How many instruments should be used at once ?
- Thread starter Akulli
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KonKossKang
Ozagas
Personal taste.
Milo Burke
New member
In my opinion, and in observation of most modern popular music, sparse mixes sound really good and are in style right now.
However, three instruments is really, really sparse. Assuming you count the drums as one instrument, then you add bass and vocals? What about miscellaneous percussion, pad, lead synth, supporting synth effects, and miscellaneous effects?
Your total count of instruments will always vary by song. It depends what the song needs, how much room the vocals need, how large of a frequency range the instruments occupy, etc. You can add more instruments by carefully EQing space for them. Smart panning frees up space too. Doubling instruments, for performance thickness or to mix tonality, is a useful tool too. And often a song without much effects can have more instruments, where as a song that heavily relies on reverb and delay to get its vibe maybe doesn't have space for many instruments without burying the reverb and delay.
You need to decide how many instruments to use yourself. Be creative and be yourself. Use your own judgment. But, if you find your judgment off in one direction, mentally calibrate. I have to remind myself to make tracks more sparse, and I'm pleased with the results each time I do this.
However, three instruments is really, really sparse. Assuming you count the drums as one instrument, then you add bass and vocals? What about miscellaneous percussion, pad, lead synth, supporting synth effects, and miscellaneous effects?
Your total count of instruments will always vary by song. It depends what the song needs, how much room the vocals need, how large of a frequency range the instruments occupy, etc. You can add more instruments by carefully EQing space for them. Smart panning frees up space too. Doubling instruments, for performance thickness or to mix tonality, is a useful tool too. And often a song without much effects can have more instruments, where as a song that heavily relies on reverb and delay to get its vibe maybe doesn't have space for many instruments without burying the reverb and delay.
You need to decide how many instruments to use yourself. Be creative and be yourself. Use your own judgment. But, if you find your judgment off in one direction, mentally calibrate. I have to remind myself to make tracks more sparse, and I'm pleased with the results each time I do this.
Epsilon-144
Musician and Producer
Enough to make it sound right. This changes throughout a song, of course. If the harmony is good you can use many instruments (real or digital 
)
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The Comeback Kid
The Comeback Kid
I agree with the guy that said, just make it sound right. But generally here is what I shoot for not including drums.
Low (lows) -bassline
Main sound (mids) Guitar/Piano/Low Strings/Low Synth/horns
Upper Sound (highs) high strings, high lead type sounds to bring in on the chorus.
3 is enough! Any more than that you are crowding the track.
Low (lows) -bassline
Main sound (mids) Guitar/Piano/Low Strings/Low Synth/horns
Upper Sound (highs) high strings, high lead type sounds to bring in on the chorus.
3 is enough! Any more than that you are crowding the track.
krushing
Moderator
Tell this to an orchestra
I mean, I guess we can assume that we're talking about some form of modern, urban genre here...but on the other hand, the OP hasn't said a word about what kind of music we're talking about here.
Epsilon-144
Musician and Producer
haha there isn't a right or wrong answers to this kind of stuff. Art and music is creative. but ya, just add as many as you need to have the correct sound.