Most of even professional mix men reference their tracks when mixing their song.
But what about mixing for a sample library? What should I reference it with?
Like I have recorded a note or a chord progression. What should I reference it with to know it sounds good and I am not just doing the mixing by my own standards?
I hear these sample libraries and even the notes of different instruments are mixed in a crazy way. They sound really good and I wonder how they've balanced it cause each time they mix their instruments they sound good and I think they have a bulletproof method for mixing their libraries(Like cinesamples)

 

I'm gonna sound like an arsehole here mate, but if you don't know what sounds good you probably shouldn't be making sample libraries, especially if you are looking to sell them.

 

create the sounds so they sound as good as they can when played alone.
it is not your job to mix the track, besides, how can you possibly EQ something to mix with a track that you have never heard and isnt even made yet.
i used to make sample packs and i would process each sound in a similar way to a full track. so i will create and mix multiple layers, just like tracks, then run them through a "mastering-like" chain on the mix buss to glue and shape the final sound.
after that, spend another three hours trying to think of a name and youre done for that sound.

 

You are missing the point my friend. I know what a good sound is. I am looking for tips to take it to next level. I bet even you know what sounds good but when you compare your work to professional sample pack makers you see some missing points. There are things that I might not consider. Instead of trying hard to not sound like an arsehole, try to understand my question.

 

I undertand your question, perhaps the fact I didn't suggest anything made my reply seem rude. If I was you I'd take a look at some pre amps or things like the 'THD' in the bx console software. They seem to give whatever you run it through a new lease of life. I don't wanna say too much as I'm not an expert. I tried making my own sample libraries but now I look for the 'dryest' sounds possible so I can shape them however I want...Good luck and sorry if my first reply sounded harsh.

 

Sorry for strike back. I have to sometimes do it since some users are real experts to dig a hole for the very reason of the topic and force to digress. I think my question is more focused on frequency spectrum manipulation, specifically saturation & distortion.

 

Any other suggestions?!

 

yea. have fun! thats the most important factor.

 

Just make it sound coherent.

At the end of the day, producers are going to shape the sound of it anyway to make it work.

 

You could:

• get rid of unwanted low freqs with minimum- or linear-phase EQ,
• reduce resonances,
• maybe denoise it,
• add saturation carefully to avoid audible distortion,
• compress it a little bit, with maybe 2:1 ratio,
• or give 'em your character of choice by heavy eqing and compressing.
• Additionally normalize all samples to the same peak or TP.

 

Last edited: May 9, 2020

this point reminds me. if you are building synth patches make sure its not clipping on the output! i am sick of seeing patches that are clipping beyond belief! make sure you can play what the patch is intended for without any clipping. if the user wants to turn it up let them make those errors