How do you people get your mixes loud when layering?

[Kinh]

Having trouble with supersaws when layering. Tryin' to get everything loud.
For starters the snare/clap disappears in the chorus and when the verse comes back its loud as hell. The biggest problem however is the volume of the mix before it peaks is no where near loud enough. Ive tried squashing the louder bassy frequencies so I can crank the volume up but that only makes the highs too loud, tried cutting the mids but that only leaves a whole in the middle.

So what's the best method for those who layer and wanna sound loud? By layer I mean an airy synth, 3 korg classic saws, a pluck synth, lead and a distorted bass all playing the same rhythm.
Or a more specifically...
https://soundcloud.com/matthewcrowe/party-nation11

This is as loud as I can get it and its no where near where it should be.

[DJ Warmonger]

The biggest problem however is the volume of the mix

This is not the problem, this is the result.

Original sounds feel very weak to begin with. Then there's EQ, distortion, compression... it's the long way to go

[camsr]

The arrangement is good but it could some beefier sounds to provide weight for the rhythm.
It seems there's not enough movement of filters or faders to emphasize the synths already in there.
And the sounds themselves don't sound "loud" they sound more neutral in volume.

[Kinh]

So I take it nobody knows?

[Googly Smythe]

So I take it nobody knows?

It's a dark art...
If you want loud you have to start from scratch. As others have said butch sounds. Clip those transients with a clipper, automate levels to stop them leaping out, extensive side-chaining, incremental compression everywhere, etc.

[Googly Smythe]

More tips here:
Gearslutz

[Tarekith]

Are you doing any sort of mastering on the mix as a whole? It sounds to me like a pretty raw mixdown, there's plenty of room to go louder with a limiter on the master channel. Also, the low end sounds a bit weak too, it's definitely got way too much emphasis on the mids I think right now.

[BC99]

I'm on a phone without headphones, so I didn't actually listen, just basing this off your description. It sounds like you're applying compression and EQ to large ranges of instruments when you should apply cuts, boosts and compression to individual elements. If the snare disappears during the chorus but is loud elsewhere you have another instrument in the chorus taking up the same frequency range and they compete for that space. Find out what the specific instrument is and carve it out (or the snare instead) until the two stand on their own. Mixing takes a lot more time than you might think because you need to make all adjustments on every instrument/ layer independently.

[ykon28]

Also check the phase ,you may have phase cancellation issues.

[chk071]

Having trouble with supersaws when layering. Tryin' to get everything loud.
For starters the snare/clap disappears in the chorus and when the verse comes back its loud as hell. The biggest problem however is the volume of the mix before it peaks is no where near loud enough. Ive tried squashing the louder bassy frequencies so I can crank the volume up but that only makes the highs too loud, tried cutting the mids but that only leaves a whole in the middle.

So what's the best method for those who layer and wanna sound loud? By layer I mean an airy synth, 3 korg classic saws, a pluck synth, lead and a distorted bass all playing the same rhythm.
Or a more specifically...
https://soundcloud.com/matthewcrowe/party-nation11

This is as loud as I can get it and its no where near where it should be.

I don't have an answer for you, but someone posted a thread to a rough sniplet of a Thrillseekers track here once, which he showed off on Facebook or Twitter, i don't remember exactly, and it sounded very rough and unfinished. So, i guess it's safe to say that a LOT of work goes into refining, mixing and mastering of the tracks, and there is no such thing as the one answer. Also, it always appears to me that the professionals have a very good ear to know what fits together, what they could layer on top, or below to make it more full, how to set things up in the stereo field, how to compress the cr** out of things, and doing so not squash the sound and so on. A lot of experience i guess.

But i guess none of that really helps you much. Thought i'd mention it anyway, because i found the difference between a rough sniplet, and one of his finished songs astonishing. Worlds apart really, when it has been mixed, mastered and refined.

[Kinh]

I'm on a phone without headphones, so I didn't actually listen, just basing this off your description. It sounds like you're applying compression and EQ to large ranges of instruments when you should apply cuts, boosts and compression to individual elements. If the snare disappears during the chorus but is loud elsewhere you have another instrument in the chorus taking up the same frequency range and they compete for that space. Find out what the specific instrument is and carve it out (or the snare instead) until the two stand on their own. Mixing takes a lot more time than you might think because you need to make all adjustments on every instrument/ layer independently.

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't even contemplated sidechaining.

[legendCNCD]

Mix it better. Sounds like you are compressing wayyy too much.
"Mixing takes a lot more time than you might think"

Time & practice makes you better.

[pixel85]

Tryin' to get everything loud.

I would stop here. If you trying to make everything loud then nothing is loud. it's pure logic. To make sound loud you need opposite content: quiet sounds. Actually you don't need compression and limiter on every channel. It's the worst what you can do to your mix

[Majezty]

You should be carving out a space for each sound in the mix. Thing of it in terms of very low(sub), low(bass), middle,upper middle, and high. Synths should be occupying middle and upper middle, white noise should be occupying very high. and claps/snares should be middle. You might need to carve out of the synth to make room for the snare.

[Zexila]

So, i guess it's safe to say that a LOT of work goes into refining, mixing and mastering of the tracks, and there is no such thing as the one answer....because i found the difference between a rough sniplet, and one of his finished songs astonishing. Worlds apart really, when it has been mixed, mastered and refined.

Recently had similar convo with one friend who started with music making recently, classic, he was comparing his work in progress stuff with commercial releases and kept giving up and loosing interest in music making because of it.

Majority of us are guilty of this and are/been in same shoes, listening pre master (pre mixing even more) mixes of professional tracks are eye openers in this cases for sure, especially for folks who can't separate mixing and mastering from composing/arranging/working on actual track content, but as you said, professionals do have an ear for things and enough experience to overcome present unfinished state and work till the end when everything comes together perfectly.