Periscopes

Plastic Days

For this months Zelab, we're going back into the vault and pulling out the full length stems from one of our most popular mixing tutorials ever, Mixing an Indie-Pop Song in Cubase, which featured the song "Periscopes" by the band Plastic Days.

This time around we want you to get a little crazy and be as creative as possible with your mixes. Imagine a dream client that has just finished producing their fantastic indie-pop song and has asked you to take up a notch or two with the mix. Challenge yourself to interpret the producers original vision and at the same time give them a whole new lens to hear the song through.

The rules are simple:

• Use the stems provided as the basis of your mix, feel free to mute or augment as you please
• Keep the song structure intact and remember this is a mixing contest not a production or remixing contest so a full-on remix is unlikely to win
• Take this opportunity to try something new and wild that enhances the song and pushes your sonic boundaries

This is a rare chance to express yourself as a mixer and do whatever you want, the client won't be mad at you, we promise. Let your ears be your guide and show us something special and unique!

If you're looking for inspiration and tricks, check out these tutorials:

• Special Effects and Creative Processing for Vocals
• Background Vocals Mixing Tricks
• Enhancing Live Drums With Samples & Effects
  
• Spicing Up Synth Sounds
  
• Mixing a Dubstep/Rock Song in Pro Tools

Submissions

Winners

Judging by the mixes it sounds like everyone had fun with this creative challenge! There were quite a few cool and very unique effects across the board, but what made these winners stand out wasn't the necessarily effects they used but how the mixes complemented the song and didn't distract me as a listener:

iann72

Nice tight mix and I like how you integrated the loops and synth tracks in a pleasant and gradual build to the chorus. Nothing too wild but everything helped move the song and production forward to the next section, helping tell the story with the mix - good work!
 

Stephan2016

I liked the aggressive drum sound for this and there lots of cool effect work in the mix too. I really like the space around the vocal as well as the placement of the synths. The only critique I’d have was the guitars could use a little more distance and top end presence, they were a little boxed in sounding.
 

Matt Salazar

Probably the loudest mix submitted but after turning the volume knob down a couple notches this mix still stood up and sounded like it was ready for release. You did a great job of being creative with the mix while also making sure the effects didn’t overshadow the song.

Great work all around, it's always a blast to hear the talent and creativity in the pureMix community!

- Ben

Congratulations on each winning a license to BitterSweet Pro by FLUX:: your transients are going to be happy you won.