Cheap sounding mixes...HELP

[lovesickmusic]

i took my time and use great gear (UA pres, Focusrite Pres, Neumann Mics, etc etc) and everything I have tried makes my mixes sound thin and cheap. I want it to sound crisp and clean but it just sounds like i used shotty gear...are there certain freq or some to duck to avoid this? Also i would like you guys to hear this.....whats the best way to post an mp3 here?

thanks

[Jose]

Source first?

[lovesickmusic]

huh?

[aclarson]

You can post an mp3 directly on your post, or link to Soundcloud, etc.

Having not heard your mixes, it's hard to say, but if you're using good stuff (sounds like it), then the issue is most likely mic technique, poor acoustics, poor or poorly setup instruments, or bad performance.

Do the individual tracks sound good to you?

If so, then maybe all that stuff above is ok, and you're just doing something very wrong in mixing-land that's killing everything.

No matter what it is, I wouldn't count on any EQing to fix your problems, EQ should be primarily used to enhance or make space for what already sounds good, not to take something crappy and make it sound good. If your tracks sound crappy, definitely look at instrument and mic technique first.

[dopeboi]

I think he's talking about whatever you are recording for example the artist, guitar, drummer etc.

[dkelley]

just wanted to point out that a good engineer using the cheapest gear possible can still get a great sounding mix.

it's not the gear, it's the experience. So your comment that it sounds like you're using cheap gear isn't probably correct, it's more that it sounds like you're inexperienced and need advice.

And this is a good thing because we all love giving advice, right or wrong LoL

:-D

[brianellefson]

Originally Posted by aclarson

If your tracks sound crappy, definitely look at instrument and mic technique first.

I second that.

[ShadowAMD]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

i took my time and use great gear (UA pres, Focusrite Pres, Neumann Mics, etc etc) and everything I have tried makes my mixes sound thin and cheap. I want it to sound crisp and clean but it just sounds like i used shotty gear...are there certain freq or some to duck to avoid this? Also i would like you guys to hear this.....whats the best way to post an mp3 here?

thanks

I hate to be the room police, but have you acoustically treated your room?

[blaarg]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

i took my time and use great gear (UA pres, Focusrite Pres, Neumann Mics, etc etc) and everything I have tried makes my mixes sound thin and cheap. I want it to sound crisp and clean but it just sounds like i used shotty gear...are there certain freq or some to duck to avoid this? Also i would like you guys to hear this.....whats the best way to post an mp3 here?

thanks

the gear i use in total is all cheap stuff. my 'studio' is pretty much 600$ worth of gear. but you can still get a good sound. the key thing is a good input; make sure however you are placing the mic and eq etc on guitar cab is placed to the best sound possible. although for vocals it should sound clear by just singing into a mic.

for frequencies; there's really no default freq setting for me. generally though highs for 'crispiness' high mids to put stuff in front and bass sounds key frequencies are around 50 and 100 for me.

[ShadowAMD]

Originally Posted by blaarg

the gear i use in total is all cheap stuff. my 'studio' is pretty much 600$ worth of gear. but you can still get a good sound. the key thing is a good input; make sure however you are placing the mic and eq etc on guitar cab is placed to the best sound possible. although for vocals it should sound clear by just singing into a mic.

for frequencies; there's really no default freq setting for me. generally though highs for 'crispiness' high mids to put stuff in front and bass sounds key frequencies are around 50 and 100 for me.

Let's hear it

My room treatment cost nearly double that.

[lovesickmusic]

California ROUGH by secretsounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

here you guys go. be easy.

[ShadowAMD]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

California ROUGH by secretsounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

here you guys go. be easy.

Still have you treated your room?

[NEWTON IN ORBIT]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

California ROUGH by secretsounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

here you guys go. be easy.

Ain't as bad as you made out. Easy on the top end.

The snare sounds a bit "crunchy" and strident, breaking up etc.

I would go back and dial off some top on the OH's, and whatever else you have boosted up around 10k and over, and let the mastering engineer (or you) just put a little air on the whole mix.

Maybe flatten out the top end on the snare too, as in this case it actually seems like it's taking away from the snap and punch. Find some mids that fill it out, pull those up. Dial in some 250hhz on the snare to give it some weight.

Easy on all the verb too. Take it all off, and add it slowly, little by little. The way it is now, it's eating up your real estate some.

Try dialing out some treble either on the send to the verb, or the return. Or on the plugin itself if that's the way you work.

It's a good song, good performance, you can hear the decent gear, but it sounds like plugins galore, used rampantly. Maybe don't eq and process so much.

I like the song!

Good luck man!
john

[role_65]

Dig the tune, Agree with all of the above. The vox were a little out front for me ( volume wise) but that's my taste, also could use a little more low end on kick. Not that far away to me. do the above and you'll be real close.

[lovesickmusic]

thanks guys...any advice for making things "wide" or "deep"?

[NEWTON IN ORBIT]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

thanks guys...any advice for making things "wide" or "deep"?

Yeah, don't over compress. It can bring stuff up front, which is the opposite of "deep".

It also brings up the low level detail, and the mix won't be as deep from top to bottom, if that makes any sense. You will be able to hear so far into the mix with over compression, there is no "mystery" or blackness left in the background. Stuff needs to trail off into space like in real life, if you can swing it.

Reverb can help, but it can also work against you if laid on too thick, or the wrong reverb. Old plates are good for getting depth, at least I think moreso than convo verbs.

Wide...I don't really like width processors much. I'd rather do it in production, rather than processing in post. Double parts, put them hard L/R, and mic the kit that way to start with. Use ORTF, or wide space pair instead of x/y.

Do you have two gtrs in there now? I can't remember, but if not, try to double and pan them out. Some say you have to double extremely tight or this doesn't work, but I don't feel that way all the time. There have been many mixes with just similar parts right and left that sound thick as a bastard.

There are all kinds of things you can do, dry one side, wet the other (verb or delay), pan things deliberately off center, like vocals ala Beatles, Jimi Hendrix etc.

Chorus/pitch, panned out. All kinds of modulation effects.

Recently, I used a telephone / megaphone type filter on one side of a lead vocal, and the straight up vocal on the other during some trippy verses. Boosted just a bit more upper mids on the telephone side, and it gave a really cool effect IMO. Even in phones. At least I thought so.

Usually I just run it up the center.

Delay guitar parts 20 or so ms, and pan them with some pitch added to one (or not), you can do similar with vox. Split a mono track into two tracks, eq them seperately...you name it.

Reamp / re-mic stuff in real space with two mics, pan them out with the original up the center.

Compression can kill your width too, if over used. You can squash all of your stereo imaging cues.

I'm sure others have many tricks.
I'm curious myself as to what people have to say about the width thing. There are several people here that I respect greatly, would be cool to hear from them.

I'm always learning too, and sometimes I stick to old formulas too much. Play it too safe so I don't have to do many remixes ;0) I know, that sounds horrible, but budgets ain't the same anymore, and it's harder to get the time to experiment as much.

One thing I am curious about, is the old analog width processors, like at EMI etc. I'm sure this would change my opinion on them. Whatever they were doing, sounded effing great back then.

Sorry for the long post (bored, and snowing like a mofo here). I hope others join in with some tips so I can try some new sh*t out.

Thanks for starting the thread!
john

[syntheticrhyme]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

i took my time and use great gear (UA pres, Focusrite Pres, Neumann Mics, etc etc) and everything I have tried makes my mixes sound thin and cheap. I want it to sound crisp and clean but it just sounds like i used shotty gear...are there certain freq or some to duck to avoid this? Also i would like you guys to hear this.....whats the best way to post an mp3 here?

thanks

just had a quick listen. Stop using focusrite pres. Snare sounds a little brittle (fatten it up, and overall the drums could use a better mix). For the snare just duplicate one channel, filter out a bit of the highs, boost in the 250-350 range (use your ears). The vocal is to processed and not sitting in the mix as well as it could. Bass could be a little beefier too. Effects wise, you can try maybe subtle or filtered delays on some guitars to fill out the spectrum. I'm not liking the tone of the acoustic guitar (maybe you should have mic'd it closer, or in a better room

[lovesickmusic]

thanks for all of your advise....one more thing. Lets talk vocal....i agree that instead of it fitting inside of the song, its just sitting on top of it, like its to a track....any suggestions to make it sit in there?

[blaarg]

Originally Posted by lovesickmusic

California ROUGH by secretsounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

here you guys go. be easy.

that sounds really good and workable, not as bad as you made it sound. although, whenever i do my mixes i always try to get it full and 'heavy' as possible so that it bumps where-ever it's played.

[blaarg]

Originally Posted by ShadowAMD

Let's hear it

My room treatment cost nearly double that.

keep a lookout i'm recording some stuff this week. but lol now that i've heard what people consider a cheap sound on here, that song sounds perfect just needs to be fixed to get a fuller sound..... my stuff is definitely waaaaaaaaay cheaper sounding.. but hey, i do what i can with what i have

[Snatchman]

Definately have heard lots worse....Not bad at all..Continue and remember, you can work on the mix until it's right...Good luck..

[Unclenny]

Originally Posted by syntheticrhyme

just had a quick listen.

Me too.

Sounds pretty good....hardly cheap at all.

Kudos to NEWTON for great instructional posts.

[lovesickmusic]

thanks guys. i am tweaking this thing as we speak. thanks for all the kind words.