hello guys I am new here so let me first say hi to everyone and I am glad to be apart of this community you guys got here.

I am very new to audio engineering and I am hoping I could get some pointers to make my mixes a little better, side note I also write music for myself and also other artists.

I am trying to get the first track below to sound more like the second one, thanks in advance for taking the time to help me out.

first track: I am working on this one



second track: that I want my mixes to sound like.
"

 

Last edited: Apr 9, 2018

Honestly, that track you were working is actually going along the right path.
Yes it could be a little louder and the vocals can use some doubling and maybe slight plate reverb.
But your dynamic range is decent, and in the years to come, Dynamic Range will once again be valued over decibels.

That target/example you posted sounds terrible.
It is over compressed to be made louder, and there are a lot of very audible artifacts.
Louder isn't always better.

You must map out what it is you're really after. If it is just loudness, then a limiter can get you there.
Dynamic Compression/EQ can be achieved with a multiband compressor.

Check this out, b/c I like what you are trying to do, and I see great potential, I'll share this:
Look into Plugin Alliance's Dynamic Spectrum Mapper (DSM). That's all I'll say.

Anyway, welcome to the mixing world, where the learning never stops.

 

Thank you for the advice I am not nessesary looking for louder persay, thing is I am trying to get my music heard and the second track is from an established artist so I thought getting my mixes to sound similar would give me better chances.

Kinda wondering about that now though I dont nessesarily want to sound like everyone else, what I really want is to get better mixes overall so I will look into what plate reverb is and also on the note of the double, I did add one but I turned it down really low due to the fact that my recording environment is kinda bad and I am not sure if that is what is causing the issue but when i turn tracks up to listen it on high volumes it gets really muddy.

thanks for the plug in tip I will look into it right now.

Ps. I will probably ask a lot of newbie questions lol just a headsup

 

what your vocal needs is loooottts of processing,
I realize this is a remix or some sort (the alkaline track), but I'm pretty sure Alkaline records with live (auto-)Tune

 

is it better to record with live auto tune? I am not a huge fan of over processed vocals although I would love to be able to get vocals sounding as good as I can.

 

Hey Floyd, Welcome to Audiosex

First off since your very new to the game its best to educate your self with tips and techniques from the those in the business and gain insight how most stages of a song/mix takes place. Our Educational Fourm/Working with Sound Fourm contains a wealth of information, but also the members here.

See here for books/Youtube vids

 

No autotune, it will fuck up your track. I still don´t understand why people use it, terrible sound. You could try some lite smooth distortion or saturation

 

Thanks for the warm welcome, I will most definetly make use of the working with sound section and I welcome any tips that will lead to a better mix.

I will take a look at the links you shared, thanks.
I will definetly be going through all or at least most of these one by one, I should be ok since I already have a basic understanding of a the basics

I have my own issues with autotune so I definetly understand and also agree but I am willing to experiment. my plan is to use it on some tracks and not all though and even so I would prefer to not drown my songs in auto tune aswell but the kids these days seem to love the overprossesd vocals they are getting from most of these manufactured artists these days so I was thinking it would help someone like me who is actually working on my vocals so I can get the best nartual performace/recording possible and also to mix other artists who may prefer to use autotune.

 

but then how is he going to make his mixes to sound like the track he provided?

ofc if alkaline has a awkward troath disease I sincirely apologies....

 

Welcome along. It's good to see you here.

Let me start by saying, in your mind imagine both tracks without vocals for a second. Now play both tracks again and tell me where the main synth is on the first track, because to my ears it is barely audible. Now for the kick. Your kick contains way too much in the sub bass area, so EQ that out to provide more space for bass (Because that is barely audible too)
Only THEN would I start concerning myself with the vocals!

I appreciate everyone has their own way of working, but for me, I like to get the track how I want it as an instrumental before adding the vocal. (With this genre of music.. Hip Hop too)
Now, talking about the vocal. Correct EQing (Compression perhaps) and reverb all seem to be missing from the first track!

SO.once the instrumental is correct. I turn the volume down by 3- 6 DB, add the vocal, and build back up together with SPL transient designer.

Oh and don't forget if you do it this way, to add the vocals to the sides whilst keeping the Mids heavily eq'd

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018

You just have your vocal on top, you need to mix the two together.

Lets talk about what you've done and why before we can start saying do this and that... lets define what this and that is.

It could be source material vs recorded material, gain staging, w/e, its easier to see what you are doing and then suggest something different than it is to suggest something random... it's just going to get confusing and maybe you find your own way or maybe you just get mad ....

So Monsieur Floyd.... what have you done, how, using what and why. Show and tell.

 

I added eq to my vocals and cut most of the low end out around 180hz -24 db since I was trying to get that high in your face sound, though I figure I did something wrong here.

I also added auto tune after the record i did not record with auto tune live i have another 4 band eq that i used to boost around the 1500 range aswell as around 15000k again to try to bring out the highs more since I was trying to get a similar sound to the alkaline song

below are examples of my settings for the main vocal I have since added distortion and a DSM but I am unfamilar with both so dont laugh if my curret settings are crap lol.

edit: now going through idiots guide to mixing and the fundementals of mixing on youtube

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2018

OK.

You have a pre-mixed 2 channel soundtrack and you are adding you vocals, vocal effects and 1 shots to it.

1) You have boosted the vocal enough, it doesn't need to get any brighter. Generally you add or remove frequencies based on the sound you have which is a function that depends on the microphone and the singer. You seem to have a somewhat dark microphone so all those boosts and cuts have just left you mid-forwards between 600 and 1200.

2) You are dealing with a compressed, limited and full range track that for now seem to either sit under you vocal or overwhelm it.No amount or distortion or 'spectral shaping' on your vocal is going to make it fit because you are making a better and better shaped square peg and it's not going to fit into the round hole in the 'beat' track.

What I would try - and this isn't best way to actually mix music when you have a multi-track, but it works when you want to cobble up a demo on finished 2 track with some new vocals and effects.


- Add some compression to the vocal and have double channel that is a bed under the main channel that is highly compressed and strongly de-essed buss the two channels to a submix bus, lets call this the [Vocal Comp] Bus and EQ out some of the harshness or add some high end if you think the de-esser scrubbed your top off.

- Side-chain triggered at least 4 band MBC multi-band compressor on the 2 track 'beat channel' with the side-chain being the [Vocal Comp] Bus. Leave to low end everything below 220Hz along. Have the MBC (multi band compressor) reduce only no make-up gain - no autogain.

{band1} bypass ~ R1:1 from 0 - 220Hz
{band2} compress ~ R1.5:1 up 2.0:1 with a somewhat a fast attack 8-12ms and a moderate release 180-250ms from 220Hz to 450Hz,
{band3} compress ~ R1.2:1 up 1.6:1 with a somewhat faster attack5-10ms and a moderate release 190-260ms from 450Hz to 600Hz,
{band4} compress ~ R2.0:1 up 4.5:1 with a somewhat faster attack5-10ms and a moderate release 190-260ms from 600Hz to 2000Hz,
​

Play with the frequencies and crossovers so that when the vocal comes on it cuts its self a little space in the frequencies of the the two track and when it leaves off you get back the full range of the mix.

Use a gentle bus compressor on the output common bus that has the mix of the 2 track and the vocal and effects to glue all together a bit.

keep moderate levels into the the main mix bus so as to not add much too much saturation to the process as the vocal and the finished 2 track already have a decent amount of distortion in them already.

Let me know if I've been unclear I can try to expand on one thing at a time. This isn't a traditional how to mix scenario though you could do this with traditional tools the amount of automation, expertise and time might be more than you're willing to put into it at this point... also beyond the scope of a quick forum post.

​

 

Last edited: Apr 11, 2018

What you are describing is a bit more advanced than what i can do alone at the moment but i am willing to learn/try if you dont mind going through the steps with me.

Thanks again.

 

Your mix will never sound like the other one. Some of those bass hits are clipped to the limit and unless you do the same it'll never ever get there. And yes they went too far with the the clipping -- like into outright crapped out.

 

So: The same riddim but not clipped so much?

 

as I mentioned in a previous post, I am not exactly trying to get that same sound 100% I am mainly trying to get better mixes overall so that track is used more as an example since its pretty popular I figured getting somewhere around there with my mixes minus the clipping of course would be good.

so any tips that will make my mixes better is welcomed, currently about halfway through idiots guide to mixing music and so far its been pretty good.

you are right though alkaline was probably a bad example but you should get the idea of where I am trying to go with it.

 

Hey Floyd, also check out

but remember if you learn something new that interest you, open your Daw, test it out if it sounds good is good, save it as a template and move on to the next one, until you have an arsenal of techniques that will keep you moving in the mixing phase

 

Will do thanks for all the help.

 

No problem. Lets take it one step at a time. Lets define the tools you are using, I see Cubase Elements I am not certain that the Cubase Elements mixer is capable of routing to a sidechain. Though I haven't really kept up with Cubase so I might be wrong.

Maybe for this particular example/methodology a demo of Reaper might be a good place to start. I don't use Reaper myself but I can get a demo for the purpose of this project....