What am I doing wrong ! Finial mixes/productions are not up to par.( electronic Music )

[IRL303]

Yeah I wouldn't be so caught up in trying to create music for 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. It's one way to knacker your ears and mess up your mixes from ear fatigue and to sustain a creative, optimistic state of mind for such a long period is pretty challenging for anyone, professional or not. I would agree with smoking some weed it really does help.

As Tricky Loops just said, it's about the amount of effort you put into it. You could spend 12 hours all day and make just shit music if your heart is not in it, Likewise you could bash out a great tune in 4hrs if you go in really passionate and full of effort.

Mike, you should be happy where you are. It's not where you wanna be but its on the way to where you wanna get. Be happy you have advanced this far already

[PanzerD]

It depends of the amount of effort put into something, not of the amount of time. I don't believe all these stories of youngsters that make professional songs suddenly after only a few month producing. They all have gained musical experience over many many years, no matter if they were in a rock band or have sung with mom or were in the church choir...

That wold be at it's best. Go and read my post at page2. That's sums how I feel about this matter.

To me there's nothing difficult about Avicii's music. The tracks that I heard were mediocre in terms of composition, arrangement and production. Not bad but just nothing interesting, or new, or inspiring.
Simple music for simple people.

[DinDoes]

Im OP

Ive been "Producing" since I was 15 , I started with fl studio and I would do it for hours upon hours when I sat down to start. I didn't constantly produce, I would have bouts where I wouldn't make anything for a few months. However I always came back to it. Recently in the past 2 years have I gotten very serious about improving, just not at the rate I would like to. In the last year I built a complete studio with yamaha HS80s a vocal booth and full sound treatments too.

I am constantly trying to push the envelope, try new techniques and refine my tried and true techniques . This posting on this site is me about to bite down and try to learn everything I can and really push hard for the next year to see what I can achieve. You guys are really helping me with what you are saying. Im going to set some goals for myself , everyone critiquing my work is amazing! I never got so much useful feedback it helps me define my problematic areas to be able set goals to overcome them.

I have a questions

Im using Mbox mini (3rd gen) I know the a/d converter on it is crap , any vocal recording I do is just ravaged by the A/D converter does anyone have suggestions on another interface for under 500$

My vocals sound hallow , I have a dead room to record the vocals... I used to have A ST66 mic but I sold it because I wanted something nicer, now im only working with a SM 47 , but no matter what I used MIC wise they always sound thin I do layers and it helps but does anyone know of a VST that will help fatten the vocals? I looked into PSP vintage warmer it seems to be a geart VST does anyone else have any more suggestions?

Thanks again guys !

I went to school for a year at fullsaid and I didn't get this kind of feedback!

[PanzerD]

Yeah I wouldn't be so caught up in trying to create music for 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. It's one way to knacker your ears and mess up your mixes from ear fatigue and to sustain a creative, optimistic state of mind for such a long period is pretty challenging for anyone,

So true, at least for me taking a break from music helps to get fresh perspective on things.

professional or not. I would agree with smoking some weed it really does help.

Mike, you should be happy where you are. It's not where you wanna be but its on the way to where you wanna get. Be happy you have advanced this far already

+1

[mkastrup]

Gave the first 3 tracks a quick listen.

First i thought get other speakers but then i saw you used Yamaha HS80 so speakers cant be the problem. I would focus on getting the right balance between low-mid and high eq. From what i heard the energy was sucked out and the high mids to high freqs were missing. Somehow i get the feeling that you cant be hearing the actual mix as it should be. It must be colored in some way from the DAW to the listener. The sounds you use are typical 3khz, 5khz and 8khz stuff.

However my overall feel was that the instrument balance seems ok so a proper EQ mastering should be able to add some bite/sparkle to the mixes.

Worry about the loudness when you got the EQ balance straightened up.

Try listen to a top modern track in your style, put cotton wool in your ears and then listen to your tracks with cotton wool out of your ears.

And never mix at high volumes

/Michael

[PanzerD]

And never mix at high volumes

+1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours

[Mike20]

Mike, you should be happy where you are. It's not where you wanna be but its on the way to where you wanna get. Be happy you have advanced this far already

Hey man, i see what you are saying, but if i would have said that to myself 1 year ago i wouldn't be where i am today, same as if i listened to that statement now, i wouldn't be where i will be in 12 months from now (if that makes sense)

Each to their own, do whatever makes you happy, but for me i won't be happy until i have reached the goals i have set in my head,

Mike

[SODDI]

Try putting a little more dynamics into it - could be as simple as vel > vol. The "everything as loud as every thing else all the time" syndrome (I'm guilty of it too) doesn't leave much room for the simple tension/release listening experience.

And try an experiment - for the next 2 pieces, no compressors or exciters.

[FrankT]

There is good stuff among your songs. But sometimes the mixes seem a bit busy. As already suggested try using less effects and be careful with compression. Let it breathe!

As for tools/ gear:
Your monitors seem fine but is your soundcard up for your aspirations?
Invest in a surgical EQ (e.g. Fabfilter) and deal with frequency overlaps.
Check different Limiters (I like the Sonnox stuff a lot, ymmv).
Have you tried The Glue on your masterchain?

[Cubehog]

Regarding overprocessing and too many tracks.

I shifted from "overall fat" to "it's in some small details". I focus on sound design and try to create sounds that fit. I synthesize my drums, make them tonal and it works really well. I use different time signatures.

Don't try to push too many ideas in one track so you can show how skilled you are at editing. I did this for 4 years and I am unsatisfied with the results. The emotions didn't come through. The raw idea on one guitar had more emotional impact than a fully fledged electronic arrangement. Somehow the emotion got lost.
Also one big, big recipe to be detailed and still maintain clarity.

Cut out something instead of layering. It works really well. One element at a time can be busy. You can have 60 tracks, but only 10 play at the same time. Think of an orchestration. If all instruments would play all the time....... .

Example: Drumfill from bar 15 to 17 (15-16 hihats announce the fill), snare from 16.1-16.3 bassdrum from 16.3-17.
If you let a reversed cymbal end a phrase, try to diminish the impact of the other instruments. The listener has way too much information to grasp. Not technology likes music, it's people.

How about polyrhythms? Little effort, great effect.
And don't say to yourself "I need to push it a bit more". If you experiment with complex concepts than try to simplify them. Make them transparent. That's a whole challenge in itself.

Sorry, too much for a first post. But I've been through this and many people will fall into the same trap after us. I wanted to help a little bit to avoid it.

der Ivo

[Esther]

life is beautiful,life is good,live our life and smile with everything you meet!

[DinDoes]

I have taken a lot of your words and tried different things, working outside the box and such

I have a lot of new material up.

https://soundcloud.com/mrdin

[Aroused by JarJar]

Im using Mbox mini (3rd gen) I know the a/d converter on it is crap , any vocal recording I do is just ravaged by the A/D converter does anyone have suggestions on another interface for under 500$

My vocals sound hallow , I have a dead room to record the vocals... I used to have A ST66 mic but I sold it because I wanted something nicer, now im only working with a SM 47 , but no matter what I used MIC wise they always sound thin I do layers and it helps but does anyone know of a VST that will help fatten the vocals? I looked into PSP vintage warmer it seems to be a geart VST does anyone else have any more suggestions?

The chances of it being A/D convertors in the Mbox ravaging the sound is pretty much nil, unless you've got a defective unit.

Hallow means sacred, if your vocals sound hallow just put on some kind of robes and you'll make a mint. Maybe your vocals sound hollow because you have a "dead room" to record them in? If it's not a properly acoustically treated or a good vocal booth, a "dead room" is probably just going to make the sound small. Plugins can just treat symptoms, not the disease. First get a decent vocal sound with no plugins or effects other than a little verb or delay, then you're set.

If you use the built-in mic on a laptop in a good room with good performers it already sounds pretty darn good. Tons of people listen to bootlegs. So what does this tell us? The further upstream and close to the source you take care of business, the better off you are.

I listened to some of your tracks and my honest opinion is that it seems to me that you're far too concerned with "sounding professional" and have lost track of the stuff like "catchy", "pretty", "interesting", "creepy", "sad", "uplifting" and so on. The whole shebang of "professional" and "mixing" and "producing" and all that is subservient to those things.

These are just my opinion of course.

[DinDoes]

thank you.

[Syncretia]

Music is my passion and I hope one day I could make a living from it thats what I have been working on all these years but I am starting to begin to doubt myself.

Your problem is 100% psychological. Your mixes are good and people like your music. It sounds like you need to get over your self-confidence issue and promote the shit out of your music.