Ever since i started producing, i have noticed that my tracks arent quite as loud and full as i want them to be, and no amount of mixing or addition of audio effects to my sounds will let me achieve the rich, full sound im looking for. I also seem to have a problem with my tracks sounding different on different speakers. It sound perfect and well mixed at my house through ableton, and even sounds great when i export it and listen to it in itunes or WMP. It gets a bit discouraging when i listen to my track on my speakers and it sounds great and full but when i try and show some of my friends my work it comes out mixed wrong.
With that being said, what could be the issue im having? I currently dont have sound card or recording interface, would grabbing either or both of those help my situation? Or is it just the way im mixing my tracks?
Thanks guys.
What monitors have you got?
I would say that this is an issue everyone has while learning. The advice everyone gives is to listen to your track on as many different systems as possible, in the car, on iPod, on your mates Hi-Fi. You will then learn how your monitors translate to other systems.
Ok theres about 1000 things that you may or may not need that will improve the sound you want.
Now i cant list a 1000 things but i will give you one tip that will help your tracks sound more ‘right’.
One thing you are probably not doing is creating an ambient space for your mix. With this i mean using reverb. What you want to do is make it seem that your track is being played by instruments which are all in the same spaceor in the same room.
The key is being subtle, you dont wanna overdo it and use reverb as a creatve effect IE giving stuff huge long reverb tails etc. Even if you have reverb on say your lead or your snare and its nice and long thats fine but you wanna set up two reverbs on a aux track. then apply carefull amounts to all your different components. The major factor is subtlety. You dont want an overly noticable reverb as all your doing is trying to create an ambient space. So be gentle.
When you master this, you wont be able to really directly hear it, but in your subconscious all will seem ‘right’. This is often a process that gets heavily over looked and its something that all proffesional producers do. I guarantee that if you mess around with this, your tracks will start sounding a lot better.
Jan & Ant are both right…
I think the whole thing is a process & like any reflective practice, you have to be critical in your analysis, then change. Each time you listen, you should try & change the process in some way, cos it’ll just happen again. Harder done than said… Totally gets in the way of the music.
I personally use chorus a lot more on stuff now to keep sh!t sounding alive, and grainy reverbs. Also try to widen stuff where possible.
I’ll also keep checking stuff in a spectrum analyser to see where the spaces are & chose sounds to fill in. Sometimes, if needed, I’ll layer sounds an octave, or make a chord… normally in relation to the key of the track.
I find layering gives more oommph & power than just throwing a magic compressor on. Obvious, but you get all the freq’s. You’ll probably still filter out the lows, but the extra presence will remain.
Fx chains are important too… as in the sequence of where you put things. Comps doing diff jobs, lightly compressing… a few filters at different points, again doing diff.jobs. Find I prefer to use the wet/dry on stuff on inserts, to add a flavour, rather than overpower.
Dunno if thats of any help… but there ya go anyway 
and another advice. it takes really a long time to Mix Properly . 70% of people ask the wrong questions: for example how can i make my synth to sound BIG or Loud!!!
usually most of them is related to mixing their music properly.rather than just a shortcut that will take you nowhere.
mix properly and practice as much as you can .
Yeah everything being said is very true. I agree with layering and its very much in the mixdown. Creating an ambient space is part of the mixdown. Also you have to look at what processors your using. An Ssl compressor is gonna make your sounds sound alot better than someone who is using the ableton compressor etc.
Nah just wing it 
Only joking - it takes practise and a lot of time
Individually smaller sounds = clearer louder image of the whole !!
[quote]egg2 (02/09/2011)[hr]Individually smaller sounds = clearer louder image of the whole !!:)[/quote]
Sounds like a you’ve been spending too much time with the zen buddists again egg
Yeah layering isnt just putting 20 different synths on top of each other. You have to see it as ok, I need a low bass a mid bass and a high bass. You have to process/eq the layers so they come together and make a unique full sound.
Some genres of dance music its very hard to make commercial sounding tracks without layering. The reason behind that is that a lot of producers are doing it and tracks are sounding bigger and phatter everyday.
I once read an interview from Chocolate Puma claiming that Laidback Luke has won the “contest” of creating the loudest track. He’s mastered the process of getting the most out of it apparantly…
He masters using headphones as well. The thing with laidback luke is that he sees the loudness war as a challenge. He comes to the process of mastering from a completely different angle than most and actually enjoys trying to be as loud as possible but maintain some dynamics. He and the swedish house mafia even had some sort of mystical, magical top secret mastering chain. They apparantly have a new one now but the old one I think was logics eq and compressor, the waves c1, the vintage warmer and a limiter. The thing is they are very secretive about their methods and how they do it. There are arguments for and against this.
I myself dont like the idea of with holding information in the audio world. You have to think as a dj and think that the more good productions you get sent the more you have to play as a dj or sign to your label and make money off of. The idea of being worried that someone is gonna steal your methods and take your job away from you is a bit ridiculous imo.
You will be happy to know when it comes to mastering I have studied alot and as soon as I get ‘it’ I am gonna make a yoitube vid and post it up. Im pretty close I think and im really pushing stuff to the limit to try Nd achieve loudness. Half the battle does lie in the mixdown tho and mastering will only make a **** mixdown sound **** but a bit louder…
like i said before . doesnt matter how good you are mastering or mixing. if you do **** Music, your track still will sound like ****.
i dont understand why people so obsessed in making the track loud.
that is why i am going back to the school of Rock 
I went through the same problem when i started producing electro house music two years ago. I think the biggest upgrade between my old electro house songs and my new songs was the quality of the drum samples I was using. Look into the vengeance sound sample packs. They fixed the majority of my problem.
Oh yeah and I think the swedish house mafia master their tracks on an actual SSL console rather than using software plugins. That alone will add a mind blowing clarity to your mastering chain.
I personally think its 70% music/idea 25% production 5% mastering
Any of my tracks that did well were just good tunes the production was average at best and we got them mastered at the record plant for £100 which just really made it a bit louder.
Ive made really well produced tracks where the music as been ok and theyve done nothing.
I think production is really important dont get me wrong. I just think strong ideas, Good musicality and originality are what make really sucessful artists.
what phil said. good music is good music. no-2-ways-around it.
When I master a track. It sounds almost identical to the unmastered version.
It’s just louder. With maby a tad of stereo imaging + reverb.
I will also note… which kinda plays off the creating space idea…
Make sure you are panning sounds and placing them within the stereo field.
Utility is your friend.
You want all your sounds walking together side-by-side throughout the song.
If you don’t do this… everything is laying on top of each other. makes your mix muddy.
Use your ears, but try to think about your song visually as if your band was in concert.
You want to imagine your tune is being played by a band. You have to create a space where this band is playing. Also using reverb as an effect is a tad different than using reverb to create ambiance. Like say you have a big epic lead covered with a nice long reverb you will still need to put that lead in the same space as the other ‘band’ members and so you make the ambience.
You want to imagine your tune is being played by a band. You have to create a space where this band is playing. Also using reverb as an effect is a tad different than using reverb to create ambiance. Like say you have a big epic lead covered with a nice long reverb you will still need to put that lead in the same space as the other ‘band’ members and so you make the ambience.
Wath?