My mixes always sound too busy HELP

A

Antz_Marchin

New member
I'm just recording 1-2 vocal tracks and less than 3 acoustic guitar tracks and they are just seeming too busy. I'm pretty new at this stuff and they sound "alright" but kinda busy, I dont know how else to explain it.

I'm using light compression, (2:1-5:1 ratio, quick attack and medium release, with a Hard Knee) EQ and plate reverb on guitar, recording in stereo and panning the two cloned guitar tracks hard left and right and just slightly altering the reverb settings of one side.

For the Vocals I'm recording stereo as well, leaving them dead center, using EQ, either a light reverb or a real quick "fattening" delay and just a little bit of compression here too.

Can anybody give me a hand?? Is there anything I am doing wrong or should be doing?? Can you give me some "general" settings I should be using on certain effects to work from, or maybe even the order that the compressor/reverb/EQ should be in the signal chain?? ........Thanks very much for the help. BJ
 
Well, first of all, when you say your mixes seem "busy," I find it somewhat puzzling that you begin describing the attack/release times of your compression, reverb, micing technique, etc.

What I'm saying is that these aren't generally the things that contribute to -- or lessen -- the business of a mix.

The first place I would tend to look would be the arrangement. Are your tracks complimentary to one another, or are they competing with each other for attention in the mix? If everything has it's own melody or interesting thing going on, it can be overkill when you mix them all together. Pick which track you want to feature, and let the others hang in the background and fill in the spaces in a supporting role.
 
chessrock is exactly right. A well written, well arranged tune will basically sound good throughout all stages in the production.

Looking at your post though, I am curious. Why are you recording vocals in stereo if keeping them in the center? Did you record the compression and reverb during tracking or are you adding them during mixing?

One thing you can try is playing the mix with all the faders up and listen. Mute one track at a time until you have a mix where all the tracks gel together nicely. Remove any parts that contribute to clutter.

Cy
 
Cool thanks guys..................

Sorry for describing my effects but I was wondering if some setting I was using may have been characteristic of a muddy mix. I'll try the faders up, Idea and work by each track individually.

So for vocals if I'm leaving them dead center I should be recording mono, ok I'll just use the left or right SB input instead of the stereo one.

For guitar should I record stereo and pan left and right or should I record 2 tracks simultaneously in mono one from left input and one for the right input and then pan them each way?? I've heard that some people reverse the phase on one side....is this a usual practice that sounds good?? What exactly is that doing? Thanks very much again.......BJ
 
Recording the guitars is a matter of taste. You will get a more powerful guitar sound by recording two separate mono tracks and panning them left and right. Panning at 9 and 3 will give you more of a wall of sound. You can also try recording one track in stereo, panning left and right like you were suggesting.

When in doubt, experiment.

Cy
 
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