Mix advice?

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by Msot HI, Mar 30, 2025 at 4:27 AM.

  1. Msot HI

    Msot HI Ultrasonic

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    My first song does not have the quality of Ableton Live Demo set in which every instrument is distinctly clear. In my song, each instrument is clear and clean when played as solo. But the song sounds jumbled and muddled up when all instrument are playing.
     
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  3. Smeghead

    Smeghead Audiosexual

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    Man I'm sorry. I don't want to be a dick but if somebody posted on a cooking forum "I have a bunch of ingredients, they all taste great individually but when I put them together into a dish they taste like crap", the answer would be "learn to cook." It's not like you're just going to post a message on a forum and somebody's going to tell you some magic freaking spell. Geez. Make a pentagram, draw some blood and pray to Satan. That's my short answer.
     
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  4. Jason Purdy

    Jason Purdy Noisemaker

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    Compression, EQ, and Saturation. In that order. Use it during mixing to taste and during mastering the same. That is the formula.And add effects (reverb for depth of each track) to taste but only after compressing because you will compress unwanted freq. theres a crap ton more like panning, ambiance, outside routing etc. but.... thats a start.
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2025 at 6:22 AM
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  5. Radio

    Radio Audiosexual

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    Hello @Msot HI, learn the craft, investing in a specialist book will help you a lot.

    Bobby Owsinski --> https://bobbyowsinski.com

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    For both the beginner learning to use their DAW and professional mixers looking for a foundational reference to keep by their mixing console, The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook 5th Edition is loaded with invaluable knowledge for anyone who mixes music.

    The Basics of Mixing for Beginners: Start Here
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2025 at 10:09 AM
  6. SacyGuy

    SacyGuy Producer

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    hello my friend, one thing that I learned listening to the beatles stereo masters is that Paning is a very simple and efficient technique

    sometimes 2 instruments dont fit in my mix, so I pan one 20% left and the other 20% right, example
     
  7. typical-love

    typical-love Producer

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    Equalization is god. All else is secondary to EQ.
     
  8. jhagen

    jhagen Platinum Record

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    A mixing engineer is called engineer for a reason, youtube wont really help.
     
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  9. stav

    stav Member

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    why is the compression before the EQ a necessary step? thanks
     
  10. ptepper

    ptepper Kapellmeister

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    Agreed, but there's no 20% panning in the Beatles mixes to which you are referring. It's all hard panned. The mixing consoles of the early stereo era had no pan pots. They had three position switches instead, Left-Center-Right.

    Hard panning is a powerful mixing technique even today.
     
  11. mino45

    mino45 Kapellmeister

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    It is not always necessary to compress an element. It can be if the dynamic range is too big. The most relevant bit of information was the order. First compress, then EQ. Can there be exceptions to the rule? Sure, but in general it is a good idea to first compress and then EQ.
    You could also use an EQ before and after compression, but if your source signal is clean a lot of the time it is enough to first compress and then EQ.
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2025 at 3:41 PM
  12. fiction

    fiction Audiosexual

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    So you only get the mud when listening on a Mono system?
     
  13. ptepper

    ptepper Kapellmeister

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    Only if you have an optimal signal in terms of frequency balance to begin with. If that's not the case, any excessive resonances, spikes etc. will trigger compression in an unwanted way so no amount of EQ after the compressor will be able to fix it. Oftentimes EQ is necessary both before and after compression.
     
  14. mino45

    mino45 Kapellmeister

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    Basically you should remove the mud regardless of whether you have a mono or stereo signal. That is why mixing in mono or at least checking your mix in mono always is a good idea. The hard panning technique does help with separation though.
     
  15. SacyGuy

    SacyGuy Producer

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    I dont think so, nowadays this is not a problem at all

    where do you listen in mono? your car? your cellphone?
    even the cheapest portable speakers I have here has stereo

    if you are going to play in big festivals with big PA systems maybe you need a special mix, but even these system has a good stereofield nowadays

    in the early 2000 I played in big open air raves, as a DJ and Live action with my own music, and I did special mixes to that parties, but only because I knew very well the systems I was playing
     
  16. Adams84

    Adams84 Noisemaker

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    I've said it many times on this forum and i will say it again: ignore the soys here, they dont know nuffin. (Talking about compression and EQ proves it 100 %)

    learn to obtain a clean and full sound already in the recording or sound synthesis process; you can't have clean mix with details if the individual components dont have it.
     
  17. Radio

    Radio Audiosexual

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    Please don't always generalize. There are some, not all!!!

    The compressor always comes last!
     
  18. Zoundzy

    Zoundzy Kapellmeister

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    There are no rules is the first rule to learning mixing. Trial and error yourself for the necessary 10K hours to gain the achievements of the Master mixer:) No shortcuts.
     
  19. justwannadownload

    justwannadownload Audiosexual

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    No easy way out, sorry. You gotta learn how to mix.
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6e8wfdmIuLGALV-6x3arKIK2Hw5Mjlxx
    This playlist of 9 short and concise videos is a good starting point.

    It's not. In fact, EQ changes dynamics, so unless you're explicitly EQing to resolve frequency masking (and even in that case you'll be EQing both before and after compression), or otherwise know what you're doing, it's better to EQ before the compressor.
     
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  20. vuldegger

    vuldegger Platinum Record

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    hp filter on everything at 80-160hz which is not kick and bass. also cut some highs. compression for consistency. never mix in solo. i'm mixing for 20 years, still learning. enjoy your ride ! Rome wasn't built in a day
     
  21. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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