Sounds blending - need some feedback.

TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- Sounds blending - need some feedback.

Posted by sicc on Jun-02-2011 05:38:

Sounds blending - need some feedback.

This is a little intro I have been working on, the kick is a bit to loud in the mix as it kind of drowns out some synths (this will be taken care of next session :P), and SC added a few weird clicky parts just for a heads up. My question for you is, do you feel the sounds blend well together in this little intro. The main pad has some hefty phase on it, which makes it sound a bit muffled, and as the other elements come in it seems to drag on and sound a bit "icky" if you will. Do the sounds fit well together? is the bass line to redundant? How do you feel about this track? I need some feedback! thanks - keep in mind I'm no where near creating a clean mixdown, this is kind of a rough draft.

http://soundcloud.com/sicc/air

Posted by derail on Jun-02-2011 09:34:

As you've said, the kick is too loud in the mix. The bass even more so.

I'm just listening on my internet computer's speakers, so can't really comment too definitively, but you may find that this bass is too bass-heavy, meaning it could well disappear when you turn it down.

The bass should still come through well if you listen to your song ultra quietly, in mono, with a high-pass filter cutting away the sub bass frequencies of the mix. Your bass may or may not be fine, depending on how it goes with this test once you've set an appropriate level. If it's not fine, you could layer another sound over it to fill in the midrange, or replace the sound.

Apart from that, the sounds might work together. It's hard to tell when the mix is unbalanced the way it currently is. That high lead sound is definitely too quiet.

Posted by sicc on Jun-02-2011 18:45:

quote:
Originally posted by derail
As you've said, the kick is too loud in the mix. The bass even more so.

I'm just listening on my internet computer's speakers, so can't really comment too definitively, but you may find that this bass is too bass-heavy, meaning it could well disappear when you turn it down.

The bass should still come through well if you listen to your song ultra quietly, in mono, with a high-pass filter cutting away the sub bass frequencies of the mix. Your bass may or may not be fine, depending on how it goes with this test once you've set an appropriate level. If it's not fine, you could layer another sound over it to fill in the midrange, or replace the sound.

Apart from that, the sounds might work together. It's hard to tell when the mix is unbalanced the way it currently is. That high lead sound is definitely too quiet.

thanks for your reply - I think i might sidechain the bass to the transient of the kick and then turn it down a bit more. see what happens with that. Time to work on that mix now lol

Posted by skyhunter on Jun-02-2011 22:29:

quote:
Originally posted by sicc
thanks for your reply - I think i might sidechain the bass to the transient of the kick and then turn it down a bit more. see what happens with that. Time to work on that mix now lol

If my basses don't fill up the mid bass range so that you can't hear them when the volume is down, I add a little distortion to add more harmonic content.

Then again I run everything through some distortion eventually.

But yea, I like your kick drum... reminds me of oh so yummy psy...

Posted by sicc on Jun-03-2011 00:25:

quote:
Originally posted by skyhunter
If my basses don't fill up the mid bass range so that you can't hear them when the volume is down, I add a little distortion to add more harmonic content.

Then again I run everything through some distortion eventually.

But yea, I like your kick drum... reminds me of oh so yummy psy...

That worked rather well, to fill up the mid range, but I'm setting aside my bass struggles right now, I'm just trying to get more of the track together, working on a brake down right now. The kick is pretty awesome I agree, its a combination of luck, careful sample selection and the creation of a nice but subtle treble click. I think I might just layer the bass with another higher freq sound. I'll probably repost in a week to get some more help...and then the next week...and then next week. thnx