i'm not saying you have to use a drum machine but you really need to have a sampler and individual samples for those elements. Start with the kick and snare. That is the foundation of dnb.
Lira
Cool, I'm going to work on that later then. Anything else? Can you hear the voice better now?
Mad for Brad
Yes but even when the pad comes in , it overcomes the voices. Automate the EQ on that pad to make room for the voice. That is the thing about mixing. Nothing has to stay the same. SOmeone mentioned how the pad is too bassy which is true but not when it is solo'd and with a voice. You have to decide which element is the most important at any given moment and arrange around that.
Lira
quote:
Originally posted by Mad for Brad
Yes but even when the pad comes in , it overcomes the voices. Automate the EQ on that pad to make room for the voice. That is the thing about mixing. Nothing has to stay the same. SOmeone mentioned how the pad is too bassy which is true but not when it is solo'd and with a voice. You have to decide which element is the most important at any given moment and arrange around that.
Actually, this is something I did on purpose: I used the pad to drown out the piano behind Rihanna's voice because it didn't really sound okay with the rest of the track.
Do you have any other ideas? They're pretty much using the same frequencies (the piano and her voice), so I can't filter either of them out :(
derail
quote:
Originally posted by Lira
Do you have any other ideas? They're pretty much using the same frequencies (the piano and her voice), so I can't filter either of them out :(
When two instruments are using the same frequency space, you can try:
1) Arranging the song so the two instruments don't play at the same time
2) Boosting one of the instruments at a certain frequency and cutting the other instrument at the same frequency
3) Sidechain one of the instruments using the other instrument as the input trigger. I'd assume you'd want the voice to be the main focus, so put a sidechain compressor on the piano, and use the vocal to trigger it, so the piano dips down in volume when the vocals come in.
4) similar to 3, but sidechain an EQ/filter - this way, only certain frequencies of the piano will get pushed down instead of the whole sound.
Lira
quote:
Originally posted by derail
When two instruments are using the same frequency space, you can try:
1) Arranging the song so the two instruments don't play at the same time
2) Boosting one of the instruments at a certain frequency and cutting the other instrument at the same frequency
3) Sidechain one of the instruments using the other instrument as the input trigger. I'd assume you'd want the voice to be the main focus, so put a sidechain compressor on the piano, and use the vocal to trigger it, so the piano dips down in volume when the vocals come in.
4) similar to 3, but sidechain an EQ/filter - this way, only certain frequencies of the piano will get pushed down instead of the whole sound.
I can't do #1 because I don't have the original... and I actually did a bit of #2:
But will 3 and 4 work when I had to sample her voice and the piano together? How can I put the sidechain compressor on the piano without affecting the vocal?
derail
Well, if both the piano and vocal are on a single channel and can't be separated, then there's not much you can do. Maybe something like Melodyne (I think? I haven't used it) can separate out parts.
Without specialised software, you won't be able to do much. Maybe even specialised software won't be able to help much.
Richard Butler
Busy stuff like this is always a challenge to mix but I think it sounds good. The vox could use a little more volume.
Morvan
The essential part about mixing is getting the volume right. It might sound easy, but you've done half the job if you've got every instrument sound as loud as it has to just perfectly. Aside from cutting off some low rumble, your eqing should only start then. Don't over EQ. If it doesn't sound good without EQ, using a different sound is more appropriate. Just as you have the volume levels right, you will realise where you have some frequency masking and start your precision EQing there.
Then, after that you can ultimately judge which parts needs more punch, don't cut through just enough or are too dynamic to keep untamed. And that's the compression part.
Now, usually, you won't strictly follow it like this and you'll end up EQing one instrument hard as soon as possible, or you know you need to compress that vocal from the start, but the general order is the way I described.
Lira
quote:
Originally posted by derail
Well, if both the piano and vocal are on a single channel and can't be separated, then there's not much you can do. Maybe something like Melodyne (I think? I haven't used it) can separate out parts.
Without specialised software, you won't be able to do much. Maybe even specialised software won't be able to help much.
Melodyne? I'll look into it, cheers :)
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Butler
Busy stuff like this is always a challenge to mix but I think it sounds good. The vox could use a little more volume.
Thanks!
And, yeah, as soon as I start producing, I feel the urge to add lots of elements to the mix...
quote:
Originally posted by Morvan
The essential part about mixing is getting the volume right. It might sound easy, but you've done half the job if you've got every instrument sound as loud as it has to just perfectly. Aside from cutting off some low rumble, your eqing should only start then. Don't over EQ. If it doesn't sound good without EQ, using a different sound is more appropriate. Just as you have the volume levels right, you will realise where you have some frequency masking and start your precision EQing there.
Then, after that you can ultimately judge which parts needs more punch, don't cut through just enough or are too dynamic to keep untamed. And that's the compression part.
Now, usually, you won't strictly follow it like this and you'll end up EQing one instrument hard as soon as possible, or you know you need to compress that vocal from the start, but the general order is the way I described.
I'll keep this in mind from now on.
Buy the way, is it common to add compression to anything other than the drums and the master channel?
derail
quote:
Originally posted by Lira
Buy the way, is it common to add compression to anything other than the drums and the master channel?
It totally depends on what you want to do. Some people don't compress their drums or master channel, but will compress their bass and leads. It really totally depends on what you want for a particular song.
As long as you don't think in terms of "always" or "never", you'll be fine.
Atlantis-AR
How are you going with this? I'd like to be of some help but the tracks are unavailable.
