Hi,
I've been in the business of production for about two years but the concept of getting the right sound of a complete mix still eludes me.
I learned about equalization, multiband compression, compression, limiting, and a whole bunch of other techniques and it seems that my mixes sound either too dull or too bright. Sometimes I'm missing the midrange and sometimes the bass just plain sucks. Then I try to go back to the mix and fix it but then I end up with too much bass and everything sounds muddy. Also, I miss the air (high end sparkles) in many of my productions...how do you add this?
So the question for anybody who has produced good sounding mixes on this forum, would be...HOW?
Thanks

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entranced

Eek, there's a tough question =P The tracks I've made that sound like they could be professional tracks usually get that way by constructing every individual element in such a manner that I'm paying microscopic detail to how professional it sounds. Usually I start with just the kick, and make sure that it's a super clean sample that sounds as good as any professional kick. Next I'll add the percussions, and make sure they are full and again sound professional. Usually I'll add the bassline next, then some basic effects, then I'll do the chord progression and make sure the bassline sounds good for each note it plays. Then pads, then main leads, etc until the track is finished, only adding new elements when I'm 100% happy with the way the track sounds prior to their addition. If done properly, you shouldn't have to dick around too much with post-production shit, and it should just be a matter of a little EQ'ing and compressing it until it's even-sounding and loud.

Hopefully that helped a little, I'm not a pro so that's the best I can offer, hehe.

Actually, that helped and I'll tell you why.
I came to the conclusion that if you don't get your sounds right at the beggining you might as well scrap the whole production because 'fix it in the mix' NEVER WORKS!
My problem is if I spend too much time on getting the initial sounds completely gorgeous I either lose interest (because I heard the particular sound a thousand times) or forget the initial arrangement that I came up with.
How do you solve this problem and keep yourself interested in a particular track that you're working on? Do breaks help?
Thanks dj-sean

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entranced

The secret to getting a loud, tight, and crisp pro sound is eq and compression. This is a fact!

Taking breaks definitely helps to an extent, but I find what's more helpful than anything is having a large enough library of quality samples to work with. Over the past year I've downloaded and created a lot of shit, and in the past 3-4 months I've cleaned most of that stuff up. I have a lot of really good kick and percussion samples, as well as some cool effects, and good bassline and synth presets and whatnot, so I find it fun to mix and match until I have a cool sounding groove. I usually take it from there from that point onwards.

My latest track got it's start from fooling around with atmosphere and trying to create some really nice professional sounding ambience as you'd hear in a good trance breakdown. I didn't bother myself with good chord progression and just used a couple of notes, focusing specifically on the sound and on making it as professional as possible. Once I had that done I came up with a chord progression that I liked and started to build melodies around that and tweaked my sounds until I had a good lead and background sounds. When it came time to building the track around that, I approached it as though it was a completely difference project, and then fused them together to form the final product. By breaking the track down into the individual segments like that and setting short goals for myself I managed to create a track that I really like, and more importantly one that I really enjoyed making.

When I brought Steve Porter into town I commented to him that I really liked his basslines and how all of his tracks have what seem like 2-4 independent basslines in them. I asked him how he went about doing this and he said that he treated each section of his track as though it was an independent project; I personally really like this idea and have started to implement it myself. I used to create tracks by coming up with a melody and then trying to build the entire track around it, focused entirely on the melody and thinking that if the main melodic lead was good enough that some label or quality producer would recognize this and ignore faults in the rest of the track. Now that I know how the real world works (hehe) I've given up on this naive view, and approached every element of the track as though it was its own project. Not only do I find that this has made the production process more enjoyable, but I also think it's made my productions a lot better.

I personally find nothing more satisfying than getting the idea in my head to sound exactly how I originally imagined it, as opposed to compromising with myself or rushing through things. If you find yourself getting bored, then take a break and work on something completely different, or go to the gym or something; anything to get your mind off of it so you can come back fresh with the energy and patience you need to get it sounding right.

Anyways, glad I could help a little

quote:

Originally posted by trancenrg69 The secret to getting a loud, tight, and crisp pro sound is eq and compression. This is a fact!

Start with a shite sample and no amount of EQ'ing and Compression will help you though.

Hmm..some great points dj-sean. I'll try them out and see if they work for me. I have a lot of hardware so it's a good idea to play around with sounds and see where it takes you. And of course, if somebody starts with shitty sounds it's 'garbage in, garbage out'.
I just want to thank you for your comments.

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entranced

No worries, glad I could help!

Sean,

Give yourself a bat on the back my friend. This has been a quality post and Driven is not the only one that has gained insight from it.

Cheers,

Strep

Ive said the same thing to myself ...

quote:

My problem is if I spend too much time on getting the initial sounds completely gorgeous I either lose interest (because I heard the particular sound a thousand times) or forget the initial arrangement that I came up with.

DJ Sean...what you say is totally profound yet...simple. Why didn't I think of it already?
True... treat each component as a mini-project within the BIG project. Dont settle for good-enuff. Master each component...

That'll also help to develop (and actually balance) the skills you maybe weren't as strong in... like mastering, or percussion.

SWEEEET POST DUDE!! DJ SEAN FOR TA PRESIDENT!!

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please review my latest AMBIENT track HERE.

design, don't forget about panning and widening. Yes you need to give your sounds space verticly (up and down through tthe range of frequencies) but you also need to give them space horizontally through panning some parts and using a stereo widener. Space is the key to clarity and clarity gives presence. just a thought

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"The DJ is only as good as the record."

I'm not trying to sound like everyone else, but that was a good post d-sean.

I ascribe to this methodology as well and in general do the exact same thing. Start with the kick. Then the hi-hat, again paying microscopic attention to both, then the bassline, and finally the chord progression and melody.

Never settle for a weak sound or sample. A lot of strong sounds are made less strong by eqing them to fit in the mix, but if they are not strong to begin with it just won't work.

Another tip is when you're creating the chord progression, use the right reverb and eq settings to place it as far back in the mix as possible (unless you're doing a pad lead). Perform a small, narrowband EQ cut on the pad where the lead/s fundamental lies as this will allow the leads to sit on top of the pad without things getting too muddy.

Good luck.

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