General tips: improving a mix

[aciddose]

https://soundcloud.com/aciddose-1/metalboarder

Okay, this is a rough, quickly thrown together "mix" of the sort I normally do when I'm testing synthesizers and effects.

I can hear various issues with this already. The dynamics processing is not very good, levels are off, the EQ is wrong, send amount is too high (for the delay) and could probably use some highcut + lowcut in feedback, so on and so forth.

I was wondering if I can pick anyone's brain here though.

Could anyone do me a favor and draw and quarter, rip this mix to pieces and put its flaming head on a pike?

I don't focus much on my skills in this area and any tips or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

[Fox Crazy]

Nice Tim Follin you've got there.

I uh... Am not exactly an expert here, but for those that are I'd say that you should probably specify what sort of sound you're going for.

How you should mix something depends a good deal on the style you're going for. If you're trying to sound like say, 80s synthpop, you're going to take a completely different approach to if you're trying to sound like modern EDM. That's just an example, of course.

[aciddose]

Well the thing about me is I don't do genres.

When I listen to different music or recordings there are things I like and things I don't like. I don't really pay much attention to whether things fit a genre, except when they fit way too much. I absolutely abhor "cookie cutter" genre tracks.

What I'm asking here is more if we have any critics who really enjoy sadistic treatment, or perhaps just someone who really wants to pick on me specifically (I'm sure they abound although not certain they'd want to waste the time being helpful to me) ...

Or maybe just people who are fascinated with production in general and want to share their preferences, techniques and tips on how to get a mix headed in that direction.

( https://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/dig ... -question/ )

I don't want to have anyone do me a big favor here. I'm not aiming to create the next hit track.

Basically, I'm 100% ignorant of techniques and genres when it comes to production. I completely understand what you're saying about having an aim, a sound or style to go for. I just don't have any of that.

The only aim I really have is, I've been somewhat motivated to attempt to be less horrible.

[aciddose]

As an example some tips that I've found really helpful over the years:

• Your high-hats and cymbals are way too loud. They need to be much more quiet than the other percs.
• The lead should stand out, but the pads and rhythm parts should be much reduced, about -10db to -20db.
• Ugh! Your percs are MONO, AGAIN! Use some panning already!
• Don't overdo compression or EQ. Especially avoid the combination of compression and heavy low frequency boosts. This is just going to produce epic mud.
• Any ambiance you create using reverb or delay should be much less, you only need a touch of these rather than having them on full blown.
• Don't focus on having massive swells and releases with every part of the track completely full. Sometimes silences, intermissions or the notes you don't play are those which actually express.
• Try to focus on one solid melody and chord progression. Try to break your track into different sections, intro, verse, chorus, bridges, hook and refrain.

The last is probably the one I'm still the worst at and don't fully understand. That's more a composition thing than production, although I'm still very much interested in the production aspects of getting these sections and transitions correct.

Although I'm aware of these tips, I have a hard time actually applying them. I think my percs are mono in the track I posted aren't they?

[camsr]

The synth lead would sound better with volume automation, giving it a more performed feel, or just more articulation.
Percussion is muddy, sounds "dull" and unenergetic. You could make it punchier. The beat is ok.
Overall mix sounds flat, foreground is competing with itself for attention. There's nothing to hear underneath the music if you focus, making is somewhat boring.
The tonal balance is not too bad, the muddy kick congests everything else making it less enjoyable.
You should post a version without the kick, for comparison.

[aciddose]

You're right about the muddy kick, this is because I've used saturation + narrow band-pass at 52hz to emphasize the bass and add some sustain.

Volume automation? You mean like velocity? Or I guess just like a volume pedal kind of effect? I can try to have a play with that and post some updates.

"Nothing to hear underneath", so I get the impression maybe some layering? A pad or similar?

Of course I should have added to my post that the sequence is just a random MIDI sequence, not my composition. I didn't think that was needed though as I wanted to focus more on production rather than composition.

I suppose I could layer in some of my own elements though of course if that is what you mean.

The percussion being "dull" I'm not sure how to deal with. I suspect the heavy compression causes this. Most likely due to using a single channel for everything rather than individual buses for different parts (kick / snare + rim + clap / hats + cymbals / toms + other) it just passes through a single compressor.

There is a single compressor over the complete mix also. I considered trying to add some "side-chain" from the kick to improve the dynamic a bit but I don't want to suggest too many of my own ideas as I'm much more interested in other opinions.

[camsr]

For the drum bus you could use parallel compression to better effect. When I first started producing and mixing my own songs, I heavily used the fl studio compressor in it's 'opto' mode, which going by their description is similar to parallel compression. Parallel compression usually just does the right thing on the drum bus, if it's mixed normally. Although this is also part of the production stage, I never liked synth drums except for kicks, they have no character, and always did everything I could to make drums interesting. Parallel compression is part of that, it emphasizes what's good in the transient, and the transient has to sound good for that to happen Compress drums to emphasize the groove, not for volume.

The kick drum is too loud, it's waaaay too f**king loud, like LOUD loud. It's a bad habit.

I listened to it with a -6dB bell at 52hz, it sounds more normal, but it has no sound to it, it's like a bland sine wave.

[camsr]

Tell me how this sounds, this way a quick eq and saturation pass, might be too much treble because I have my beanie on It's in mono.
http://speedy.sh/ZHTcX/metalboarder-2.mp3

[aciddose]

This version I think I took into account every tip so far other than most likely I still have the kick too loud.

https://soundcloud.com/aciddose-1/metalboarder2

Sounds quite different.

I used the pads part from the original sequence (silver surfer nes theme someone did, assuming that isn't obvious) and made a few adjustments, some swing on the drums and a lot of reduction on the amount of compression.

I layered in another take of the pulse bass in the center which fattens it up quite a lot and makes it more balanced... at least in my opinion.

I suppose you're right, definitely a bad habit to crank the kick attempting to get a more bassy sound. Sometimes it works (depends on how the compressors and other stuff is set) and sometimes it doesn't, seems to go by luck when I'm doing it

So what do you think? Did I cover those bases yet?

Your EQ/sat gets the timbre/spectrum quite close to the new version I've just done other than the kick so I'm assuming you might like this one. Yours definitely sounds a lot better than the original, insane +900db 52hz boost probably wasn't the best idea on my part.

[do_androids_dream]

high-hats and cymbals are way too loud. They need to be much more quiet than the other percs.

Well in this case they're not - they're about right. They're providing the main 'excitement' so they need to be up there shimmering away at 8 - 10K or so.

In general the mix just sounds congealed (frequency overlap) especially in the low mids - 350 - 500 Hz I would say - and lacks separation and depth. Just some simple high and low pass filtering (be brutal!) to get everything roughly into its own space would be the first step. You can always start to add things back once you have a clear vision of how the mix is going to sound. That brings up a point actually - I never start a mix until I have a pretty clear idea of what the end result is going to sound like. If you start a mix without this then you run risk of the whole thing being directionless. Using a reference track is highly recommended - it really can help to steer you and keep you on course.

To get the kick punching through notch out 50 - 70 HZ from everything else or/and use a sidechain technique.

Any ambiance you create using reverb or delay should be much less, you only need a touch of these rather than having them on full blown.

Yes, usually true.

Try to focus on one solid melody and chord progression. Try to break your track into different sections, intro, verse, chorus, bridges, hook and refrain.

Yes - and give that focused part (the melody I mean) plenty of space in the mix when it's present. A good technique to help this is to heavily low pass filter parts that really don't need to be there - this also helps in depth perception - removing those high frequencies has the effect of pushing things further back in the mix creating some depth without reverb/delay. Think of your lead melody sound as the lead vocal and process similarly. As to the arrangement stuff - I don't really like to comment on that because that's totally up to the musician - I don't like to critique on that side of things.

As for perc in mono - for stereo width it's nice to have one or two perc parts running through a stereo widener plugin like Voxengo's Stereo Touch.

[do_androids_dream]

Your kick sounded better in the very first mix in the OP compared to the one in the latest imo. The one in the second mix sounds too boomy and not very punchy. Maybe go somewhere inbetween?

Your second mix is sounding pretty good overall - there are things that could be improved upon but they would all be quite subtle. Maybe bring the melody up slightly and the gated chords down just a touch to re-balance them together.

[zethus909]

its good i like it!......

[Fox Crazy]

See, I actually like the kick in the second version, but I think the leads and arps are way, way too quiet.

But personally I like less bass and more highs in a lot of my stuff. I also like a lot of reverb and delays, something most people frown at. I also often treat my drums differently then most people, using them more to carry the rhythm, so they're often buried under other stuff on purpose.

Again, I think a lot of mixing is down to taste. So it depends on what you're going for.

[camsr]

The new version sounds too scooped. The kick is still too loud, but sounds better than the first. The "congealed" sound is coming from around 125hz on the bass and kick. Lift the frequencies above 125hz in the bass and cut 125hz a little from the kick, this will probably bring out more dynamic.
The snare sounds like mush.. I would replace it entirely.

[camsr]

Whoops, my file had the right channel missing...
Don't try to convert a mono file from Edison into mp3...