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Why are my sounds distant and background-ish? (pg. 2)
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| Eldritch |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
It's just one example of one song. But all songs, no matter their sounds, are professionally mastered.
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Mastering won't make a mixdown sound good, so don't even go there. |
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| HardTranceProd |
Getting back to the sounds. You're laughing at me for saying Nexus is quality, so then, what IS good for the application just described?
what is the path from A to B?
Mixing? Hardware? what specifically? |
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| Eldritch |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
Getting back to the sounds. You're laughing at me for saying Nexus is quality, so then, what IS good for the application just described?
what is the path from A to B?
Mixing? Hardware? what specifically? |
An actual synth, whether it's software or hardware doesn't matter. Plus good sound design and equalization. |
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| Nightshift |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
Getting back to the sounds. You're laughing at me for saying Nexus is quality, so then, what IS good for the application just described?
what is the path from A to B?
Mixing? Hardware? what specifically? |
He's not laughing at you because u said Nexus is quality, because it is. But when you go around saying stuff like this:
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
i agree. But it's not like I'm using instruments. The source of my sounds is Nexus, which is as professional as you're gonna get. So it's not true that I'm using bad samples. |
then of course people are going to laugh at you. |
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| sot |
try using a stereo imager to widen your sounds and perhaps use a vintage warmer to warm em up a bit
just a thought |
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| dannib |
Its as simple as this: Learn to EQ your sounds properly. All you need is a good source, Sounds that actually work together in the first place and a good knowledge of equalization.
As for someone saying put 2 equalizers a compressor and a limiter on the stereo output. Ignore this, it wont make any difference if your mixdown is not good. Infact it is a lot more likely to make the track sound worse. |
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| Lucidity |
| Nexus is great! What they are telling you is that basically you are picking the wrong sounds in Nexus. Its not Nexus that is the problem, its your choices! |
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| 3F05Q |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
Why are my sounds distant and background-ish? |
Point is, you should be asking: Why is my production distant and background-ish?
People have answered that for you numerous times, yet you refuse to believe that the issue could be production skill. |
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| lenieNt Force |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
all right, I have some concrete examples to show you:
Let's take a simple Eurodance song, which clearly shows the elements: bass, kick, and most importantly lead.
Here's the professional, real sample of this track:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/w8qhc9
Note how crisp the leads are and how they "stand on their own".
Here's my production, with my settings:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/02nhfm
Mine is muddy and somewhere in the background (disregard the volume level, maybe that's not so important). Also disregard the specific waveforms used -- my focus here is clarity, not the specificity of a particular sound. So, even though the bass is a bit different, my question is about presence and clarity.
thanks |
The difference here is basically: Leveling of the sounds.. compression.. different lead.. different reverb on the lead.. different quantation of the melody.. proper EQ. Thats it. Ur on your way!.. Keep at it! :) It will sound much clearer and "in the foreground" with proper mixing. Try compressing your lead much more and get it loud and proud, to the foreground! And maybe try to EQ some of the highs out of your bass.. Also in the "prof" version u can hear the croud cheering in the background, which makes it much more interesting. It is also much louder than yours.. Yours at -17,3 RMS.. the other tracks at -10,5 RMS, which makes a huge difference and impact on your ears, and you get the impression that its clearer and more in the foreground when comparing the two. As said, with proper mixing, and a maximiser on top of your final output u can also sound this way. :) But be careful with the maximiser, u dont want to lose too much of the natural dynamics on your track, if any. Remember, dynamics over volume. |
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| Internet TufGai |
| it's not all EQ or sound design. Sometimes the sound is PHAT, but the arrangement doesn't work. in your sample the kick is really weak imo. I think the hats could be shorter too. It also sounds like some overdrive type distortion was used in the bassline. |
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| Derivative |
You cant have 2 identical notes peaking at or close to 0dB (max volume) striking in the same phase without clipping.
So you can do a few things to remedy the problem:
1) Lower the volume of one or both notes.
(often undesirable on instruments you want at the forefront of a mix because it makes the sound quieter and it is a waste of headroom)
2) Increase the phase shift between both notes (delay one note so that it starts a couple of milliseconds after the first.)
(often undesirable on bass where it produces a weird effect that makes your brain feel like its being sucked out of your head)
3) pan both notes in opposite directions (so that both notes exist in opposite channels of a stereo pair and thus do not interfere)
4) Tune both notes apart. Changing the tuning changes the frequency at which it cycles meaning that both notes now cycle at different periods. The more you tune one note out, the more you can squeeze in without clipping.
(downsides: tuning too far out makes it sound out of tune. Can cause 'beating' when summed to mono as you get periodic destructive phasing)
5) Use a notch EQ/filter to remove the loudest frequency component of one or both notes - this will almost always be the fundamental frequency (in a harmonic sound). The only exceptions are non harmonic sounds and sounds where you use alot of filter resonance to place the loudest frequency component at the filter's cutoff.
You can tell what the loudest frequency component of a sound is by running it through a spectrum analyser and looking for the tallest 'peak'.
(useful but not always desirable. Filtering out too much of the fundamental can seem to put a sound out of tune because the lowest/loudest frequency is now the first harmonic.
Indiscriminate EQ can also make any instrument sound unnatural so use with discretion).
6) Use a compressor to literally 'suppress' the loudest component of both sounds so they do not exceed 0dB when sounding together in the same phase. Careful attention should be paid to the ratio and threshold as you can supress too much or not enough.
(again, use with discretion. Too much can ruin the dynamics of a sound and squash transients).
When you mix and you don't pay proper attention to these things alot of your sounds can recess into the background and the most obvious way to bring them up is to increase the volume which swallows headroom and buries everything else in the mix.
You need to know what phase is and how to use a phase shifter (its well easy). You need to know what panning does. You need to know what a compressor does and how to use it. You need to know what an EQ does and how to use it. You need to know what a filter is and how it works.
Once you know all of that then it is entirely up to your discretion which combination of solutions you use to fix your particular problem. There is no right or wrong way to do it, but there is an informed and logical way. |
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