Hello! Recently I noticed that my music it doesn't sound "full" as I would like. I mean, I listen to some top songs and I realize that their music have something there in the background that enhance the whole track. I'm talking about Electronic music generally.
So, any tips or tricks to add more background sounds?

Thanks.

 

Sorry, Shake, but your question isn't very clear. What do you mean by "full" and "something in the background". Are you talking about underlying tracks like a synth pad program or the over all tone and frequencies? Or you could be talking about the overall stereo sound field and how stuff is placed in that. I and others have posted this link before. Not as much about electronic stuff but most of the same principles still apply. http://therecordingrevolution.com/5minutes/

 

... you are the beginning of a very, very long journey ... I always recommend people to start with the 'Sound On Sound' magazine demo doctor series - all available online and an encyclopaedic repository of production. It's all necessary at once to get 'that' sound, and there's a lot of it. Mind you, vintagewarmer 2 on the 2 bus can work wonders too

 

^ this

Every element will benefit from little delay, or just some stereo movement, panning, I like to duplicate one sound/element and do something really different with it, just to have some more movement of original source.

Layering was always good call if you are carefull and know where in spectrum everything should go, send stuff to different fx channels and generally always try to remix your sound once again, experiment, it's time consuming, but that's what's all about.

 

A little pink noise or small hiss that can be disabled on slower parts is handy. Some people call it the tape noise, when you record nothing and still hear that smearing .

That can add subtle background noise.

One thing I like to do In reaper ( to listen to the center channels and see what they did )

On the master fader I click the ( L-R) on the mono button this will drop the Left and Rights and you will only be left with the center ( albeit very low) so increase the volume and see what is going on in terms of reverb or background noise.

The thing you have to remember even though you are listening to a Top song these days even though they might be mixed in a digital console and edited in the box the stems are still sent to EMI or other studios over the UK or here in the USA to be run through Analog Mixers in Bigger studios ( they charge a lot though). The SSL 4000G is an all time classic and I know we are getting closer to the Analog summing ( years off though) with Plugins inside the box, but however as of right now we have to rely on plugins as I can't afford an SSL4000G then another Mastering Console as well

Let's say you have 8 tracks out of an SSL4000G then into a stutter 24 track tape recorder well you know it will be light years different then if you record through a 500 firewire interface into your daw software, even using plugins it will never be the same.


Analog summing and L+R+C plugins are important to place your channels in the stereo field and this is the main reason I use Reaper, the VST plugins Pins are exposed so you can manipulate the plugins L or R or both on the same track itself with no need for buses at all, just add Reasurround at the end of track's FX and make the track 4 channels so now you can place the 4 channels in the stereo field.

 

Sausage Fattener plugin should do the trick
just dont crank it up too much-
sounds killer in studio but can overdrive the final out if to high

it was on our sister site

 

Yeah that's right, sausage dada's life is giving leads + pads more fully, but remember , when u add sausage to lead and pad u have to make volume of kick bigger :D

 

I don't have problem with layering or fill track with sounds, but my only one problem is that I can't finish my projects :D Seriously, I've started 6 projects and all progress stopped in the middle :/ And then when I come back to work, I lack of ideas.

 

That's a huge topic all on its own..actually that's what mixing is all about in that one question right there. However, instead of giving you some random advice and tips I'll try and give you a more organized workflow that you can use to help you achieve what you want.

1) Whatever type of music you are producing, listen to reference songs (songs from your favorite producers, musicians, artists, etc..) that sound similar to the one you want to produce. Download these tracks and listen to them both on your speakers and headphones. Pay close attention to how they sound. Ae they heavy in the low frequencies? Are they bright? Do they sound flat, etc... Before starting any production project, take 20-30 minutes listening to commercial songs form your genre. This will get your ears tuned.

2)After downloading the reference songs, import them into your DAW and and listen to them while analyzing them with a spectrum analyzer. Here's a free one
http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/
As you listen, keep watching the analyzer and take down some notes. Take note of where the peaks and levels of the frequency ranges are. Where is the kick drum peaking? How high is it compared to everything else. Pay attention to the sub bass frequencies under 50Hz, how much are there? You basically want to have an idea of the relationship between the different frequencies in those reference tracks so that you know where your levels for each frequency range should be. For electronic music in general, the main frequency (peak) of the kick (50-100Hz) should be 2-3dB higher than everything else. The bass synth/guitar should around the same volume as the kick or may be 1-2dB's lower, there should be a dip in your frequency curve somewhere between 250-500Hz and then everything after that should be generally flat with no frequencies going crazy anywhere.

3)Dont wait for mastering to add bass or brightness to your track. Try to get your mix to sound as close as possible to how you want it sound when it is mastered. If you see that you don't have enough bass go back and check your mixing. You may need to turn down a synth somewhere or bring your bass level up

4)When mixing, plan ahead. Pick your sounds carefully and have a vision of what part of the frequency spectrum each one of them will take up. This way you wont end up over processing your sounds to force them to sit in the mix.

5) Take a break every hour for 10-15 minutes to rest your ears, listen to the reference track again, and continue working.

If I think of anything else I'll add it later on. But in the meantime I hope this helps.

 

Yeah and one more thing. This may be the most important thing I left out. Do not worry about what plugins to use or think that only expensive plugins will make your music sound better. Use the ones in your DAW and learn proper EQ, compression, reverb, delay and automation techniques. That will make all the difference

 

All great answers --- though I think there should be clarification as to what 'source' we are talking about in reference to 'electronic music'
Today's 'Pop-Electronic' is clearly not the same 'sonically' as yesterdays (circa 80s or 90s) underground electronic genres. Many folks
make tracks over compressed and limited beyond reasonable levels -- for that 'full' on 'radio' sound that the deaf kids of today seem to like.
While I agree with all former advice, none of that 'fine tuning' really matters if the end result is blown the fuck out -- and a lot of times
that's exactly the 'sound' that they are looking for -- loud and squashed




BTW - The above waveform does not transfer well to the vinyl medium

 

Fullness in all it's 'glory':


Do your and our ears a favor, and please do also research the term loudness war.

There's lots of interesting videos on youtube by Bob Katz and others.

 

to make your music more full, i would recommend music to drink lots of water during meals and eat lots of carbs.



seriously though, i struggled with this when i started, i would make perfect mixes but it still seems kinda lackluster compared to what i would buy or hear on the radio...until i discovered Izotope Ozone mastering plugs... they make a great song sound AMAZING


do what everyone here says to make your music better, then run it through Ozone and be prepared to smile.


also try: elephant, soundgoodizer, some of the waves studio bundle mastering plugs are great as well, but i like Ozone best

 

LFO Tool by Xfer... almost everywhere that sounds linear.
thats something i can think about right now.

 

no matter whether acoustic or electric, which really enhances a track, is to create spaces between instruments

 

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