I posted a couple of days ago about not being able to get a decent trance kick and bass which fit together well, and I've since realised it's more than that, I struggle with creating decent sounding beats as a whole. I know it's probably down to the way I (attempt to) EQ them, or processing I haven't done but should, but I don't know what it is that I should be doing differently.
Here's a track with a beat I thought sounded okay https://soundcloud.com/spatial-sound/iv ... ound-remix and a beat taken from a project file I started recently https://soundcloud.com/spatial-sound/be ... le/s-mfzC4 as an idea of the sort of sound I usually end up with. (And for what it's worth, just a couple of examples of the kind of thing I'm aiming for:
youtube.com/watch?v=50u6cneL6y0
youtube.com/watch?v=PC-fSG7RU3g
youtube.com/watch?v=PM_oZ10wFh0
Any advice would be appreciated.
What am I doing wrong with beat-making/processing?
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
Your beat if fine overall except that the kick needs to be tighter. Compress it?
The bass and the arpeggiated synth which appear towards the end could be louder and need some equalization. Also you may compress your bass and/or add a transient shaper. Did you hipass that synth?
It's really hard to tell without seeing the mix from the inside but it think the problems may come from the levels of the bass and the synth vs the drums. Import a track in similar style into your DAW, set the level of the audio channel so that the kick in the reference track and your kick would play with roughly equal loudness and then try to balance the levels of your other instuments similarly as they are in the reference track. Keep in ming that you need to hipass everything which is not the kick and the bass at around 200-300 Hz. Hihats must be hipassed much higher, 1Khz and above.
The bass and the arpeggiated synth which appear towards the end could be louder and need some equalization. Also you may compress your bass and/or add a transient shaper. Did you hipass that synth?
It's really hard to tell without seeing the mix from the inside but it think the problems may come from the levels of the bass and the synth vs the drums. Import a track in similar style into your DAW, set the level of the audio channel so that the kick in the reference track and your kick would play with roughly equal loudness and then try to balance the levels of your other instuments similarly as they are in the reference track. Keep in ming that you need to hipass everything which is not the kick and the bass at around 200-300 Hz. Hihats must be hipassed much higher, 1Khz and above.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 210 posts since 23 Apr, 2017
This is going to be a really stupid question, but how would I do that? As much as I know it's an important technique I practically haven't used it at all, and as far as I understand it would just reduce the overall level of the kick/bass?recursive one wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:56 pm ...except that the kick needs to be tighter. Compress it?
...Also you may compress your bass and/or add a transient shaper.
Again, I know this probably sounds stupid but I don't entirely know how compression works.
Also thanks for your other advice, I'll give that A/B-ing trick a go.
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- KVRian
- 872 posts since 28 Nov, 2016
aha! there we go, that's your problem. see compression does not reduce ALL The level of the kick and bass. It only reduces parts of it that are louder than a certain threshold.
you may think that makes no difference, but let's say for example you have a snare drum; a natural recording with a bit of an echo. put a compressor on it, a savage compressor. and then bring the volume up so that the snare is still as loud as it used to be.
Since the snare was pushed down so much, it's now as quiet as the echo. But if you bring the compressed track back up, now the ECHO IS AS LOUD AS THE SNARE. Instead of a sharp attack with a gentle reverb, there's a wall of sizzling sound.
and that is only the beginning. different attack times can do even wilder stuff.
EDIT: Here. I did it to a simple rock beat. Notice how it's not just different volume, it's different TONE, right?
https://orig00.deviantart.net/7de1/f/20 ... cpufua.mp3
you may think that makes no difference, but let's say for example you have a snare drum; a natural recording with a bit of an echo. put a compressor on it, a savage compressor. and then bring the volume up so that the snare is still as loud as it used to be.
Since the snare was pushed down so much, it's now as quiet as the echo. But if you bring the compressed track back up, now the ECHO IS AS LOUD AS THE SNARE. Instead of a sharp attack with a gentle reverb, there's a wall of sizzling sound.
and that is only the beginning. different attack times can do even wilder stuff.
EDIT: Here. I did it to a simple rock beat. Notice how it's not just different volume, it's different TONE, right?
https://orig00.deviantart.net/7de1/f/20 ... cpufua.mp3
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Last edited by sleepcircle on Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:15 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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- KVRAF
- 9576 posts since 16 Dec, 2002
Or use a 'tight' sounding kick to start with.recursive one wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 2:56 pm Your beat if fine overall except that the kick needs to be tighter. Compress it?
You cant make a meal with any old shit you find lying around the garden.
Choose your source sounds carefully to begin with.
Amazon: why not use an alternative
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- KVRian
- 872 posts since 28 Nov, 2016
although if i may extend the metaphor, some of the most delicious recipes in the world were invented by extremely poor people who had to make due with whatever they could find lying around.VariKusBrainZ wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:42 pmOr use a 'tight' sounding kick to start with.
You cant make a meal with any old shit you find lying around the garden.
tampanades and braises from provençe, gumbos and fricassees from new orleans, herbazzone, birds' nest soup, tonkotsu ramen, yorkshire pudding.
it's just as important to know what to do with what you DO have lying around. and really, a tight kick is usually just a regular kick that was tightened up, either as an individual sample before it was put into the loop, or afterwards as a whole track.
