My Friends Keep Saying My Mix is "Too Crowded" Any Advice?

[Lemonlust]

So, I'm kinda a beginning producer and I always show my friends my productions whenever I feel like they are shareable. But Almost all my friends say my mix is crowded. I was wondering what sort of tips you guys can give me for people who are having trouble balancing levels.

I usually bring all my levels down on all the mixer tracks and then use a limiter to raise the volume on all of them. I'm having trouble balancing how loud I want the subtle noises be such as the pad and stuff compared to the main sounds in the mix.

I usually bring down the drums to -9 db
Any pads or FX at -12 db
Mid Range and Subs at -6 - 9db depending

But it seems that it still makes my mix croweded, Despite lowering everything down to give "Headroom"

I usually put 2 EQ's and 1 Multiband Compressor on my Master then a limiter to raise the volume to 0 db

My master consists usually
1 EQ to cut 30hz and 18khz
1 Multi Band Compressor
1 EQ to boost and cut frequencies
Limiter to raise the volume

In that order


Here is my latest song that most of my friends said "your mix is too crowded"
Soundcloud

[narcissus]

hmm, i dunno, i rather like it. i'd call it "thick atmosphere"


yeah, i really like it. psychadelic vibes

[AxeD]

Tried to find the problem but I don't understand this kind of music. All brostep sounds kind of crowded to me because
the bass usually has a lot of mid in it.
If you want more 'room' in the mix you can try panning percussion/drums more or make sure you don't have a bunch of clashing
mids. In this particular track I would bring down the level of those little risers and that harsh digital sound.

psychadelic vibes

this, I don't understand

[Lemonlust]

So just lower levels even more?

[atticuh]

So just lower levels even more?

On the midrange. Sounds like the mid range is really crowded. Some headroom in this frequency range will do your track more justice.

Also, check the gain settings on your fx chains especially compressors/limiters. If you're lowering the level and not noticing a change in dynamics, then it's probably still clipping somewhere along the way to the master bus.

[MassAphekt]

it doesnt sound too bad, the only thing i suggest is try panning your background noises that create the eerie atmosphere, cut out alot of low and partial mid and highs in it as well during the drop, everything else is amazing, especially that eerie melody at 1:25

[jbcrazy]

It does seem a little muddy but I am sure nothing but a few eq tweaks could fix that. Like everyone said, just make sure everything has its space in the frequency. But either way... I dig that track! Sounds great sir.

[Lemonlust]

Thanks for the help guys

[wormcode]

I'd say ditch all the effects on your master, and stop using limiters that way. Why would you lower the volumes only to then bring them back up with a limiter, not once but twice? Why the multiband compressor? Those are kind of things that will easily cloud/crowd up a mix, re: dynamics versus dynamic processors.
Some things should be louder than others.

[Lemonlust]

I'd say ditch all the effects on your master, and stop using limiters that way. Why would you lower the volumes only to then bring them back up with a limiter, not once but twice? Why the multiband compressor? Those are kind of things that will easily cloud/crowd up a mix, re: dynamics versus dynamic processors.
Some things should be louder than others.

an approach i like to use is turn everything completely down. depending on what style of music im mixing i would be looking to highlight different aspects of the song but with most dance music especially dubstep your main elements in the song will be kick snare and bass so i would bring these 3 up first and have them at levels where they sound good together, once youve got these 3 sorted bring up everything else so it sits around them nicely. another technique i will use is to create a good mix for my drums where theyre sounding nice together then group them so i can turn all the drums up or down without affecting the actual mix.

[wormcode]

That mentions nothing about overuse of redundant limiting and compression.
I suppose it's down to the style you are trying to make where it's all squashed though.

[Today]

they prefer bare wobbles and no comping?

[fragments]

That mentions nothing about overuse of redundant limiting and compression.
I suppose it's down to the style you are trying to make where it's all squashed though.

Yea. For serious. You don't need to slap a limiter on everything. It sounds like you are just using the limiter to raise and lower the volume of the tracks, which is what the gain sliders are for! Unless of course you are trying to accomplish what Wormcode suggests and trying to get everything squashed within an inch of it's life.

[Lemonlust]

Alright so this time I lower the track to about -6db and bounced it back into FL Studio
I used the gain on Fruity EQ 2 and raised it to just under 0 db while monitoring the DB output
Then I used FL Compressor and put the attack and 0 and release at 0, Put the threshhold back about -4.5, and put the ratio to about 3.5:1 and put the gain back up to + 4.5

I did some boosts and cuts here and there where ever it needed it.

Would this be correct mastering?

[lloydy]

I'm having the same problem with tune in my sig mind in pieces.The cleanest mix i have done so far was when everything was pitched apart from each other.I think what i done wrong was cluttered the drums in the mind in pieces tune so that part of the mix is just muddy and no end of eq'ing will sort it out.Pretty frustrating because i really like that tune and want to get it mastered.
I created the drum loop bounced 3 copies reversed one and used delay on the other then mashed them together,i did pan then and used sidechain compression to get the groove rite but fuck knows how i'm to fix it,i eq'ed the vox like someone suggested on soundcloud to take some of the mud away which it did but still same thing,what a tnuc.
Really don't want to give up on it but am losing patients.

[Triphosphate]

IMHO any eq'ing you find yourself having to do in self mastering (with the exception of mid/side stereo treatment) means you should have addressed those issues in mix. When you self master the only thing you should be doing is limiting to competitive levels. To each his own though.

Edit: I just totally misread your post. Sorry!

[MoonUnit]

I agree on the note that the midrange is a bit crowded... it sounds like there is a pad or synth that's playing a the same time as the main midrange bass that's fighting for attention with the midrange bass. Also, I can hear your shaker going, but just barely. I don't know if there is something crowding it out too...

How do you pan your drums? At the very end of the funtcase masterclass he talks about panning drums like you would a real drum set, so-to-speak. I can hear in your mix that the snare and kick are right where they should be (in the middle). You can open up some space by panning hats slightly outward, and then your ride cymbal, shakers, and clap verb farther out. Ambient FX, wooshes, etc. are also best panned along the same lines as the ride/shaker/clap verb.

That's about all I got

[joshisrad]

Advice: listen to your friends when they comment on your track.

Especially your friends who don't know shit about music.