Mixing / Sound design

Music Production Music Tech Discussion
1

Hey folks!



Are there any tutorials on mastering or shaping how sounds work together?.

Here’s my problem: whenever I create a track, it sounds pretty good… so I think.

Until you listen to a couple of other songs from other (pro) artists and it sounds completely awful compared.



I’m sure we all know the feeling but I would love to know more about what sound (pad / lead / bass, etc) belongs to what frequencies and stuff.

Just to know how to make a song sound full and ‘well mastered’…



Any help on this would be great.



Just to give you an idea, I put some songs on:

[url=http://www.myspace.com/doubledutchofficial]http://www.myspace.com/doubledutchofficial[/url]



Especially the second one sounds so crappy to me… it’s driving me nuts!!



Thanks guys,



E

2

I’m no expert, but it sounds to me like your levels are off.



How do I know?



Because I just finished a track and realized I’m doing the same thing.



Properly EQ’ing would probably help the elements sit will together regardless of the levels being off, but what it will lack is that awesome depth the pro’s get in their tunes.



People all over have been telling me the most important part of any studio is your monitors, and they are 1000% correct. I’ve resorted to using my ipod headphones to check everything i do against my speakers, because there are tons of things I just can’t hear well through them. Reverbs and anything I want to place in the background specifically.



Your music sounds real good- it just sounds like all the elements are fighting to be in front of one another.

3

Thanks for your reply, Electroatic.



I totally agree with you. It does feel stacked up onto each-other and the second song sounds pretty dull, even in the middle.



Do you have any advice (or know of any good tutorials) that show what type of sound goes into what frequency range?



Also, what monitor speakers do you recommend for electro / trance music?



I really want to get better at this!

Thanks so much,



-E

4

If you pick up a Computer Music issue, they have PDF’s to read. One of them is a frequency chart you can check out. In terms of monitors, they have the best in that field as well in the magazine. I have KRK RPG5’s and I love them. They are also on the less expensive end of the scale and are very highly rated. I would check them out.

5

This should help you out mate



[url=http://www.futuremusic.co.uk/resources/futuremusic/FM_clubmix_dsktp.jpg]http://www.futuremusic.co.uk/resources/futuremusic/FM_clubmix_dsktp.jpg[/url]

6

I just replaced NS-10s with KRK VXTs and it is amazing how much easier it is to get a good mix. Also AVB was doing a Q&A at the Winter Music Conference in April and said “if I can give you 1 tip it would be to get the best monitors you can. If you can’t hear all of the frequencies you are wasting your time.”

7

^^^^^ NS-10’s were designed to sound **** weren’t they ? from what i read if you make it sound good on those it will sound great on anything

8

lol weren’t the NS 10’s actually supposed to be - originally - just hi fi speakers.



Sooo many studios use them though as reference monitors haha.

9

Guys, that’s really great advice!

Thanks Roben, for the frequency chart, that really helps a lot!

Time to dive in and start cleaning up some stuff.



Thanks!

-E

10

I came across [url]http://www.archive.org/details/GuideToMixing[/url] yesterday. Learned a few things from it.



Cheers,



Chris