Hello fellow gearslutz,
Could someone please help me out with the following. I was looking at some commercially released instrumentals in comparison to my own mixes with a spectrum analyzer. What I found was that although my levels and frequencies seem to be quite right (looking similar) there's virtually no stereo movement in my tracks. This while the commercial releases have a lot of stereo going on. Even on bass and/or drum parts it shows a lot of stereo information, while when listening to it, it sounds dead center.
My mixes look and sound dead center. So here's my question how can this be done? I'm not looking for a quick fix but i would really like to learn how to do this. What techniques/effects are used to create these full stereo mixes?
I've been experimenting with delays, chorus, flangers and phasers but they only seem to add a little stereo movement when used in moderation. Only when I go all out on them it adds more movement, but I always read effects should be used in moderation and it just doesn't sound right. It just sounds too wet. (which it probably is; too wet)
concrete question: are there any rules of thumb at what levels and with what settings (not talking anything absolute here) these kind of effects (and other effects) could be used? In example when putting a little reverb on a dry track using a send channel what would be the common level of the return? (I understand it's how wet you want it that counts most, but) Should I be thinking in the order of -35 to -45db or would I be under effecting that way?
As you can read I don't really get the effecting part of mixing so maybe some of you more experienced guys would take the time to shed some light on this issue. I really would like to understand that part, since it seems to be the missing link in my mixes (and it's really not a detail
) If anyone would be kind enough to help I would really appreciate it.
Best regards,
EYE