high notes sound too harsh and don't sound warm at all

J

jonass

New member
Hi guys,

i'm having some problems with my high notes in my track. They sound too harsh and not pleasant at all. I usually put them in octave 6, i tried lowering them to octave 5, but than they loose too much high..

I have been trying several things to fix it, like compressing the high end only, or cutting the high end off, but than it just doesn't sound right to my ears... altough i guess this is the way to go? also i tried adding reverb, but than it loses its strength and energy...

I use sylenth1 mostly of the time, but i just can't get the high ends right... and it always f*cks my track up and i'm sick of it lol >.<

Can you guys maybe give me some techniques or help on this??

Thanks in advance!
 
If you want a sweeter high end, you need to alter the make-up of the sound at source. With synths, different waveforms will produce different results and their modulations create the sound you hear at the end. So, if you're using presets, try to find one which sounds right at the given octave or get inside the synth and use the envelops and filters to make the sound you need.

Maybe look for a Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog type sound. For me, they work perfectly right up to the higher octaves.

You could also layer the sounds with something in a lower octave. Something with some mid. I'd use a bass preset with a lot of mid to it or layer with percussion like dilla does a lot to give the synths more of an analog, electro-acoustic impression.
 
first thought was maybee certain notes have a strong velocity set, maybee lower it for that note..

yo, i was also thinking maybee you could drop some high end EQ at certain uneeded higher frequencies?
sometime i end up cuttin hella eq and the sound still sounds tyhe same just more clearish
 
You could try EQing out some of the highs to still stay in the octave and have less highs.
 
So here's a thought, which you almost got on your own.....

Leave them in the original octave and double them an octave lower. The notes in the upper octave need to have their velocity tamed by about 20 - and the lower octave by about 30 - this should give you

  • body
  • warmth and
  • cut

mix to taste...
 
LostProfit said:
If you want a sweeter high end, you need to alter the make-up of the sound at source. With synths, different waveforms will produce different results and their modulations create the sound you hear at the end.
Click to expand...

This is what I said on the other thread bandcoach.
 
61Key said:
first thought was maybee certain notes have a strong velocity set, maybee lower it for that note..

yo, i was also thinking maybee you could drop some high end EQ at certain uneeded higher frequencies?
sometime i end up cuttin hella eq and the sound still sounds tyhe same just more clearish
Click to expand...

Yeah, but i usually cut from the 20khz to like 17khz but then it looses its highness and yeah, it just doesn't sound right to my ears imo.. got any specific freqs that i should cut on? maybe 10khz or so?

bandcoach said:
So here's a thought, which you almost got on your own.....

Leave them in the original octave and double them an octave lower. The notes in the upper octave need to have their velocity tamed by about 20 - and the lower octave by about 30 - this should give you
  • body
  • warmth and
  • cut
mix to taste...
Click to expand...

Hmm i didn't think of that. i gonna try that :)

Thanks guys for the replies, if you got any more suggestions feel free to post them :)
 
If you're using a synth, you can usually see very specific EQ bands that the synth uses. Try using a Parametric EQ to see visually what the synth's frequency range looks like, and then try EQ cuts where you see spikes. There's also an unpleasant EQ range I think around 2700hz that could be causing your problem; try searching around for that. Cutting above 15khz will not likely solve your problem, as that's mostly "air" and usually contributes to a synth's natural sound.
 
shellbeezy said:
If you're using a synth, you can usually see very specific EQ bands that the synth uses. Try using a Parametric EQ to see visually what the synth's frequency range looks like, and then try EQ cuts where you see spikes. There's also an unpleasant EQ range I think around 2700hz that could be causing your problem; try searching around for that. Cutting above 15khz will not likely solve your problem, as that's mostly "air" and usually contributes to a synth's natural sound.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks man i'll check it out :)
 
JackRichards said:
Maybe you're just singing too high? And that messes it up?
Click to expand...

No i don't use any vocals, it is just the synth that sounds too sharp in the 6th octave :(

Thanks though!

btw i tried some of the above techniques, it worked a bit, but still haven't found the solution..

Feel free to post if you have any suggestions, etc.
 
You can't always fix a bad sounding element in your mix, but you usually fix it with an EQ. Harsh sounding usually means a high range frequency that needs to be cut. To add warmth you need to look into boosting lower/mid. But by cutting high you shouldn't have to boost lower/mid
 
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krushing said:
Except in the case of a synth, I'd just fix it at the source :)
Click to expand...

Yes haha, but that is the problem i guess.. I don't know how to fix it xd and i don't know what causes it..

Anyways i did some EQ cutting a certain frequencies, where i heard some kind of resonance and "ringing" or something (?) (did it with eq sweep) and i u must say it sounds way more better but a bit less powerfull :bigeyes: i also figured out that on my hifi speakers there is some "super eq" on (LOL:berzerk:) and i guess it boosts the lows and highs because when i turn it off, it sounds less colorfull, but also less sharp :)


Also i what i ask myself is, should i use some saturation or not? anyone got something to say about this?
 
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Maybe also try volume automation on the offending notes. Knocking them down a few db can lower the piercing whilst keeping the frequencies intact.
 
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