whenever i mix i try to reference it to the sound i'm trying to get, usually a Hallucinogen track, Astral Projection track, 1200 Mics track, or Cosmosis track, but for some reason their sounds sound so "real" compared to mine. obviously they've got multi-million production facilities to use but even posters on this forum can get that "real" sound without even mastering the track.

i use FL Studio 8, v-station, vanguard, M-audio Fast track pro interface, M-audio BX5a studio monitors, and have The Dance Music Manual by Rick Snoman.

my tracks tend to sound fizzy even without boosting the highs that much. they don't have that crispy sound. here's are some clips of what i'm talking about :

[[ LINK REMOVED ]]


[[ LINK REMOVED ]]


1200 mics- ecstacy youtube link (prolly not too good to show off its quality but meh)

tips, suggestions please to get rid of that fake sound!

it's called practice mate..


how long have you been producing?

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-Everything I Say is a Lie-

You can get rid of that plastic sound with layering synths together.

Vanguard is one of the most awesome synths to layer with IMO, i use several instances of that in every track.. it rocks.

But dont expect it to sound good alone, cause it wont

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quote:

Originally posted by Subtle You can get rid of that plastic sound with layering synths together. Vanguard is one of the most awesome synths to layer with IMO, i use several instances of that in every track.. it rocks. But dont expect it to sound good alone, cause it wont

I have to disagree, outside of reason vanguard is one of the VSTi's that i like to use when i use rewire. Here is one instance of vanguard, not layered with anything and just a bit of eq and compression.

http://www.speedyshare.com/744670374.html

quote:

Originally posted by Stef I have to disagree, outside of reason vanguard is one of the VSTi's that i like to use when i use rewire. Here is one instance of vanguard, not layered with anything and just a bit of eq and compression. [[ LINK REMOVED ]]

I do not think you made your point with this sample.
This definitely needs another synth playing with it.
No need to prove me wrong though, Vanguard is my number one synth besides the virus. But alone it just isnt phat enough to make out a whole leadsound.
(If you are looking for that big lead trancy sound that is)

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http://soundcloud.com/subtara

quote:

Originally posted by EgosXII it's called practice mate.. how long have you been producing?

i've been producing for about a year but college would get in the way a lot. i didn't really start seeing improvements in my mixes till about this past summer and i feel i started getting decent quality mixes this past christmas right up till now. those two songs that i posted were created within this past month.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle You can get rid of that plastic sound with layering synths together. Vanguard is one of the most awesome synths to layer with IMO, i use several instances of that in every track.. it rocks. But dont expect it to sound good alone, cause it wont

i'm trying to learn how to layer sounds right now actually. after watching that airbase Lesson on Content tutorial about layering basslines, i tried layering my bassline on my first song i posted but i'm not sure about how it came out.

so to layer a lead synth, i'd have to make 3 instances of vanguard, for example. have one hard left, hard right, and center. same notes? same octaves? replicas of each other or slight ADSR tweaks?

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle I do not think you made your point with this sample. This definitely needs another synth playing with it. No need to prove me wrong though, Vanguard is my number one synth besides the virus. But alone it just isnt phat enough to make out a whole leadsound. (If you are looking for that big lead trancy sound that is)

Hmmm, i thought it was fat enough by itself to give an example, but i am by no means an expert with vanguard i just like it for the pads

quote:

Originally posted by Brownsound so to layer a lead synth, i'd have to make 3 instances of vanguard, for example. have one hard left, hard right, and center. same notes? same octaves? replicas of each other or slight ADSR tweaks?

You have to use your ears on this, no rules at all.. but just take several synths mute them, compare them, change them and listen to how that extra synth is altering the sound. And how they relate to each other. Open and close filters change waveforms on each and compare them again.. maybe EQ and compression too.

I have a stupid example here:

crap example on layering

it just shows each of the 3 layers one by one and all together in the end. easiest way to explain.
But Vanguard does have this plastic kind of sound to it, so i advice you layer V-Station with it.

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