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What am I doing wrong with the EQ/Compression? (it sounds sort of okay now, doesn't it?) (pg. 2)
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| Lira |
All right, here's what I did this time:- Tamed the bass drum: Actually, Eddie, I don't have a separate channel for the bass drum because it is part of a drum loop (though I don't have all the layers in the same channel: they're neatly divided into three different channels: the high-pitched loop with a barely discernible kick, a couple of loops that work well in the midrange, and the almighty kicking juggernaut - which is the one I edited). I had, however, amplified the lower frequencies in that channel in order to "boost the bass", but I now did the following: I softened the frequencies under 200 hz (-1.0 db) and added a more "bleepy" bass drum on top of it. Dumbo is now thinner.
And, hasbone, I turned the drum loops down a bit because it seemed to drown everything else out. Is it still too loud?
- Tried to fix the compression: I lowered the gains (forgot to talk about that) from +6.0 db (which was probably causing the clipping) to +3.0 db, set the attack time to 70ms and the release time to 100ms. As for the limiter (is it redundant to have both a compressor and a limiter in the master channel? I know have similar functions but the limiter seems to have given the track some extra "oomph" on top of the compressor), I changed its values as well. I set the ceiling to -1.0 db and the gain to +2.0 db. There's little clipping, and it only happens when the bass drum kicks on top of all the synths after the melody comes in.
Thanks for the screen shots, by the way, Eddie, they're very useful :)
- Lowered my master channel even more: Actually, owien, it was running below 0 db (it was on -1 db), but I decided to drop the volume a bit more. Regarding the gains, I wrote about them above, but I worked on them as well.
- Turned up the pads: I could barely hear them.
I'm still processing the file, I'm going to update the original post in a few minutes... hopefully. |
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| Mad for Brad |
where is the voice ? That is the key element so make sure you can hear it. It is barely audible.
the pad at the beginning is pointless. No dj wants to hear and no dj is going to use it. Also your voicing sounds awful so leave the pad when it is underneath the other elements. The drums need work. Vary the velocity on the hihats like a drummer would. Usually the strong pulse on the beat and as he raises his wrist for the second beat, a little softer. The hihat sound is a little too loose in general for such a jam packed track. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
where is the voice ? That is the key element so make sure you can hear it. It is barely audible. |
Really? Well, let me work on it, hold on...
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
the pad at the beginning is pointless. No dj wants to hear and no dj is going to use it. Also your voicing sounds awful so leave the pad when it is underneath the other elements. |
Note taken :)
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
The drums need work. Vary the velocity on the hihats like a drummer would. Usually the strong pulse on the beat and as he raises his wrist for the second beat, a little softer. The hihat sound is a little too loose in general for such a jam packed track. |
But the drum loops I used were sampled from actual songs :conf: (i.e. they were made by a person banging on actual drums, not by a machine)
The best I could do is chop the loops and vary them a bit... but I don't think this is what you're talking about, right? |
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| Mad for Brad |
the 808 hat is definitely not human and that is the give away. The more drums you have the less important hi-hats are. In dnb i would say kick and snare have equal weighting but hihats are something you can showcase when the drums are solo'd but once everything comes in , you can really automate that to make room.
Keep in mind the psychological factor of music. When you hear something repetitive. You can lower the volume and people will still hear it at the same volume because it is sort of imprinted in their mind, That way you increase your headroom by pulling unnecessary elements without affect the perception.
Film does this a lot with sound effects. The beginning of a scene might have really loud bug noises but once the characters start talking, the mood has been set and you can probably get rid of those sounds completely and they will still somehow keep those sounds resonatint in people's heads. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
the 808 hat is definitely not human and that is the give away. The more drums you have the less important hi-hats are. In dnb i would say kick and snare have equal weighting but hihats are something you can showcase when the drums are solo'd but once everything comes in , you can really automate that to make room. |
Huh? What 808? I didn't use a drum machine, I really don't know what you're talking about... at best, I extracted the hi hat from a beat and decided to play it on every other note during some of the build ups, but that's all :conf: |
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| Subtle |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
the 808 hat is definitely not human and that is the give away. The more drums you have the less important hi-hats are. In dnb i would say kick and snare have equal weighting but hihats are something you can showcase when the drums are solo'd but once everything comes in , you can really automate that to make room.
Keep in mind the psychological factor of music. When you hear something repetitive. You can lower the volume and people will still hear it at the same volume because it is sort of imprinted in their mind, That way you increase your headroom by pulling unnecessary elements without affect the perception.
Film does this a lot with sound effects. The beginning of a scene might have really loud bug noises but once the characters start talking, the mood has been set and you can probably get rid of those sounds completely and they will still somehow keep those sounds resonatint in people's heads. |
Havent really thought about this.. will try when im a bit stuck on in the mixing. |
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| Mad for Brad |
| your main drum beat has an 808 ish hihat that is quite prominent. And there is no way those drums are human. It is completely quantized so stop posturing. Did you make the beat or is that a loop. If it is a loop, that is probably why you can't mix it right as those elements are set in stone. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
your main drum beat has an 808 ish hihat that is quite prominent. And there is no way those drums are human. It is completely quantized so stop posturing. Did you make the beat or is that a loop. If it is a loop, that is probably why you can't mix it right as those elements are set in stone. |
I'm not posturing! I'm telling you, I'm using loops and, as far as I know, they're human. But, if I'm wrong, then I'm wrong, but they're still loops that I can't edit... all I can do is chop and paste the elements in different order depending on where they are, but I can't extract an element, such as a hi hat, from all the rest in order to do what you're saying. |
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| Mad for Brad |
| well there is your problem. You won't be able to get a good modern dnb mix using loops as your main drum beat. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
well there is your problem. You won't be able to get a good modern dnb mix using loops as your main drum beat. |
So you're saying I should use a drum machine for my main beat and have the loops just as auxiliary beats?
Edit: Updated the original post, by the way. I think it should be easier to listen to the voice now, and the pads in the beginning are gone. |
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| Mad for Brad |
| single drum hits for your main beat yes. That is how everyone does it. Nobody uses loops for their main drums. |
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| Lira |
Note taken. Well, this is going to take a while... thanks for the pointers anyway.
The funny thing is that I often do use a drum machine to make the bass drum and the snare sound more prominent, and this was the first time I decided to ignore them :p |
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