How to get opener sounding Music tracks?

This question i address to more experienced audio freaks here.
I often find already mixed & mastered music or tracks that sound very dry, dull, lifeless.
Is there a special technique or technical approach you know that could help to get good results?
Or audio Plug-ins that are ideal for it?

I know that some Pro sound engineers use Reverbs to enhance muddy sounds.
I'm looking for techniques to get more airy, spacy, transparent sounds but preserving the overall
fullness of a track. To just make the sounds "wetter" doesn't help in many cases. I have tried a
lot of Plug-Ins but haven't yet found a really apt one.

Here I've found some good Info @
http://www.loopmasters.com/articles/2031-10-Ways-To-Improve-Your-Production
But there's no related info about spaciness, wide, open sounding productions.

I'll be glad for your hints & help if you can contribute to it.
Thanks!

 

Well the first obvious step is sound and sample selection, depending what you're working with.
Sound selection and synth programming goes a long way in how your mix will sound. Next up, is carving out the bad frequencies.

You can add things like compression, reverb, Chorus, Flangers, distortion ect. depending on what youre going for. That'll always do the trick for me, but definitely the most important step is the first one I mentioned.

I like to keep the mindset that most of my engineering is meant to be creative and not to "fix" sounds.

 

Last edited: Apr 23, 2016

To be creative is certainly good when it comes to compose and record...
...however many times "fixing" sounds is required. My overall questions are NOT related
to the composing process, more to mixing & mastering or restoring existing audio.
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I'm not talking about composing either. My point is, I try to work with the best sources I can so that I don't waste too much time tinkering with a sound that doesn't satisfy me. Being creative doesn't stop in composition, getting a distinct sounding mix can be just as creative.

I think a lot of people tend to isolate the mixing process from everything else in their mind.

 

I've got the impression that this board isn't much populated by *experienced* sound engineers.
I surely don't pretend too much with my simple questions. Again: They are not referred to the
composing process but to editing and processing of existing audio material.
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