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| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
Your single biggest problem is thinking that the problem has anything to do with mastering, and blaming the mastering for things like the drums being inaudible.
This is all part of the mix, not the master. All mastering does is bring the volume up a bit and - generally - make the track a bit more flat, not less. The mix is where you lay out the musical spaces for each sample/instrument, using EQ and sometimes a bit of compression. You can make the individual spaces wider through some panning, stereo expansion, stereo imaging, and reverb.
Only when your mix sounds every bit as crisp and clean as you want it to, but just needs a little more volume or brightness, do you think about mastering. I'm not trying to be harsh, but this track is nowhere near that stage yet. You need to put a lot more work into getting the individual elements of the track in balance, first - the drums are not loud enough and probably aren't EQed or compressed at all, the acid riff is way too loud and has too much low end, the keyboardish instrument is also too loud and sounds quite out of place at times, the pad is mostly low-midrange when it should be upper-midrange and treble, and the vocal needs a bit of EQ.
Bottom line is that you've basically crammed everything into the lower frequencies of the track and compensated by making some of the upper-ranged instruments far too loud, when you should be using other methods (as specified above) to make them more distinct.
Also, never, ever add reverb to the master of a dance track. That's something you add to individual elements or groups of elements in the mix. Adding reverb to your kick will kill it, guaranteed. Same goes for basslines most of the time. Putting it on the master obviously adds reverb to both of those.
I hope that helps, sorry again if that's a bit harsh but I think it's important to dispel the myth that one can fix all these problems with mastering. |
Whilst everything you've said is spot on, I think that whenever beginners blame mastering for the sound quality, its important to remember that they often think that mixing is mastering.
I know that when i first started, I never knew what people meant when they said "work on the mixing" (to me mixing was what DJs did) and I always thought that mastering did what mixing did. Obviously now i know better but I think that we should make sure that beginners understand the definitions and differences of mixing and mastering before telling them "its not your mastering, its your mxing that needs work."
Great informative post though Diginut with lots of helpful reminders for all of us 
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Listen to and download all my tracks at www.gregnicot.bandcamp.com
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Here's the rundown on how I produced it:
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) missing depth to the track, I recorded myself doing a simple scale improv with an FM Rhodes patch.
How does one get that bouncy, punchy, loud, full sound to their mixes? I added some reverb and compression to the mix, but I notice my kick drum dropping off in intensity during the more busy parts of the song. 
Any tips for improvement? I throw on an Armin Van Buuren track, and even though it's not house music, it makes my track sound very flat. I'm a hypocrite -- more into trance production anyways.
