production tips for club systems

airhead · Post by **airhead** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:40 pm

hey, i need to make sure a tunes gonna sound good on a big system, does anybody have any advice? i've heard about cutting frequencies below 30Hz but not much else...

also should i bounce it as a mono track?

thanks in advance

az · Post by az » Sat Mar 22, 2008 5:57 pm

Mono would'nt be a good idea, because anything even slightly panned would loose volume due to the consolidation of stereo frequencies. Best tip is to make sure all instrument parts are sitting as much as possible in there own frequency range, and try and avoid spectrum clashes, this will make your music sound allot clearer and therefore better for club use as the DJ can turn it up without the mix becoming 'muddy' also cut above 15k as nothing above this frequency will be used on an average club system.

daft cunt · Post by **daft cunt** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:08 pm

For what I know there's no need to make the whole track mono, only the frequencies below 100hz. Besides, it's sthg to do if you want to put your music on vinyl, don't know if it applies to Seratos and the likes. Probably tho...

Cutting the frequencies below 30hz is only useful to gain some headroom.

If memory serves you can roll off the frequencies above 16k/17khz as they might be unpleasant on a system.

Not 100% sure about it all tho... just have some spare time right now...

Sharmaji · Post by **Sharmaji** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:32 pm

you want 30hz. shit, you want 26hz. maybe not a ton under that but 20 and above are definitely reproduced on a great system.

your mixdown should work in mono--things should cancel out, it shouldn't sound outrageously different--but you don't have to bounce it in mono.

you def. want 16k and above in your mix, but you don't want big spikes there-- once you start getting a mixdown really loud, samples, etc can create noise up that that will cloud up a mix and sound unpleasant. control those w/ some cuts on the channels, sure, but you don't gotta roll the whole tune off.

and remember these are only pointers, not rules in the least.

martello · Post by **martello** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:11 pm

Remove DC offset.

misk · Post by **misk** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:06 pm

sub bass is really emphasized. really really really emphasized. so if your sub peaks at 50 hz, and it sounds quiet on your 6/8 inch monitors, its probably gonna be way beyond heavy in a club.

just learned this recently with my live set. my sub was suprisingly quiet when i was practicing, even though it was pretty heavy in my headphones. lo and behold, the first bass drop, and it blew anything anyone else played out of the fucking water.

good to know.

flower · Post by **flower** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:29 pm

redraven · Post by **redraven** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 4:06 pm

I've never had my stuff played on a system so I'm only from knowledge that systems are usually mono... Which is why I produce in mono so that i know it will sound good on a big system... then stereo is icing on the cake =)

bassmusic · Post by **bassmusic** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:47 pm

as Sharmaji said, you just need to make sure that if you happen to be playing on a mono soundsystem your tune won't sound shit. Good clubs in major cities won't have this problem, but if you're playing some old club in a small town there's a reasonable chance the system will be mono - I played on a mono system just this weekend in fact. So make sure your kick, snare, and sub at least are in mono (ish).

The main thing to consider though is that club sound systems are large and dopey beasts. Subtlety has a tendency to get lost. Your sublines will sound HUGE and will overpower the rest of the tune if you're not careful; you have to mix vocals and lead lines much louder than you might think at first. Also, anything toppy can sound overly harsh - big wooshy white noises, distortion etc - these will all come through and rape people's ears if you're not careful! While a bright mixdown is desireable if you're listening on laptop speakers, there's really no need for it in a club situation...

DZA · Post by **DZA** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:55 pm

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:40 pm

bassmusic · Post by **bassmusic** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:57 pm

borrocks!

Ldizzy · Post by **Ldizzy** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 5:45 am

i may be a neophyte and the previous info really sums it up i guess, but id also be cautious that the kick come thru within the sea of low freqs.. (past mistake

)

Promise One · Post by **Promise One** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 11:38 am

I got a tracked played on Plastic Peoples Funktion One sound system last Sunday night. It was at an event called CDR - http://www.burntprogress.com/ - check it out really good night of like minded producers playing works in progress (if your London based)

From the moment I heard it on there I knew straight away what needed changing. The main ambient synth was too muddy, not enough top end.
I like my drums fairly loud in the mix, so if your like me try and turn the snare and hats down more than you'd like to as they tend to cut through louder on big systems. My sub was actually a little too quiet! but I think Plastic's system isn't as bass heavy as it use to be judging from the last FWD I went too.
As people have said keep vocals and synth melodies louder than you'd like too.
Compare your track to one you've heard on a big rig and see how it relates to your mix in your studio.
I was playing a raw mix and it was more compressed on that system than normal, so bare this in mind as well as most systems compress audio to a certain extent. Mixing your sub level is the hardest thing to get right for me. Still working on this mix...

DubstepMaster · Post by **DubstepMaster** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:30 pm

I made the mistake by playing my whole track mono :/

blinx · Post by **blinx** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:22 pm

Skrillex club tip using ozone 4 "You can use Ozone's stereo imaging and take frequencies above seven thousand [7 kHz], or even a little bit lower, and you can widen everything up there, so that the mix starts to sound a lot wider. In an environment where you're performing live, where a lot of times you have distortion and different high frequencies bouncing around the room, you don't necessarily need those to be as present, but when the higher end stuff starts phasing, because you've widened everything, it almost tightens up your mix."

Heres the link.
http://www.izotope.com/artists/skrillex.asp

harrisandreson · Post by **harrisandreson** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:12 pm

Playing loud music as well as being an Pine Tree State, I can frankly pronounce I do n't have the time or space in my mind to think about whether my origin is mononucleosis or stereo. I'd kind of have one actually substantially dominated air which has been checked for mononucleosis compatibility I can trust.
CCTV make a true sense there for all kind of production because it is the need of every one.

lloydy · Post by **lloydy** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:38 pm

harrisandreson wrote:Playing loud music as well as being an Pine Tree State, I can frankly pronounce I do n't have the time or space in my mind to think about whether my origin is mononucleosis or stereo. I'd kind of have one actually substantially dominated air which has been checked for mononucleosis compatibility I can trust.
CCTV make a true sense there for all kind of production because it is the need of every one.

antipode · Post by **antipode** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:53 am

Hows that production going for ya these days Airhead?

didge · Post by **didge** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:34 pm

epochalypso wrote:Hows that production going for ya these days Airhead?

Lool, that Airhead. So is it safe to assume he managed to get his tracks sorted then?

bigdaveo11 · Post by **bigdaveo11** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:23 pm

to go along with this thread I was wondering who mixes mostly in mono? I have read that getting your sounds to fit in mono first is beneficial and then applying stereo FX after can make the sounds stand out/seperate even more.