Let's name those things that make the mix amazing

[Khan88]

You know, I am in the process of making a song (EDM-House) and laid down:
decent drumbeat (kick, hi hats, clap on every other kick)
a bass line ( side chained following root notes)
and some awesome chords.
(along with reverb on claps, chords and compression on kick drum)

I listen to an Avicii (lets not get sidetracked and hate on an awesome house artist) song that has the same thing at one part:
drumbeat
bass line
chords



.....the difference? Mine sounds OK. The Avicii song sounds AMAZING.


So what are those small (or big) differences that add up to an awesome sound? What are the things YOU do (almost) every song to make it awesome?

(feel free to give tips on the basics-EQ, reverb, etc)

Share!!

[CoMpLeXx]

layering, and also decent eq's as someone who produces EDM as well Its hard to say with out hearing what you done so far, i have loads of tips to make things sound phat and huge!!

[fataltone]

what makes your mix amazing is knowing exactly what you're hearing and how to fix it or make it sound better with delay,reverb,color/favor compression

so having acoustic tamed enviroment and a good monitoring system

tools are tools and areas are areas
but you can't build an amazing 5 bedroom home with a pool in a swamp with just a hammer,and a hand full of nails you need skill

so load up your toolbox(skill,standard DAW tools) with great area to build your mix in (your physical room)

-Coach Antonio
"Let Me Handle your next Praise Party"

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[SwagProductionz]

i just started making house music (swedish house, avicii, guetta, tiesto etc.) it's really not hard.. it's just finding the right sounds and combining put two sounds together.. layer the kicks claps etc... put the fx bombs in.. the white noise.. the buildups... snare rolls etc.. add all that in.. it'll sound a lot better i promise you

[CPhoenix]

1. Knowledge
2. Creative use of knowledge
3. Drink plenty of water. I don't know why, but I mix better when drinking room tempurature water lol
4. EQ'ing a 60 HZ bump on the kick! Instant happiness.
5. Hard Pans L & R. Don't be afraid!!! lol Just throw that sh*t on the other side of the room

6. Using a sound source to sound like something it's not supposed to sound like. I once recorded myself saying "Heerrrreeee". Sampled it... played it back at a higher pitch... threw some reverb and a light delay on it, and it sounded like a synth lead!! Once of my favorite songs to date. Damn... i need to do that more.

[Khan88]

Awesome stuff, but when it comes to layering I am somewhat timid because of possible "comb filtering" and other bad stuff, how do you avoid these things/spot them? And what other problems are involved in layering and how do you avoid them?

[CoMpLeXx]

No it should not comb filter if its not the same sound. even at different octaves it should not comb filter. comb filtering is when a signal gets feed backed to itself. so you will be fine.

[Khan88]

No it should not comb filter if its not the same sound. even at different octaves it should not comb filter. comb filtering is when a signal gets feed backed to itself. so you will be fine.

Ahh ok, but even if they are in the same frequency range?

What do you guys normally layer? (kick? chords? claps?)

---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 PM ----------

i just started making house music (swedish house, avicii, guetta, tiesto etc.) it's really not hard.. it's just finding the right sounds and combining put two sounds together.. layer the kicks claps etc... put the fx bombs in.. the white noise.. the buildups... snare rolls etc.. add all that in.. it'll sound a lot better i promise you

Well, for example, my white noise buildups; ill open up a low pass filter and add some reverb, but it still just sounds like white noise. Avicii makes it so smooth and in the mix and sound like a nice swoosh thats not overpowering, etc. Tips on white noise/snare rolls?

[7thChannel]

very good read

[CoMpLeXx]

yeah even if they are in the same frequency range. if they do mimic the same frequency it will only be fro a split sec. personally I would be more worried about comb filtering if I had monitors on a metal desk.

As for the layering you layer everything. what ever you want to make phat, but remember the art of layering is knowing when you sue it and when not, if you make stuff sound to phat it clogs up the mix