Hello all,br
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I was not sure where exactly I could put this to get the proper critique and suggestions. But thanks to Sonic Academy I recently completed a track, nothing fantastic, but I am pretty proud to have accomplished this. However, listening to it, I notice the mix seems very timid and not wide. I was creating an uplifting trance track via the James Dymond Course, and a lot of elements in my track do not have the same loudness and sound somewhat muddy. My problem is I don’t currently have the knowledge yet to understand how I can improve that, but if anyone could give me any tips and pointers on my track so that I can improve the ones I do in the future, that would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time guys! br
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https://soundcloud.com/algalontheobserver/algalon-under-heavy-construction br
Had a listen to the track. As you say it’s lacking clarity and punch. I personally don’t think there’s any quick fix for these, it comes down to practise and ear training IMO. I would watch the course again and really concentrate on the EQing and dynamic processing that Dymond uses in each part. br
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It sounds to me like none of your parts are filling the top range over about 12khz, so it would definitely benefit from some high boosting on the percs and leads. For width, basic panning is the best tool, but also try some tremelo on fast hats and get a really nice delay going on the mid basses / acid and try some mid/side EQ if you have it at your disposal. For punch you really just need to sit there and solo the kick and bass and work on them until they sit perfectly together, the kick doesnt have much snap to it at the moment so it’s not really cutting through the mix.br
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Just keep plugging away and every track you make will get better.br
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Thank you so much for the tips man! I really appreciate it mate, cheers! 
Happy to try and help a fellow trance fan out!
Hi mate, br
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This track sounds very dry, I would suggest you revisit each element and try some different effects (delay, reverb) maybe create new sends also with these on there and then use them as an effect for building up too. br
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Practice your EQ’ing by using a high Q on certain frequencies that seem to resonate and could be problematic, over time your ears will hear these without even needing an analyzer. br
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Take some time and patience on each sound and make it the best you think you can get, but always A/B with the mix as a whole, because you can have a killer sound on it’s own but when introduced with everything else really suck as other elements are competing . br
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Hope this helps, and yes revisit the tutorial to see what you can pick up again. br
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-=D
Writing these comments as I listen through to get the first time hear reaction, I may contradict myself.br
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Those hihats that come in are too low in contrast. Different delay time needed on crash, try a ping pong. Notice how the noise effect in the intro washes out the hats. You might want to have the hats stop in this section. Snare roll at 2.45 too loud. I’m tempted to say the hats arn’t the right key to really complement the track by this point. Not overly excited by note progression in brake. Snare roll too loud again on build up. This section needs to pump more and lots. More volume in the roller it’s hardly audible. A much snappier clap with more volume. Noise during outro too loudbr
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Quite god for a first attempt. Especially how you got from beginning to end. Thats what i struggle with the most.
Thank you guys for the critiques and comments. They really have helped me and I am currently working on another track, hopefully will share in the near future to get more insight on where to improve. Cheers!