So I made this little melody demo on fruity loops, which I'm really mediocre at.
I need some help with what direction to approach when starting a mix. I usually put all my samples in one pattern instead of having them separate. Also I don't know how to get that good quality sound to it and what I tend to do is just spam reverb on everything.
The drums sound entirely too bassy. Sure, they should be bassy, but not so much as to detract from the other non bassy music.
This the sort of advice you looking for?
Drums are insanely quiet.
[QUOTE=tony19;38988694]So I made this little melody demo on fruity loops, which I'm really mediocre at.
I need some help with what direction to approach when starting a mix. I usually put all my samples in one pattern instead of having them separate. Also I don't know how to get that good quality sound to it and what I tend to do is just spam reverb on everything.
[video=youtube;doZYomqE9A8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doZYomqE9A8[/video][/QUOTE]
There are a few steps you can take.
1) First, get all the volumes right ; What instruments are going to be the leading instruments? What are the important parts in this song? You can also start panning out the various instruments and sounds now to make the mix wider and give more space for certain instruments.
2) Secondly, start with rudimentary EQ on all the instruments. Every instrument span over certain frequencies and it is what gives them their tonal quality. Raise the frequencies where the instruments reign, and if you have certain instruments that hold the same frequency you have to decide which part of the frequency they should have.
For example, the bass guitar and bass drum holds the same frequencies, decide which one is supposed to have that bassy boomy sound and which one is going to have the more warm bass sound.
3) Thirdly, start finding out what exact frequencies that hold that special tonal quality you're after. Some instruments have certain frequencies that sound absolutely gorgeous, whereas some frequencies (for instance the sound of when you make a sound with an S in it, vocally) can be cut off to eliminate noise.
4) When you're done with EQing and the levels of each instrument, start adding FX to make it come more alive and wider if needed.
5 ) Step five is just going back to step 1 and continue this cycle until you think you've accomplished the sound you want for your song.
[editline]27th December 2012[/editline]
Remember to send each instrument to a single channel in the mixer by the way, you can achieve this by clicking on the step sequencer, single-click the instrument and scroll up/down on the FX channel thing in the upper right corner.
In terms of actual mastering, make sure to get your mixdown first - i.e. adjust all of your levels the way you want, apply all fx, builds, make sure your track is complete. When mixing down, leave a good 0.7db headroom for mastering (i.e. your master volume should never exceed -0.7db). Now simply save and forget about it for a few days (don't listen to it at all). Do this, because when you work on any track for too long, your brain stars to exaggerate certain parts that you particularly like, and duck other parts - altering the sound you percieve.
Now that you've done all of that, open the track back up and add the following modules to your master channel: visual eq, compressor and limiter (in that order). Now, listen through the track and note down any frequencies that are either not prominent enough, or annoyingly prominent (and stand out too much). Apply slight EQing to those parts to boost/duck some frequencies. Now, apply a low pass parameter to remove any frequencies below 20hz completely (you simply won't hear them on any sound system, no need to have them). Now, export the whole track and listen to it through every speaker/headphone you can find in your house. If any consistent trends show (like too much bass, not enough treble, etc), go back and adjust your EQing.
Next up is the compressor. What it basically does is it makes quieter parts of your track louder!
(it does this counter intuitively by making louder parts quieter, and then raises the volume of the track altogether)
The compressor can make your track sound loud, but don't go overboard with using it, because it can often remove and lessen the dynamics of your track (i.e. the difference between quiet and loud that makes it sound punchy, full of impact) You want to keep your compression ratio low, and then start moving your threshold down until you are happy that your track sounds richer and louder, but still remains punchy. Experiment with the compressor's threshold and ratio to learn how it works, and make sure to take frequent breaks to readjust your ears, as it's very easy to overcompress the master channel and make your track sound terrible.
Now for the limiter. This component is very easy to explain, because it does a very simple job. It simply raises the volume of the track, while cutting off any sound that goes above the 0db line. It is effectively a compressor with a ratio of inf. When you have mastered your track with EQ and compression, you can start playing with the limiter. What you want to do here is use the limiter to boost your track so the loudest parts of the track hit at the 0db mark. This means that your track will be plenty loud, but will never clip.
Additionally:
- You use something called a stereo imager before your EQ in the mastering chain. This component splits the track into two parts above and below a certain frequency threshold, and lets you adjust the phasing of each part to achieve mono/stereo effects. If you make dance music, it can sometimes be a good idea to remove any phasing from the lower frequencies, and using a stereo imager is a good way to do that.
EDIT:
Don't count on mastering to make your track sound more "rich" or "complete". You need to make sure your mixdown sounds great, and all of the frequencies you want to be filled up are filled up. And never assume that today's popular tracks sound good just because they were mastered professionally - this is no t true! I have a friend who has been producing for 4 years; he has 4k soundcloud followers and has been signed and promoted by big lablels - none of his SC uploaded tracks have been mastered by himself, yet they still sound great. Just think of mastering as a post processing/or "touching up" step, that is only there to add some final touches and make the track sound louder.
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