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Few questions (Mixing, leveling etc)
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| pradizh |
Hi fellas,
Ok to start off this post of mine i would like to let you know that i have done several forumsearches about the issues im about to ask you for help on. Some stuff were useful but i haven't really got it yet, Maybe it is because im thickheaded, i don't know. Atleast i want to be a thickhead that makes music since this is blocking my flow in ways.
Ok lets dive into it;
My first question is about setting levels; I understand that you have to take into consideration, style, genre etc.
But for example I set my kick to be peaking at -5 db (highest peaking channel) and throw on a snare/clap for example to get it to sound relativly balanced to the kick ill have to turn it up and now its peaking whole lot louder than the kick. If i match the db's the snare is too low. What would be the problem here?
Another question; Sometimes I play all the drum section channels and then mute one of them the "energy" gets lost, I have used HP-Filters / LP-Filters to filter out all the crap that is not needed but still. What are your thoughts about that?
And in genereal my main problem is also getting a coherent sound, been trying to slap on a maximizer/limiter on the master etc. but when i take it off the whole mix falls apart. Sounds like different loops playing at the same time, (sonically)
Please help guys!
Thank you. |
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| evo8 |
your asking really about the basics of mixing and the short answer is that it will take most people (obviously the more talented will get there faster) many years to achieve solid sounding mixes
As for the kick snare thing - just ignore the meters for now. Sure, set your kick to whatever level, then up the fader on the snare track whilst listening, not looking.
I like to have snares nice and upfront with a bit of chorus/short delay, very short room reverb
When you say match the dbs do you mean the kick and snare are peaking at the same level and you cant hear the snare???? sounds weird to me - i would remove all the limiters/maximizers for now and concentrate on getting the mix balanced as best you can
Also, sound selection is key - if you have the right sounds and arrangement then the track will mix itself |
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| amerikantele |
:whip: Hey there. Clipping should not matter. It's always smart to use a Spectrum Analyzer riding your master bus. This allows you to actually see your entire mix and where problems are rising from, overall using this tool will make you a better producer. Now... about your kicks... you MUST bounce all those kick layers together, OR set their outputs to ONE STEREO GROUP TRACK. On that track you have to put a BRICKWALL LIMITER with the release set to zero. Once you do that, it will NEVER go past 0db. If you want to go lower than that just drop the fader or output on the limiter. It's probably a lot more clean and organized to bounce when all is done either way. Having so many tracks left in the project is wasteful space. I Push my kicks way beyond 0db, but the brickwall always stops it at 0db with ZERO audible change. So with that in mind, make sure you aren't squeezing the life out of your kick by just raising their individual faders before you bounce the layers. Better yet, get the original sounds first with out any compression as loud as they can go before sounding distorted, and pull it back till you got some small clear headroom. Then copy that single layer or send an fx send to a multi-pressor and solo that layers freq and compress the hell out of it. Bring that fader of the fx send all the way down, now slowly bring it up till it blends in nicely. Thats called "NY Compression" Repeat with the rest of the layers. so each layer should have one additional copy.Make sure you are setting a really low attack to let those punches come in with a release around 200ms as a guideline. So when ever you are happy with all the levels, without worrying about clipping while processing, group all the channels of kicks to one stereo track, throw a brickwall limiter on it with a release at 0 and adjust your db output to desired level. All this work ensures a loud kick pushed beyond it's limits, but creating more dynamic range because of it... so that you end up with a kick equipped with so much dynamic range that it s dynamics for breakfast... and dares to explore the abyss beyond 0db... with nothing to lose sound wise. If you want to make the biggest kick possible... here are my ingredients. If you can follow the directions... its my gift to all producers.
Start with a sub. The lowest audible freq is 30-33HZ and mostly FELT :eyespop: than heard. THIS IS WHERE A SPECTRUM ANALYZER COMES TO THE RESCUE.Here is the one I use as freeware http://www.bluecataudio.com/Product...ct_FreqAnalyst/
I use Drumazon's 909 drummachine because its THEE exact same quality as the real 909. It's always good principal to start your mix out with the lowest freq first and work your way up, because the low freq dictate the volume of the preceding instrument of choice.
1. http://img241.**************/img241...drumazonkm7.jpg
Turn Tune Depth ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 1. Then turn the pitch to around 3, use your spectrum analyzer to get it to sit around 30-34hz. the wave is going to look really phat... im talking too phat to fit in the :toothless ;) NOW throw a lp filter on it to cut out the freq JUST after the spike of the sub wave ends. Your making it cleaner thinner and creating space for where your kick's thud will be. Adjust level where desired and set decay around 5 0'clock. I push it to -10 db by using the method I taught you above... fx send compress mix in. This gets it a half db higher. thats up to you. SUB IS DONE.
2. Make a new drumazon track, set tune depth to 4 and pitch between 5 and 6 o'clock. you want the kick to sit somewhere connecting to the sub. NOW STOP. loop this at 2 bars and bounce just the sub. insert the sub in your sampler of choice, I use battery 3. assign your sub a midi note and create a new start and end time. Choose not the first but the second sub hit of that loop. You want some space infront of your sub, so that the kick comes in first then the sub tails in. adjust till you see the sub and kick bouncing at different times.it should look like a subtle wave :eyespop: Let his loop and find a nice sound pitch for the thud kick.Remove all the freq below the thud and raise volume. ALMOST THERE! (you can NY compress this for more volume if you want to).
3. Copy the thud drumazon with it parameters and cut out the freq of the thud kick, leaving you with the other half of the kick. Level it,do an fx send to a compressor and mix in. Do this step 3 times and move up higher in the audio spectrum each time. This gives your kick that top end dynamic smack/click. Splitting in three like this gives you the ultimate control of dynamics. Now everything besides the thud gets bounced to one audio file. bring it back in daw and into sampler. Bring back aligned to kick, like you never did anything to it. Here is why you did that... In your sampler fine tune it up or down by 2-3 semi-tones. NOW CLEAN UP! You think you can make all that mess and not clean up! lol, Reduce everything down to a sample. So really you should only have to samples, your sub and kick. All the vsts?... delete them! Wasted CPU and SPACE. Use midi to create your loops. LISTEN TO THAT KICK! BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! ThIS IS the most dynamic kick you will ever here. I promise you that. AND YOU BUILT IT WITH YOUR OWN HANDS! CONGRATS! You are a master. If you wanted to take it a step further, instead of replacing the 3 kicks with the sampled version... you can blend in the repitched kicks with normal kicks by turning the fader all the way down and raising it slowly till it sounds good to you. THAT gets you a really FUNKY never heard before kick.
Like I said, if you call yourself and producer... and you don't even make your own kicks... 1, you are not really a producing... you are just using presets that sounds like everyone else, just sampling presets..lol 2. Are not giving your mixes the kicks they crave so much. Remember, the kick is the loudest part of the mix and dictates how loud your mixes can get. Thin hollow kicks really are a club nightmare. Also I suggest when using this kick method, when mixing your instruments it's wise to mix using the tried and true method of LCR panning, ONLY panning left center or right. This keeps your mix clean and allows your kick to come through the mix. If you like side-chainning compression...I wish I could see your faces when you use that kick ^ as your side-chain send, lol. Really guys, this a real treat that I'm sharing this kick with you. There is no secret to getting those really sick kicks, just hardwork. and the pros make you think you need gear years of skill. Thats an illusion to make everyone not want to try. This is my gift to all producers, bedroom and studio. This is your ticket to the nude beach of 909 kick making galore. apply sunscreen and turn your speakers up!:haha:
If you have any other questions, send me a message. Hope I answered them though, lol. Peace |
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