2 Questions, tidying up a mix, splitting layers in mix

[lowpass]

1st question is how to tidy up the mix, Giving everything its own space, so far I'm high passing near enough everything except the snare, kick and bass. Eq'ing out room for my kick in my sub and panning the percussion out a bit. My mixes still sound a little cluttered though, what am I missing out?

2nd question is to do with that technique of splitting a sound into 3 frequency bands and then processing them different. Has anybody done this to the final mix, if so has it been effective? does it make it sound better?

[jostov]

very interested in this too,

+1 for expert explanations

[rendr]

The simple answer is use less layers. Simplicity is the key, it's probably not only frequency's clashing that's your problem but the amount of stuff going on. The key to a good dance track is simplicity, a good hook, good drums & good bass.

And imo you should high pass you kicks, snare and bass. Most kick samples go all the way down to 10Hz, so there's no point of low passing your sub if you kicks are still clashing.

For me anyway the general rule is:

Kicks high pass at 80Hz
Snare high pass at 120Hz
Bass high pass at 80Hz (providing you have a sub bassline repeating the same chords as the bass)


Question two. I've tried splitting up the final mixdown into two and using panning on the high passed layer etc. My advise, leave it to the experts, and I can really picture a mastering engineer splitting up a track into bands. It's more of a bass thing than final track process.

[lowpass]

The simple answer is use less layers. Simplicity is the key, it's probably not only frequency's clashing that's your problem but the amount of stuff going on. The key to a good dance track is simplicity, a good hook, good drums & good bass.

And imo you should high pass you kicks, snare and bass. Most kick samples go all the way down to 10Hz, so there's no point of low passing your sub if you kicks are still clashing.

For me anyway the general rule is:

Kicks high pass at 80Hz
Snare high pass at 120Hz
Bass high pass at 80Hz (providing you have a sub bassline repeating the same chords as the bass)


Question two. I've tried splitting up the final mixdown into two and using panning on the high passed layer etc. My advise, leave it to the experts, and I can really picture a mastering engineer splitting up a track into bands. It's more of a bass thing than final track process.

Thanks for the informative reply, nice one

[zgomot]

Right...

To tidy up your mix, it's most important to first choose high quality, clean sounds. Then, as I think you mentioned already do, eq out everything that you don't need. Even if it's not audible, it will still muddy up your mix. You don't really need anything under 1kHz, for hi hats, for instance. And don't just high pass. Listen carefully to your mix and see what it is that compliments your track and what's just there to take up headroom and mess your mix up. Bandpass, low-pass, high-pass and only keep what you need.

Another thing I found to be of great importance is to never (read "very seldom and with great care") boost with an EQ. Better to cut out what you don't want to make room for what you do want.

There are certain things that are best avoided. Like reverb on bass lines (unless split up in layers and you're only having the reverb on the mid-range layer). Or having any fader in your (software) mixer higher then the master volume fader in the mixer. This will overload you master bus.

Also, clever positioning in the stereo field will do wonders. Don't mix in mono.

This is not to be taken as fact. It's just stuff I've found out in time, the hard way, either reading on forums and various articles.


Regarding your second question. I use Izotope's Ozone, which allows you to to multi-band processing (compression, exciting, reverb) but I'm sure any multi-band effect will do.

And yes, I always do this to my final mixes. Sometimes even on some tracks to bring them out in the mix, to emphasize them or to add some definition and sparkle. It sounds a lot better than it would if you slammed a compressor onto your exported master track. Different frequency ranges need different processing.

[james fox]

The key to a good dance track is simplicity, a good hook, good drums & good bass.

word to this, times a lot.

[vendetta]

... Other techniques for making kicks come through the mix is to notch the bass around -4 to -6db at 100hz so that its not noticeable, but gives the kick more room.

is this so that the hit will have a more consistant overall volume so when its compressed it appears louder ? or is it so that its got more of a gap from the bass/ sub so it seems clearer? its just that for a kick isn't 100hz about where the main grunt of the kick is ?

[cheven]

lowpass: there's a distinct possibility that you're less dumb than me, but I found out recently that nearly all of the factors muddying up my mix were down to volume and not EQ. This thread sorted me out:

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... sc&start=0

[wirez]

The key to a good dance track is simplicity, a good hook, good drums & good bass.

word to this, times a lot.

That is a fair statement, but Dubstep isn't necessarily dance music, especially with the way it's evolving now!

[future one]

Another thing I found to be of great importance is to never (read "very seldom and with great care") boost with an EQ. Better to cut out what you don't want to make room for what you do want.

I do a lot of boosting. Especially on drums.