As I listen to killer club tunes I find myself pondering what makes the sound professional? I mean here I am - I got the gear most pros would dream about, my collection puts Filo & Perry's setup to shame, yet their sound is so "crisp", tight, and just down right squeaky clean and full, while my patches sound flat and two dimensional. What's the secret of extracting the "3rd dimension" from your sounds?

___________________
Proud member of the "Filthy Zionist" coalition

eqing and compressing ur tracks well.

compressing isnt really that essential but eqing is by far essential. makes the entire track sound 'high quality' imo

___________________


Found Atlantis - Mixography [mix archive/mokumentary/my soul]?
i writed a song.

Having your tracks mastered by a professional will almost certainly leave it sounding pro... As long as the basis was good to begin with.

I think the biggest aspect of getting that "pro" sound has to do with the proper use of effects and eq. A good mastering job is great and all, but you can't take a crappy sound and master the shit out of it to make it sound great.

Mastering will not save a track that is dead to begin with. The track should already sound good before mastering, as mastering should be just to inhance what is already there.

CynepMeH, yes your studio is impressive. I can't really give u a pin point answer why your tracks lack the pro shimmer.

Eq and compression is used to seperate the sound and boost parts that are to low in the mix. I doubt this is your problem, because if you have a good patch to begin with most of the time just using the onboard filter is good enough. If the patches that come out of your synths dont sound good them maybe thats the problem. There are a load of killer patches for the jp and virus on the net, some are free others you have to pay for. If you do have great patches from veangence for example and your mixes are still dull then i'm pretty sure its your actual compositions. Although you can't always pick it out, most tracks have alot going on in the mix that give it a full spatial sound when properly panned. Also melodies should be composed in such a way that they are thick , for examples using 3 or 4 octaves for an arped melody, will give it a high end as well as low end presence and help to accentuate the bassline. Percussions need to be good, to help get a fuller sound, using multiple hihat patterns, layering kicks, adding effects to claps, cymbals, etc.. and panning everything. Fx is another thing that can help to fill out a track, like chorus, reverb, delay, can really fatten a sound. Pro tracks may sound simple in themselves but there is alot going on in achieving that sound. You have to use everything at your disposal. Do not be content with something that sounds good because it can always sound better with the right effects and stuff. also having 2 many synths can sometimes be more of a curse than a advantage. Try concentrating on one or 2 synths and experiment with them. I dont know what else to say. good luck

While your gear is important, it will only take you so far. Your technique will play the largest part in achieving a professional sound, I'll put it this way, give a dog a Roland JP80XX and you probably wont be very impressed. While having your track mastered by a professional engineer will clean up most of your track, its not going to make your leads fatter, or make your builds have more emotion. I would have to say the best way to improve your sound is to post tracks you have done on the forums and let the communities comments help guide your hand.

___________________

quote:

Mastering will not save a track that is dead to begin with. The track should already sound good before mastering, as mastering should be just to inhance what is already there.

To add on to NRGs GREAT post.. I believe it to be a good idea to leave ALL fx (except for filters) until the end when you're mastering.. this way you concentrate more on how your MIX sounds.. rather then how the SYNTHS sound..

Like what is quoted above, even a world-class mastering engineer can't make gold out of shit

if it sounds bad before mastering, it will sound bad after mastering

___________________
Youtube || Soundcloud || Synth Patch Banks

I guess that's why they call it "mastering" - What sux0rz big time is that not only you got to be able to come up with an interesting idea, get it properly laid out, mix it, eq it, compress it, enchance, arrange, bring out the main theme, FX it, blah blah blah. don't get me wrong - I have some patches /tunes that just woooooow me. But when I listen to the mix I just don't feel it. I mean some ideas catch your breath but then I knock it down and say "too cliche" or "too unrefined" or "nah... no identity". I am absolutely envious of people who can find their "sound" and carve the niche in this genre. My time in the car is spent listening. Every note, every trick - I hear and I can actually see myself doing it, yet I feel like a blind artist trying to recreate "Mona Lisa".

Sux.. at times it can be sooo discouraging. One other thing is - I am often baffled how some things are achieved in a song, like a crisp timely "sprinkle" that pops up here and there or driving base that can be a song all by itself. That's the shit dreams are made of. I think once I find a way to do it - it'll be an ever increasing process. But learning curve is huuuuge.

Anyway, how much role does EQ/Compression play in the mix? please explain.

___________________
Proud member of the "Filthy Zionist" coalition

quality samples make a difference too . . .

quote:

Originally posted by CynepMeH Anyway, how much role does EQ/Compression play in the mix? please explain.

Each play an EXTREMLY important role in getting a pro sound.. possibly more then any other FX

Compression acts like a guy at the mixer continiously raising and lowering the level of the instrument - only a compresser does it MUCH quicker and more efficiently

It is great for getting your kick to stand out, and for giving bass "punch"

EQ can be used to get rid of "muddy" frequencies, shape a sound, and, most importantly, give each instrument it's own space in the waveform

EX. to great a great bass - cut everything, except for the kick and the bass, below 80hz - that gives the bass room

try EQing your kick like this - raise 40-80hz by about 2-3db, lower 250-1khz by 3db, and lower 5-20khz by 4db... should get you a "pro sounding" kick (along with compression)

___________________
Youtube || Soundcloud || Synth Patch Banks

u need the determination and creativity that they possess.. u can have a giant studio, with all the sounds you want.. and be overwhelmed and not know where to begin. I bet filo and perry could do an awesome tune on a software only system. its about how much of a determination you have for music, be willing to learn everything involved.. theory, EQ, sounddesign etc.. whatever it takes.the studio is second to the producer.

___________________

robelectric
http://www.robeyee.com
http://www.soundcloud.com/robeyee
http://www.twitter.com/robeyee

compression isn't a magic tool to make anything sound better, the odds is bigger that you'll ruin your mix with bad compression

EQing is not a magic tool to make anything sound better, if you use good sounds to begin with you shouldn't need to EQ more then maybe 1 or 2 db here and there

mastering is defenetly NOT a magic tool to make your tunes sound better, first off if your mixdown suck then mastering will suck
mastering is simply the process of increasing the overall volume of a track without clipping it (although sometimes you do minor EQing too in the process if any parts is lacking)

the only magic tool you have to make your tunes sound good is yourself
some people say that it's not about wich tools you use but how you use them, this is 100% true.
If you can't handle the tools you got then they wont sound good in your tunes, it's as easy as that....


so what can you do to make it sound better....train train train!
try to do complete remakes of existing songs just to learn how to handle your sequencer/synths/effects and so on, it's really up to you...not your tools

(now don't take this post wrong, I'm not saying that you suck in any way so don't take it that way )

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by davedresden i suggest getting the gabriel & dresden prog-a-minute. in 3 easy steps you too could change the face of dance music. batteries not included. - dave