My ideology:
More is lesser than less.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 9, 2017

I can never control the interactions between the different sounds in different frequencies completely (not even a professional mixer guy). Better to let more sounds such as a big society with different people live for themselves (bleed to neighboring bands) without my further interventions as much as I can. I'm also in opposition to critically EQing of sounds for getting fitted in intended places (except the bass that can easily decimate the mixes). Who has said which sounds for which bands and what their optimal loudness is? How much of mixing is all technical and logical? 10% or 20%?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 9, 2017

That video is so 2016.

 

2016 BC

 

If there is "no music" to work with, the mix can be only technical/logic ?

Did you abandon your musicdreams and now you want to mix instead?

I see no logic in your reply to your owne statement so i ask qustions to try to make room for some logic to appear

less is more

or

more is better

 

Thats something i always like. If every element is cool enough to stand alone or alternate with others, its the best solution. Thats why i really like this Imany remix because its emptyness makes it clear, fat and transparent. Just easy listening. In the 80ies everyone wanted to show certain synth sounds and fancy effects, so you found it often in so called maxi-mixes, that single elements of a song stood all alone. I really loved that and miss it sometimes, because today mixes are more dense and focused on other aspects. Just look at the Depeche Mode maxis/remixes then and today. A big difference. I don't listen to any remixes of them anymore because they are to crazy and boring (expect Enjoy the Silence from Linking Park -> masterpiece) ...

 

Now you have totaly lost it.. blunt 5 awesome pads together and see how much of you them you can hear.. you that been talking about melodies, beeing unique and so on.. cmon, stop looking for bad things in all you hear or read about.. not even you gonna listen to your own things throwing it all in there without any kind of control..

 

Sorry, I can't take any song seriously with a half nude skank on it.

 

Clarity has its beauty @foster911 , if you feel more confortable with few elements in your music, that's what you should go for.
But don't close the door though, you tend to jump to conclusion very fast, specialy when you are being challenged. It's not easy to balance out production with a lot of elements it takes a bit of getting use to.
What you're saying (asking ?) about what instrument belongs to which frequency, what should be cut, it's not something that you will get under your belt in one beat. It takes a few. It's not really a matter of time (if you spend time making music it will go fast), but your ears have to get a bit trained, you have to make beats after beats and then some choices become clearer. There are general guidelines, you'll find them easily online, then there are guidelines regarding the genre you're shooting for, and then there are your personal choices, what you feel, which will come along as you make beats, and have that particular matter in mind, which is not something so far you have paid attention to, that's also why I said you had come a long way earlier.
Making some prods that aren't over busy now will allow you to focus from the get go on the few elements you will go with. Learn to integrate that aspect of things from the very start of your beat. That question is at the center of your work the second you start sound designing or picking a preset. When you will choose your samples for your drum kit. Choose elements that will fit your genre, that you like, but also that have a possibility to get along together for the ride. Have that sort of thing in mind also when you start your work, and slowly it will become second nature and you will do it with ease in more busy productions.
Don't let that slow you down creatively either, or paralize you because every time you pick a sound you think that it will unbalance things, just keep it in mind and try to slowly incorporate that matter in your workflow, make a small room for it.

Also Elisea is right btw, the thing with few elements prod is that the elements that you integrate, have to be able to stand on their own. That's a challenge too.

 

Last edited: Jun 9, 2017

So you don't believe that less is more, while at the same time you believe that more is even lesser than less.

Forming a logical statement according to your line of thought, that is equivalent to saying that less is not more which is lesser than less which is not more, or in simpler terms:

Less < More < Less

Bottom line: I have no idea what you are trying to say my friend. I wish you could be more straight to the point. I'm sure you'd make many people on this forum happier by that.

 

Last edited: Jun 9, 2017

Do you ever ears mate?

 

If less is more, can you imagine how much more is more?

 

Sorry, didn't even look at it. Just searched and listened to it and posted the link. Was not on purpose.

By the way, there are also some overloaded mixes that i really like for clearity without knowing the reason. If you listen to "Pixies - Where is my Mind" or "Men Without Hats - Safety Dance" it shows what i mean. Both seam to have a gap between high and low-mid frequencies wich makes them just amazing. I like that even if its not perfect.

@Talmi

I know what you mean. There is no general rule or philosophy fitting every situation of a song or sound. Sometimes you need to get quiet just to help a certain element to shine, sometimes you need it quiet right before you evoke the hell in your mix. And getting aware of it is the true challenge. The right rule should be: SOMETIMES less is more and SOMETIMES not!

And here is the lovely mix and song and video of Men Without Hats.

 

Foster i think in your case nothing is more.

 

Your thread title is too long to read. Type less, please.
Less is more.

 

Both musical and technical ear trainings work well when everything is so simple. If things get complicated, rules, guidelines or whatever you call do not work fine. If you watch the tutorials, all the producers are using their own methods in tackling the problems and suggesting the viewers to do this and that without much concordance between them even for the same genres. I'm not seeking a universal way for cracking down the issues but these divergences and discrepancies among the producers show they're wittering.

 

Dont feel intimidated, just start writing ideas and songs, learning music production is a slow progress for everyone, takes years to get somewhere.

 

And yet the end result is what we, mortals, call "music"

 

do not try to form logical statements according to Fosters lines of thought

 

Yeah I know so very well (long-time lurker here). But at some point in time someone has to finally do something about that. It cannot last forever this way.. Can it??