How much dynamic range for EDM?

Tan0123

New member
How are professionals electro house artist able make their track sound dynamic while keeping small crest factor(3-5dbfs) at the same time?
 
you want big silences so the kicks and subs blow your face away. You do this by squashing those when they happen i'd guess
 
I would have to assume, based on my limited knowledge of the music, that they take advantage of frequency spectrum since much of what the play is sampled and manipulated. This give the allusion of dynamics.

This is a full on guess.
 
Give us an example of a track you mean.
I like TECHNO.. I listen to it a lot.. and I would rarely describe it as "Dynamic". Not when compared to music with actual dynamics ;)
 
Example: "cannon ball by showtek".
During the drop, ableton shows a crest factor of 3-5db, however it still sounds dynamic with a lot of movement to me.
 
Huh.. I thought I posted this already.
Anyway, forget about crest factor..cuz that us full range.

Try to look at it with a spectrum analyzer if you want... you will see where the drama is.
That drop is impressive because there is basically nothing going on in that frequency spectrum.. like below 220 or so... before hand. This gives it a lot of movement down low. I don't think there is even a bassline before that.

BTW, you should know.. as the crest factor shows- that track is compressed af, the life is crushed out of it and it sounds terrible :) (ONE MANS OPINION!)(also caveat- i have done my share of killing music with compression so haters gonna hate!)

If that is what you are going for... maximum loudness because no one is listening critically anyway...just compress everything, and High-pass almost every track other than the bass and kick. If you are having trouble getting that sound you are probably just crowding the freqs.... post a clip- I'll take a listen.

cheers!
 
Huh.. I thought I posted this already.
Anyway, forget about crest factor..cuz that us full range.

Try to look at it with a spectrum analyzer if you want... you will see where the drama is.
That drop is impressive because there is basically nothing going on in that frequency spectrum.. like below 220 or so... before hand. This gives it a lot of movement down low. I don't think there is even a bassline before that.

BTW, you should know.. as the crest factor shows- that track is compressed af, the life is crushed out of it and it sounds terrible :) (ONE MANS OPINION!)(also caveat- i have done my share of killing music with compression so haters gonna hate!)

If that is what you are going for... maximum loudness because no one is listening critically anyway...just compress everything, and High-pass almost every track other than the bass and kick. If you are having trouble getting that sound you are probably just crowding the freqs.... post a clip- I'll take a listen.

cheers!
I've attached a mp3 file on my remake on "tsunami-dvbbs" 4 bar drop. How do I improve in terms of sound mixing.
 

Attachments

  • tsunami remake.mp3
    347.5 KB · Views: 12
That drop is impressive because there is basically nothing going on in that frequency spectrum.. like below 220 or so... before hand. This gives it a lot of movement down low. I don't think there is even a bassline before that.

That! The low end gets very sparse during the build.

This song is basic As Foretold.
 
I've attached a mp3 file on my remake on "tsunami-dvbbs" 4 bar drop. How do I improve in terms of sound mixing.

So if you are going for a bass drop here... the only problem is that there is no Drop. Compositionally. There is no space at all in the bass register.. just that big, droney kick sound taking all the air out of the room. Of course.. you only gave us a couple bars, so who knows. But you can't 'Drop the beat" back in if it was never out to begin with.

If you want dynamics, you gotta play LESS. Let those kicks die out. OR.. EQ out the sub-bass for 8 bars before you come in hard and deep.
Like, take that Cannonball song.. the kik AND bass drops out entirely at about 2:24... then it has something to hit you with at 2:38. Without the ABSENCE of bass, bass is meaningless. The contrast is what makes it interesting.
 
So if you are going for a bass drop here... the only problem is that there is no Drop. Compositionally. There is no space at all in the bass register.. just that big, droney kick sound taking all the air out of the room. Of course.. you only gave us a couple bars, so who knows. But you can't 'Drop the beat" back in if it was never out to begin with.

If you want dynamics, you gotta play LESS. Let those kicks die out. OR.. EQ out the sub-bass for 8 bars before you come in hard and deep.
Like, take that Cannonball song.. the kik AND bass drops out entirely at about 2:24... then it has something to hit you with at 2:38. Without the ABSENCE of bass, bass is meaningless. The contrast is what makes it interesting.

What do you mean by no space in bass register? I send my track through an EQ and it shows the frequency from 30hz to 500hz was filled up without showing any gaps.
 
I few things I notice in most hard hitting dance music is.

The kick has less low end than you think leaving room for other bass sounds, more attack on kick than low. However if you like a low kick you then have a look at thinning out all the other bass sounds. High Pass filter everything except Kick, Bass and Bass Bombs, there is a lot of hidden lows in other sounds that clog up the low end of the mic. Maybe you can automate the High Pass filter so if a sound is on its own, say the kick and bass drop out, and you want a low sub type keyboard sound, then bypass the High Pass Filter for that section if needed.

When the kick hits they duck the volume of the rest of the mix slightly to fit it in the dynamic range (as it's already full LOL). The ducking is achieved via setting up ducking using a compressor triggered by the kick.

The dynamic in electronic music is achieved by thinning out the mix rather then volume dynamics, unlike most other types of music.

Alan.
 
Back
Top