Compression paradox question

[ferez21]

(BTW, my suggestion of an output gain that only influences the compressed parts would be useless, anyway, as it would simply lead to the un-compressed signal...)

\
Hmmm....maybe process it through some kind of envelope shaper? There have to be a way of boosting the "meat" of the kick without touching or taming the attack...

btw, can you give your opinion on the kicks in the beat i posted a few messages earlier? thanks

[hesnotthemessiah]

As it sounds at the moment I would really like a bit more low end to it. The punch seems to be there. But it is hard to judge whether a kick sounds powerful or punchy enough without hearing it in the context of the completed mix. Plus there is the question of personal preference! If it has the effect on the listener that you are aiming for then you have probably got it right. I personally don't really like that kind of music - so I couldn't really comment on whether it was really "right" or not.

Im trying to avoid boosting in the eq, how can i enhace the kick's low end? The kick is tuned to 50hz, should i sequence a 50hz sine wave along the kick?

A 50hz sine wave might work. I tend run the sequencer with the kick playing and audition other kicks (or other types of percussion maybe?) layer over the top of it to find one which will give me the sound I require. I usually then need to edit one or both sounds (EQ/start or end points/distortion fx etc) to give me the overall sound I am after.

Maybe setup a group channel for really heavy sidechaining. Then also setup another group channel with no side chaining. You can then experiment by balancing the amounts you send of your audio channels to these two group channels. Vary the amount of signal you send to both the sidechained and non-side chained groups to increase/decrease the sidechaining effect.

Snares often help when layered with kicks to provide some mid and/or high frequencies to help kicks stand out in a mix.

[Tricky-Loops]

(BTW, my suggestion of an output gain that only influences the compressed parts would be useless, anyway, as it would simply lead to the un-compressed signal...)

\
Hmmm....maybe process it through some kind of envelope shaper? There have to be a way of boosting the "meat" of the kick without touching or taming the attack...

btw, can you give your opinion on the kicks in the beat i posted a few messages earlier? thanks

It's a nice kick with quite a few higher frequencies (but fortunately not so extreme like the plastic-head-punchy-kick in the Shaun Baker song that I've listened to). Maybe it could need some more low end. It all depends on the song. In one song this kick can sound great, in another it may interfere too much in the bass line...

[Davias]

As it sounds at the moment I would really like a bit more low end to it. The punch seems to be there. But it is hard to judge whether a kick sounds powerful or punchy enough without hearing it in the context of the completed mix. Plus there is the question of personal preference! If it has the effect on the listener that you are aiming for then you have probably got it right. I personally don't really like that kind of music - so I couldn't really comment on whether it was really "right" or not.

Im trying to avoid boosting in the eq, how can i enhace the kick's low end? The kick is tuned to 50hz, should i sequence a 50hz sine wave along the kick?

Simple trick for enhancing your kick with subtractive EQ ->

1. Cut or lower the unwanted frequencies (I guess in your example then you will cut with high shelve over 100hz and maybe highpass too, to taste)

2. Raise the level of your Kick

















I would just do boosting EQ instead ^^

[ferez21]

^^ this is exactly what i did thanks for the feedback and tips guys, you are all magnificent

Now to another relate mixing question, i'll refer to the kick but it's related to any sound in a mix.
So say i eq'd the kick very well to fit in the busy parts of the mix, when all other synths are playing, it sounds good as a whole piece, but then what if there is a quieter part with only the kick and another synth? should i automate the kick eq? should i automate the eq of every other instrument in a mix for the different parts? it seems like tons of work...

[t3toooo]

Here's another compression paradox. No matter how loud you make your track sound, at the end of the day the listener's volume control is the boss and you'll never sidestep that! NEVER! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

did you know that "katz" is the bavarian word for cat?

[Tricky-Loops]

So say i eq'd the kick very well to fit in the busy parts of the mix, when all other synths are playing, it sounds good as a whole piece, but then what if there is a quieter part with only the kick and another synth? should i automate the kick eq? should i automate the eq of every other instrument in a mix for the different parts? it seems like tons of work...

In this case a Dynamic EQ with a sidechain could help you to make this task easier...but don't ask me HOW, I've never tried it...

[frankjcc2003]

^^ this is exactly what i did thanks for the feedback and tips guys, you are all magnificent

Now to another relate mixing question, i'll refer to the kick but it's related to any sound in a mix.
So say i eq'd the kick very well to fit in the busy parts of the mix, when all other synths are playing, it sounds good as a whole piece, but then what if there is a quieter part with only the kick and another synth? should i automate the kick eq? should i automate the eq of every other instrument in a mix for the different parts? it seems like tons of work...

This is where the art of mixing comes in, I think it would be a good idea to give the kick a bit of different character at a point in the song such as you have described. Mixing is a lot of work, even more so when you don't want to sound like everybody else. To change a kicks sound to the point where it is noticeable might turn out to be peoples favorite part of the song, if you make it interesting enough. With this style of music I think things like that is a welcoming detour off main street. This same thing might not work well in a live setting. Or you could take the to get the same illusion of the kick sound you had when it was playing with everything else. your choice,

I hope you have a good room and monitoring system to make these choice on, or you might feel like giving up after hours and hours and hours of work sounds so good, until you let someone else hear it in their car or something. Just a thought.