Why don't my beats sound "professional"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ADProductions
  • Start date Start date
but im guessing what most people are doing is just selling their tracks to artist and then the artist in turn hands it to the mixing engineer to polish everything. because I doubt back in the day Marley Marl, Pete Rock and others had the art of mixing mastered. I remember in audio school listening to one of Marley's hits, I think it was "Ain't no half steppin" by Big Daddy Kane. And my teacher was telling everyone to listen closely because that track had distortion on it. Point was though, even though you have a hit that isn't mixed well, most people won't even notice it or even care....not sure exactly who mixed that song.

But do you guys think I should hand all my pro tools song projects to a professional engineer to get them more up to par? Or just sell them like they are to artist and let the artist worry about giving it to their engineer's to bring the track out more sonically?
 
The Catch 22 with not mixing a song and "letting the artist do it" is that sometimes a mediocre song is "hot" with the proper mixing. Just think how if everything in "Turn My Swag" on was all at the same level and clipping...or if "Drop It Like Its Hot" had weak 808s and the synth that comes in was distorted...or even better just imagine "Still Dre" with the piano way too low and the bass overpowering everything.
 
whenever i hear a track with a bad mix, i think a "newb" or a "slacker" produced it...

not having solid mixing reveals a weakness in your "all around" repertoire...
 
F00T said:
The Catch 22 with not mixing a song and "letting the artist do it" is that sometimes a mediocre song is "hot" with the proper mixing. Just think how if everything in "Turn My Swag" on was all at the same level and clipping...or if "Drop It Like Its Hot" had weak 808s and the synth that comes in was distorted...or even better just imagine "Still Dre" with the piano way too low and the bass overpowering everything.
Click to expand...



That sound sounds like a harp because you can hear the strings being plucked.

Anyway, experimentation and practice is the key to everything. Don't get discouraged because you can't get that nice mix. Every time I think I have my mix down, I get blindsided by another obstacle but its totally worth it in the end.

Also, never "rely" on other people to do your work for you. You are the producer so the idea starts with you so get your idea out as clear as possible and have the engineer "enhance" your music.

I'm speaking from experience man. The worse feeling is when you make the hottest beat in your room then you go to a million dollar studio with NS10's, an SSL board and a PT Icon ES and your beat gets played and it sounds like sh1t. Its definately not the equipment, so now you know for a fact (and everyone else in the studio) that you need to work on your mixes.

I know I'm rambling but I'm going through the same thing and paying attention to every single detail in a beat is extremely important.
 
It's all about "stereo imaging". If you get your monitors right and the environment you do your mix in, you'll be good to go. Also, be sure to use "acoustic music" as your reference.
 
Krazyjaytheproducer said:
It's all about "stereo imaging". If you get your monitors right and the environment you do your mix in, you'll be good to go. Also, be sure to use "acoustic music" as your reference.
Click to expand...

that'z tru... over time i learned that stereo imaging allows you to clear up space and gives your mix a more clear sound bc everything isn't all cluttered 2gether
 
beatpro1 said:
that'z tru... over time i learned that stereo imaging allows you to clear up space and gives your mix a more clear sound bc everything isn't all cluttered 2gether
Click to expand...

i wouldnt even use that IMO just learn how to pan and eq. sometimes its better to add trebile then to raise volume etc

 
what's the main difference between stereo imaging and panning?
 
[F_or_DEAF] said:
what's the main difference between stereo imaging and panning?
Click to expand...

Panning is just sending a sound to left/right speakers (unless your mixing in surround sound)

Stereo imaging is hard to explain. Try to visualize each instrument as you hear it and where it belongs in the frequency spectrum (Lo's, Mid's, Hi's.)


here a picture to help me further explain it.





STEREOIMAGEcopy.jpg
 
ADProductions said:
hey sorry for the long time for my reply. ill actually put stuff up tonight for you to listen. whats the best way to host it. z-sh@re?

And ya mugzy i guess that does make alot of sense.

I dont know i guess it just feels like my drums are WEAK! and for rap they have to bang. Its like every time i get a hot drum sequence, its still just not hot. hahaha. I dont know if you guys know what im talking about but i think its pretty common when your starting out

hey could anyone post up a track thats raw (no mixing/mastering) then the same track after they mixed it. that would help me out a little i think as well.
Click to expand...

Well, startin with quality samples helps, banging drums in the beginning, makes for HARDER BANGING drums in the end.

Here's some samples of my mixing.

Unmixed:
View attachment 25700

Mixed:
View attachment 25698

By the way, if you're looking for a quick fix.... I mix beats for a flat rate of 10/track.... Get at me, email's in the signature.:cheers:
 
hey thanks guys im getting alot of good opinions from you. I finally got a beat worthy of throwing up here so give me a couple hours and ill have it up
 
he's using a ton of Modern Beats sound sets. listen to the beat samples on www.modernbeats.com. My guess is he might be really be playing 1/8th of the instruments going on. Plus he's probably been producing for years and years.
 
^^^sorry should have quoted the original post that started the thread. Talkin about Sinima's beats that he used as a reference.
 
If you have only been doing it for 6 months, how can you expect to have a pro sound.
You need a reality check.

But anyway.
When making beat its all about how each element gels together.
Say you dont want your kick and bass to clash frequencies if they are playing at the same time, so you should use a sidechain from the kick to the key i/p of the compressor on the bass to duck it out when the kick plays. And the thershold on the compressor will determine how much the kick ducks the bass.

Also try using parrel or new york compression...
Have your normal drums that are lively with a good dynamic range and buss this through a send to a FX return Aux.
Put a compressor with heavy heavy compression and squash the life out of the sound. This will give you hard rocking beats but with out any dynamic range,
So now mix the 2 channels together to achieve a nice balance.

PS read all the books and article you can.
And dont think you can achieve a pro sound i 6 months let alone 600 years. Its not something that just happens with out a look of work and talent.
 
The best way to explain stereo image is to listen for it...A lot of engineers refer to it as Phantom sound because it sounds as if the music is being played from the space between your studio monitors.
 
I find that reason is one of the best softwares to make beats in. It has great full sounding instruments and a slew of loops to pick from that you can completely change and make your own. Reason is set up with and infinite amount of racks that you can use to create your beat with however your little heart desires!

Anything you create a beat on wont sound finished, or "polished" until you spend those final hours tweaking it. Reason offers many eq's, reverbs, and a mastering suite that sounds amazing! Just my opinion :)
 
blaisenoble said:
I find that reason is one of the best softwares to make beats in. It has great full sounding instruments and a slew of loops to pick from that you can completely change and make your own. Reason is set up with and infinite amount of racks that you can use to create your beat with however your little heart desires!

Anything you create a beat on wont sound finished, or "polished" until you spend those final hours tweaking it. Reason offers many eq's, reverbs, and a mastering suite that sounds amazing! Just my opinion :)
Click to expand...

Typical - I use Ableton Live. Although, to be fair, I have no idea why I have live barring the fact that it proved to be far better than Audacity (which I was using previously).*

*what was really weird was that, even though on Audacity, I placed beats and notes to within a millionth of a second, it still somehow sounded tighter on Live. Turns out you just can't beat a machine with these things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top