in a similar fashion. These changes were subtle but made a big difference imo. I got the techniques from the book Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio by Mike Senior.

Pecca · Post by **Pecca** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:02 am

Had a swipe at it. Used Parametric EQ, Multiband Compressor, Stereo enhancer and "Maximus".

The bass went kind of phat but has a nice stereo effect to it imho.

This was about a 1 hour messaround. Haven´t really done anything creative lately.

http://soundcloud.com/pekka-j-rvensivu/ ... a-mastered

CharlesFerraro · Post by **CharlesFerraro** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:58 am

RAD! I like what Maximus did to the bass, sounds like you added top end but then squished it down to make it sizzle. The mix is real wide, maybe too wide. Did you insert the multiband compressor into the master bus? You almost treated this one as if you were doing a mastering job.

Speaking of which I ended up going back and mastering the stripped down version so now it's competitively loud while retaining punch. Check that out here: http://soundcloud.com/wolf-ray/ds-10-reverb-mastered
The only thing is the snare sounds too thin.

Pecca · Post by **Pecca** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 3:38 pm

Yep, it got very wide stereowise. Agree that it was too much.

All fx i put in was on the master bus "layered" ontop of the original mix you posted.

Good sound on your latest post. Phat !

EDIT: Fast remake w.o. stereo enhancement. I also aired it up a bit with another maximus preset.
http://soundcloud.com/pekka-j-rvensivu/ ... -mastered2

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Let's have a mix off 2

Let's have a mix off 2

Mastering & Mixing