My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
Southpaw
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Southpaw »

[/quote]

Cause every thoughtful answer needs efforts. And stepping over them is kinda missing the point of asking in the first place?[/quote]

Appreciated, and that is understandable. You don't want to post a thoughtful post and have someone completely repeat it on the 2nd page which kinda treads on your parade and makes you feel as though you have gone unoticed. That's not the case though, I was completely aware of what he put and tried to angle what I wanted to say in a way which didn't plagiarize what was already put. In other words, I too had thought about what I was adding. :)

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Lost to the Void
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Lost to the Void »

Southpaw wrote: By your definition, all threads should be closed as soon as one person covers the entirety of the topic which kinda defeats the freedom of forum discussion no?
No, by my definition it is pointless repeating what has been said already.
It is like being in a conversation and constantly repeating what someone is saying, it shows that you aren't listening, aren't really participating and only thinking about what you want to say.

Which is not a discussion, it's a bunch of people talking at each other.


But...
Anyway

The problem with mixes is when people try to force sounds together. If more care is taken to pick the right sounds that compliment each other, half the job is done, and there is less need for hard EQ.
Look at how a band works, or an orchestra, all the sounds naturally occupy different spaces in the spectrum.

And go....
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Lost to the Void
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Lost to the Void »

rktic wrote:
Southpaw wrote:I doubt anybody reads the entire thread from front to back once they have already entered it, only the recent posts.
Add that to the list of things I hate.
Exactly, if you can't be bothered with then conversation then don't join in. If a 2 page thread is too much......... :roll:
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Southpaw
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Southpaw »

Lost to the Void wrote:
Southpaw wrote: By your definition, all threads should be closed as soon as one person covers the entirety of the topic which kinda defeats the freedom of forum discussion no?
No, by my definition it is pointless repeating what has been said already.
It is like being in a conversation and constantly repeating what someone is saying, it shows that you aren't listening, aren't really participating and only thinking about what you want to say.

Which is not a discussion, it's a bunch of people talking at each other.
I'm not sure what it is you're talking about, you're just rambling and come across as some angry little man. I angled in on a whole different perspective to yours, if you are looking for Internet fights go find someone else.

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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by The_G »

Did someone already mention panning? Because where you place elements in the stereo field can really help alleviate the whole clashing frequencies thing.

There's an urge to center everything when making electronic music, and admittedly I'm not always the best at fighting this tendency. But the best mix I've ever done (IMO) is also the one with the most attention to panning and width.

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Lost to the Void
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Lost to the Void »

I think for dance music, mid-side, rather than panning, works a little more effectively when dealing with club soundsystems. The problem with pure L/R panning in a club context is that you can lose some sounds, or the impact of some sounds.
If you are keeping your panning within fairly narrow parameters though, it`s ok.
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Lost to the Void
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Lost to the Void »

Southpaw wrote:
Lost to the Void wrote:
Southpaw wrote: By your definition, all threads should be closed as soon as one person covers the entirety of the topic which kinda defeats the freedom of forum discussion no?
No, by my definition it is pointless repeating what has been said already.
It is like being in a conversation and constantly repeating what someone is saying, it shows that you aren't listening, aren't really participating and only thinking about what you want to say.

Which is not a discussion, it's a bunch of people talking at each other.
I'm not sure what it is you're talking about, you're just rambling and come across as some angry little man. I angled in on a whole different perspective to yours, if you are looking for Internet fights go find someone else.
Twice in a row, you take a discussion and add insults....
Are you manstruating or did I fuck your mum and forget to leave money on the side again?
Let`s at least be adults when disagreeing.
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RWise
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by RWise »

Lost to the Void wrote:I think for dance music, mid-side, rather than panning, works a little more effectively when dealing with club soundsystems. The problem with pure L/R panning in a club context is that you can lose some sounds, or the impact of some sounds.
If you are keeping your panning within fairly narrow parameters though, it`s ok.
Ive always read about club systems being mono'd. Is this the case most of the time?

If it is, wouldnt the L/R panning in a mix be irrelevant anyway as its all been collapsed to mono in the club?
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Lost to the Void
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Lost to the Void »

RWise wrote:
Lost to the Void wrote:I think for dance music, mid-side, rather than panning, works a little more effectively when dealing with club soundsystems. The problem with pure L/R panning in a club context is that you can lose some sounds, or the impact of some sounds.
If you are keeping your panning within fairly narrow parameters though, it`s ok.
Ive always read about club systems being mono'd. Is this the case most of the time?

If it is, wouldnt the L/R panning in a mix be irrelevant anyway as its all been collapsed to mono in the club?

Well it`s a gamble.
Plenty of clubs run stereo, and plenty run mono.
Plenty run stereo but the rigs aren`t really set up for anything conducive for the stereo effect.
Collapsing something with left and right panning to mono can mean those panned sounds can end up weak/low in the mix.

I`m inclined these days to use the stereo field to full effect (mainly through mid-side) and to be fucked with mono rigs, there`s no real reason for it these days.
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Southpaw
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Southpaw »

Lost to the Void wrote:
Twice in a row, you take a discussion and add insults....
Are you manstruating or did I fuck your mum and forget to leave money on the side again?
Let`s at least be adults when disagreeing.
You were moaning about potential repeated stuff, I already explained I was coming in from a different angle, surely stupid doesn't last that many hrs. My moms dead, have a blast at her ashes if that's your bag...

Ahhh, keyboard warriors.......... :lol:

Southpaw
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Southpaw »

Actually, you posted some really good info even if you are a bit of a twat

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Lost to the Void
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Lost to the Void »

Jesus, enough with the childishness son.
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Southpaw
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Southpaw »

man, you need to chill out a bit and not get so agressive, Not everybody is your enemy, some of us are actually decent guys. We could be lovers you & me
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The_G
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by The_G »

Lost to the Void wrote:I think for dance music, mid-side, rather than panning, works a little more effectively when dealing with club soundsystems. The problem with pure L/R panning in a club context is that you can lose some sounds, or the impact of some sounds.
If you are keeping your panning within fairly narrow parameters though, it`s ok.
Yeah that's true. I guess I was thinking more about synthwave, which tends to be played on stereos or headphones rather than in clubs. And when it's played it clubs, it's band style, with all the speakers on either side of a stage. So panning works in the sense that you simulate the placement of instruments on a stage. But I guess a lot of that doesn't really apply to a conversation about techno, which is designed to be DJed in clubs.

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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by The_G »

Here's another one I learned the hard way, and still sometimes struggle with...apologies if this has already been said:

EQ your reverb and delay tails.

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Plyphon
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Plyphon »

Got a bit 'Internet Circa 2005' in here!

So the takeaway is I need to figure out how to have my drums/etc sounding like how I want them too BEFORE trying to shoe horn them into a style/aesthetic & mix so they all fit together without having to overuse saturation etc.

IM ON IT

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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by dubdub »

Lost to the Void wrote:I think for dance music, mid-side, rather than panning, works a little more effectively when dealing with club soundsystems. The problem with pure L/R panning in a club context is that you can lose some sounds, or the impact of some sounds.
If you are keeping your panning within fairly narrow parameters though, it`s ok.
What do you mean by mid/side? EQ? Compression? Doesn't it fuck with the frequency/dynamic balance of the track if it get's collapsed to mono?

Maybe you should think about a m/s guide if you can be bothered, I think most of us here aren't very familiar with it :)

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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Planar »

Plyphon wrote:Got a bit 'Internet Circa 2005' in here!

So the takeaway is I need to figure out how to have my drums/etc sounding like how I want them too BEFORE trying to shoe horn them into a style/aesthetic & mix so they all fit together without having to overuse saturation etc.

IM ON IT
A single thread or piece of advice isn't going to fix your mixes. Most of us improve incrementally. We make tracks, we try different stuff each time and make mental notes of what works vs what doesn't. We have a community here that will help you with specific issues and feedback on tracks which helps to speed up the process. A thread saying your mixes suck and you need help is counter-productive in a way (despite some great advice).

Post a track in the appropriate places and ask for feedback on certain elements, "my drums are too muddy, what can I do?", "is there enough high-end in this track?". Learn from others opinions, try out their suggestions and add it into your mental model. Its an endless cycle, but improvement is tangible.

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Mattias
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Mattias »

Lost to the Void wrote: I literally made that point in the second post in this thread and it has now been repeated about 3-4 times.

Some serious mansplaining going on here.
Whaaaaat, you cannot expect me to read a thread from the beginning at Subsekt! I only ever enter when the derail has happened.
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Re: My mixes suck. I need serious help.

Post by Cloaked »

Lost to the Void wrote:Each instrument has a place in the mix and EQ begins by sound choice.
The right sound in the Right place needs less EQ.
A bass guitar doesn't overlap too much with a lead guitar.
Contrabass and violin take up different space.
This is good advice of course but I think it's hard to apply in the real world. As you allude to elements will always overlap a bit, and often that's where you can get some real harmonic richness and depth. Even totally overlapping sounds can combine to make beautiful thick hybrid layers that you couldn't plan, and where pieces of each sound poke through over time.

Other than basic elements like drums, bass and percussion I actually think that's a more realistic approach in textural music like techno. A totally separated mix is a) probably impossible and b) would sound shit anyway.

The key is probably that fundamentals don't overlap too much. Spectrum analyser will help here.


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