Anjunabeat inspired

Okay, So I have been working on this track for about a few days. I am really liking to outcome so far, but as for my limited production skills… Is there any particular way I should be designing my supersaws/processing them? During the bridge, it seems to fit in nicely. But during the Chorus section when collapsed to mono, the supersaws sound wayyy too thin and flat.

I have tried double tracking and spreading them out using LCR techniques using reverbs/effects, it seemed like it was working until I collapsed it into mono and everything just sounded muddy. :sweat_smile:

Should I just start with a mono saw, then another instance of a synth while slowly adding more unison/detuning incrementally then use M/S eq to increase stereo width within the mid-higher frequencies?

https://soundcloud.com/andytheyoo/slx-slate

Hey there @andytheyoo

Wasn’t sure where this track was going listening to the intro & first part to be honest, but then came the break. Nice sounds in there and the second part works better than the first one IMO. Sounds are more defined, it’s less cluttered & busy, more pleasant.

Yes, same here when listening to mono, the mix became thin and muddy, especially everything synths & effects, the drums retain good mono compatibility. As for answering your question for the synth sound design & process, it’s a tricky one I must say. As soon as you start to use Unison the sound will spread out a lot. Using 2 oscillators with less voices, one OSC panned L and the other R can help (if your virtual synth allows to do this).

M/S eq is also quite tricky to setup. It’s a very good technique but not that easy to nail & to get right, it can drastically impact the mix, you need to make gentle changes in the EQ curves, boosting a small amount of db on the sides and targeting the right frequency area but with a broad Q factor. Boosting too much with a narrow Q can make everything sounds harsh and bring unwanted resonance.

You also have a noise layer ( not sure if this is part of a synth sound or a layer on it’s own ) that takes a lot of energy from your synth, could be filtered & attenuated in volume IMO.

Some people still prefer to mix in Mono first and adjust the stereo later on during Mixdown stage, some really don’t pay too much attention to Mono anymore since more & more playback systems aren’t just Mono but Stereo. So that’s all arguable in the end.

Not sure if that’s answering your question but again , it’s a tricky area, not that easy to get right :sunglasses:

Hmm, also forgot to mention this course which might be a good one to refer to. ( Those series from Protoculture are going quite in depth, it’s the type of course that you need to come back to & watch several time to get the best out of them, but definitely worth the time IMO ).

@Tekalight

The idea I had in my head for this track was more for a party/club scenario. Hard hitting and ethereal was the goal I was going for? :sweat_smile: haha

White noise is definitely present within the synths. I did cut all frequencies above 10k with a very hard curve,
I also have crash cymbals hitting on a 4/4 during the Chorus. They were a little harsh so I placed a De-esser on them (not sure if that was a good or bad decision)

I don’t know why I am so obsessed with having my mix translate well in mono… I guess it might be the satisfaction of knowing that I can, or that it’s a handy thing to know and achieve. Either way, I think it’s really important to know all aspects of sound regardless.

As for sound design, we all know that it’s a rabbit hole :innocent:

For protocultures course, I am definitely referencing his videos time to time. You are right, I am always coming back to the videos to pick out more bits of information and to really set them into my head.

1 Like