Let's Talk Basic!

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Chem808

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Alright guys, this is my first post but let's do something that for some reason you can't find anywhere. A basic, general outline of where to put everything. We'll formulate it like this

Drums :

Kick - Mono (no pan, no stereo) Frequency Range - no focus between 300hz and 3kHz

Hihat - can be mono, add slight pan to help it become clear. Around 900Hz to 3khz

Etc.

Bass(real bass) - Mono (could apply slight stereo width but I wouldn't) should cut off completely with a lowlands filter around 3 to 400Hz.


Etc, Etc,

I have not been able to find a general outline like this and that's insane. Help me out, along with everyone. And let us know where you sit EVERYTHING. Also do you do a lot of panning and then narrow the stereo width to nearly nothing on the master? I hear a lot of songs that sound like they're panning the he'll out of stuff and then I'll solo the stereo and there's barely anything there. Also, how to do some insane panning effects and make the volume still remain relative with 10 other sounds going on?. Also include what style of music you mostly write, for instance main focus is a kind of jazzy glitchstep. (Everyone else makes up genres....) But I can't even write a full song cause I get so critical of sounds. I get the drums right, add in the bass and spend 4 hrs wondering why I'm having to change the drums and bass back and forth. More so then just sidechain compressing or eq cutting where the kick is
 
well. this should be fun.

sir, you have no idea what you just started. with any luck, you'll get some good answers really soon!

....


though, i suspect they wont' be what you're thinking.
 
andrushkiwt said:
well. this should be fun.

sir, you have no idea what you just started. with any luck, you'll get some good answers really soon!

....


though, i suspect they wont' be what you're thinking.
Click to expand...

haha.
you're on a roll!
 
I wish I could delete posts to avoid it. Or if there was a way to make it so the only thing you could post was your style. Cause I can see one little disagreement (probably monoing everything under 300Hz) that will make this turn into one huge measuring contest. It is possible to avoid this guys, remember, your answer SHOULD be different then everyone else's. No reason to hate on someone else's preference. For me I'm interested in figuring out how people like pretty lights can use 7 synths + drums and everything else at the same time and it all sound good and be clear. If you solo his stereo channel you hear just a tiny bit of highmids so I don't get how he does it
 
Chem808 said:
For me I'm interested in figuring out how people like pretty lights can use 7 synths + drums and everything else at the same time and it all sound good and be clear. If you solo his stereo channel you hear just a tiny bit of highmids so I don't get how he does it
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Probably a lot of HP filters and then notching in the right places. Like if there are 7 synths they're probably cutting some in one area and boosting the other in another. And arrangement probably lets them breath. I don't know the band, but in general that's how you'd do it. There's a really good video on youtube called art of mixing. You should check it out. There are a lot of tips. It's very dated from the 80s or 90s and corny as hell, but it's informative.
 
Hmmmm. An exercise in futility. Depending on the sources themselves and how it was recorded (not to mention the song, the genre of the song, the tastes of the engineer, etc) kinda drives the mix.
 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ruO5bX8h0dI

It's not long but check out the entire song. And he does use a lot of recorded, vinyl bits. He tries (or at least did try back in the day) to stay away from pure digital information as much as possible. Like go to 2:38. It's amazing how he can make all that go on and sound good
 
I love how if you look for it you can always hear his hihat playing around somewhere out there. And it sounds clear as day no matter what's happening
 
There are no 'set' answers to what you're asking. If your mixes start sounding muddy as soon as you are putting drums and bass together, then you need to look at how you are tracking. Good tracking means little fixing during the mix stage. You should be able to hear everything clearly when the whole mix is monoed.
 
Chem808 said:
I have not been able to find a general outline like this and that's insane. Help me out...
Click to expand...


Yeah...no problem.

I have THE formula written down....I know it's around here....somewhere.

Mmmmm...as soon as I find the formula, I'll get back to you.
 
Ha and so it begins. Ok, I'll put my kick drum panned all the way to the left eq'ed at around 11000kHz, with my snare at 68Hz dead center. Because there are no set standards AT ALL. That guy was right, this won't work will it.
 
If anyone really knew the mechanics of sound, of waves. Then mastering sound could be very easily described. It's like where are these people and when did they make a pact to not teach people.
 
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Chem808 said:
It's like where are these people and when did they make a pact to not teach people.
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:facepalm: :D


Yeah...that's it....we all made a pact. :laughings:


Seriously...this forum is LOADED with helpful information and suggestions.
What you are looking for is a formula to apply to......to what?
If you don't understand that EVERY mix will have a different requirement, and that there is NO general guideline or formula...then you wouldn't be getting so frustrated about things.
Sure...that means you have to work more for each mix rather than just following a formula...but that's what it's all about.

I'm sure some folks will tell you that they (I'm just making this up) will "always roll off 3dB in the 250Hz range for the guitars"...etc...or that they will "always put the High Hat at 30 degrees to the right of center and boost at 12k Hz by 1-2 dB"...etc ...
...but that type of info is IMHO generally useless and I would hate to think that's how some people mix...where it's a numerical formula applied to everything they do.

You have to work at it...figure out what works for your mixes and your production goals.

If you want to put up a mix and THEN ask people what's wrong with it or what they might do different...at least then there is context, and everyone is talking about the same thing.
Otherwise...any "applies to all" formula is a lame way to approach mixing.
 
Theoretically a genius should be able to determine the exact frequencies, best possible dynamics that our ears want, and be able to create a vst that has no options, just automatic mastered. There's a longass algorithm out there, and someone will figure it out in our lifetime. Sure you may want it to sound different, but it'll always sound worse to the majority of people if you change it. Because our ears do have a standard with a slight variation between people. No YouTube video explains why, or what a wave even is. We need some geniuses who like music
 
Because it all depends on the recorded sound. There is no set guide on how to EQ or pan anything. I can find you a techno dance track that will have a kick drum panned L with the EQ you described as an effect during some section. One snare will be dark, another bright. One bass might be muddy sounding, and another with heavy top end. There aren't any rules with the things you're asking, and mixing it comes down to how you want to mold the sounds you have in a way that compliments the instruments.

You will make much more progress by posting a track you've recorded and mixed and then asking for general feedback. No one can tell you how to get a better mix by giving EQ rules... because there aren't any.

Put something in the mp3 mixing clinic and ask for help there. That's surely a better bet.
 
Chem808 said:
"exact frequencies, best possible dynamics that our ears want"
Click to expand...

Boy...you really don't get it....IT DEPENDS ON THE TRACKS, THE SONG, THE MIX, AND YOUR PRODUCTION GOALS. :)

All frequencies and dynamics can be both good and bad...it's how they interact for a given mix that makes them be what they are.
There is NO formula that you can VST your mixes with to make them all sound the same and equally good.

I think you should find some of these auto-mix plugs and websites where some "geniuses" have decided FOR YOU how your mix should sound. This shit already exists...and it doesn't really work well.
 
miroslav said:
...or that they will "always put the High Hat at 30 degrees to the right of center and boost at 12k Hz by 1-2 dB"...etc ...
Click to expand...

Think about this OP, keeping Miroslavs statement in mind: If rules like that actually existed, don't you think that the instruments' manufacturers would start producing their equipment to give that sound to begin with?! Why make a mixing engineer go through excess work in always cutting those freq's or boosting them? Just make it like that in the first place to save time! They don't do that because everyone likes/wants a different sound... so you learn to work with what you have. Learn to mold your sounds into what YOU want. Or, better yet, record those sounds to begin with.
 
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Chem808 said:
Theoretically a genius should be able to determine the exact frequencies, best possible dynamics that our ears want, and be able to create a vst that has no options, just automatic mastered. There's a longass algorithm out there, and someone will figure it out in our lifetime. Sure you may want it to sound different, but it'll always sound worse to the majority of people if you change it. Because our ears do have a standard with a slight variation between people. No YouTube video explains why, or what a wave even is. We need some geniuses who like music
Click to expand...

There's already too much music out there, largely because of how easy it is to make. Making it easier will just encourage the production of more bad music. If someone wants to write algorithms to make music better he should write one that can consistently filter out music I won't like.
 
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