The mic was a Rode NT1-A. No hardware compressors. I’m surprised it was distorted! I don’t remember the peaks getting clipped anywhere. Sorry about that.
yeah i am in the setup stage. the fun thing is a i am recording a band with a very talented multi instrumentalist so i might be able to talk him into doing something for me just so that my mix can sound a little different.
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This is my exact impression too. I predict that a lot of the mixes entered will be very difficult to distinguish and judge…
Progress on Wasteland. Well first, I stated early that this would be my first mix project other than my own projects and very excited to hear what everyone thinks of my mix. Unfortunately I’m just a hobbyist wishing I could earn a living in the music industry.
I wanted to mix this before hearing the artist or anyone else’s mix.
So I mixed O’ I would say maybe 95-98% before listening to the original version and other submitted versions. Some common comments I’ve seen have been about the guitar noise and what has been described here as booming kick drum. I first wanted to change up the heavier guitar passage towards the end of the song, maybe add some bass and a little more keys.
I decided not to do that. I felt it would take to much away from the artist original vision. Besides this is a mixing contest.
Okay so my DAW is GarageBand, and I used IK classic plugins plus half a dozen higher end IK processors. My biggest problem was my workflow. GarageBand has it’s limitations, and there is a problem with getting IK presets to come up in GarageBand. There is a workaround but it’s kind of pain and doesn’t always work for me. The last thing I wanted to comment on is the amount of reverb used on the original version. I understand that Wasteland was inspired by something else that maybe had a lot of reverb however, the amount of reverb used was not to my taste. So I’ll just let everyone know my mix is not so wet in the reverberations. After listening to other mixes I was tempted to add more reverb but elected to stick to my guns and stay true to my original vision for this mix. My picture of a wasteland is dry and void of life. The artist versions to me sounds like it was recorded in a cave or maybe a church or maybe a wasteland in outer space. Please know I’m not trying to but down anything the artist did on this song, just not my vision or my take on where the song should go.
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You’re totally allowed to add those! 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Maybe you would use another DAW to enhance your workflow, GarageBand is not such a powerful production tool. More like a notepad I think.
I hope you’re doing your picture as well as you expect 
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I actually love those kinds of contests, because it really helps us listen closely
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Yes a different DAW would help. Right know I have no budget for new gear. I have been looking at other DAWs. Logic Pro is about $200.00. At this time I can’t justify more gear until I feel my skill level is more advanced and I have more projects to work on that really require a more advanced DAW. So with that being said, what is your DAW of choice? What do like about it and what don’t you like about it. And last do you have a DAW recommendation around the same price as Logic Pro or less.
Oh, it was the topic of another thread:
And here what I thought about Reaper that I used:
I hope it could help this nerdy thing!
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Give Reaper a try! The “demo” is a free download, but it is fully functioning and continues to function even after the trial time expires. If you end up loving the program, the license is only $60. Reaper is probably the most popular DAW used by the folks here on this site. Worth checking out anyway.
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Okay to all of you that recommended the “Reaper” DAW, THANK YOU!
I spent a little time reading up about it on the suggestions of some of you.
I’m really kicking my self for not knowing about Reaper. It looks really impressive. I can’t wait to give it a try. I’m guessing maybe at one tome this was a PC only program and maybe just recently released on MAC. Maybe someone can let me know if that’s a good guess.
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It’s been mac and PC for as long as I’ve been aware of it. I have pretty much every DAW, and reaper is the one I use for actual music making. The rest are just used for testing.
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I’m pointedly NOT listening to other mixes until I’m “done”. I may do some tweaks on the arrangement and maybe add a minor part or two. But I’m finally “into” it now and the song and ideas are bouncing around in my head. There are some impressively competent folks on here. I’m not sure I can win, but hopefully I can do the song justice.
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I’d actually imported the tracks into my DAW a few weeks ago and before I had a chance to start working on it, I got an unexpected booking to do an acoustic gig at a corporate luncheon so I put the contest on the back burner so that I could use my daily “mixing time” as rehearsal time.
Now that the gig has come and gone, I finally took the time yesterday afternoon to do a relatively quick mix.
I did the same thing. Now that I’m done, I’m ready to see how much better everyone else’s mixes are, and learn from them. 
I am finding it difficult to be “objective” listening to other mixes after hearing my mix so much and having spent so much time on my own version! Good luck judges!
I was resisting the temptation to listen to other mixes, so I could not report earlier lol (didnt want to be influenced). I finished my mix but I definitely learned a lot listening to other mixes and feedback. In full disclosure I am not a mixer by profession, I lean more on the musician side and I was drawn by the song. My mixing skills are pretty basic but I am a good listener - thanks again
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Had to deal with the gtr noise, decided not to remove it (because i don’t have the right tool for it, and because it is dangerous…). But had to take care of my
compression not to increase it. Like this track with huge dynamics.
One thing I did was to side-chain a compressor at the end of the vocal FX channel to the dry vocal signal. This way, when she is singing, the FX are compressed and out of the way and make more room for the dry vocal. This had the effect of cleaning up the “soup” from all the reverb, etc. and really allowed for a good clear vocal. I saw the technique on MixbuxTV. (Great tutorials on YouTube!)
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I didnt quite remove the noise, I sort of suppressed it and layered it with a slight flutter and wind noise. That way it still contributes to gluing the track together without being obvious in the quieter parts.
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You put this song out there at the beginning of the holidays, so I’ve had a lot on my plate Master Holster. Timing is interesting, it makes it that way. This is now a Christmas song.