Don't know how to get my mixes better

R

RuSty1

New member
I'm currently finishing a project I've been working on for a little while, all I have to do the mixing and mastering. I've been trying to get this song mastered for so long and It still isn't as good as I want it to be, to me it still sounds bad and in comparison to other music in the same genre (bass music) is just doesn't compare. It's a shame to work so hard on everything else and have a bad final mix.

I feel I have a good knowledge of mixing. I understand what plugins to use and when to use them.

My mastering chain is this (in ableton)

1. EQ 8: High Pass at 30 hz, low pass at 16.1 kHz
2. Glue Compressor: Attack: 3, Release: 2, Ratio: 2, threshold: -1.56 dB, Makeup: 1.41 dB, Dry/Wet: 100%
3. OTT multi-band dynamics: Dry/Wet: 23%
4. Utility: Gain: 0 dB, Width: 111%
5. Limiter: Gain: 7.75 dB (Have at least 5db headroom without this)

All my percussion elements are in a single bus with:

1. EQ 8: high pass at 50.2 Hz
2. Compressor: Ratio: 1.75:1, attack: 0.01 ms, Release: 25 ms, dry/wet: 50%, peak
3. EQ 8: SIDE: notch at 1.18 kHz -3.10 dB, notch at 6.12 kHz 3.35 db
4. Glue Compressor: Attack: 0.01, Release: 1, Ratio: 10, threshold: -29.8 dB, Makeup: 12.7 dB, Dry/Wet: 33%

I've eq'd all my synths so that they don'e collide with the sub. I've also used short delays to make some synths sound wider.
I've used a reverb return channel which is eq'd as well.
I've also used an exciter, I've set up a return channel with an EQ 8 high pass at 4.02 kHz and a bit warmer at 100% dry/wet.


To me the mix doesn't:
1.sound wide enough, other tracks I feel just fill up more of the spectrum and sound fuller and wider
2. The high end, especially on my lead synth sounds really harsh and not very nice whereas other tracks have a high end that is more pleasant to use.


I know mixing is mostly playing with the faders and getting the levels right but I think that all the elements in the track can be heard, I'm happy with the levels just not the quality of the audio coming out.
Also when I export it kind of sounds different which is weird.

I export it at:

-file type: wav
-sample rate: 44100
-bit depth: 24
-Dither options: POW-r 3
-no normalization


Any help will be appreciated!
 
Do you think the problem could stem from the sound selection rather than the mastering?

Have you switched out sounds for something else to see what it sounds like?
 
I think that this is a classic case where the incoming information density of the recording is quite low and then during the mixing and mastering it drops to such a degree that you end up with a somewhat dead sounding mix. Then you might on top of this have some issues with the mid range, lack a few key ingredients about size and maybe have a little phase issues too. So the combination simply becomes unsatisfying.

There are a few things you should consider in this case. I agree with KRiSR that you should be looking at solving some of these issues in the stages prior to mixing. Also, I think you should look into your monitoring situation a bit more, it might not be a big monitoring issue but big enough to contribute to the kind of gain staging that does not help. I also think you should be a bit more careful about the peak limiting and the compression with very fast attack time. And during mastering, since you know there are some issues with the frequency range overall, you can at least apply some light zero phase frequency matching at the end to cover it up some more. Also look into your habits about chorus, reverb, delay and stereo widening, it sounds like you are a bit lost when it comes to these effects. For instance when it comes to reverb you might need to focus some more on how you work with the application of reverbs with long and short decay times.
 
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The guideline I myself stick to and it seems to work for me, (I don't claim to be the biggest and baddest mixing engineer out there either), but I kinda figured this out on my own, is, if it doesn't sound already kinda big before mixing, it will never sound any bigger after mixing. It took me a while to realise that when I started. Lol
 
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my latest breakthrough in mixing my tracks was learning phase, using a phase meter to look at what each sound is doing, referencing in mono and not making every sound wide. It gave me better mono compatability and because it sounded better in mono it sounded even better in stereo
 
Here is a little trick to make your leads / percussion sound wide.

1. Create three layers of the same sound.
2. Pan one to the center. The rest left and right each.
3. Now move the left panned sound to the left (With your mouse) by 20 ticks (I use Logic Pro)
4. Same for the right panned sound by 20 ticks as well (To the right side).

Play and ENJOY :)

As far as your mix goes, don't worry too much about the frequency numbers but how it actually sounds.

Music is about your ears first, numbers come in second.

Do you know how to establish a Kick and Bass relationship?

If not, learn that immediately and then apply that same principle to all your other sounds.

This will balance out all frequencies equally and your mix will sound CLEAN :)

If there are instruments that are sitting in the same frequency, then proceed with panning.
 
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the problems described are 100 procent mixing problems if you find these problems at the mastering stage you are not done with mixing yet...

For the widening you can use plugins for that. just don't go overboard. What I like to do is run a pure side signal trough n overdrive and cut out all the lows and mids (sometimes up to 2khz but you should check whats the best for you).

Then I blend this side signal with a mono signal that has the lower-ish frequencies boosted (200-300hz) to give it some punch. works on almost any sound. I might make a tutorial on this on my channel very soon...

For the harshness in the lead just use an EQ on its mixer channel... maybe a dynamic EQ if it's an evloving lead with lots of modulation and the harsness is only in a part of the sound.

If you don't own a dymanic EQ use EQ eight and automate it's paramiters (will give you the ability to swipe the frequency too which can be a cool creative effect which i usaly use on rhich harmonic dubstep basses together with distortion!)

Hoped this helped

BRHSM
 
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