How to find that last 10-15% 'commercial' sound fully ITB?

[eLawnMust]

Everybody always seems to go the wrong direction in this kinda topic & that original poster has not given any example of music done for critique is telling... Problem is & the BIG problem is that if your music is garbage then no amount of mastering is gonna help it... If it's good or great music it's gonna be good no matter how mediocre the mastering... Everywhere you go there is deep discussions on mastering & production of all types but when heard it is usually octave jumping with all kinda FX piled on & automated... That is the problem, simple lullabies with massive FX...

Growing up in the 70's picking strawberries in the summer everybody had transistor 'wrist radio' listening to Stevie Wonder, Three Dog Night, Seals & Crofts, Gino Vannelli, AWB, BTO, ZZ Top, Joni Mitchell, etc, etc. It all sounded great because THEY were great, not that you could hear any differences in 'mastering'... These Musicians of old are still highly revered whether listening on a HQ system or still on a 'wrist radio'...

Increase your level of musicianship, stop piling FX, tone down the ego so you can learn & quit obsessing about procedures that aren't going to take you past all the mass of 'others' that now wish to 'identify' as musicians>>>

[damoog]

Increase your level of musicianship, stop piling FX, tone down the ego so you can learn & quit obsessing about procedures that aren't going to take you past all the mass of 'others' that now wish to 'identify' as musicians>>>

absolutely agree with this

im 48 years old and honestly the best thing you can learn is how mix properly using minimal eq methods long used by pros before you get to the master stage

in my own personal achievement(s) regarding the mix and master process is

1.Top down mix method
2.mix in mono - so important for a great mix
3. Hi-pass what is NOT needed to stand out
4.use busses instead of slapping on an instrument or effect
5.reference tracks definitely work

I must add that adding a pultec on the master channel gives it that pro sound, applying subtle eq on each track accord to the pultec on the master

oh and use a good widener / imager on the master or certain parts of a track for giving it a next level stage of sound

good luck man!

[thecontrolcentre]

ok let me rephrase this (not being ungrateful here since I fully agree with you reply in pricipal but I kinda knew that already ) but do you have any addtional advice that can help me get there a little sooner?

Get a mastering / mixing engineer or try harder. Learn how to mix & listen critically.
Mastering is not for everyone.

[enroe]

Everybody always seems to go the wrong direction in this kinda topic & that original poster has not given any example of music done for critique is telling... Problem is & the BIG problem is that if your music is garbage then no amount of mastering is gonna help it... If it's good or great music it's gonna be good no matter how mediocre the mastering... Everywhere you go there is deep discussions on mastering & production of all types but when heard it is usually octave jumping with all kinda FX piled on & automated... That is the problem, simple lullabies with massive FX...

Yes, that is exactly the right, targeted advice!

When newbies look at professional productions, for example on the DAW, they are always very surprised at how few effects and plugins are used. It's not about whether you have this or that plugin (which is often suggested here!), but it's 99% about the composition! That is what makes the difference.

[kmonkey]

practice and experience

This and nothing else. There's no secret sauce or secret that another Youtube bufoon is trying to sell you.

[soundmodel]

Again, some genres are about tech and not just performance. The reason Pultecs work is that they happen to have musically pleasing cutoff points and curves. That and so few bands that it is hard to mess things up by unintentional ("maybe that too since there's a knob for it") overprocessing. And you don't need to decide between many frequencies only between a limited set.

If you want to pursue the good sound via gear route, then just get any and all "musical" gear. Pultec, LA2A, 1176, SSL G, API, Neve, Massey plugins, Waves Renaissance, Sonnox, Klanghelm, Brainworx, ... And learn their use cases. Another such magic plug-ins is e.g. https://www.beatskillz.com/shop/slam2/

Not that you need certain gear, but if you're aiming to replicate some of your "masters", then they likely used this gear and not something else.

My own mixing ability grew when I got the same gear. It is about the limitations, not the features. With the right gear your mixes would be closer to what you might be looking for. Contrary to what some people suggest, I think the "good sound" is in some cases significantly more than 50% about having the right type of gear, and maybe 15% about how the producer turns the knobs. Good gear was designed to be musically pleasing and it is often hard to make good gear to sound bad. That's why pros would still use it. The high-end gear is not about the amount of features and amount of knobs, it's about having as few parameters as possible and having them very, very right.

However, the mantra of many pros is also:

The best quality is got by aiming to do the least amount of post-processing possible.

[legendCNCD]

2.mix in mono - so important for a great mix
3. Hi-pass what is NOT needed to stand out
5.reference tracks definitely work

2. Yes, levels in mono at least
3. I'd say use low shelf first, it is less destructive in shifting the highend than hpf, hpf when needed instead
5. yes.

In the end its more about the track itself than the mixing or such technicalities. Make a killer track it'll still kick ass even without being perfectly mixed or mastered.

[tehlord]

but do you have any addtional advice that can help me get there a little sooner?

Practice more. Perhaps you've been watching too many 'mix secrets' video and expect to be able to side step this basic, undeniable fact.

[jamcat]

Preamp+EQ emulation → light compression → multitrack tape emulation → mixing console emulation on each channel.

Put a mixbuss compressor and 2-track tape emulation on your master buss.

The preamp+EQ and initial (optional) light compression should be broad “character” EQ/comp, used to get the best sound of each instrument in solo, as you would during tracking. The later EQ and compression in the mixing console should be used to get all the instruments working together, as you would during mixing. That’s where you would be doing surgical parametric EQing and unmasking.

These subtle layers of saturation, EQ, and compression spread across multiple stages of your mix will deliver the sound you’re looking for. Everything will just fall into place.

[Big DAW Audio]

Varies. Gating is inappropriate for some tracks, because it will create audible gaps in the background (the tail disappears) or some particular frequencies. However, it can also add clarity.

Depends on how low the floor is.