My First Song

[sunny d]

hey folks,

hm, well I suppose this is an introduction of sorts. I've loved electronic music for a long time, mostly breakcore and gabber. However, I also love smoking weed, so I took to dubstep like a fly to shit when I found out about it. Fastforward like 8 months, and here I am dipping my toes into the uncertain sea of production. In search of kindred spirits, I have come here in hopes of finding awesome new music and constructive criticism. So I suppose that's that.

Anyways, here's my song, let me know what you think-

http://www.mediafire.com/?npm8zxizpdc

[fiendish]

Hello mate

Like the vibe, but the mix isnt to good, can't here the drums at all, I think get some more banging drums hits in and turn them up in the mix.

[sunny d]

Hello mate

Like the vibe, but the mix isnt to good, can't here the drums at all, I think get some more banging drums hits in and turn them up in the mix.

Thanks man. Yeah, the mixing was the toughest part for me. It was really tough trying to strike a proper balance without getting crazy amounts of clipping.

[fiendish]

what you mixing on/in ?

just bring everything down, don't worrie if the tune as a whole sounds low, thats one of the reasons we get things mastered.

[sunny d]

I'm mixing in reason mostly, and then using sound forge to clean things up. I reworked the track quite a lot yesterday, and I think the new version is a bit better. You can find it here if you're interested:

http://www.mediafire.com/?iy3amqya0kd

[slight]

As a general rule, you just adjust levels subtractively.

This was the first half decent description I could find:

Subtractive mixing is an important technique to consider. Often the first instinct when something cannot be heard is to turn it up in the mix. However sometimes a better result can be achieved in already loud situations by turning down whatever is masking the musician that cannot be heard. When a band is already performing too loud usually the vocals are the first thing to become indistinct. Rather than try and bring the vocal on top of the instruments further, bring the level of the band down. If the rhythm guitar is being totally concealed by the lead, bring the lead down in the mix. Subtractive mixing can be practised any time where the loudest instrument is still being fed into the system. Mixing is all about achieving a balance, but a better mix can be achieved at a low level using subtractive mixing techniques. Otherwise the end result is everything louder than everything else and the level just creeps up and up until ears begin to bleed. Faders have a range from +10dB to -70dB, that whole range can be used, not just the 0 to +10 zone.

Personally I never use the +ve end of a fader unless I've got a really un-cooperative instrument or patch that's just super quiet.