Fometrius
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
84
Posts :
2082
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 02:02:19
Much of depth, colour,presence, pressure, etc is made in mastering which i am aware of but there is many possibilities in the mixing procces to get a good , thick , and detailed sound.
Do you have any special ideas about ways to get a really good mix ? Or maybe you have learnt something cool recently which you wish you knew about earlier ?
Maybe raising high frequencies at hi hats, pads some leads etc for more sparkle,i think that generelly sounds nice.
maybe stereospread is good at individual channels, especially for leads etc ?
To clean mud with lowpass filters and to have some high pass filter if there is to much high freq seems like a standard mixing basic rule, is there any other EQ stuff you think always ( or almost always ) should be applied ?
Xsze
Started Topics :
5
Posts :
657
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 03:50
Watched last night in the studio with Komonazmuk, not psytrance related,but there is mixing tips and workflow, interesting to watch
Picked up some new tricks and improved my knowledge,great guy, interesting and full of just golden advices
Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 10:42
Quote:
On 2012-06-21 02:02:19, Fometrius wrote:
Much of depth, colour,presence, pressure, etc is made in mastering
Sorry, but this is completely wrong. 90% or more of the depth, colour, presence etc. comes from a great mix. Mastering will only add the icing on the cake.
Concentrate on practising your basic mixing skills. If something sounds wrong, then work out how to make it sound better at the track or mix level.
Be careful with boosting highs on things like hats, can slice your head off.
Lowpass filters create mud, they don't remove it. They pass the lows, get it? Same deal with Hipass filters, they leave the highs whilst cutting the lows. Both can be used effectively on individual tracks, and can leave more space for other things, giving you an overall cleaner mix with less clashing frequencies.
There's pretty much nothing that should always be applied, it all depends on the individual tracks, the mix, the genre etc. There are no rules, and if it sounds good, it is good! Just trust your ears and listen to a lot of commercial music to compare your own tracks to.
Fometrius
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
84
Posts :
2082
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 14:16
okok , yeah, you are right, mixing is the main place ,i need to read more about that, especially i should get read more about how to use compressors in a way more then just for more volume and to tighten ( compress ) the sound.
Sorry for mixing up lowpass filter with high pass filter, hehe, yeah i know that high pass filter takes out the rumble, and the low pass filter takes out the high`s. hehe just saw that i misplaced them.This summer heat can be confusing,hehe.
High pass filter to clean low freq to get more room for bass , kick and just leave more room and take away rumble and useless fill ups. And low pass to prevent sharp cutting high freq stuff . I known that for some time and usually apply it.
I also been doing some dips , etc.
I have some knowledge about mixing, some i learnt by myself and some i have read. There is much to learn though, and i have some things like that i have used mono eq on stereo channels etc that i need to fix . But now i know that so now thats all good.
yeah , i guess i just have to practice and read more, ask around, etc.
Thanks for offering feedback : ), i am working on some stuff, i can let you listen when it has gotten somewhere.
Babaluma
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
729
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 16:07
dj chichke
Chichke
Started Topics :
83
Posts :
705
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 16:34
The best advice for you : Do what sounds good!
I used too much to follow rules and afraid of boosting eq frequencies, but no more. I sometimes boost 20 db of the highs of my hh for example (of course i adapt the volume of it later).Sometimes distortion can make miracles on some sounds.
I make most of the mix during i write the track now, and at the end i make just small adjustments.
I don't use many compressors or limiters. I don't think it's necessary in electronic music at most cases. Compressors invented to make recorded vocals, and instruments more steady, but digital sounds that comes out of vsts are very steady already.
I highly recommend to use fabfilter plugins for mixing. They are easy to use and they have realy high quality.
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Jun 21, 2012 22:33
Very simple. If the sound components you use in your mix sound good, chances are that when you put them together properly that the mix will sound also good...
Upavas - Here And Now (Sangoma Rec.) new EP out Oct.29th, get it here:
http://timecode.bandcamp.com http://upavas.com http://soundcloud.com/upavas-1/
knocz
Moderator
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
1151
Posted : Jun 22, 2012 17:48
Regarding sound quality, I like to reference Astrix. The man can transpose superb quality to his tunes, and usually he does this while using the minimum number of sounds as possible (as some say, less is more..), and it definitely works for him. But then comes something like Crazy Astronaut, a fantastic marriage between crystal clear and sonic mayhem that just works.
Most will agree (especially Home Sound Corner..) that if you get the source('s) right, then it can only become fantastic in the mix - this is to erase the "I'll get fix it in the mix" ideas. But I can easily argue this point of view, because it actually only matters how it sounds as a whole, as people won't listen to the sources solo'ed.
What I mean is, it's always better to work will great sources, but that doesn't mean that the resulting sound made from the source will actually sound good if solo'ed.
I want to show an example. This is an all-time commercial favorite from Queen - Don't stop me now. It has a groove, it has a ton of energy, if has emotion, it tells a great story , it's just a major hit. And, from my point of view the bass line enhances the vitality and power of the track.
Well, the band released the track in stems for a remix contest, and I was just astonished with the friggin bass stem:
In one word: that stem is lame. If this was recorded stem by stem, I would of re-recorded this until it sounds a way lot better. But this is actually the same stem used in the track: if you line them up it just sounds great.
Now, how did their mix engineer do it (especially with the equipment available at the time)? Well, that's a milling dollar question, and (, for me atleast,) the fun in making music is in the hard quest to try to find out.
Sometimes destruction is the answer (like in Muse - Feeling good: when the vocals come in with the megaphone/bit crusher, if works out great), or probably through contrast (listen to this from Richard Cheese , when the intro breaks through and the vinyl distortion is removed, the track quality can just overwhelm the listener)
My tip: don't obsess over this. When making a track there is usually the composer(s), the interpreter(s), the recording engineer(s), the mixing engineer(s), the mastering engineer(s), and probably more. Each does a specific task, and most of the times they must be decoupled. In psy trance we tackle almost all of these tasks by one person, and many time simultaneously. I know I'd rather hear something that has a lot more sweat in the composer and interpreter side, then the mixing and mastering (this is my major critic against House music, it sounds fantastic but there's no musicality in it: one 7 minute track serves only to show off a 5 second loop.)Super Banana Sauce http://www.soundcloud.com/knocz
