How Do I Achieve Fresh and Clean Sounds?

Just Clauz

Just Clauz

New member
Hello folks

I spend overwhelmingly much time on tracks to make them sound fresh and clean. I use EQ, Reverb, Stereo Enhancer and fumble with individual volume on sounds, but whenever I convert it to Wav/MP3 it just sounds horrible. Imaging listening to a song that comes from speakers packed in paper boxes. Its like the tracks sound muddy. Whats weird is that these sounds are up to date, and are what big producers use like Lex Luger, Dr Dre, Jalil Beats and so.

Is it because of cheap hardware? Is it bad mixing/mastering? Or anything else?

It is literally the worst field for me, so I would be grateful for any help.
 
Which MP3 codec are you using? The right codec can make a huge difference in sound quality. I recommend using the LAME encoder...

Oh and always leave enough headroom when converting to MP3, ideally between 0.3 to 0.5 dB...
 
Cleaning up Tracks

Hey!

Thanks for posting to the thread! Great question. One of the best ways to clean up your tracks is with high pass filtering, also called a low cut. This will cut any unwanted frequency out of your elements to give room for lower frequencies that lie in the bass and kick drums, however, you don't want to do this with Kick and Bass. I typically only HPF up to 30-35 Hz on my kick and bass, but EQ is literally your best friend.

To effectively High Pass Filter, simply insert the filter on any EQ that is available and adjust accordingly. Listen to what the EQ is doing! When you hear the audio you are EQ-ing getting thin sounding, simply roll back the HPF so it's not thinning out your track.

Also, it's not about what hardware you are using. You can get great mixes with sub par equipment and it takes time to get the hang of mixing! If you want some more information on this, feel free to drop me a line about what specifics that you are wanting to know about and I will make a video and post them to my YouTube Channel, NextLevelRecording. Also, check in to our website, NextLevelRecording . com to keep up with our weekly blog! Looking forward to hearing from you and helping you get your mixes to the next level!

- Marcus
 
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Load a track that is an example of the sound that you are trying to achieve in your project while you are producing, mixing, or mastering to have a sound to aim for.
 
Just Clauz said:
Hello folks

I spend overwhelmingly much time on tracks to make them sound fresh and clean. I use EQ, Reverb, Stereo Enhancer and fumble with individual volume on sounds, but whenever I convert it to Wav/MP3 it just sounds horrible. Imaging listening to a song that comes from speakers packed in paper boxes. Its like the tracks sound muddy. Whats weird is that these sounds are up to date, and are what big producers use like Lex Luger, Dr Dre, Jalil Beats and so.

Is it because of cheap hardware? Is it bad mixing/mastering? Or anything else?

It is literally the worst field for me, so I would be grateful for any help.
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It sounds like you may have conflicting frequencies in your sounds that cause them to not work well in the full instrumental. One good tip is to play your beat back and forth between a similar "industry" beat while mixing. Could you post one of the beats here (a snippet and tagged if you like). If not you can e-mail it to me if you'd like and I can assist: Tracknavi@gmail.com
 
I'm going off what you posted in your link.

You don't have good room treatment for starters because of how horribly it is mixed. You are squashing your mixes with compression as well. You need to learn about dynamics, transitions, layering and mic placement. When you accomplish all those you will see big improvements in your music. This isn't an overnight fix, it takes time to progress.
 
It all boils down to the sounds you start with. You can put make-up on a pig, but it's still just a pig. Build up from quality and finish with it. If you have to add a lot of useless effects generators to bring out the high end and low end, you're probably using the wrong samples for your situation.
 
That makeup on a pig comment made me chuckle.

Well I've been waiting for a thread like this, because let's say I start off with a 4-bar sample that I really like.

No matter how I eq it, it sounds slightly better but there's ALWAYS that background hiss. I'll cut some frequency carefully, boost minimally if needed at 1 or 2db, and move around slowly to check sound differences and the background hiss either sounds muffled or wider, and as a result so does the sample.

Doesn't matter how great the quality is in the beginning! It drives me nuts.
 
massivewolf said:
That makeup on a pig comment made me chuckle.

Well I've been waiting for a thread like this, because let's say I start off with a 4-bar sample that I really like.

No matter how I eq it, it sounds slightly better but there's ALWAYS that background hiss. I'll cut some frequency carefully, boost minimally if needed at 1 or 2db, and move around slowly to check sound differences and the background hiss either sounds muffled or wider, and as a result so does the sample.

Doesn't matter how great the quality is in the beginning! It drives me nuts.
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What daw do you use, and audio settings? Does the sound come from all sound outputs or just your monitors? And is it every sample you use or just some? I've never had that issue.
 
JustBeyond said:
What daw do you use, and audio settings?
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Ableton 9 (32-bit). I admit I dont know much about how to set up the audio, like buffer size etc:

File Type: AIFF (not WAV)
Bit Depth: 24
Minimum Free Space: 500MB
In/Out Sample Rate: 44100
Pitch Conversion: High Quality
Buffer Size: 512 Samples
Input Latency: 13.2 ms
Output Latency: 13ms
Driver Error Compensation: 0.00ms
Overall Latency: 26.2 ms
Tone Frequency: 440Hz

Does the sound come from all sound outputs or just your monitors?
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I used to start off mixing on my Rokit 5's but found them too bassy/muddy, so now I start off with tracking on fairly flat headphones without the monitors first and I still hear it. I'll be getting HS80M's soon.

I also recently got the Audiohub 2x4 interface which has helped somewhat.

And is it every sample you use or just some? I've never had that issue.
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If this is an issue that no one else has that would really worry me ha. Its pretty much most samples. It's that same dry and airy sound you can sometimes hear when you press a button on a chopped sample, except that I hear this dry/airy sound way too often.
 
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