Quality question

H

Hanwelvaarts

New member
Hey guys,

Ok I'm new to this forum so I will first tell something about myself.
My name is Han and I'm 16 years old, I live in the Netherlands and I produce with FL10 & I'm a DJ.
Oh and my website is http://www.DJwelfare.com ( <-- not sure if I'm allowed to say that here, if not, please delete it. )

Ok, so now my question:

I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, but when I make an intro or something it sounds ok to me, but when I compare it with a professional track it just sounds pretty shitty.
And I think I really do mix properly etc. so do some of you guys know how that's possible?

Here is an example:

My intro ( Just made it in not a tooo long time ) :

https://soundcloud.com/hanwelvaarts/not ... or-a-forum

And now for example take this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fkDIRdTLb4


Do any of you guys know how it's possible?
Ofcourse mine isn't mastered yet, maybe that's the problem? But it's really de-motivating... when I compare my track next to another one I just think that mine will never be that good and I just quit producing and start all over.

Well that's pretty much my question
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BTW: I'd really appreciate it if you say what you like about the intro and what not, and what I could've done better.

Thanks,
Han
 
Try putting more time finetweaking everything.
For example the kick could do with a minor boost in volume plus some more punch, and a hint more transient when it becomes fatter.
The pluckish sound could do with a little more aggressive attitude, fore example some saturation, and more sustain in the sound, with maybe some louder delay effect. Also prevent it from getting cheesy at the end when the pitching gets too out of hand.
Things like these makes or brakes the track.

Do this: bounce your track down, wait a day or two, then listen to your track over and over, and analyze and write down everything that comes to your mind, try it all out.

Also make sure that you produce at a low volume, since you're always more engaged by your own song than the average listener would be.
And since a lower volume make the music less grabbing, means that you're getting closer to the listeners emotional perception of the track.
The track that I've made that has recieved the most positive critique from people who have heard it, were in fact the track with the quietest listening volume while producing it (sometimes I even had to turn the track up a little while to make sure everything worked sonically and musically).

Btw, when you compare your tracks with commercial ones, always remember to bring that track down until their volumes are matched, then you get a much better perception if the track is better (because if you just leave the commercial track with all its loudness at its maximum volume you're likely to dislike your track just because of the volume difference).
Also, mastering is never a way of fixing "crappy" tracks.

P.S. Please skip the pryda snare, I'm so tired of it :D
 
Thanks for the tips man! This helps me a lot :)
I never knew that you should produce at a low volume, but I understand why it's better so I'll do that then from now on ;)

And yeah, it's also probably the volume :p I just couldn't figure out why my tracks are softer < ( But that has something to do with mastering right? )
Well, I don't have to worry about all that mastering really, because it's my uncle's job :p

Well, thanks again :) I will definitely do something with these tips.
 
Hanwelvaarts said:
I just couldn't figure out why my tracks are softer < ( But that has something to do with mastering right? )
Click to expand...

Actually I would rather call it a mixing issue more than a mastering issue.
Too soft could mean there's too little punch and transients or the tones on the individual sounds are dead and uneven, or that many sounds are simply unbalanced.
That and of course that your production style may simply be too soft at your current stage.
 
steffeeh said:
Actually I would rather call it a mixing issue more than a mastering issue.
Too soft could mean there's too little punch and transients or the tones on the individual sounds are dead and uneven, or that many sounds are simply unbalanced.
That and of course that your production style may simply be too soft at your current stage.
Click to expand...

Oh oke, but I really try to EQ and mix properly :p Like cutting the 0-40 hz on every sound that is in the mixer. And to roll of frequenties a bit where I boosted that frequency in another sound.
Well, it might still need a little practice though :)

And do you hear what's wrong with this intro? like are there sounds that are unbalanced, or do you hear something that's dead and uneven?
It would help me a lot if I know what I'm doing wrong :)
 
just keep practicing...
Dnt read n apply to track...
read...experiment... then use properly...
rather then... add this minus that... as the text states
 
Hanwelvaarts said:
Oh oke, but I really try to EQ and mix properly :p Like cutting the 0-40 hz on every sound that is in the mixer. And to roll of frequenties a bit where I boosted that frequency in another sound.
Well, it might still need a little practice though :)

And do you hear what's wrong with this intro? like are there sounds that are unbalanced, or do you hear something that's dead and uneven?
It would help me a lot if I know what I'm doing wrong :)
Click to expand...

You could roll off a lot more actually, turn up the highpassing until you can hear it thinning out the sound in context of the track, the either back it off until it's good, or keep going if you think it suits the sound better. But sure always highpassing until around 40 Hz is good, since most things below it is a complete waste (unless you're going for superdeep bass).

Adjusting EQ to separate sounds is vital, but it's also vital to use the EQ to shape a sound until it gets to its best performance, so it's pretty much a collaboration between those two.

One uneven thing is that the kick is a little passive (especially the first, lighter kick), compared to your reference track where the kick is completely banging. Reach for your fader, EQ, compressor, and transientshaper, saturator, etc, and see what you can do to shape the kick until it's banging.
Another uneven thing is that the plucky sound is too kind. Remember when I said it needs more aggression. Sure it has partly to do with the sounddesign itself, but the mixing also has its impact on it.
That's two examples.

Otherwise the mix sounds clean, everything is easily heard, there's no muddyness and the mix isn't crowded.
 
Thanks man! You helped me a lot :)
I will start working on it now and use your tips.
I'll also upload the other version when I think it's good :)
 
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