This has been pretty frustrating, I am really struggling to get "crispy" sound for my mixes. To me, the end result is always lack luster and is very off-putting to what I am trying to accomplish. I am not sure what I am not doing as far as trying to get a correct sounding, full, mix.

Look at this:

http://soundcloud.com/jason-bayldon/ideamix

http://soundcloud.com/jason-bayldon/melody

Compared with something like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvroG_S-6bg&t=35s

I cant figure out where to begin at what I need to learn in order to create full mixes that sound clean, as it doesn't seem to be any one thing I am not doing. Perhaps I am not choosing my notes right or my sounds don't compliment in the way they should? As well, Im assuming most of those songs aren't mixed within FL, exported into pro tools perhaps and mastered that way, although i'm not sure why. I also don't know what a "rough" mix should sound like before its actually mixed properly. Does anyone have any advice on techniques to read up on that will help apply to getting better mixes? There doesn't seem to be much as far as in the way of mixing this genre of music. Thanks for any advice.

 

I'm not a big fan of FL Studio. Usually I use Reaper for that. Set most of my lines at about -6db. Bass about -9db, snare drums about -3db. The mix does not have to reach 0db then it's not very good. Sometimes use compression but never on the master mix rather on some lines instead like drums or bass.
Put limiter on the master mix instead. Mixing is more about taking away unwanted sounds and frequencies than boosting those you want. Also using 4db rule helps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlY_Yxe0IVE
And use some kind of spectral analyzers too. I use Bias Reveal plugin but there are other similar plugins for example Melda Analyzer, Izotope Insight and few others. The specrtal analysis curve has to be relatively flat shaped and without too many bends, higher at bass side and lower to sopranos. Now I just check my final mixes with them relying more on ears than those tools.

 

Your mix sounds fine but the lower and lower-mid frequencies are stealing the spot light. DAW is not an issue here, once you are done making the track, mix it properly with the emphasis on high frequencies, leave out some of the mids and don't forget to provide adequate boom in lower frequencies.

The youtube original version has really high emphasis on crispiness, all the lead synths as well as the bass synths have high frequency elements, all the percussions are EQ'ed in a similar manner, so are the vocals. This in my opinion is TOO crisp but perhaps acceptable in the context of Pop.

You can try putting a multiband compressor on the master channel, a gentle cut in the mids and a gentle push in the highs.

You can also apply a harmonic exciter on the final mix but that will not give you a mix as crisp as the one that is mixed from the ground up with the goal of having high frequencies emphasized.

This is your mix after some exciter and multiband compression through Izotope Ozone. Its still not hitting the spot but there is definite crispiness to it now.

cm.wav - 6.4 MB

 

Someone else..the member "Someone" actually asked the same question just a few days back and I left him an answer which he claimed helped him..so I'll just copy the link here and you can check it out see if it helps you. This subject is huge...but in general, the crispier mix has mostly to do with the low, low mid and mid frequencies. It is vital for you to know what frequencies you are listening for for and which ones you need to cut out. All you need for a crispier mix are 3 thigs, an EQ for cutting (mostly), a spectrum analyzer and your ears. That's it, nothing fancy.

Here's the link to my reply, and let me know if anything doesn't make sense and I'll try to elaborate more.

http://audiosex.pro/index.php?/topic/6074-how-do-i-get-my-mix-cleaner/

 

Ok so your first song "Idea mix" is actually not too bad...your main issue there are the levels of the instruments more than EQ or anything else. Your drums are too high and your synths too low..so either turn down your drums or turn up your synths (turning down your drums would give you more mastering headroom so i would go for that) Also, try cutting at around 300-500Hz on your kick and your drums in general (the track sounds a bit heavy in that area and is bogging down the mix. you could try a 1-2dB shelf boost at 10k Hz on your percussion to brighten up the track a bit as well.. Try these suggestions and see how it goes.

Also, your tracks sound rather dry and stiff, you need to use reverb and delay to your advantage to give your track movement and space, and therefore more openness, they will sound bigger and brighter. Yeah that track you posted, has much less low mids in it..it has barely any mid range basses playing, just a sub bass and the synth, vocals and percussion. Download the track, import it into your DAW and put a spectrum analyzer on it and look at it's frequency spectrum..and try to achieve the same frequency curve in your own track..pay attention to where frequencies peak, the RMS and where the track is limited. this should tell you alot on how the song was produced.

 

Thanks, I am going to try exporting an entire flp out and see how I like mixing it externally. I am also trying izotope insight to see if it can help me mix a bit better. Thanks for your advice.

Thanks for looking at that, it sounded a lot better after you re-mixed it.

Thanks, yeah, I notice that they sound "stiff", I think as well im not that dynamic as i would like to be with note placement. It seems I stay in a certain boundary and dont wander out, but thats a conversation for another time. Definitely going to try all of this advice and see how it goes.

I took some of the various advice provided in this thread, and mixed a track a bit. It sounded way cleaner than anything else i have done so far, but no doubt it will need work:

https://soundcloud.com/jason-bayldon/exportflout

Thanks to everyone for helping me out. I need to do more research into spectral analysis and rms limiting. This thread as-is has provided a good deal for information for me to soak in and experiment with. Crappy sounding mixes becomes very discouraging after a while.

 

A rundown on RMS and what kind of pickle that goes with:

When you look at the level meters in your host, those are peak meters. As you well know, those jump around a lot (and should), because the level might go all the way up to the top for a split second when a crispy snare hits, and then back down, when it's just the pad playing now... So those peak level meters show the "exact" loudness at any split second moment.

RMS is a fancy name for "average". Instead of showing the loudness at any given split-second moment, they ignore it and show you the averaged loudness over some time. This "time" that it will average over is called integration time, and no need to worry about it, because RMS meters have it set to a nice useable standard value by default.

So what Fuad was telling you was a really good idea, he says to have a look at the mastered track you're trying to mimic, and check out what the average loudness there is for the chorusy kinds of sections where everything is playing. The peaks in a dance track are always going to be at 0 (or -0.3db or so) pretty much. So now you know how many dB difference there is in your genre usually between the peaks and the average sound levels, which can give you a nice ballpark estimate to aim at when you mix yours. Why? Because you know roughly how much you need to limit (cutting off just the peaks, so the entire thing can be raised up in volume) and how much to gently compress the insides of it (ignoring the peaks and focusing on getting the average level to just where you want it to be).

Random tip too: sometimes what you hear as that special crisp sound is a side effect of the nice analogue EQ or compressor that they used. Or the studio tape, etc. It's not impossible to have a situation where you might be slaving away trying to duplicate that feeling, and all they did was run the track through some fancy studio gear! So don't sweat it too much if yours doesn't QUITE gel as good as the mastered one. You can instead focus on the arrangement and interest, energy in your track. Then give it to a mastering engineer when done, it's their job to put on that sheen and icing on your cake so it'll be perfect.

 

http://therecordingrevolution.com/5minutes/ I guess I'll keep posting this. lol Man, this is a very good and quick turorial and overview. The guy works in the Christian music field, but his little shorts are full of info based on solid foundation. There are so many things that can change a mix. The first is to get enough understanding so that you can avoid vague terms like "crispy". Are you talking a lack of upper mid-range, or lack of lower high ends or both. That adjective is vague and for real engineering solutions to real engineering problems, you need to understand yourself what you mean by "crispy". Run it your mix all through a 30 band EQ and see which frequencies correspond to the parts that don't sound right to you. That will give some idea of what frequencies you think you are missing, then you can start to figure out where they are at or should be and how to get them in there without mucking something else up in the process.

 

Put an EQ on every sound or track that does not sound right, and go play with it.
If you want to add some brightness or saturation to your mix, you could start using plugins like fabfilter saturn.
Play around with some distortion, but be careful you can mess up things quite a bit.

 

If your really serious about having your compo's mastered....
I swear by this guy right here: http://www.thegarm.com/

He masters every band I multi-trak , and also does my material too!!
And to speak frankly ; his prices are super cheap , compared to some
of these so-called mastering house's !!!

just contact him at his site leave a message or a tele number,
he'll hook you up for real!!

(he's also bookmarked at my site in my 'LiNkz' section.)



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OP- good music.

nice tight low.

all you need is enhance the high ends a bit.

according to my ears that is..

 

thanks for everyone for providing help, this is probably my best mix so far, thanks to you guys!~

https://soundcloud.com/jason-bayldon/gordo-millones-fuera-de-base