Mixing Advice...

[B-Muzik]

Okay so I have finished mixing this music production track and its minus the vocals but for some reasons its just not sitting like I would like for it to...Can someone please give some suggestions on what to do to get it to sit sit right...? Thanks in advance


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[Darm]

wait, there's no vocals?

[feedback711]

that backround loop of the guitar would work better if you made it a stereo pan. so create another track with the same loop on it and pan one left and one right. this will make it still sound centered and wide depending on how much you pan it but it will leave the center open for your vox to sit. research spectral mixing and learn your eq. add more bottom to the kick maybe notch a small amount around 350k to 450.. sweep the area cut the mud to make the bottom stand out more. small boost around 63hz will do or use waves r bass just dont over kill.
do a sweep with your snare and cut out some where around700hz to take away that cup sound. remember you can also think ahead about where your vox sit normally and do small notches in all your instruments to create alittle headroom for your vox. so my vox have clear mids around 3.2hz so i might do a tiny notch in the synth tracks that are in stereo pan to create some space. i might do the same with the snare. only on the snare i will notch maybe some out of 230hz. cause that is where my mid lows sit nice. i will do a bit of spectral mixing on all the instruments. even though in real spectral mixing you wont touch the volume on any tracks. you just mix with the eq and panning. but it is really hard and if you dont have good gear spectral mixing is like drawing in the dark.

turn down your snare as well alittle.
glue your kick and bass line togeher with some minor side chaining with a compressor

always remember with eq cut narrow and boost wide. but not too wide. image your sounds. create a enviorment with panning and eq leaving a nice wide hole for the vox to sit

[B-Muzik]

okay! that sounds like a bit much...can u explain what u mean by sweep? its seems that i might be doin what u are sayin but im missing the terms ur using?..please explain...Yeah when I put the vocals in I can mix it a little better...cuz now its kinda hard to do that...Yeah i like the bass the way it is...it was designed to be too punchy or boomy but kinda tight and subtle u know...ill try pannin the guitar to make it sound bigger...

[feedback711]

Originally Posted by B-Muzik

okay! that sounds like a bit much...can u explain what u mean by sweep? its seems that i might be doin what u are sayin but im missing the terms ur using?..please explain...Yeah when I put the vocals in I can mix it a little better...cuz now its kinda hard to do that...Yeah i like the bass the way it is...it was designed to be too punchy or boomy but kinda tight and subtle u know...ill try pannin the guitar to make it sound bigger...

i dont think you understand what i am saying. the changes i suggested will not change the intentions of your sounds. it will only create space for your vox. the beat will sound the same. infact you realy wont hear much difference at all till you put the vox on it. then you will hear your beat as you intended it and hear the vox clearly

see i can tell your kinda new at mixing. which is not bad but you have to keep a open mind. i am not trying to change your work. only make it more audible and flexable. believe me notching parts of the eq is great. your removing small db levels of frequencies that do nothing but steal the head room from your mix. but it will make it more clear and prestine.



to do a sweep you have to set a narrow bandwith on a band in your eq. raise the db level on that notch all of the way up. now move that band you have selected back and forth in the spectrum. when you cross a freq that is muddy you will hear a unclear mudded version of your sound. stop where the problem is most and then return the volume to normal then lower it by like 2 to 3 db. more if needed untill you can no longer make out the mud



panning the guitar on a set of stereo tracks will not make it larger. the idea is to put the sound on side on the left side of the vox and the other on the rightso that the guitar will not take up the space the vox sit in.
cutting some from the kick will not change the way the bass and the kick sound it will make em work together better really bringing out the effect you had intended.
deductive editing is what this is called. and it will preserve every intention you had for the beat. but you wanted to know how to get the vox to sit in the mix. and this is how, well one of many ways but this is a start

[feedback711]

MySpace.com - Special k BEAT PAGE Feedback - UNITED STATES, Kansas - Hip Hop / Chinese pop / Comedy - www.myspace.com/beatsbyfeedback



check out this link. beat one was made by me only i put accapellas from major artist over it and you can hear how the vox sit in the mix and beat is still live even with three different vox chaines.

all of the instruments in this mix are on a paired set of stereo channels

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by feedback711

MySpace.com - Special k BEAT PAGE Feedback - UNITED STATES, Kansas - Hip Hop / Chinese pop / Comedy - www.myspace.com/beatsbyfeedback



check out this link. beat one was made by me only i put accapellas from major artist over it and you can hear how the vox sit in the mix and beat is still live even with three different vox chaines.

all of the instruments in this mix are on a paired set of stereo channels

Good sounding shit man, feeling the vibe of that first beat on the page.

[feedback711]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

Good sounding shit man, feeling the vibe of that first beat on the page.

Well thank you very much. I feel like i am starting to advance to the next level in my production. It is not spectacular but i can see how the things i am learning is influencing my style into something better. Now my goal is to keep learning and growing and maybe, just maybe , with enough drive and desire i can accomplish my dream of being able to make a career outa music. But the road is still far and long

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by feedback711

Well thank you very much. I feel like i am starting to advance to the next level in my production. It is not spectacular but i can see how the things i am learning is influencing my style into something better. Now my goal is to keep learning and growing and maybe, just maybe , with enough drive and desire i can accomplish my dream of being able to make a career outa music. But the road is still far and long

Yea I hear ya man. The way I like to perceive it as is your style is not something that you try to create on your own, but instead just something that grows and developes through your experiences. Maybe that is also why its easy to spot and identify some guys who just come off as being fake or manufactured, and guys who just seem more raw and original.

In your case, when I listened to the tracks, I was able to sense creativity and originality in what you did. Some guys out there make really good stuff, but (especially in the case of soundclick) that stuff sometimes lacks that original feel that moves me. Hearing your tunes was refreshing in the sense that I actually had the urge to listen to each track all the way through, which doesn't happen with too much tracks I hear from people off of myspace.

All in all, through my experiences I have came to think that someones style comes from the person they were yesterday; the person they are today; the cat they will be tomorrow, and the guy they will be a year from now.

I respect what I see you doing though. Im basically on the same type of tip as well, so I can easily relate. At the moment I am currently reviewing offers and ultimately deciding what road I shall take with my career as an artist and also a producer and mix engineer. To tell you the truth man, right now more than anything I just feel like rapping and making good music first and foremost. I think come the next month or two I will have my decisions figured out and start negotiating for what I want. At the same time I'm trying to work out details for opening my first, very own commercial studio. Things are actually going pretty well with that so everything is just crazy and busy, having me running all over the place to get shit done. Its what I love to do though, so it NEVER gets boaring for me.

I think when its said and done, I can see guys like yourself and I pulling a Dr.Dre and just influencing the world with our style, and then just kicking back in the studio all day helping others with theirs.

[feedback711]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

Yea I hear ya man. The way I like to perceive it as is your style is not something that you try to create on your own, but instead just something that grows and developes through your experiences. Maybe that is also why its easy to spot and identify some guys who just come off as being fake or manufactured, and guys who just seem more raw and original.

In your case, when I listened to the tracks, I was able to sense creativity and originality in what you did. Some guys out there make really good stuff, but (especially in the case of soundclick) that stuff sometimes lacks that original feel that moves me. Hearing your tunes was refreshing in the sense that I actually had the urge to listen to each track all the way through, which doesn't happen with too much tracks I hear from people off of myspace.

All in all, through my experiences I have came to think that someones style comes from the person they were yesterday; the person they are today; the cat they will be tomorrow, and the guy they will be a year from now.

I respect what I see you doing though. Im basically on the same type of tip as well, so I can easily relate. At the moment I am currently reviewing offers and ultimately deciding what road I shall take with my career as an artist and also a producer and mix engineer. To tell you the truth man, right now more than anything I just feel like rapping and making good music first and foremost. I think come the next month or two I will have my decisions figured out and start negotiating for what I want. At the same time I'm trying to work out details for opening my first, very own commercial studio. Things are actually going pretty well with that so everything is just crazy and busy, having me running all over the place to get shit done. Its what I love to do though, so it NEVER gets boaring for me.

I think when its said and done, I can see guys like yourself and I pulling a Dr.Dre and just influencing the world with our style, and then just kicking back in the studio all day helping others with theirs.

If i could pull that off i be the happiest dude alive, lol I like music so much that helping people with theres is fun as well. as long as they are not dumb

[tonyscarbones]

feedback, can u explain how to do the side chaining with compression of the kick and bassline in a similar way you explained the eq sweeps?

[feedback711]

Originally Posted by tonyscarbones

feedback, can u explain how to do the side chaining with compression of the kick and bassline in a similar way you explained the eq sweeps?

you can also do this in fl using the peak controller. but under normal daw feel it would go kinda like this.

most people side chain a kick with the bass line but if you think about what it is you can apply side chaining to alot of stuff to really help bring out a small part in the mix

how it works is you would take a side chaining compressor plug(download a free one at KVR AUDIO.COM) AN PUT IT ON THE CHANNEL YOUR BASS IS ON.whoops the sidechaining compressor has a routing dialog that will allow you to sync it up to another channel. in our case the kick. once the to are routed through each other every time the kick hits the compressor will kick in on the bass lowering the level of the bass via compression to allow the kick some breating room. this makes great kicksnot get flooded out by bass. also its makes it easier for those who are not the best at eq yet. now of couse you set a attact time and a release. cause you just want the compressor to kick in when the kick triggers it. so play with the release and attact to find settings that you like. and dont over compress other wise you will hear audible volume fluxes though the whole song....... hope this helped