mirrorsu wrote: ↑23 May 2018
Hi,
I would like to know how to increase depth into my music. When I hear other people's work, the music sound "rich" in levels. even during the solo. I can hear the differences between mine and others. What did I do wrong? Do I have to adjust each instrument in a certain way?
(Especially when I use String instrument, the feeling of lack of depth become more obvious.)
Here are some example of my music:
(These music I increase the volume level in Premiere afterwards, because my music is always not loud enough.)
My 2 cents…
I'm hearing great arrangements here, and the samples are OK IMO and probably not the main issue I hear.
The first question I would ask is what are your reference tracks - what recordings sound like what you're going for with these songs?
Without knowing that, I can only speculate about what YOU don't like about your songs.
So let the speculation begin…
Assuming you're wanting a level of realism you're not yet getting, assuming you don't have the disposable budget to purchase a new orchestral library I would turn first to the balances and the reverb. For example, on the first cut I hear a "chorusey" reverb on the glockenspiel that is very processed sounding - this may or may not be intentional. On the other instruments (on both songs) I hear generic reverb but I don't hear the room/hall in which these instruments would normally be recorded.
When I'm working on tracks like this I spend a LOT of time finding the most believable reverb (my go-to reverb for this application is Reverberate). Think about the attention spent on designing and building great halls and sound stages, and how much the sound of the room contributes to the sound of the instruments/recording. The room/hall is literally one of the biggest elements in the mix, and can make or brake the quality of the performance/recording. To achieve that level of believability you need to spend time "building/finding"
your space, and you need to imagine how every instrument is placed in that space.
For example, in your first track your percussion (especially the cymbal) is loud and up front, something that would never happen in an orchestral recording. Same for some of the strings IMO. Sure, with better libraries you shouldn't have to work as much to get everything to sound as if it's in the same room/space, but it's totally possible to make these tracks more believable by choosing a different reverb and paying more attention to the balances - IF that's your intention.
I'd be interested in hearing specific examples of the sound you're going for, and from there I think we all can give even better feedback.