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Professional mixdown and mastering question
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| Falck |
I know this topic has been up before, but I just can't put some of the pieces together. The background is this; when downloading clips for a remix competition the single parts sound pretty ordinary and pale, but when listening to the original mix it just sounds awsome. Even when the parts that before sounded ordinary appears alone in the original mix they sound great.
Does someone have an input to this, all you people who has been signed probably knows something it?
As a reference, we're putting together a track that is almost finnshed but can't get that "perfect" sound. It sounds decent, but not as good as what you hear out there. Would professional mixing and mastering do the job or didn't we get the sounds right from the beginning?
Here's a clip from the raw mixed track, made with logic on PC.
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
Greatful for any input, cheers! |
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| Chronosis |
| It's too muddy and lacks dynamics. Try to give each sound it's own space (eq, sound designing). Use reverb to create a good front-back feel. Some sounds need to be in the front (usually drums) and some in the back (pads for example). To give more dynamics, you could try sidechaining the bassline to the kick. Overused and boring effect, but on this track it could work well. |
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| Bruce |
| quote: | Originally posted by Falck
I know this topic has been up before, but I just can't put some of the pieces together. The background is this; when downloading clips for a remix competition the single parts sound pretty ordinary and pale, but when listening to the original mix it just sounds awsome. Even when the parts that before sounded ordinary appears alone in the original mix they sound great.
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I have the same issues. What is making the same element sound so good in the pro song? Often it doesn't seem to be stuff like delay or reverb because they would be very noticeable to me so I'm thinking it must be EQ/compression. |
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| Ry Thomas |
| When your mixing down and using EQ etc, if a sound does not sound very good by itself, it does not mean it wont sound really phat in the mix. As above, everything needs to have its own 'space' and 'frequency' in the mix |
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| Bruce |
| Yep I get that. Its just almost that if you have this sample from a pro track it sounds great in that track but in my track when I have that same sample it sounds average. Its almost like a sheen is missing, like 'pro' and then not 'pro'. |
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| Derivative |
| If you hire a professional to mixdown your track then all you really need is a professional to write it. Once you can afford that you will become a bone fide professional loafer. And nobody wants that...Well, I would hope not. |
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| johno27 |
#1) If you're referring specifically to remixes where you have been provided with a sample pack, you need to keep in mind that these samples packs are usually provided as mp3 (so immediately there will be some quality degredation).
#2) If for example one of these samples is of a lead sound unless they've provided then entire looped section (say 8 bars) then you've been left with a quick one shot sample of a synth. Using this sample and trying to re-create the original synth part may sound quite different as you'd be missing the control of the synth's filter, velocity, lfo's etc.
#3) Don't compare the sound you've got using the elements to the original.. think of it as something completely new, you shouldn't be trying to emulate the original sound with your remix. Never compare your un-mastered mix to a commercial track, it'll be like chalk and cheese (sound wise) no matter how good your mix actually is. Focus on the musicality and content of your track rather.
#4) Overall mix processing and mastering will make a huge difference and will make a good mix sound great.. but as they say, you can't polish a turd :) There are many plugins and hardware units one can use to get "a sound" that you like.
#5) Compression/EQ/Correct Levels/Panning/Side-chaining/Delays/Reverbs can all be used either creatively or technically to produce the right sound/feel or to sculpt an existing sound to sit in the right place in the mix. There are no rules.. try them all, see what they do and find something that works :)
#6) I always start at the bottom and work up.. kick/bass first as I've usually chosen a key and tinkered with some melodic ideas so I know what direction I want the track to go. Getting your kick and bass lines sitting perfectly is key. Everytime you add an element or a new sound into the track make sure you're balancing it with what is there, eq it, level it, pan it.. if it fits, great, if after all that it's not working.. it probably wasn't the right sound to use at the right time. |
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| derail |
Parts offered up for remix will hopefully not be eq'd too strongly, not have the master reverb applied to it, or any sort of compression. It's just a matter of experience and knowing your sound. If you're at a stage with your original productions that they're sounding fantastic, then you'll have no problems making those small eq and reverb adjustments to get the sample working in your style.
Falck, the track sounds nice to me, just listening to it on my mid-range speakers. But I don't know what you're referencing against, where you want the sound to be. It doesn't sound muddy to me, but it may to you if you were looking for a different texture for the bassline.
Professional mixing can definitely help, if you have a clear vision of what you're after. Provide reference tracks with the kind of kick you want, the kind of percussion, bass, etc (they don't all have to be in the same reference track) and find an engineer who puts sounds together really well, to your ears.
Mastering can change your sound quite a bit, but that's not what mastering is there for. It's there to fix problems, not to make your mix sound "obviously better". It shouldn't sound radically different after mastering. A lot of the time tracks do, but that's not what mastering is about. Mastering engineers shouldn't be playing at being mix engineers. They should correct problems and make the track "release-ready". |
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| No Left Turn |
| a little bit of 3k makes all the mud go away. |
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| Krispy Kreme |
| quote: | Originally posted by Falck
I know this topic has been up before, but I just can't put some of the pieces together. The background is this; when downloading clips for a remix competition the single parts sound pretty ordinary and pale, but when listening to the original mix it just sounds awsome. Even when the parts that before sounded ordinary appears alone in the original mix they sound great.
Does someone have an input to this, all you people who has been signed probably knows something it?
As a reference, we're putting together a track that is almost finnshed but can't get that "perfect" sound. It sounds decent, but not as good as what you hear out there. Would professional mixing and mastering do the job or didn't we get the sounds right from the beginning?
Here's a clip from the raw mixed track, made with logic on PC.
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
Greatful for any input, cheers! |
It all comes down to engineering/mixing. Noone will help you because its pretty much a "black art" people dont want to give away their secrets. |
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| Krispy Kreme |
| quote: | Originally posted by Derivative
If you hire a professional to mixdown your track then all you really need is a professional to write it. Once you can afford that you will become a bone fide professional loafer. And nobody wants that...Well, I would hope not. |
and You are full of . Some of the biggest tunes are mixed down by professional engineers. Take Dr. Dre and the Chronic album for example. The chronic had some of the phattest (thick, and heavy sounding) and pro sounding tracks ever and he gave all the songs to a professional mixing engineer. |
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| Krispy Kreme |
| If you want the "pro" and "big" sound, go analog. |
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