Too much bass and very prominent hi-mids. Very flat sounding. Could go a bit wider in the stereo field without giving up mono-comp.

But nothing spectacular. As some already said, there's too much processing on the master. Give it a little more dynamics, and try to mix it more subtle. When you don't need much on the master, that's when you're done mixing.

 

That's part of your problem. You are compressing it to death.

There's nothing wrong with using headphones, but you do need to use the right type. Do not use closed back headphones to mix in, you can't judge the bass properly, so you end up with a dull muddy low end.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SR850
Cheap, and very good, can hear what the bass is doing. Then wear them for everything. Listen to music, watch movies in them, sleep in them. Get to know your cans inside out, and know how every thing sounds on them. Check how the translate to other devices and speakers.
Do you pan your instruments? It sounds like everything is panned to the middle. You should only be panning and adjusting volume at the start of mixing. Pan you instruments into place instead of trying to cut them in.
The track itself is pretty good. Try laying off the multiple compressors and EQ's a bit.

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2017

Agree, Teknomage. Based on an issue with thin walls and my neighbours, I'm also (forced to) mix with open headphones. Closed ones, even expensive ones, tend to sound too "bass insensitive" (good for DJs in loud clubs for beatmatching, bad for producers). Watch for the impedance; as a rule of thumb, HPs with more ohms tends to have a more linear frequency response (but a lower relative loudness, which shouldn't be an issue for studio mixing).

But at the end of the day (or better the day after), one should listen to his/her mix on a good sound system – no other way to >feel< the subs. And of course from time to time on not-so-good systems since it should sound ok also on those.

In total doubt, use analyzers like Voxengo SPAN (there is a free edition) or, my favourite, Melda's MAnalyer, also for free (note most professional producers wouldn't recommend that and would advice making music with ears and not with eyes – I personally don’t care).

In general, the "top 3 issues" why mixes sounds muddy are:

1. Messed up subs (using lowcut for *some* tracks/buses helps often, but only do so if needed since you might get problems with #3 otherwise [if not using LP EQs])

2. Too less headroom / frequency collisions – try to use instruments within octaves that harmonize, don’t mess with the drums and hell don’t forget the 2-5 K feqs which are most sensitive to the human ear (=my favourite mistake); don’t try to EQ those afterwards – if nothing is there to be EQed, nothing can be gained…

3. Stereo spread/phase issues (check for mono compatibility as tulamide said)

 

So, all in all, these are my main problems:

-Spend more time on mixing

-Learn to EQ properly

-Less processing on the master

-Im overdoing bass

-To much compression

-More dynamics

-Wider stereo field

-Group tracks by type

-Use analyzers

if im forgetting something pls tell me,
thanks again for all the replies

 

So my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (80 ohm) wont work for producing/mixing/mastering??
i guess it was a bad choice...

 

I wouldnt its a bad choise but you need a different place to listen to your mix, so you can come back home and "fix" whatever you hear on another set of speakers that doesnt "translate" as intended (how you want it to sound like)

also nobody have mentioned that its a really good practice to mix using refference tracks. That way you have something to compare what you are working on to something that is "radio ready quality". It works as a way for you to "aim for".

here on AS we got a wealth of information lined up for you
https://audiosex.pro/threads/audiosex-academy-part-i-mixing.7508/

 

Jesus, nooo.. These are good ones, see the specs & ratings. I meant one should have a look at the impedance value of HP before buying, but shouldn't take it too serious - it's maybe compareable like a car with 4 vs. 6 gears - both have advantages and disadvantages. And 80 isn't that low, note that the value growths exponentially and most closed systems have far less.

In case you still want other ones, I would change my 400 Ω ones (I don't say which) against urs =) ;)

[EDIT: 300 not 400]

 

@GorkaMinus No, it is not about exactly what headphones you use. It is about being familiar with their frequency response. For example, about your headphones it is said that they are a bit weak in the mids due to overemphasizing subbass frequencies. You must be aware of it and should not try to bring up the mids to a point where they sound good on your headphones.
To achieve that you have to listen to lots of audio with your headphones and compare your mixes against professional ones, to hear the differences and then correct your mix. Pretty much all headphones will do. You just need to be comfortable with them (in understanding what you hear, see above)

 

Not at all. They are very good cans, but I would advise you to get open or semi open backs, for when you are working on the low frequencies, as it will be alot easier for you, but It's always good to have more than one set of cans.

 

Panning. Start off your mix with panning and levels only first. Then only if you have to, use EQ to cut.

 

interesting, it sounds like if you would have used your mobile to record what what coming out of the speakers...

you could mix the track (s) as good as you are able to without attempting to master it, and then upload the result (direct url if you don't want to go public with your experiment).

that would cast much light on whats really going on here with your mixes.


or upload two versions:
a: a mix, only channel effects, nothing on the master channel.
b: a levels/volume mix only without any eq or sound processing.

that should sound MUCH better and we would finally know what the problems is.

cheers

 

Last edited: Mar 25, 2017

Start from scratch. Get your levels and panning right first before doing anything else. Get your kick sounding great then build everything else around that. Leave the kick at that level until you're happy with how the loudest part of the song sounds. In your case I'd say the 'drop', right?

For the kind of music you're creating, the kick needs to be punchy and subby but never overbearing. Aside from all the technical mixing aspects, what I'm mainly getting is that you have little to no macro or micro dynamics in the songs. Everything is just too loud and quickly begins to hurt the ears after only a short time listening.

Sorry to sound a bit harsh but it sounds like you've used too much processing without really knowing why you're doing it. Mixing should serve the song, it's never just to make things 'loud'. Sometimes we can get lost with so many plugins and effects at our disposal, it seems daunting and we want to use everything. Sometimes being more subtle is better. Start again and pick just say one compressor and an EQ and only use those plugins to mix your song. I can guarantee you'll make something better and more dynamic because you'll have to be subtle and inventive to make it work. Limit yourself and you'll be forced to be more creative with less tools.

Try to mix quieter, EQ elements to work with each other and get rid of nasty frequencies that sound harsh. Set your levels to the loudest part of your song then bring down elements after/ before that in arranging each section and try to create more dynamics. In synths, this could be with more subtle velocity editing, filters, EQ and effects like chorus for example, drums and percussion simply need refining and EQing to fit better. Pan more elements to their own space in the stereo field or mess with them for interesting effects.

Work on a solid kick to bass relationship with less distortion and build upon that, fitting things together like a jigsaw with everything taking its own small amount of frequency real estate in order to fit into the bigger picture. Use reverb to put things in spaces and give things more of a vibe. Give certain elements more or less reverb to create better stereo depth in the mix and give emphasis to interesting melody lines and make more ambient ones sit back.

Something that helps me is to have a similar mix I think is killer by someone else in my project that I constantly flick between as a reference track. This puts me back on track if I feel like I'm losing perspective from ear fatigue or whatever else. Use an EQ with a high or low pass, sweep and constantly listen to your mix and the reference to see if you stand up against a professional track. This will help you ten-fold! I never mix without a reference now!

I hope that helps and again apologies if that comes across as harsh, but those were my initial thoughts. You have some great musical ideas but they are just executed in a way that doesn't help them to shine.

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2017

Hello again!

i mixed and mastered a track taking ur advices.

i spent much more time on mixing than i did in the other tracks, i used less compression and EQed every sound as best i could.

i used analyzers and i took some tracks for reference.

these were some of my reference tracks:

TroyBoi - OG
TroyBoi - Sensei
Keys N Krates - Dum Dee Dum (JiKay Remix)
Aero Chord - Surface

obviously the track itself its unfinished (the drop is more or less finished) and the structure of the song makes no sense but i think its enought to spot were my problems are
(also the part from 1:00 to 1:45 makes no sense but its just to test how a sound without a separate sub sounds xD)

ok, so this is the mixdown, with a clean master:

www.soundcloud.com/user-101649978/mixdown/s-Y7u7R

and i made 2 mastered versions:

Mastered v1:
www.soundcloud.com/user-101649978/mastered-v1/s-XNV5c

This is what the master channel looks like:


Mastered v2:
www.soundcloud.com/user-101649978/mastered-v2/s-8xl2d

This is what the master channel looks like:


let me know what you think, did i even improve or does it still sound the same??

 

Great teary Willy pic, cracked me up.

Only listened to your "unmastered" version. Coming along very nicely man! Atmospheric, the music's good, really moves you. You're ALMOST there, you don't need more effects and "mastering", you need less and an understanding of what exactly they do. And not "in theory", but what they do to YOUR TRACK. Your track's feel. If you focus on this, you can now go from bedroom producer to 10000s of fans with your music and just a single easy comp + eq on your master before limiter.

Reason I didn't even listen to the others is that you're doomed when it comes to the "mastering". I wouldn't worry about the "mastering" too much, fuck it man. You simply don't have the equipment or the knowledge to do it properly at the moment.

So what you can do instead is get your mixes together first. Listeners don't actually give much of a damn about how good your mastering is, only other music nerds care. Yet, how you mix is what can make or break an awesome track easily, for a listener. It's because it's so emotional. Mastering is just little final touches that guys with $30, 000 consoles and $1.2 mil listening rooms can do for your track. Sometimes they use all that, and they still suck, and can't do a good job either. It's that subtle and refinement-oriented, it's only useful when your track's 95% perfect already, you're just trying to grab that difficult last 5% still.

So you focus on making the mixes exciting, then on the master channel be very minimalistic and laugh at people who use 15 different plugins on theirs. Go at it with full recognition that you have no idea WTF you're doing, just put on that magic MJUC comp and one easy EQ, and use only that to feed your limiter (lightly!). For the limiter, get the Sturgis Finality Lite. It's a very good sound for your genre, and only like 3 knobs, all of which you CAN understand and use properly after a day or two. There's also a Finality Advanced, for when you want more stuff to tweak after 6-9months of using the Lite and now understanding exactly what it does to your sound and what you like/dislike about what it does.



I mean look at it, it's two big fat knobs. And the one on the right is literally just a volume control. The dancing needle is a familiar VU meter, shows approximately how many dB of your dynamic range the compressor is "eating". You can master this, and know exactly what every setting of every knob sounds like. That's exactly what you need. Meanwhile it's a very good comp, among the very the best in software.

When you master your Klanghelm MJUC (meaning you can get all kinds of different moods and sounds out of it, at will), look at adding a multiband comp to your arsenal. Again, a simple one. I can recommend the MetricHalo Multiband. This will let you feel like you're in control of the bass and overall balance of anything. But before you can "feel" anything, you need to master the single compressor, otherwise you just won't be able to feel why you even need the multiband or when. It's that's feeling where you know you want it to do X, but no matter what settings you try, it's not doing it.... then you look at the multiband, and easily dial up what you wanted. Great, great feeling.

PS: After more listening, if you ask me - Mastered#2 was nice, for sure a vast improvement. Mastered#1 you're still overdoing bass. In #2 you're underdoing it a little and overdoing other things... But that's how it goes, no worries. Use the simple methods you now understand, and try to make it sound somewhere inbetween your #1 and #2 using only those 2-3 handpicked plugins. Pick someone else's finished track to use as a reference for yours as you work (flip to it for a listen, then back to yours often). Doing this will help you not overcook the bass so much. Don't be afraid to cut the reference track with brutal EQ, so you only listen to the part you want to compare, ie. bass. Your results after some focused work and listening, will blow everyone away & they will have no idea how basic the tools you did it with were...

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017

My guess is you don't own a subwoofer. Get one. Please!!

 

I would like to say that in mixing and especially mastering a little goes a long way. Meaning less processing is usually more.

A very important thing is to follow at least some rules, and when you succeed at getting a good mix/master build upon that knowledge.

I will tell you one really useful rule: Try mixing without any EQ and compressors first. Just modulation and other FX, pan pots, and faders. This will force you to make it sound good without them. Trust me this is very important. This rule will also help you not to worry too much about mixing and mastering while doing arrangement. When you start piling EQs and compressors [god forbid limiters!] early in the process it can only make you lose too much time with mixing. It's a distraction from what counts the most: the song itself. Try to separate science from the spiritual. Mix another time, on fresh ears. Master another time, on fresh ears.

Cheers!

 

My guess is you didn't read the thread. Read it. Please!!

 

get a pair of decent monitor will definitely help.

 

can't fix what you can't hear. All them fancy plugin will not help especially. Take your laptop to Guitar Center n run your outputs thru some hi-end gears. Use their headphone output and you'll realize what is missing.

 

I think the music was fine, and the issue in your mixes is that you tweak the sounds in isolation, and then EQ the shit of everything to make them fit in the mix. Don't do that, it's messing up the entire frequency response. Always keep the big picture intact in your head, every little processing should be coherent to how you want the song to sound like and feel like. Hope this helps .