Can someone tell me how to improve my mix?...

S

StrictlyB

New member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Xe37zJkrs

This is my new track. I took the forum advice in my last thread, that i was recording too hot, so i reduced the gain. It cleared up my quality but it still doesn't sound that pro, just sounds weird (can't explain it but im sure when you hear it, you'll get it).

If you could just tell me what i'm doing wrong or what i could add to make it more pro, let me know.
 
I think it's hard to know what sounds 'pro' with this genre. Any new sound that works is copied a thousand times by every other artist. The cutting edge is determined by the heavies of the craft.

The sounds you're using are outside the current popular box, stamped by the bigs. If you want it to sound 'pro', copy the sounds on the top 25 Billboard urban charts. On the other hand, you can do your own thing.

The cut sounds good to me. But the patches are something I've never heard before.

The mix is good, I think.
 
I don't listen to this type of music at all, but to me the mix sounds good. I can't hear any problems with it. I think the vocals might have more reverb than usually in this kind of music, but I'm not sure at all (because as I said I don't listen to rap music) and it doesn't sound bad either. Hmm.. Or actually Im not sure if it even has that much reverb or is it just the double tracked vocal which sounds kind of same as if the vocals had a short delay effect.
 
i hear a bunch of clicks and pops in the recording...similar to the sound of say dust on a vinyl record...not sure if thats on purpose however I picked up on it right away.
 
I would lower some of those doubled vocals a couple db if not drop them altogether. The mix is very sparse and I think just the solo vocal would suit it better.

Can't say without peeking into the multitracks to hear it myself.
 
thanks guys. as for the vinyl sound, that's the sound in the instrumental. made to sound vintage. as for the sparse comment, how can i improve that
 
Hey StrictlyB,
I enjoyed that. I like the voice, and things like "glutton for monotony" are really good. The panned voice maybe stands out a little bit. The timing's good but it kind of pulled me out of the flow for a second. I also think the contrast between the double vocals could be improved. The drum sound could maybe use more personality and punch. Are you happy with the way they sound? I appreciated the sparseness of the song actually. I guess a bit more body could also work. Had an LTJ Bukem feel to it. Nice.
 
hey singlespeak, thanks man hmm so my panned vocal needs to be panned more to the center then? i done an extreme pan of 75, was gonna do three stacked vox and pan each stack extreme left and right, but thought it would sound busy. as for the contrast comment, how could i improve that?

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Hi StrictlyB,
about the pan, I'd try to pan it less. See what happens. About the double layered vocals, it's not that it doesn't work, I'm sure some people will say it works fine as it is. But I'm guessing it's twice the same vocalist? It's also sung in exactly the same way twice. Which is fine in principle - I do this too sometimes. But comparing it to other songs in the style of Flawless I think this makes it sound less aggressive than it 'should'. One piano note, played in exactly the same way twice and layered one on top of the other. Compare this to the same note twice, played once by a piano and once by a guitar and then layered on top of each other. In essence it's the same thing: same note played simultaneously. But the difference and the effect are much greater when the sounds differ if the tone doesn't.
 
hi

sounds good

vocals sound a bit too roomy

im assuming you are in a room that is NOT dead.... try clapping does it sound dead or reverby?

obviously room treatment would be ideal but maybe try either singing a little closer to the mic or putting a duvet over you dead and mic (watch out for touching the mic and making noise)

also some harder compression on the voice should give it a bit more upfrontness and grit
 
I think I mostly like this mix because of how different it is. The instrumentation choice is a little more vintage, sort of '90s in terms of sample usage.

Now, one thing that I think a lot of popular music does that would help in your case is giving the bass and drums a bit more power. Now, power doesn't necessarily mean volume, but I think your bass line could stand out a bit more. Even be a tiny bit busier during the parts between each musical phrase. Don't Flea it up or anything, but give it some more character and I think you'll be fine.
 
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