Making Recordings Sound as One

[rozzy97]

Hi there, so we've been doing some recording lately, and the different parts- drums, bass, guitar, vocals- just don't sound as one. Is there any EQ settings that could make the different parts sit well together? Any other techniques would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Massive Master]

Hi there, so we've been doing some recording lately, and the different parts- drums, bass, guitar, vocals- just don't sound as one. Is there any EQ settings that could make the different parts sit well together? Any other techniques would be greatly appreciated.

That's kind of the entire point of mixing. Making the individual elements come together to form a cohesive mix.

Granted -- Typically, the mix should sound 80-90% "there" without using any EQ. But the whole use of EQ is to tailor those sounds (and I use the word "tailor" purposefully, as in "this suit fits pretty well right off the rack but it will fit even better once I have it tailored"). What those settings are on the other hand -- Completely unique to every source, to every mix.

 

[Joboo1966]

That's kind of the entire point of mixing. Making the individual elements come together to form a cohesive mix.

Granted -- Typically, the mix should sound 80-90% "there" without using any EQ. But the whole use of EQ is to tailor those sounds (and I use the word "tailor" purposefully, as in "this suit fits pretty well right off the rack but it will fit even better once I have it tailored"). What those settings are on the other hand -- Completely unique to every source, to every mix.

+ 1 on that. Could not have stated it better if I tried.

 

[mixsit]

Hi there, so we've been doing some recording lately, and the different parts- drums, bass, guitar, vocals- just don't sound as one. Is there any EQ settings that could make the different parts sit well together? Any other techniques would be greatly appreciated.

One way to approach I like is to see how far I can get with just levels, eq and panning.
Part of the process early on is playing with the size and fit of things.
'Clean up of the obvious eq fixes is early on in here as well (trimming excess low end for example
'Size can be level to some extent, but also weight (heft') and other tone qualities. How 'close, big, or forward something sounds is partly how it was mic'd -was it close? -with proximity effect and/or are there no distance/room cues? So some of these can steer' how things might naturally want to sit in the mix, in many cases you'd steer them to where they'll end up.

If that was phase 1', then you'll have ambiance and delay- to set things back, to gel' some or most of them into additional spaces etc.

Totally missed leveling automation, compression in there

 

[Magnawolf]

Honestly, a good amount of cohesion comes from the mastering process when you use multi-band compressors, limiting, saturation, etc. When you apply an effect to all of the tracks it unites them sonically.

 

[RAMI]

The thread should have been closed after Massive's response, even though Mixsit made some god points, too.

I'd say 90% of cohesion comes BEFORE the recording process, not after. It's all about arrangement, performance, and having a vision of what you want the final product to sound like. Putting the band in the same room, whether you do it by actually recording all the tracks in the same room or using reverb, etc....goes a long way to creating cohesion.

 

[JohnWatkins]

I believe the problem that the OP is talking about is all about compression and harmonic distortion. Sometimes you've got a tight band, good mix, everything sitting well together and it still isn't "glued". If that's the case, I would suggest applying a very small amount of compression (barely moving the needle, effect nearly inaudible) to each and every track and see if that doesn't start to bring things together. If you like what you hear, consider adding a second compressor to every track instead of increasing the amount of compression.

I had this problem with all of my mixes until I started running outboard comps and EQ, but now that I've had some experience with it and know what I'm looking for in an end result, I can get very similar results with plugins.

 

[mixsit]

Honestly, a good amount of cohesion comes from the mastering process when you use multi-band compressors, limiting, saturation, etc. When you apply an effect to all of the tracks it unites them sonically.

Wow. No. Sorry -Unless you mean at some final fine pollishing' level where 99% of what went before went 'right in my opinion this is out of whack.
For 'an opposed to argument' I would point to what I was getting at earlier, the joy of getting much of it together in a large way and 'sounding like a band with just the basics in the mix. Let alone where a mix should land finished!

 

[Magnawolf]

Wow. No. Sorry -Unless you mean at some final fine pollishing' level where 99% of what went before went 'right in my opinion this is out of whack.
For 'an opposed to argument' I would point to what I was getting at earlier, the joy of getting much of it together in a large way and 'sounding like a band with just the basics in the mix. Let alone where a mix should land finished!

Yeah I knew someone would disagree with what I said. Yes, mixing is very important in cohesion, I'm not doubting that at all. More important than mastering. But in my experience, a mix (good or bad) going into mastering will definitely sound more cohesive at the end. But it also depends how you master it I suppose. Not a lot of people on these forums are into the idea of brickwalling to hell.

 

[Massive Master]

Honestly, a good amount of cohesion comes from the mastering process (STOP RIGHT THERE)

Fixed it.

 

[rozzy97]

Alright, thanks a ton guys, I didn't have time to check this and I think the main problem was excess frequency, so I basically just cut a lot of high on bass, and boosted and cut at certain points for the drums and made it sit tight, but these tips will help a lot more, thank you very much

 

[mixsit]

Our work here is done

 

[rozzy97]

Very much so

 

[Markel]

Thanks!