hello community,

i seem to have a problem with my songs. they sound dull, no punch and overall seem like it has a filter over the whole song or something like that. i low cut everything and find problem frequencies. i use compression but only in small amounts just to glue things. not sure if its a sound design problem or a mixing problem but if anyone has advice or can point me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciative

thank you.
this song was a bit of a fun one. kinda just happened randomly

http://soundcloud.com/randomtazk/randomtazk-touge-original-mix


http://soundcloud.com/randomtazk/randomtazk-skice-original-mix

i know with this song its lacking a bit of low end.

http://soundcloud.com/randomtazk/random-tazk-nek-original-mix

also some other ones if you want to have a listen to if it helps

http://soundcloud.com/randomtazk/randomtask-smash
http://soundcloud.com/randomtazk/where-am-i
http://soundcloud.com/randomtazk/hello-final-kitty

 

Bro,

The challenge for anyone who produces is exactly figure out why your music doesn't sound like he wanted. It's difficult to say because there are a ton of issues to consider: hardware, environment, mixdown, mastering, etc. A TON!

I was experiencing this problem and so I stopped producing and started studying Mastering / Mixdown. I spent months building a good sample library and studying/doing courses. There is no other way: you have to learn on their own. Some basic questions for you:

1) Do you have a pair of reference monitors to listen to your tracks? Otherwise, what headset you use?

2) When making the master, you use reference track? And when did the mix, you saw on the track had headroom to master?

3) In the mix, do you see is some element is invading the frequency of anothers?

4) As you built the beats? The kicks and snares are layered? You made parallel compression to the beats? Drums are grouped and do you apply compression for it? Do you cut the unnecessary frequencies for kicks, snares, etc? Is the kick mono?

5) How many layers bassline have? Has subbass? Pads also has layers? Do you apply sidechain compression for the bassline?

6) In the mix, the elements of his tracks were built via MIDI? Do you usually resample these elements in the final mix?

7) Which DAW you are using and what plugins/software are you using for the mixdown and mastering?


...


My questions don't cover everything you need to know about making a good mixdown. And I'm also learning but these issues that I taught myself. I suggest you take a week to read the follow pdfs:

- Mixdowns: http://innerportalstudio.com/articles/Mixdowns.pdf
- Mastering: http://innerportalstudio.com/articles/Mastering.pdf


Alos, you can buy this mix checklist: http://getthatprosound.com/product/ultimate-mix-checklist/

 

so you low cut everything and still wonder why your tracks sound dull and no punch?
Dont blind trust everything they say. Low cut everything is one of the most stupid mixing advice you can find around.

 

Cool, I read through the mixdown pdf and I think that it is a wonderful resource for those starting out. It covers all the basics in an approachable fashion without getting technical and confusing for the beginner who is awash in so much new knowledge that it can sometimes be overwhelming. Well done and a good choice to offer as an answer to TESLLA's query.

 

i wasnt talking about kick and bass either. Still, you shouldn't necessarily cut all the rest (that's what i meant by "everything"). Try use shelf filter here and there, instead of low-cut. You'll see, things gonna end up better.

 

the problem is not the mixing or the mastering in this case. its the music. its uninspiring, heard 1000times, lifeless,boring,empty, no hooks,no excitement shit. :dancing:

 

Get rid of the bad phase interactions. Use Soundradix PI. Then you don't have to cut the bass. Throw it back in with the phases corrected and then get yourself a nice eq and with a high shelf emphasize the frequencies above 8k for some shine. That should do the trick.

 

I agree with Boymerang.

Wan't to get better mixes/masters?
Watch a LOT of tutorials/master classes.
Read some books.
Wax on, wax off.

Computers do as you tell them...you just godda know what to tell them to do.

 

possible look into's

bass kick relation
low subbass energy
overcompression

and listen to other reference tracks always.

 

A dull mix usually has to do with cutting away to much lows (maybe due to compression) and the lack of saturation.
Keeping original dynamics can make it all sound more punchy. so get into parallel processing.
Highpassing only counts for unwanted frequencies. don't filter out body..
It takes a good investment and years of practice..
Trial and error.

 

My sole advice to you is to do something different - even if it doesn't follow genre rules! I am trying that..

 

In my opinion, this is a great item for a musician (who makes music for a long time)
nothing technical but good advice for the soul http://getthatprosound.com/14-ways-musicians-beat-creative-block/

 

sweet thanks for all the help guys


1) Do you have a pair of reference monitors to listen to your tracks? Otherwise, what headset you use?

i have a set of krk vxt's and a 12inch sub so i use them. then i also use my shitty Logitechs and some random head phones to see how it sounds. the sound difference between the my krk's and the logies is ridiculous. also i have a lot of stuff hanging in my room and the windows/walls/hanging things like to shake lol so low end can become hard to get right. i ether have no bass or i put to much on and then it just becomes big boomy mess.

2) When making the master, you use reference track? And when did the mix, you saw on the track had headroom to master?

i generally mix with about -8db head room then at the end use ozone to get it up. i do use reference tracks sometimes it sounds close other times its off. but once i put it onto over speakers it all falls apart lol.

3) In the mix, do you see is some element is invading the frequency of anothers?

i think this is one of my main problems. in my new song im making im using a lot less synths and layering it does sound a lot more clearer so i think i may made some progress there.

4) As you built the beats? The kicks and snares are layered? You made parallel compression to the beats? Drums are grouped and do you apply compression for it? Do you cut the unnecessary frequencies for kicks, snares, etc? Is the kick mono?

i dont use parallel compression. i do group them up and cut unnecessary frequencies. usually i would group all my percussion and stuff and compress them together i do put kicks in mono as well as sub bass.

5) How many layers bassline have? Has subbass? Pads also has layers? Do you apply sidechain compression for the bassline?

i pretty side chain everything tho the higher frequencies things like leads dont get a hard sidechain like the bass does. bassline can have from 2 to 6 layers. depends on the song.

6) In the mix, the elements of his tracks were built via MIDI? Do you usually resample these elements in the final mix?

i dont resample anything.

7) Which DAW you are using and what plugins/software are you using for the mixdown and mastering?

i use fl. i pretty much use stock plugins beside fab filter eq, some reverb and deley's i make 90% of my sounds with massive sylenth1 and spire. for the mastering i just put ozone. i dont do anything extreme in the mastering. just some light compression, limiting maybe eq

 

http://therecordingrevolution.com/5minutes/ I think these are the best "condensed down" tutorials I have seen. No tutorials or advice can be everything to everybody, but I still feel this guy will give you a pretty good starting point. 5 minutes at a time, but there are at least two series of 30 segments each.

 

OK not sure if anyone mentioned this but there seems to be not alot of dynamic range in your track.