mixing issues and blistered tissues...

[anaesthesiac]

hello there,

this was a post i'd obviously put in the wrong category, or forgot to attach any evidence of music to it. i'm new to this so you'll have to forgive me.

i have been making music since 1995, recording live instruments, using software based sequencers, drum machines and synths, as well as playing guitar, bass and the odd bit of percussion. i keep myself satisfied somewhat by being able to record or generate the sounds i have buzzing around my head, but when it comes to taking these sounds and incorporating them amongst one another i come into some very debilitating problems. i have state of the art software but for the life of me cannot get my mixes to sit "right". if it's not one problem it's another, and quite frankly if i don't resolve it i don't know what ill do.

i have years worth of different mixes and songs, and i would just like some info on what frequencies/decibels/compression/limiting/technique i should be applying to individual instruments/tracks to achieve something listenable and uniform in it's sound, i'm not after studio polish as i quite like the character the raw approach gives, i just want my instruments and sounds to sit well amongst each other, a uniform sound that won't blow out on any stereo or audio device.

i would honestly be grateful for any advice or help, and thank you in advance.

cheers, and have a good one.

[Electriclight]

Well, I thought the sound was pretty good. I had more problems with the song writing, but i don't know if you would appreciate any commments on that.

As far as things setting in the mix, I would suggest that these kinds of souped up sounds need to be carved up a little more. For example, the bass has a distorted high end componenet that makes it really funky, but that high componenet is probably sharing that part of the audio spectrum with different instruments. So what sounds really neat when listening to it solo, may not be the best choice for the mix. Try sculpting out either a new bass sound or EQ it sharply to limit the high frequency components and then see if you like the mix better.

Looking at the waveform this thing is really squashed which may be ok form this genre. Still, if you are using compression on this you may want to back off of it a bit.

I think every song needs some form of tension and release. This sort of just grinds along. Maybe find a slow/quiet bridge?

[rockerdude]

Ross is that you......

[archiegood]

Things got immensely better at 45 secs. when you panned the synth instruments.

Electric, did you listen past that point?

I agree with the "carving out" suggestion. There is some frequency conflict. Compressing each instrument may also help.

Some pretty neat sounds!!

[anaesthesiac]

thanks a lot for the comments (and to RockerDude, sorry but no, i am not Ross).

regarding the first comment:

i understand what you mean as far as the songwriting goes, this is not so much of a song per-se, but a backbone for one forthcoming. basically the first two minutes of the song are redundant, as it's just me screwing around with an initial rhythm that i've bloated pre mix-down, trying to figure out what instruments fit where and ultimately what sounds good combined. i know exactly what you mean by the refrained moments, i have to admit i have a bit of trouble reducing my levels and softening down in moments i should. i'm used to recording unorthodox instruments in my garage so i know nothing but "BANGTHEHELLOUTOFIT", even in programmed instruments i'm prone to jack all the levels up until it's soup. i use a compressor on each individual track and then one over the top of the final mix, i know from the texts i've read that this isn't probably such a great idea, as i notice frequencies disappearing once applied, yet it alleviates some of the problems i have in initial frequency clash, so it's a double sided blade for me. i'm totally self taught, with my instruments and the programs on pc i use, so ultimately i'm attempting to understand the theory side of it.


regarding the second comment:

45 seconds in it cuts to what i thought was an interlude, then again i have no sense of structure. the song expands at that point, and it sounds good, to be honest i only panned it because i was trying [ineptly] to create an altered sonic space, but i know exactly what you mean. but would something like that work cohesively applied to the entire track? or is it more of a verse/interlude piece?

thanks to the both of you for commenting on this track, i appreciate the critique.

anaesthesiac

[anaesthesiac]

sorry this is an after thought, but what do you mean by "carving up"? i use a multitude of eq vst plugins, like waves collection, sonnox oxford and a few onboard fl studio/cubase/nuendo plugins.

[Electriclight]

Carving up meant trimming certain frequencies to make roo for others. Panning also comes into this. There is only so much room available onthe sonic spectrum. If two instruments or voices are sharing the same frequency band, then you could pan one left and the other right. The brain will pick them out more easily. Another way to manage that would be to EQ a nothc out of one intruments band and put a peak a little higher or lower. Then do the opposite to the other instrument. Now one istruments rules say 500 to 1K hertz and the other rules 1200K to 1600 hertz. These are made up numbers. Typically BASS and BASS DRUM compete for lower frequencies.

I would probably lay off on the compression of the individual tracks. These sounds are probably not very dynamic to begin with. Try messing around with EQ and then compress the hell out of the final product if you wish. By compressing early you aren't giving yourself much room to play with at the end.

Yeah, I believe there is tha basis for a song in there somewhere. Good sound, good ideas, just not compositionally there yet. Keep at it.

[jcaverso]

Hey i think this song is awesome. You must tell us how you get that wicked synth sound. Seriously i hope that you do it with software because than maybe i have a hope of getting some synth sounding as cool as that. By the way i love the way it sounds huge and distorted like a synth should sound, i dont know if its the bass or what that makes it sound like that.

[lolgreg]

Electriclight gave some great advice. Try this: Start with just your percussion instrument. Then bring up the fader for your bassiest synth. Listen to how the clarity of certain sounds/certain things become less prominent. Find out the most significant frequencies of each instrument using a spectrum analyzer, or better yet, your ears, by using an eq with a very narrow (high Q value) and a very large (-18 db.. etc) cut or boost and move it around on each instrument. LISTEN for when the thump in the kick or snare disappears... etc. Do this and layer the instruments until they all have their space.

-Greg

[anaesthesiac]

sorry for the delay in reply, i've been flu-bound this week and then some.

ElectricLight, thanks very much for your reply and advice, to be honest i don't know what frequencies i should leave for kick, bass, synth, guitar, i know my sounds are overbloated, but ultimately i want them to sound distorted and a little bit messy, just without frequency clash, a somewhat controlled chaos without too much distortion/bass rattle/mid clash. i've grown up on punk, hard rock, metal and industrial, and love bands like skinny puppy and einsturzende neubauten, mainly for their experimentation as opposed to cohesion. i record a fair amount of acoustic/live instrumentation yet don't quite know how to get my acoustic and electric instruments to interact well together. i notice a lot of "air" between anologue recordings, and to be honest some high end digital productions, i just don't know how to get this even settling between my tracks. i use FL Studio 8, Nuendo, as well as a Behringer midi control and an omega digital audio interface with one shure sm-57 and one sm-58. You sound well versed in production/mixing, i am 100% self taught and have obviously missed some steps along the way.


in regards to jcaverso's message:

the synth lines you're hearing are from FL Studio 7 and one of a multitude of plugins [legal or otherwise]. i have used this program since the first version, as i was a guitarist chasing a drum machine in the beginning. I use several fx apps through one of many channels on the synthesised lines, basically i use the inbuilt TS404 synth and build my lines from there. i have no idea what i'm doing, just what i want to hear. i record 99.9% of my own samples and use a few onboard thingamajigs to compensate for my lack of knowledge [alcohol also works well]. i use a very firm eq on the bass guitar, i strip all the high end, all the mid, let it rumble and throw some EQ and distortion over the top, although very fine distortion [just to add more rumble!]. if you want any particular info on the EQ/MIX settings for the synth lines, give me a bell at: anaesthesiac@live.com.au and i'll jot down all i've done with this track's synth lines, mate.

regarding lolgreg:

i will try this tomorrow on my day off mate. i honestly will have to read your post two or three times to let it sink in, you seemed to elaborate on ElectricLights complexity. The "THUMP" is my main bloody problem!

if excess is your best bet where do you gain the tame?

thanks cincerely to all of you for your advice, comments and questions. this is awesome, this site is proving to be very very helpul.