Hi!

First of all, I'm guessing this is the right subforum but if it isn't tell me and I will post it where it belongs

Can I improve the mix of the attached files? Its a synthwave song

Reference tracks(I deleted the "https://" in front because the links break for some reason):
youtu.be/8GW6sLrK40k
youtu.be/id=MV_3Dpw-BRY;t=11
youtu.be/id=waAlgFq9Xq8;t=28
youtu.be/KDxJlW6cxRk
youtu.be/Jmv5pTyz--I
youtu.be/id=oxoqm05c7yA;t=40

Baxter pointed that the snare has zero body/fundamental

Thanks!

 

Last edited: Nov 27, 2022

Mixing is really all up to taste. I like it beefy so I gave you beefy... Hmm beef, guess it's time for lunch

 

Since all are just attaching files...

 

There's definitely such thing as "too much reverb". I can't hear bass behind all this reverb! Implement it as a send or a bunch of sends instead and control its volume without losing the dry signal. At least on the bass and drums, everything else could work in this context.
Spectral balance is all over the damn place. No highs, too much high mids, too little low mids, too much subs on kick, too little subs and low mids on the damn bass!
Sidechain compression from the kick eats up the notes. Are you sure you need this much, on all other tracks? Also it emphasizes the kick subs further, which are already excessive.

But this is all irrelevant, because you're thinking of mixing too early. Finish the song, then mix. Also, and this is very important, it feels like you're aiming way over your head at this stage. When you're still learning, do the best you can, not something objectively good. For quite some time, until things start clicking one by one, objectively good will be outside of your possibilites and that's completely normal. Don't be judgemental towards yourself, it never helps. Just don't sit there polishing one song for months. Do another one, take previous experience into consideration from the very start, you'll learn way faster with new material.

 

hueh

 

We're missing the most important part here. These are stems or multitracks? That wise-arsehole @The Pirate said it's important...

 

When and where have I stated such a thing?

 

I'm returning to this mix, I don't work on it all the time, sorry for that

The song is finished, I only show the drop because I want to simplify this thread, if I show the whole song it would be caos, because it's all a mess(mix wise)

So:

1. Spectral balance is my weak point right now: I want to get that muffled low-fi feeling that the attached reference song has: the spectral balance on the highs its almost none (I guess due to the vinyl era?)
2. Also I really hope to have improved the mix(I attached it), any feedback? I know its up to taste, but i'm probably making somewhat obvious mistakes
3. And the sidechain its extreme, I know, but I really like it

And sorry if I dont reply, I just get crush with the info you give, its too much for a noob like me so I just have to read it over time, like when you revisit a book and you understand it better each time, the first time its just chinese for me

Thanks

 

Err, reference??? Okeeey. Easy to achieve, just heavily reduce all the high content above 3kHz (18dB slope LP) and boost 100 - 1000Hz. Now it sounds dull, muffled and boomy. But why???
Oh, and you need compress it a lot and limit it for round about 2 - 3dB.

Your v2 is an improvement.

 

Downloaded the v2 mix loop and made it into something, but also fixing and mastering it lol

 

this is my interoperation of your frequency. draft 1.

 

After thinking a lot about it I realised what I really wanted to incorporate from that track:
Something about being darker makes it lo-fi/vinil, that was the only thing i liked about it, because as you pointed out, doing that EQ makes it sound horrible
So I ended up doing a LowPass

 

So here is mix v3:

I realised how bad my low was looking at the mix that MrLyannMusic did, so I fixed that, thanks

Any feedback on v3? Maybe at this point it does not need, but I always make a stupid mistake since im newbie

 

Last edited: Dec 21, 2022

Also, how would you limit mix v3?
I know how a limiter works, but I got 0 idea about why to set the parameters in x way

 

Better, but I still find the claps a bit too aggressive in this context.

You can adjust the LUFS with a clipper or a limiter, for just a few dB this hardly makes a difference.
Just for demonstration purposes, I raised the LUFS from -14 to -10 at -1TP (for the last part only) with a hard clipper and added a simple highshelf to tame the highs.
As you can hear it's close to have a negative impact on the drum sounds. So if you want to make it louder (the whole track will have less than -10LUFS this way) you need to start with it on track level.

 

okay hi there, I had a lot of fun interpreting your piece; and creating my own interpretation in an effort, to further pontificate the idea.

I will be creating a second mix, I think the solution is your transients. I will report back to you soon!

Smiles friend

 

That's the human condition! They strive for perfection in sound for decades and now that it's here there's nothing more to wish for? So they go back and idealize the sound from the past. That's why we have so many lo-fi, vinyl, wow-flutter, distortion plugins.

 

this is so much fun, I will do a version 3 with fresh ears

 

I okay I will do one more mix ☝️ we will get it right !

 

Consider running your saturation on the low-end with a slight pre-emphasis and then subtracting that after the processor with a de-emphasis filter. Flip the script or use HPSC for some taming of the high end transients so to lessen the pumping action caused by the beat ducking comp.

I can see this pushing -8LU, -7LU but if the intent is old vinyl sound what the point. It's like wanting to hump someone really hot and inviting them your house but when they agree and come over you make them wear hobo clothes and a paper bag over their heads.

I guess everyone has a fetish of some sort for everything imaginable.