hi i bought sonic sweep 2 vst today (excellent plugin) and thought i would try to make a hardcore track i used the melody line from frontliner discorecord quickly to get some inspiration the mixing and mastering is not top notch I have not really spent much time on it but I would like your opinion especially about the kicks normally I actually only do techno and thought i would try something different so feedback good or bad ot doesnt matter I can take criticism

Here is a slightly improved version

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2026 at 10:45 AM

The sound is quite muddy; you need to better separate the individual instruments that have similar frequencies using EQ. Add more bass to the kick drum. Try to establish a basic structure first, and then pan each instrument slightly or add reverb to position it in the soundstage, either towards the front or back. The more sounds a project contains, the more difficult it becomes to position them in the soundstage.

Loud with little reverb -> sound source is close.
Quiet with a lot of reverb -> sound source is far away.

The song has potential.

 

I don't agree with Pulsewave completely. The overall mix is not muddy. The kick and offbeat bass could have more sub added though. Nothing crazy, just 3ish db. I think maybe the arp lead thing that starts in the breakdown at 1:26 and continues on through the drop may have too much low mids scooped out. Or its not loud enough. Feels a bit thin.

I do agree with Pulsewave that a couple of the elements could have very light, small decay reverb added to help position them and settle them into the mix. Best way to do reverb, put it on the track at 100%, cycle through presets or tweak until you find the overall vibe / tone, then turn it to 100% dry, and slowly bring it up while listening to the track (not soloed!!) Continue to slowly bring it up until you just start to be able to hear it, then turn it back down another 5-10% from there. The goal here isnt to create a washed out noticeable reverb, but just something to help place it in the mix.

 

That's always the problem with reverb, it quickly sounds muddy or it's so little that you barely notice it. I haven't really spent much time on the tack either, maybe I'll continue when I'm in a better mood.

 

I haven’t checked the track yet, but as a general rule with reverb: start with the send at zero, raise it until you clearly hear it, then pull it back slightly. Anything beyond that should be intentional.

 

haha great minds! i just said the same thing. Its crazy how much of a difference this made for me. Im not sure where or when I first heard this technique, its been years now, but it really made a night and day difference in my mixes. Funny how one seemingly simple thing can really change your mix.

Well, reframe how you are viewing reverb. If you are going for an obvious effect, something really washed out etc, then of course over-do it. For "mixing", aka creating glue, setting elements of your mix into a physical space and so on, just remember you shouldn't really notice it. Its just there to help elevate your mix, to enhance whats already there, not necessarily become an independent entity of your mix. This rule framed out by clone and myself really works. If you are still struggling with excess mud from reverbs, throw an EQ before AND after the reverb. Scoop the lows on the way in, and on the way out scoop low mids, or wherever there is excessive energy buildup from the verb. I like pro q for this, as you can visualize where there may be excessive buildup by comparing the spectrum of the two plugins. You can always use some sort of ducker as well, but try not to overdo it.

 

It is a practical way to do it. I don't think it's from a written rule, like Haas Effect is. It's a DRR direct to reverberant ratio adjustment like SNR is to compressor parameters. It makes getting it right very easy, unless you want to make it more complicated, and sometimes you want to. I think too heavy reverb settings are usually just from someone hearing the reverb and thinking it sounds great, because it is such an important function of hearing. Too much and it can make you feel seasick.

 

I think it is dope.

You had an idea, you followed it thru, you made it come to an end and that˝s it. Iterations, mix wise, can also come in a similar way so if a track is good it would be good to listen to it in a good state of mind.. so that if you do 1 or 2 tweaks, they should translate and be valuable to the track in whole.

Because you never know, energy and focus are limited, there are producers who made albums super fast and just relied on mastering engineers. You could have a great idea that cant be even mixed anymore, other than tweaks like low end/top end/mud etc.

 

I don't really understand why the reverb on the main lead sits well in the mix, but when I try it on other elements, somehow it doesn't have any more value.

 

the kick distortion is spraying a lot of high-frequency content, so when the kick hits it masks other elements. Reverb control could help some more, but I think your kick has too much of a tail. You could use the decay, sustain, and release parameters of a good transient shaper to knock down the tails faster, without having to change the reverb all that much.

 

I know there's a way with Pro Q that you can duck high frequencies from my kick when the lead comes in via sidechain, but I don't know how to do that. I'll have to look into it. I also don't use sidechain, which could also improve my track.

I uploaded a slightly improved version tell me wat you think

I also need some mix and mastering advice or a mastering engineer who can help me improve my mix

 

13 Tips for Mixing and Producing EDM
www.izotope.com/en/learn/12-tips-for-mixing-and-producing-edm

Read, apply, practice, read, apply, practice.....! Take your time, your ear training needs practice and time.

 

What DAW are you using? pc/mac?

If you want to sidechain Fabfilter Pro-Q4, you first need to route audio to it in your DAW. So you decide which source you want to link it to.
The bass channel is the one you would want to link to the sidechain of the compressor, or EQ if that's what you want to try using. It would react every time the kick hits and force the bass down underneath.

After that go to the top right corner of Pro-Q4 and there is a little chain icon. That will actually enable the incoming sidechain signal to be used to react to.

At the bottom of the Pro-Q4 interface, there is an analyzer button. When you click that, you get the option of pre or post analysis, so a before and after. there is an option SC, click select that one, and turn it on. You will see the incoming sidechain audio's frequency spectrum.
Right by the analyzer button, there is a collisions button. That's for when you are using multiple sidechain sources in the project and you want to do Complmentary eqing to fix any frequency masking.

But in the case of your track here, I would use Pro-C3 compressor first, to stick with the Fabfilter plugins. I'd be trying to adjust the dynamics first. Try both methods. With Pro-C3 you have to route the sidechain signal into the compressor. After that, you look down to the button of the plugin and click where it says sidechain and down arrows. hit that and it shows the frequency spectrum. In that dropdown you will see "Internal", that means the compressor is reacting to it's own internal sidechain. What you want is EXT i.e. external. that's what gets the compressor reacting to that incoming sidechain source.

 

Last edited: Feb 12, 2026 at 2:36 PM

I´ve literally never stuck to this genre but i really like this track, it feels like an intro for some futuristic adventure game, middle part specially.

 

Im using flstudio i know how to sidechain with c2 but not with q4 for frequency masking i know its possible but actually never used it so i need to figure that out

 

It's easy in Logic, but I haven't used FL in quite some time. Normally I do this with Sonnox Claro, but just out of workflow habit. I'm not typing this much stuff either way, so here is ChatGPT Response in spoiler with FL steps:

Spoiler

how to setup fabfilter pro-q 4 to reveal and fix frequency masking between two instances of Pro-Q in ImageLine FL Studio

Good. Let’s do this clean and properly inside FL Studio.

You’re trying to reveal and fix masking between two tracks using two Pro-Q instances. In FL, the key is routing and using Pro-Q’s spectrum comparison correctly.

I’ll walk you through the exact setup.

Step 1 – Route the Sidechain in FL Studio
Assume:

• Track 1 = Kick
  
  
• Track 2 = Bass

You want Bass to “see” the Kick spectrum.

1. Open the Mixer.
   
   
2. Select the Kick mixer channel.
   
   
3. Right-click the routing arrow at the bottom of the Bass mixer channel.
   
   
4. Choose “Sidechain to this track.”

Important:
Do NOT choose “Route to this track.”
You only want sidechain signal, not audio merging.

Now Bass receives Kick as a sidechain input.

Step 2 – Setup Pro-Q on the Bass Track

1. Insert Pro-Q on the Bass channel.
   
   
2. At the top of Pro-Q, click the Analyzer dropdown.
   
   
3. Enable:
   • Spectrum Analyzer
     
     
   • External Spectrum
4. In the External Spectrum menu:
   • Select the sidechain input (usually Input 2 in FL).
     
     
   • Turn on “Show External Spectrum.”
     
     
   • Choose a contrasting color.

Now you’ll see:

• Bass spectrum (main input)
  
  
• Kick spectrum (external overlay)

That’s your visual masking map.

Step 3 – Reveal Masking Clearly
Play both tracks.

Look for:

• Peaks that sit directly on top of each other.
  
  
• Areas where the combined energy is heavy and unclear.

Typical example:

• Kick fundamental at 60–90 Hz
  
  
• Bass fundamental also there

If both peak at the same frequency, you have masking.

Step 4 – Fix It (Three Options)
Option A – Static Complementary EQ
If Kick owns 70 Hz:

• On Bass, add a gentle bell cut at 70 Hz.
  
  
• Wide Q for natural shaping.

This is simple complementary EQ.

Option B – Dynamic EQ (Smarter)
Better method for kick + bass:

1. Add a band at the masking frequency (ex: 75 Hz).
   
   
2. Switch it to Dynamic mode.
   
   
3. Set it to cut.
   
   
4. Open the band’s sidechain settings.
   
   
5. Set the band to react to the external sidechain (Kick).

Now the Bass ducks only when the Kick hits.

This is frequency-specific sidechain compression without a compressor.

Option C – Reverse Strategy
Instead of cutting bass, shape the kick:

• Boost kick transient area (2–4 kHz)
  
  
• Let bass own more sub region

Masking isn’t always solved by cutting lows.

How to Know You Fixed It
Don’t just trust the graph.

Ask:

• Can I clearly hear the kick attack?
  
  
• Does the bass feel full but not blurry?
  
  
• Does the low end feel tighter when both play?

If the mix sounds thinner, you cut too much.

Quick FL Studio Specific Tips

• Make sure Pro-Q is set to the correct sidechain input (FL labels them Input 1 / Input 2).
  
  
• Use Pre + Post analyzer mode if you want to see how your EQ is affecting masking.
  
  
• Keep analyzer smoothing moderate (don’t over-smooth or you’ll miss transient masking).

Now here’s the real talk:

Masking isn’t just frequency overlap.
It’s energy + time + stereo position.

If both sounds:

• Hit at the same time
  
  
• In the same frequency
  
  
• In the same stereo field

No EQ in the world fully fixes that.

Sometimes the real fix is:

• Adjust note choice
  
  
• Shorten bass release
  
  
• Change octave
  
  
• Add swing

EQ is the scalpel. Arrangement is the surgery.

If you tell me what two sounds you’re fighting (kick/bass? lead/pad? vocal/synth?), I’ll give you a targeted frequency strategy.

Claro:

 

I didn't think of that myself, chatgpt. That's why I think AI can be very helpful for things like that. That's why I don't understand why people always complain about AI when you generate complete tracks on websites. That's gay, but for technical things like that, it's quite handy without having to search the internet or YouTube.
Thanks for the tip.

I dont have the sonnox plugin i bought the sonnox enhance bundle yesterday for 69.58 only for the inflator plugin is the sonnox limiter any good?
Inflator is a must have excellent plugin well worth the money .

 

Dude, That´s your first HC Track?
It´s pretty good for the first track, really !!
But less is more. Starting from 3.00 min it´s too much. The kick doesn´t fit anymore.

You should continue!!

 

FUUUCK Yeah! I love it.

I would change up the some of the repetition of that ecstasy line by dropping it down by an octave or a fifth otherwise I love this style. Reminds me of some of my favorite tracks in old UK Hardcore mixes that happened at the very end of the mix that are a combination of UK Hardcore and Gabber. Keep it up =)

 

They do not make any bad plugins that I have tested, but some are maybe too expensive. If you wait for a sale you can get their plugins very cheap. Like 90% off cheap, sometimes. Beginning of summer was maybe the last one I remember anyway.

Many people just find the old k'd 32bit versions of them from 2016, probably using Jbridge (or Reaper) The release is called Oxford Elite plugins. They haven't changed all that much.