Issues with 'Drop' impact and balancing Lows/Mids/Highs

[Burgeamon]

So I'm new to this schtick. I've done a few remixes recently that have come out so-so but I want to really improve my results.

The main problems I am having is that I never seem to be able to get the right kind of impact you hear from more professional records. It feels like the entire sound is just lacking a lot of depth at that part of my tracks and that there is no initial punch there. I've tried layering kicks, side chaining the kick to sub but still can't quite seem to crack it and my results are a bag of shit compared to what I'm aiming at.

I wanted to create part of a track that was correct production wise so I just took a reference track and came up with a simple lead etc.. that followed the track that I liked the sound of. If anyone could have a listen and make some suggestions as to why I can't get it right then I'd LOVE to hear them!

Soundcloud

[Jacob15728]

I think the problem is 1. need more contrast between the intro and the drop. Switch to a different lead sound once the drop hits to make the transition a bit sharper. 2. Reduce the sub for the intro, then really get it pumping once the drop hits.

[nftfhx]

as mentioned before, varying things makes the world of difference and you can also trying getting some light explosions or blows for when the drop hits, get a few different risers and layer them
another good tip is to automate the overall volume of the track and have it jump up a slight bit when it drops, when the tracks loud it'll be a subtle but worthy difference
also look into mastering, that can completely change the feel of a track

[Atac]

Roksonix- 2 Bad


?

[Oli Hunt]

Have you tried simply lowering the volume of the intro? I love the intro btw

[Sine69]

Bring everything in the intro down by about 2db. Even that slight increase in volume will make the drop hit harder.

[Burgeamon]

Roksonix- 2 Bad


?

Bingo! As I said, I was using a track heavily for reference as I wanted to break down the components that I heard to understand more carefully what makes each section of the track work.

Thanks for all the advice here.. I've used a lot of it and the result are infinitely better. I also double the lead part and dropped it an octave, cutting the highs and lows after the drop and it seemed to fill it really nicely. I also tweaked the levels and used a light limiter on the master and it seemed to REALLY improve the results. I'll upload the new version later for comparison.

[nftfhx]

You should try using some explosion samples or wooshes as the drop hits that can give a nice effect and lowering the volume like mentioned
also having a big build up makes it seem a lot more obvious as well so get some white noise in there and some filtering etc
the little drum roll takes away from the impact of the drop in this example but actually i quite like it like that, it makes it flow really nicely
good work bro, hope this helps!

[ChadDub]

Use a steady 4/4 quarter note crash to fill it up and make it more noisy.

[Atac]

Roksonix- 2 Bad


?

Bingo! As I said, I was using a track heavily for reference as I wanted to break down the components that I heard to understand more carefully what makes each section of the track work.

Ahhh, well anyways good stuff man!
The best learning experience is hands-on trial and error sometimes.

[gen_]

Yeah, its all good starting off imitating someone elses song, but sooner or later you have to let your creativity take over.

[S1NTH3TIC]

Someone mentioned explosion samples already, but something like a shotgun blast really helps give it that punch. Don't just put it in dry though(thats what she said) try pitching it down a touch and making sure it sits in the mix well enough that the listener acknowledges the face fuck punch of it but they don't consciously realize they just heard a shotgun go off.

[[asterisk]]

Yesh, all these techniques help, and they are all enhanced by the sounds you choose and how they are fit into the mix with every other sound using dynamical editing and even the vol bump trick. But it's really all about building tension before the drop imo. Infinite ways of doing this, however difficult to throroghly explain them. People, including us producers, want to be surprised. So that's usually why tracks that employ creative changes in sound design and textural vibe drop so hard.

[the dub lemon]

The impact of a drop is made up of everything that happens at once, compared to 2 Bad Mice I think you've done a pretty good job creating something similar, the 2 things which I think make the Roksonix track hit a bit harder are the echoing vocal on the drop (it's fairly subtle but it all addeds up) and the squeal on the top end of their bass has more energy.

If you wanted to get it a bit closer I'd say get

1) 1 or 2 extra little sounds on the drop (such as the echoing vocal) which occupy some mid/upper mid frequences, gives it some motion and tails off (that's what the echo does, something going through a stutter gate I also find good for a bit of energy).

2) Work on the eq of the bass, it's sounding a little flabby and I think you'll find that removing some of the mids (maybe somewhere between 500hz and 1khz) will give it a better sound. Get a broadish notch pulling outs 3db or something and sweep it around the mids and see what sounds good.

3) Work on the top end of the bass a bit more, either frequency split or duplicate your synth and high pass the copy and get a bit more texture in top to make it sound a bit more agressive. maybe play with distorting the top end more but also try and get a bit of subtle movement in there.

Those replies are very much based on trying to get closer to the 2 Bad Mice sound and I hope they are helpful, if you do give them a go I'd love to hear the result.