What's the best Tip for a YOung Engineer ?

R

RyanOconer

New member
Whats up Peoples , this is my first post :hello:

Im a YOung cat studying Music Theory and Engineering and I was wondering if any of you can help me with some Tips on how to get a great Dance Mix in Fruity Loops?

My Mixes tend to be very flat without a bottom end and I need help with panning and equalization

heres an ie of how I want my mixes to sound , how do these guys do it lol ? Armin van Buuren feat. Laura V - Drowning (Avicii Remix) - YouTube

Thanks guys
 
First of all, you will need to have Monitors/Studio Monitors, and headphones to get a more near look into your mixdowns.
And very important you will need to know about Eq's compressors, and very important is the image of sound you make, There are Stereo and mono and sidepanning, all of them a very important to understand, Center means mono aswell...

Mono is the middle sound, it feels like the sound poking you on the nose, the deep kick drum and basses aswell, always runs in mono, and for voices for the most, etc vocal effects can run in Stereo actually, but for normal always in center/mono.

Side panning, its also very important to understand, to do it more simple, which it actually is,,,, if you image youself two exacly same sounds, the one is panned to the left, and the secound to right. that is the side panning.
Stereo is nearly that same as side panning, stereo just have a little delay between the left and right panning, so if you try to image 20MS delay on the left side, and playing the sound you will hear the right speaker before the left one.
Sounds which is normally in stereo/side panning hihats, synths, solo guitars, noises as effects, crashes and ect, and claps but not always.
Most of the sounds should never have too much of side panning/stereo, use your ears to find out.

But hey! how do i make sounds in stereo and side panning?
In fl studio you have (Stereo Shaper) and (Stereo Enchaner)

And important, nearly all sounds should never reach over 0DB in the master Track/Insert in the mixer.
If the music is to low at volume just turn up your speakers!!!

For EQ's.
Eq is made to remove ugly sound, not just boosting, for the most you will have to remove bad sound, from a sound ;)
And while mixing you need to have all fitting together which the EQ is the job for, to match the high freqs with all the others sounds, and the deep freqs aswell.
Also in hihats remove the low end, which means to cut out from 0 to about 300-400 HZ but that cutting is only for hihats, because you dont need the noises from the deep end, in a sound which only should play high freqs.
Basses should be cutted from 0 to 40 HZ.


Hope this helps you a little, Troels/Trollés
 
Last edited:
He dont understand what you mean :)
As i understand he is pretty new at this.
Calibrated monitoring will say, Bass traps in the background of your room and try to clap your hands, there should not be any reverb in your room, (Always clap in your hands were you are sitting and mixing)
If you dont want to spend many money on calbrating use old clothes, just stuff which is good at cathing the sound, try cut of the cornors. :)
 
Acoustics is also important. But the level calibration is the first thing to achieve before starting a mix because the human hearing system isn't linear (perceived level vs frequency)
A pink noise (wikipedia) test signal set at -18 dB (wikipedia) for playback must produce a 82 dB sound pressure level (the volume you hear).
 
Wow so much to gather , thats alot of Info thank you so much everyone ! I know side panning is very important I will diffidently try and see how it goes ...pink noise I never heard of I appreciate the schooling .. My room is pretty dry with carpeting so not much reverb or echo and I use HS80 Monitors of which im very satisfied in the sound and but ofcourse beats by dre monsters .... The drums I always use Mono and for vocals ....I pan left to right and 1 center main with a touch up reverb and an Eq limiter ... Im just learning about the frequencies u guys are talking about 300 -400 Hz and bass cut off at 40 hz I use to go by ear and what sounded right to me but now i see there is so much more to it .... so the pink noise is the volume you hear ? Great Tutorial guys and Im gonna start using all these pointers and let you guys hear the differences in the Mixes tnx again !!
 
A good listening environment (treated...), multiple different sound sources to hear your mix from (so you have an idea of what it will sound like to every1), lots of practice...Consider looking into Izotope Ozone for a quick fix to get better sounding tracks throw this on your master track n load up a preset and you've already made progress lol. I'd definately suggest digging into how to use ozone, it can dramatically change the sound of your tracks once you figure it out. There's so much involved in mixing , mastering, and just music production in general, you definately can't expect to get it right away. I feel like i never stop learning this shit.
 
Last edited:
listen to your mix and preference track which u like on type of sound what u want to get (other artists)!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
All great advice.

I also agree with the Acoustics and monitors and referencing other mixes. I would also add great sounding converters too.

and then lots and lots and lots and lots of practice. Develop a routine!!! There'es just so much knowledge to soak up and it comes with time. Just try to learn one thing every day and add it to your routine. You have to do things over and over and your brain will start to develop patterns and your ears will develop the taste.
 
Don't try to make everything super LOUD at the mixing stage. Leave about -6db of headroom, then up the volume when you go to master the track.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top