Why do my mixes sound so hollow/empty?

[clairvoyeur]

Well, my desire to improve has finally exceeded the embarrassment I get from my music. I get to the point in my tunes where I just give up because the overall sound is such crap. I know the drum programming and whatnot can be improved upon, but the mix is what really kills me. Everything sounds really flat... or like a puzzle that doesn't fit together. I just need some direction to go on in order to focus on improving the quality of sound. Are there just not enough elements to make it sound full? Is it just a matter of spending more time mixing down? Does it just come down to a poor selection of sounds? All of the above? I really want to improve, I just get so frustrated with myself and I have really no idea what to do.

These two examples are pretty much the furthest I've been able to get but now I've really reached an impasse.

Soundcloud

Soundcloud

[ToxicBass]

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=74832

Stickies

Also think of your spectrum of frequencies as a box, try to fill every single part of it to get your track sounding 'full'.
Also a lot of the fullness will come from a good mixdown, read the thread above.

[ChadDub]

Learn how to EQ your instruments so that none of the frequencies clash with the other instruments.
Learn what freqs certain instruments should take up.
Learn how to use chorus and reverb in order to make things bigger.
Learn how to gain structure your tracks so that not everything is fighting for a place in the mix.
Read the MONEYSHOT Thread.
Read this article. http://www.dnbscene.com/article/88-thin ... tutorial/2

[clairvoyeur]

Thanks for the links guys. Article seems like a simple yet really informative read so far. Also, not sure how I missed that thread browsing the production bible. Kinda daunting but inspiring to learn more. Sorry for wasting space with my post, I just get really frustrated with how effortlessly everyone seems to get a good sound.

[ChadDub]

Nah, it's no biggie.

And we don't get it effortlessly, I just figured out how to sort of get a decent sound through learning and researching a lot. You'll get it, it's not that hard.

[ToxicBass]

Trust me getting a good mix takes a lot of practice and hard work. Don't give up.
What's your monitoring situation like? Also have you read into room acoustics?

[clairvoyeur]

i have 2x krk rp8 and a krk 10s sub

also any interest in sound treatment of a room is negated by the fact that i've had to move so many goddamn times this past year

edit:

also from reading this article im assuming that every individual element of the track should be EQ'd? Is there a list of the general theory on what frequency ranges each element should occupy?

[ChadDub]

I'm pretty sure it says something about that in the article, but maybe not.

But yeah, this, http://abletonlife.com/wp-content/uploa ... -large.jpg

I don't follow that though, that's just a basis. Just look at the EQ of all the sounds you want, they usually reside in the frequency range they're needed in anyway.

And yes, everything should be EQ'd definitely.

[ToxicBass]

This is what I was referencing to by the box idea earlier:
http://www.dnbscene.com/article/88-thin ... tutorial/1

Eq wise I usually cut anything below 120hz in everything but the sub bass and kick drum. I cut anything under 800 hz for percussion.

I also found this 7 part series really handy, persevere with the accent though because he's really clued up .

[3za]

And yes, everything should be EQ'd definitely.

Total bullshit!!!

[mmjdw]

Your mixes could be sounding empty because... they are fairly empty...?

A lot of your sounds are basically raw 808 samples. Not a problem but they can sound a little hollow by themselves. Learn about layering your drums.
An example - take your clap, eq some low end out, then add in a snare with a little bit of highs taken off (the snare should be lower than the clap in volume).


Also you need to use reverbs, delays more. Short delays/reverbs on drums, longer reverbs on stuff like leads will help fill out the space in the track.

Perhaps more instruments overall would help most of all. High lead sounds, arps with all the low/mids EQ'ed out, pads low volume in the mix, stabs with lots of delay etc.

Also experiment with using overdrives/distortions/limiters simply to boost the percieved volume of your drum samples. Try not to rape them too much though.

Plus, your mix doesn't seem to have had any "mastering" or even faux-mastering done by yourself. This is essentially a series of processes that when done correctly can boost the percieved volume, punch, etc of your mix... don't worry about it yet, the mix is more important.




Good luck.

[Ascian]

Basically what mmjdw said.. Your mixing is good as it doesn't look like what Chad has in his sig which is how you DON'T want it to look so you have no problem there.. It is just a fairly sparse track!

Definitely start layering your sounds. Take 3 claps / snares or a mixture, pick each one based on where they hit.. You want each one to hit in a different place. This will take up more room in the mix as instead of having one snare which hits at 300Hz, dips down, picks up at 1.5kHz, dips down, little peak at 2.5k and down toward 10k, you can pick different snares to fill up frequencies that the one snare would dip.

Layering really does beef up your mix. Use this with synths etc too.

Using proper compression works wonders too.. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube!

Reverb is absolutely KEY to getting a full mix.. You need to research what each parameter of the reverb actually does. Highly diffuse reverb for sitting in the back of the mix, less diffuse reverb for sitting at the front of the mix.

Also one technique for widening percussion (or anything really) is to take a reverb, have the dry/wet less than 50% feedback at 0% and have the left channel delay at 10ms or so and right channel at 30ms or so.. Should make whatever it is applied to subtly wider and fuller

GOOD LUCK!

[ChadDub]

You are definetly jelly. lmfao.

I really just have to say, the people on this board are so retarded.

What? It's not supposed to look like that? What, loud? It's better than your shit bland tracks.

Seriously, just stop being jelly. That track has 3 dB of headroom anyway.

Yeah, go back to making overused straight out of Massive patches. Go back to your arbitrary samples and amen breaks.

[paravrais]

[ChadDub]

Ujelly?

[clairvoyeur]

Thanks for the advice guys. Locking this thread since it seems to have taken an unexpectedly harsh turn.

...which i cant figure out how to do. mods feel free

[paravrais]

To be fair it should have been locked instantly..

[nowaysj]

Thanks for the advice guys. Locking this thread since it seems to have taken an unexpectedly harsh turn.

...which i cant figure out how to do. mods feel free

Every thread that chad the rapist posts in turns into this shit.

I struggle to keep my mixes lean let alone empty. You've got to get with the idea that your mix is the music as much as the music is the music. Mixing is half art, half science. An empty sparse mix isn't a bad thing, so long as it is furthering, expressing or embodying the music itself.

[daft cunt]

Computer music just published a guide to mixing. It might answer many of your questions.
Also watch dubstep/d'n'b masterclass, like the Reso one for instance, they are full of great mixing tips.

You are definetly jelly. lmfao.

I really just have to say, the people on this board are so retarded.

What? It's not supposed to look like that? What, loud? It's better than your shit bland tracks.

Seriously, just stop being jelly. That track has 3 dB of headroom anyway.

Yeah, go back to making overused straight out of Massive patches. Go back to your arbitrary samples and amen breaks.

Choon battle imo

[Kodachrome]

Computer music just published a guide to mixing. It might answer many of your questions.
Also watch dubstep/d'n'b masterclass, like the Reso one for instance, they are full of great mixing tips.

You are definetly jelly. lmfao.

I really just have to say, the people on this board are so retarded.

What? It's not supposed to look like that? What, loud? It's better than your shit bland tracks.

Seriously, just stop being jelly. That track has 3 dB of headroom anyway.

Yeah, go back to making overused straight out of Massive patches. Go back to your arbitrary samples and amen breaks.

Choon battle imo

I'll battle this tnuc.