what if my final mix is too linear?

verytorpe

New member
hello

i've recorded about a dozen songs, some rather metal, some rather electronica, some pretty loud parts, some pretty soft parts... not a dozen punk rock songs repeating the same strum from start to end.

then...

why do they sound so f***ing linear when you listen to the entire playlist? it is as if the word "crescendo" were not in my dictonary.is this problem related to compression? they all have a final stage of multiband compression (masterx3, with very similar parameters from one song to another...hmm...) and some eq after it, but the compression ratio is not that much (sometimes about 2:5, sometimes about 1:8) and none of the instruments is specially overcompressed at the recording/mixing stage.should I manually pump up the gain of louder parts, or reduce the softer ones? should i automate the final compression plugin? adding another multiband plugin? any whatever?

thanks in advance
 
Without hearing it, it's absolutely impossible to say........

Offhand - I'd guess it's either the arrangements or mixing itself that are the most likely culprits.
 
I agree with Blue Bear.

Most likely culprit is either songwriting, arrangement or mixing.

Look into volume automation whether it be software or on an analog console. That is the "secret" to dynamic mixes.
 
Just start muting parts at random, from start to finish of the album...go back and listen and mark down anytime when you go, "hey that sounds cool!" then go back and fine tune the mutes

then completely disregard this advice because my sleeping pills arent working
 
If you turn the MBC OFF, does it help things? It really is one of the easiest ways to trash a perfectly good mix IMO...
 
yeah, unjudicious use of a home brew multiband "mastering" program can butcher the best of mixes.
 
following JKestle's advice from another trhead, i've removed compression from most tracks and i'm starting from scratch. I alredy know that "if it sounds good, it's good", but if you are rather untrained and ignorant, what sounds good today sounds horrible the next morning. not bad, but absolutely horrible.

so i was wondering:

the "official" approach to give some punch to certain moments of the song is just riding the fader? or should it be better to automate compression? i guess that those fader gain changes shouldn't be of more than a couple db, but again, i'm just a hobbyist

i think the arrangements are more or less ok... songs with rather ambiental parts (synths, soft noises) jump to rather noisy parts (distorted guitars, powerful drums...), but somehow when these parts kick in don't seem to be that strong, and when we (the band) are practicing at the garage sure they are. (was that correct english?)

any hint?

thank you all!!
 
verytorpe said:
somehow when these parts kick in don't seem to be that strong

that sounds like overcompression to me....and/or possibly undynamic (is that a word?) mixing

but then again, i haven't actually listened to anything here...
 
Question:


You don't leave all your dynamic and FX settings the same for every song, right?

That would fall along the lines of what Blue Bear mentioned.With all the short attention spans out there, you risk having people send you "I slept so well" thank you letters.


My motto: "No spice...No life"
 
well...
i'm already working on the songs. I've reduced a lot the compression of the final stages (multiband compressor after multiband compressor... i don't know what was i thinking about when i put them there) and yes, the settings of the main instruments eq or fx are very similar from song to song, so it'll take a little time before i drop in this forum to make some more silly questions.

I'm still wondering if it's acceptable, or usual, to automate compression settings during a song, both for individual instruments or for the entire mix.

I'll keep tweaking.

thanks a lot!!!
 
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