Getting the Mix/Mastering right

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Darran
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Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Darran » Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:59 am

Hi Guys,

Firstly I apologise for the lengthy post.

I'm fairly new here and have submitted to a few listings however, this time round I have n't has yet had a forward, but I feel I'm getting closer (Ever the optimist ;). The main issue is my mixes. I do understand the feedback. I can hear the difference but can't figure out how to fix them. Which is very frustrating.

I've watched hours and hours of You Tube clips but too be honest sometimes I can't actually hear (Even with headphones on) the adjustments that they make :(

My last two rejected submissions were for solo piano so I'll use them as examples, mainly because if I can get them sounding better there is a current listing that I can re submit to ;)

Solo Piano was returned because its mixed too low. on a positive note I was told it was super close to getting forwarded

https://www.taxi.com/members/fIwjZ9ccQt ... solo-piano

As I Remember It Again Close too be forwarded wasn't bright enough

https://www.taxi.com/members/fIwjZ9ccQt ... emember-it

When I record I'm using sample Piano sounds (Spitfire audio and Kontakt The Gentleman) I EQ and add a couple of DB compression on each track (Though I can't always hear the difference) I then EQ and compress the stereo out and bounce the track. Once bounced I reopen the single audio file and work on increasing the loudness. Most of the time I'll also add Ozone 9 which does seem to clear up the tracks and widen them up somewhat, yet I don't seem to have the clarity, the clean sound of the reference tracks and when I match EQ it just doesn't sound right.

So I guess I'm asking guys...What's a good step guide, as in how do you do it. from start to finish? I hope the question makes sense and thanks in advance for all replies :)

Darran

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cosmicdolphin
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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:10 am

We can't hear your tracks, so you need to search the forum for how to post them correctly or stick them soundcloud or something.

It shouldn't be too difficult to get a solo piano type track to sound good. There's 2 ways you can probably tackle it.

1. The long road. If you can't hear it then you can't mix it so it may be that you need ear training , a better monitor system, mix room treatment etc. Then once you can hear it you need to learn what sounds good and what doesn't and know how to adjust it which comes from experience. I can wholeheartedly reccomend 'Mixing Secrets For the Small Studio ' by Mike Senior as a book that will systematically teach you to produce better mixes ( with audio examples provided online ) and I'm sure there are courses that might better fit your learning style if books are not your thing.

Try this to train yourself to hear EQ https://www.soundgym.co/playground/eq

2. The quick and easy path to the dark side. Plugins and AI have come a long way and there are some great tools now that can do the heavy lifting for you so you don't have to be a great mixer / engineer necessarily to acheive broadcast quality but it will probably cost you more to buy these tools than learning the hard way although it might well get you over bar much sooner. The good news is you can trial a lot of these things and see how you go. Here is my quick and easy plugin list.

Metric AB - To get in the ballpark you must really A/B your stuff with the references. Plugins like this will show you pretty quickly if you are loud enough/ bright enough etc. compared to the Ref tracks

Gulfoss - This is like an auto EQ that changes 1,000 times per second but it great for brightening a dull mix without sounding fatiguing and harsh. You can use on individual tracks or a whole mix. i think there is a Black Friday Deal too but there is a trial too.

Soothe - This is brilliant for taming harsh resonances which there can be a lot of in piano sounds. Most things sound better with it on ! Very easy to use.

Pro-Q3 - This is a fantastically flexible EQ and has some great features but one of the super useful things it can do is a better version of EQ matching because you can vary the amount of the EQ curve it applies so if you feel your mix isn't quite getting there try it and apply like 30% Eq match and this often makes a noticable difference without overdoing it . Plus you can make each band dynamic so it's not doing it all the time, just when it needs to.

StageOne - Fantastic for adding " soundstage " to work mix, just stick it on , find a preset, tweak to taste. Instant front to back depth and wideness

Ozone 9 you already have, and it sounds like it's helping but the Tonal balance Control is invaluable to visually see where the issues are in your mix, so if they are telling you it's too dull you should probably see that on the Tonal Balance Control curve.

So that's the fast and easy but more expensive way.

My other main tip is to make sure if you set up a send return for your reverb that you're EQ-ing the return mostly by high pass filtering all the mud out of it..maybe 200-300hz sort of range and then find the most prominiment frequency of your mix, say 3k for arguments sake on a solo piano and make a cut in the reverb return EQ so that the most audible part of the mix isn't smotherd by the reverb.

Hope that helps ! I

Mark

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Darran » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:17 am

Hi Mark,

Wow thank you for your fantastic reply! I'll check out the plugins you recommend and more importantly how to use them.

Not sure why the music won't play, it plays when I click the link, but as you say I'll look into that.

Thanks again Mark :)

Darran

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:22 am

Darran wrote:
Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:17 am
Not sure why the music won't play, it plays when I click the link, but as you say I'll look into that.
The link works for you bu not anyone else, it's a common error. Don't ask me how to fix it as I use Soundcloud instead :lol:

The ansswer is on the forum somehwere

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Telefunkin » Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:34 pm

There's a lot of very useful information on these forums, so whenever you have a question its probably been asked before and a quick search is likely to turn up an answer. In this case, just two post below yours is this one which might help .... :)
how-can-i-produce-better-sounding-tracks-t150103.html

I even asked a vaguely similar question myself back in 2015 :shock: 8-)
mixing-mastering-video-tuition-t133904. ... on#p501561
Last edited by Telefunkin on Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Darran » Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:46 pm

So I searched the forum and couldn't find how to link the tracks correctly so here are the SoundCloud links. As you say Mark. Much quicker to just post on Soundcloud. Lesson learned ;)

Solo Piano
https://soundcloud.com/user-225188596/s ... al_sharing

As I remember
https://soundcloud.com/user-225188596/a ... al_sharing

Hi Graham. I did search and read that post too ;)
Many thanks
Darran

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by kregdurant » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:52 pm

Leaning how to mix and master will take a long time. My suggestion is to hire a mixing engineer. If youre looking to learn the best education is the unstoppable recording machine (enhanced) its 39.99 a month with a ton of courses. But its gonna take you a while. Ill gladly help you get on track myself, or mix for you (unfortunately i do have to charge to mix because it takes time) but you can message me if you need it now. If you HAVE to learn it, urm will get you there, but just understand its not an overnight skill, and takes alot of work and practice

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Darran » Sat Nov 19, 2022 4:47 am

Hey,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Yeah I guess I'll just stick at is as I need too be able to do everything in house. I'll be sure to checkout the online course. Thank you

Darran :)

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sat Nov 19, 2022 2:19 pm

Darran wrote:
Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:46 pm
So I searched the forum and couldn't find how to link the tracks correctly so here are the SoundCloud links. As you say Mark. Much quicker to just post on Soundcloud. Lesson learned ;)
Yeah nice pieces but way too dark mix wise. This should be easily noticed with a simple A/B with your refernce tracks

It's the old " is there a balnket over my speakers ? " type sound. You need to remove the blanket

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Re: Getting the Mix/Mastering right

Post by Darran » Sun Nov 20, 2022 12:34 pm

Ha Ha,


That's a good analogy. Spot on! I've started referencing more and looking at the match EQ . Not so much just accepting it more re creating what it suggests myself and wow. The difference. Feels like I might be getting there. Cheers Mark

Darran

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