Please! expert advise needed (mastering/synths etc)

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:00 am

I been using reason for good few years now but still find it hard to get a good sound out of it sometimes.
Was just wondering if someone could listen to these three sounds and tell me what im doing wrong, how should they be EQ'd to sound better, etc, am i missing the right frequencies?...

heres a dirty synthline i made using two synths, lots of effects/automation etc on it, to try make it sound wider in stereo, full etc.. I compressed it alot, but maybe not enough still?
http://download.yousendit.com/B66FE0A96FFA6ABC

then i made a sub for it.. is it in the right freqs? any waste freqs in there? will it clash with the synth?
http://download.yousendit.com/FAC1B864016F1D5E

heres the two together.. jus dont sound right
http://download.yousendit.com/5EC313820DFB342F

Cheers if anyone could have a look at them n asess what i should be doing differently.. or even have a fiddle/eq with them n repost.. anything

Maybe i need to invest in monitors (i use £10 technics headfones lol)

thump rat · Post by **thump rat** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:24 am

You've uploaded both as foamosub, so i can't analyse the "dirty synth", but i like the bass line together, i think you just want to fill the sound out really, so it just doesn't sound like sub with a synth, all you need to do is continue to layer it and split it into different frequencies, its tedious but it will fill out and phatten it up. Also remember to keep your bass in mono! Also the sub could be fatter, roll it at about 55 to about 80 and that might give it more weight.

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:45 am

cheers for that. the links fixed now for the synth on its own.

how you mean roll? as in take out the frequency from there? or boost?

I plugged my laptop into my dads soundsystem earlier (he got big one) n it just sounded not good.. like the speakers were almost breaking, but not in a good way lol.. then referenced to, say, a Caspa tune, n the difference is BIG
that big difference can't just be Transition's work lol

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:48 am

also...When you layer your synths, do you need to make sure your splitting them so no frequencies overlap wotsoever... cos sometimes two synths sort of drown each other out n quiet them out if theyre a bit similar

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:49 am

also...When you layer your synths, do you need to make sure your splitting them so no frequencies overlap wotsoever... cos sometimes two synths sort of drown each other out n quiet them out if theyre a bit similar

thump rat · Post by **thump rat** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 3:25 pm

Roll off = Cut.

Yeah, make sure your frequencies don't overlap when layering, give them their designated range. What also helps with this is you can fuck about with modulation for the different layers, so you could phase the highest layer to give it a bit of movement. Your just gonna have to trial and error it.

d-miz3 · Post by **d-miz3** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 5:27 pm

cut your sub at 40 to 80 and give it a little boost around 55/60

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:16 pm

CUT it at 40-80??

sgtpilko · Post by **sgtpilko** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:27 pm

i think he means take it down a little bit but don't completely cut <80hz

what kind of sound does your dad play?

if the drivers look like they are doing a lot of work but theres not much bass you might have to roll off the bottom end, i.e. the cone is going mental distances back and forth but u aint hearing it! remember start low volume then turn it up gradually. orrrr your dads sound doesn't go as low as u need

40hz is nr the bottom of the hearing range, but u can feel it. a proper thump in the chest is a bit higher up i think depending on the attack of ur sounds.

ur right the diff u hear between ur stuff and releases isn't done at transition, but it'll come

reason seems prone to making things a bit muddy, plus that bloody clipping light comes on when it sounds fine!

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:21 pm

cheers for the help.. yea i find tracks made in reason can be a bit muddy, n ive just ended up ignoring that clip alert light.
i know its meant to be ''not what you use, but how you use it'' etc, but im starting to move on from using Reason. Learning Ableton Live at moment, anyone else use it? will be exciting to get into the VST world, but the layout of the prog will take sum time gettin used to as all ive used before is Reason

So any fat sounding synth you hear in a tune.. have they all been made by splitting into parts along the frequency scale and being played around with seperatly?

sgtpilko · Post by **sgtpilko** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:22 pm

nah not every fat sound will have that done to it but it has the advantage of keeping the low sub mono and unaffected while you can fuck around with the mid/highs all you want.

a lot of producers are quite lazy and the sounds you are hearing were probably made quite simply.

1 tip with bass is to use a synth with two or more oscillators and detune one by a few cents. this fattens it up quite a bit

as ur using reason, load up 3 versions of subtractor/malstrom and build the same patch on each. use 2 detuned waves (saw/square whatever). copy the same notes to each part but fuck with the lo/mid/hi pass on each of them and lfo each to taste!

foamo · Post by **foamo** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:17 pm

yea if you listen to the sounds i posted in the first thread ive done that.

Mono sub bass, nice n simple, then i made the dirty wobbly synth with cut bass... when i played together, it still sounds a bit thin yet muddy..
was jus wondering if most people make their synths split up into even more layers?

Please! expert advise needed (mastering/synths etc)

Please! expert advise needed (mastering/synths etc)

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