Ok, I have just finished making my very first song in Cubase 5.
Congrats. You are now one production into a lifelong and hard-earned pursuit.
It's just a simple loop with vsti's of piano, base, percussions, guitar, and strings.
Ok.
I removed the clippings by going into mixer and lowering all the volumes until it stopped clipping.
So far so good.
I added some basic EQ's for all instruments to make the sound richer.
Mistake #1. Don't worry. You're not the first person in the world to do this. EQ should only be added on a case by case basis and never merely for the sake of it. EQ comes from the word "equalization" and is not merely a sweetening tool but first and foremost a CORRECTIVE tool invented to smooth out spectral inconsistencies. Areas to pay attention to, especially if you're using a lot of virtual instruments, are the low end and the lower mid range. Build ups in these areas are prone to the masking effect (
Wikipedia - Auditory Masking) and too much energy in the low end will eat up a lot of space in your mix.
Thats pretty much all i've done and i listened to the final copy via my Bose headset, and the outcome sounded really bad.
Nope, not the first one to experience that either. Stereo Steve touched on why that may be but for the most part, I'd say it's because of the age-old idea that you just can not separate hours and hours of experience, trial and error from achieving great results. In other words, just because you have DAW software does not mean that your mixes are going to come out sounding like your favorite records. Not to say that you can't achieve those results with DAW software, but it takes many years of experience to get even a fraction of the way there. Trust me, we're all still on that journey.
There was no surrounding sound, it was dull.
Well, that's the trick, isn't it? The depth, width, clarity and power of the music we all love came from somewhere and it didn't come in a day. Much of it comes from the captured performance but much of it also comes from a keen ear, attention to detail, and a cleverly crafted mix, not to mention a carefully considered recording, which includes knowing what gear and tools to use and why. The techniques and methods employed to give us these great sounding records have been developed over many, many years and it is a synthesis of art, science and technology that arrives us at the point of producing music that inspires us and fills an audio enthusiasts ears with the wonderment of "how?".
The volume was too low that even after I set it to 100, it did not sound good.
The phase you are missing is "mastering" and it is the final step to producing a finished record. It is GENERALLY where the mix is made "louder" and where inconsistencies are remedied (or at least
eased) that the mixer did not perceive. Although, loudness is becoming an epidemic these days and is actually to the detriment of music. Please peruse this website to find out more about this:
http://www.turnmeup.org.
What did I do wrong? did i miss anything?
I'm afraid you've missed a lot. Keep trying and if you're lucky, after a long, long time, maybe years, you'll get closer to the sound you are looking for.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
