trance mixing failure (as usual)

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Harlin
Posts: 22
Joined: 13 Feb 2018

14 Oct 2021

selig wrote:
13 Oct 2021
I hear basically an unmastered mix, that's all. Specifically, I hear a lower than typical overall loudness combined with not enough energy in the bottom few octaves (for this genre, and IMO). The kick is plenty "present", with a nice "click" attack and good mid-range thump. It's just a bit top heavy, that's all!
With that in mind, there is room in mastering to really push some low end - seriously, when I switch to my big monitors with the 12" sub I hardly hear any difference from my other monitors without the sub (currently Frontiers, Equators, and NS-10s). I ran your mix through Ozone 9 Elements with some low shelf boost (around +6 dB @53Hz analog low shelf), a touch of widener, and enough limiting to bring your mix up from under 16 LUFS to at least 12 LUFS if not up to 8-9 LUFS short term for the "big" sections (like around 2:00 - 2:30) with no issues. Then I remembered a beta RE I had laying around and tried that just for fun!
Here's an example of some basic mastering applied to your mix, just to show the mix itself is fine:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bvdk04mn5uc1 ... d.mp3?dl=0
Thank you I really appreciate it, the mix sounded much like I had in my head. I've been tinkering with the song this week and will spend some time on the mastering side, which is not my forte, but I'm always up for improving.

Harlin
Posts: 22
Joined: 13 Feb 2018

14 Oct 2021

Chizmata wrote:
14 Oct 2021
those headphones tend to emphasize the bass a lot, which may lead one to add not enough of it - and low end is really what this track is missing. listen to what selig said, he nailed it.
Would you recommend investing in something like Sony MDR-7506? stillifegaijin post made me research studio cans so I know studio\mixing are specific for the purpose of mixing, and I'm happy to invest in a separate set of cans for even a slight improvement in my mixing\mastering.

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Chizmata
Posts: 918
Joined: 21 Dec 2015
Contact:

15 Oct 2021

Harlin wrote:
14 Oct 2021
Chizmata wrote:
14 Oct 2021
those headphones tend to emphasize the bass a lot, which may lead one to add not enough of it - and low end is really what this track is missing. listen to what selig said, he nailed it.
Would you recommend investing in something like Sony MDR-7506? stillifegaijin post made me research studio cans so I know studio\mixing are specific for the purpose of mixing, and I'm happy to invest in a separate set of cans for even a slight improvement in my mixing\mastering.
i cant really tell you much about studio headphones other than its absolutely worth an investment. if you double-check your mix with bad to mediocre speakers, its all you need imo. i tested like 20 headphones or so in a shop before going with AKG K-240 MKII. they are low on the bass end even for mixing headphones but have a very clear and differentiated sound with an amazing price at ~100€. been using those for over 5 years now. but it's a really individual thing and i'd really recommend to go to a big music store and test which work for you.

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selig
RE Developer
Posts: 11685
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

15 Oct 2021

Harlin wrote:
14 Oct 2021
selig wrote:
13 Oct 2021
I hear basically an unmastered mix, that's all. Specifically, I hear a lower than typical overall loudness combined with not enough energy in the bottom few octaves (for this genre, and IMO). The kick is plenty "present", with a nice "click" attack and good mid-range thump. It's just a bit top heavy, that's all!
With that in mind, there is room in mastering to really push some low end - seriously, when I switch to my big monitors with the 12" sub I hardly hear any difference from my other monitors without the sub (currently Frontiers, Equators, and NS-10s). I ran your mix through Ozone 9 Elements with some low shelf boost (around +6 dB @53Hz analog low shelf), a touch of widener, and enough limiting to bring your mix up from under 16 LUFS to at least 12 LUFS if not up to 8-9 LUFS short term for the "big" sections (like around 2:00 - 2:30) with no issues. Then I remembered a beta RE I had laying around and tried that just for fun!
Here's an example of some basic mastering applied to your mix, just to show the mix itself is fine:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bvdk04mn5uc1 ... d.mp3?dl=0
Thank you I really appreciate it, the mix sounded much like I had in my head. I've been tinkering with the song this week and will spend some time on the mastering side, which is not my forte, but I'm always up for improving.
What were your thoughts on the mastering I did to your song?
Selig Audio, LLC

Harlin
Posts: 22
Joined: 13 Feb 2018

15 Oct 2021

selig wrote:
15 Oct 2021
Harlin wrote:
14 Oct 2021


Thank you I really appreciate it, the mix sounded much like I had in my head. I've been tinkering with the song this week and will spend some time on the mastering side, which is not my forte, but I'm always up for improving.
What were your thoughts on the mastering I did to your song?
I think the lows were prominent, I could hear the click and body of the kick much more, I also noticed the synths were balanced, compared to my version, but I also noted with the mixing applied I have lots of work on improving aspects like the snare etc. I'm working on it at the moment, so will post an updated version which will hopefully be closer to your mixed version. As I said, really appreciate the time sacrifice doing this for me :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Digital Beat
Posts: 2
Joined: 28 Dec 2022

28 Dec 2022

I made trance with Reason long time ago. I think I sucked at mixing at first but with feedback I found that many of the instruments at the time you start project lacked punch or compression.
Listened your track. I suggest to put less impact on kick and put synths more front.

I am not expert on mixing but it takes many listens on different speakers to get the sound right.
Use your friends stereos (not your neighbors) :-) to get opinion from regular listeners too.

Very old trance album made with Reason. I had to remaster the album as it sounded quite dull at first. :puf_smile:


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