Applying the correct mix-down...

[Gravehill]

Seriously. Everyone telling you that "if someone wants to listen to your tune they'll turn it up" are, no offense here guys, speaking a load of horseshit.

See, the thing is that most people who are going to hear your tunes are going to be casual listeners. They're not going to know about mastering, dynamics etc. They're going to think your tune sounds worse and less professional than your friends. Your friends songs are going to go on their iPods, because guess what? ALL commercial music is loud. Go ahead and listen to any brostep/electro/whatever track. I dare you to find one that's not a compressed wall of sound.

You're not going to find it, because those producers realize this. And even if someone DID download your track, when I'm listening on my iPod on the way to work or at the gym or playing some tunes at a party or whatever I dont want to stop every two seconds and turn the volume up because some asshole left their track half the volume of all the other ones. Sure, if I do it sounds good but it's a fucking hassle and I don't want to be bothered with it.

This is how a normal music consumer thinks. If you want anyone to listen to it, you need to compress it. I'm not saying you gotta smash it to shit, but your track needs to be in the same ballpark as commercial producers and anyone telling you otherwise is a hipster asshole. If you don't believe me, just have a listen to any of your favorite tracks. I'm not saying limiting the shit outta everything sounds better, but you need to do it to some extent if you want to compete.

Trust me on this, kid.

Now, bring the hate bitches.

Nah I agree with this, but if you're at this level where you're worrying about kids listening to your music on their ipods and stuff why not just send the tracks to a mastering engineer, its so cheap nowadays

[Maxxan]

Nah I agree with this, but if you're at this level where you're worrying about kids listening to your music on their ipods and stuff why not just send the tracks to a mastering engineer, its so cheap nowadays

Fair point, I'm mostly mashing out bootlegs atm though so it feels a waste y'know. I did release the tune in my sig properly, that's all mixed by myself though. I'm sure people are gonna take the piss at me for this but EDM is easy to mix compared to proper stuff like rock/metal so you can get away with pretty shitty mastering. Mix it decently, smash the fuck out of your compressor, some harmonic exciters and you're good to go. Most kids won't notice the difference, not the normal listeners. The hipster tryhards are gonna rip on my tunes anyway so who cares haha. Might as well start learning too. I figure the blokes charging two bucks for a master can't really be that much better than I am, I'll bet half of that is all ozone magic haha.

[didge]

I don't mind the idea of having a 'soundcloud' mix you show everyone and a "properly mixed" track to play out or send to labels/DJs/etc.

LOL. Just remembered why I never post on here. Pzzzzzz.

[Gravehill]

Nah I agree with this, but if you're at this level where you're worrying about kids listening to your music on their ipods and stuff why not just send the tracks to a mastering engineer, its so cheap nowadays

Fair point, I'm mostly mashing out bootlegs atm though so it feels a waste y'know. I did release the tune in my sig properly, that's all mixed by myself though. I'm sure people are gonna take the piss at me for this but EDM is easy to mix compared to proper stuff like rock/metal so you can get away with pretty shitty mastering. Mix it decently, smash the fuck out of your compressor, some harmonic exciters and you're good to go. Most kids won't notice the difference, not the normal listeners. The hipster tryhards are gonna rip on my tunes anyway so who cares haha. Might as well start learning too. I figure the blokes charging two bucks for a master can't really be that much better than I am, I'll bet half of that is all ozone magic haha.

Not gonna lie I really like the tune in your sig, and to be honest its probably true too casual listeners probably aren't gonna be able to tell as long as its loud

[Maxxan]

Cheers bruv Some dude asked me about the growls in there so I wrote a little bit in the growl thread earlier today in case you happen to be interested, by-the-by.

But yeah, I really think people on here are too far up their own asses when it comes to mastering. Seriously, look at the kiddies digging dubstep today and tell me an ozone preset isn't gonna do it for them. I'll worry about mastering when my label pays for it

[mthrfnk]

If he's using a limiter to stop clipping...then his channel's aren't clipping, they're being limited. Simple really.

Try being more heavy handed with your compression to make it louder; you'll know when you've gone overboard. Similarly with your EQ. Getting everything out of the signal that you don't want (excessive low and high end) then make it as loud as you can (compression, distortion, short reverbs etc.)

Why limit a clipped signal instead of just turning it down

But that's two different processes that will sound different...? You might as well ask, why put a chorus on signal instead of a reverb?

Well it's not tbf unless you're clipping everything in an attempt to add digital distortion. You're using the limiter to prevent the signal clipping, why not just turn the volume down to prevent clipping (adding a limiter if you really need to to alter the level) and once the track is mixed properly apply a limiter on the master in the mastering stage to bring the volume up to commercial levels.

Also I agree in the most part with Maxxan, not saying don't limit/compress - just saying it needs to be done in moderation and effectively. A properly mixed/EQd track that has been compressed/limited properly in stages is going to sound a hell of a lot better than some track where you've slapped a limiter on every mixer channel where the signals are clipping, then buttfucked it all into the 2buss and then added more compression and limiting.

Also agree with genevieve, that's a nice idea tbf.

[blinx]

+1 for making 2 mixes a Consumer Release and your own nonsquashed DJ release... seems like a fuging win win...

[Genevieve]

I don't mind the idea of having a 'soundcloud' mix you show everyone and a "properly mixed" track to play out or send to labels/DJs/etc.

LOL. Just remembered why I never post on here. Pzzzzzz.

Good. Cuz what's true is true. People do want loudness. I haven't had issue with it, but your layman doesn't know a good mix from a bad one and if it helps getting your music out there, why not.

I haven't tried doing it myself but I might.

[arktrix45hz]

You should never be clipping any channel no matter what your approach to mixdown is

unless that clipping sounds fantastic. rules you learn on the internet don't count as "rules"

This, some people are chatting massive dog eggs in this thread.

[skwiggo]

^i like mixing into a limiter or a master buss compressor sometimes and clipping channels then resampling the clipped audio - just depends what it sounds like innit. doing all the stuff that your not 'supposed' to do can actually be good sometimes.

[Gravehill]

You should never be clipping any channel no matter what your approach to mixdown is

unless that clipping sounds fantastic. rules you learn on the internet don't count as "rules"

This, some people are chatting massive dog eggs in this thread.

[sunny_b_uk]

You should never be clipping any channel no matter what your approach to mixdown is

unless that clipping sounds fantastic. rules you learn on the internet don't count as "rules"

This, some people are chatting massive dog eggs in this thread.

yeah there's nothing wrong with clipping even in the digital world. its not the best advice to give to a noob since theyre probably not going to record the clipped signal and lower the volume after since that point wasn't made clear (well i mean you'd have to do this in FL Studio since clipping only happens when peaking passes the master channel)

[elyhess]

Practice + candy = good mix!