#first time mixing and mastering my own song

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

rain apex
gaunt basalt
#

INTRO ALREADY INSANELY TOUGH

rain apex
#

the bass is so thin in my opinion ill fix that tomorrow

#

i also really like the end

gaunt basalt
#

AHH this was so fire

#

2:03 could use like a bigger drop though

#

only thing

rain apex
haughty iron
#

Its heavy reminds me on a cool anime opening

#

but its cool

#

Only thing i give criticism is the white noise its a bit to loud

#

for me

#

but personal refrenxes

static juniper
vocal orbit
#

sometimes the guitar feels a little all over the place but put some vocals on it to guide it and I think it could work. also a longer section with less lowend would give the ears a nice break. but nj other than that pretty cool

rain apex
oblique plumeBOT
#

Gave +1 Rep to @haughty iron (current: #20 - 47)

rain apex
rain apex
static juniper
rain apex
static juniper
rain apex
static juniper
#

If ur open to it we could discuss details in dms. If not then that's fine no pressure

rain apex
static juniper
#

Cya

quartz locust
# rain apex anyway heres the new mastered + mixed ver

listened to both first version and this version. oh you cleaned this up. less muddy now. still muddy and dark though. it's very low end focused. but you did fix your headroom and space usage issues between the first rendition and this update

#

so it's improving each time, good on that. later I can help you with some more specific suggestions to try and polish it up a bit more. not even advanced stuff needed, just basics for now to get it over twice as listenable as this I feeel. I'll like let you know about it later when you're around

rain apex
#

i just got back lmao

rain apex
quartz locust
#

the problem is it's bass heavy in an unbalanced way I feel

#

different sounds are different amounts of bass heavy

#

and it's not even your bass specifically that's bass heavy. it's all the other random sounds that come in, like your percussion hits and stuff

#

like the bass will be sorta alright in level, then suddenly a drum hit comes in and the level of bass in that drum hit will be overpowering in comparison to your actually bass instrument itself

rain apex
quartz locust
#

oh can't do that rn

#

maybe tn or smt

rain apex
#

what time is it for u rn

#

cause its 10 pm for me rn lol

quartz locust
#

ohhhHHhhHhHhHHHhhhHH

#

1pm

rain apex
#

oh damn

#

i mean i could fix those rn if you know which parts of it are disturbing

quartz locust
#

yeah

#

I mean here's a pro tip that'll already fast forward you in monitoring and checking quite a bit, especially in frequency ranges such as bass while you're still getting a feel for doing it by ear

#

open up a Maximus plugin

static juniper
#

Hi platinum

quartz locust
#

on master

#

.....hi?

#

terrible colors I chose but bare with me lol

#

go through all four tabs highlighted in red 🟥
and go to the area in the 🟨 yellow box and set to "comp off"

#

that way, it'll be entirely bypassed, making 0 changes to the sound

#

but will still show you visuals on the screen

rain apex
#

i have no idea what this means

image.png
quartz locust
#

that's fine, we'll get to that

#

in short, that's volume over time

#

next go to your bass band, titled "LOW" band in maximus

#

to see a graph over time over your sub frequencies

#

this makes it visually obvious when the frequencies have a sudden unexpected change in bass frequencies

#

so while you're developing your ear it's fine to use this honestly. can honestly catch stuff you might more or gotten used to while mixing

#

an unbiased way to see if you have sudden jumps

#

as you can see in this mix I show here, my kick drum has really massive spikes that overpower my bass so much, you can visually see how pointy they are

rain apex
#

yeah it seems pretty inconsistent but i dont know if this is what im supposed to be looking at

image.png
quartz locust
#

often times you wanna avoid that. it's fine when you intend for that, but when you don't mean for it and it's negatively affecting your sound, that's when there's more of an issue

quartz locust
rain apex
#

wait am i supposed to be looking at the mastered or the non-mastered version

rain apex
rain apex
quartz locust
#

but your bass frequencies

#

look how high they are

#

this often is what leads to a muddy sound, that in combination will your low amount of highs makes this sound "dark"

rain apex
#

so should i MB the lows a bit lower and boost the highs?

quartz locust
#

the sudden jumps also can be a bit of a challenge to the listener as well especially during breaks. it's quite over powering. as you can see it almost reaches the very top where the spike starts

#

but also, during your breaks, I notice it's not just the kick or tom drums creating low end

#

it seems a lot of your other instruments have low end as well

#

_ _
hey did you happen to highpass most of your tracks? it's common practice to highpass anything that's a non bass sound, up to about 100hz roughly. although so many sounds I often go up to 150hz - 200hz. it all depends if the sound needs those frequencies or not. but no sounds really need below 100hz if they aren't bass sounds

#

_ _
thing is in mixing, you have limited space in frequency ranges. however the space isn't really distributed evenly

rain apex
quartz locust
#

dude

rain apex
#

should i do that?

quartz locust
#

discord crashed

rain apex
#

wdym

#

i high passed the main guitar

quartz locust
#

discord crashed and erased my entire

#

paragraph fml

rain apex
#

wait i did

#

i did high pass them

quartz locust
#

started retyping it

rain apex
#

but i think my master adds a little bit of low-end

quartz locust
#

and then whole entire PC BSOD'ed you can't be serious

static juniper
#

Oh shit I was typing this whole time 💀

quartz locust
#

I just wrote a whole explanation on frequencies

#

gone

#

thanks discord

rain apex
rain apex
#

but i do have a book on my pc focused on frequencies

#

i just cant be bothered to read it lol

#

i found it somewhere online

quartz locust
#

no but that will overcomplicate it

#

and you'll be lost and be like "oh which thing is important"

#

"there's too much to keep track of"

#

instead of my simplified explanation

#

I'll rewrite FOR A THIRD DAMN TIME a very short version of what I originally had

#

in notepad this time so Discord can't screw me. then I gtg for a bit

rain apex
#

LMAOO alr

quartz locust
rain apex
quartz locust
#

notepad didn't save it either nice

static juniper
#

Ur technology is rebelling

rain apex
static juniper
oblique plumeBOT
#

Gave +1 Rep to @rain apex (current: #55 - 8)

quartz locust
rain apex
#

what i think is causing the high end to be compressed is this eq

image.png
rain apex
jaunty viper
rain apex
quartz locust
#

FOURTH TIME REWRITING THIS: (please stop crashing Discord and Windows. this is the last time I'm attempting this before giving up. please...)

FOR FREQUENCIE RANGES!!! YOU HAVE LIMITED SPACEEEEE

HOOOWEEEVER, YOU DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF FREQUENCIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...PER RANGE!!!

THE LOWER YOU GO IN FREQUENCY RANGE, THE FEWER AMOUNT OF ELEMENTS YOU CAN HAVE PLAYING AT THE SAME TIME. WHEREAS THE HIGHER YOU GO, THE MORE YOU CAN HAVE PLAYING AT ONCE

  1. SUB AND BASS FREQUENCIES!!!

    • THIS AREA OF THE FREUQUENCY SPECTRUM (OMG I ALREADY TYPED THIS EARLIER) LITERALLY ONLY HAS ENOUGH SPACE TO HAVE 1 ELEMENT PLAYING AT A TIME WHILE SOUNDING CLEAN. MAKE SURE ONLY 1 SUB ELEMENT IN A MIX IS PRESENT AT ALL TIMES IN MOST CASES
    • EXAMPLES OF INSTRUMENTS: KICK, BASS, TOMS, EXPLOSIONS, IMPACTS, AND DAMNIT DISCORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. MID/LOW MID!!!!!!

    • A BIT MORE SPACE BUT STILL LIMITED! PERHAPS SOMETHING LIKE 2-3 ELEMENTS AT MOST IN THIS RANGE?!?!?!?!?!??!? ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF ELEMENTS AS TIMES DISCORD CRASHED FOR ME!!!
    • FOR LOW MIDS, USUALLY ONLY 1-2 ELEMENTS SOUND GOOD HEre, KEEP IT AT 1 IF YOU'RE NOT SURE OMggg GODAnnNIT DIdiscORD!!
    • SOUND EXAMPLES: CHORDS, SNARE, KICK, BASS, ELECTRIC GUITAR, CELLO
      _ _
      _ _
#

  1. MAIN MIDS/HIGH MIDS!1!!!!!!!!11!!!1111!!!1111

    • YOU COULD PROBABLY HAVE A FEW ELEMENTS HERE.
    • SOUND EXAMPLES: LEADS, CLAP, CHORDS, VOCALS, SNARE, GUITAR, VOCAL

  2. TREBLE AKA HIGH FREQUENCIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • PRETTY MUCH AS MANY ELEMENTS PLAYING AT ONCE CAN FIT IN THIS FREQUENCY RANGE HOLY DAMNIT WHY IS DISCORD SO BAD
    • EASY FITS 5+ ELEMENTS (JUST LIKE THESE 5 + CRASHeS)
    • NOTE THAT IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF ELEMENTS HERE, REDUCE THEIR VOLUME QUITE A BIT BECAUSE OUR EAR IS SENSATIVE TO HIGH FREQUENCIES SO BARELY ANY VOLUME IS NEEDED FOR HIGH FREQUENCIES TO STILL HAVE AN AUDIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR MIX OMG DISCORD
    • CYMBALS, HI HAT, CLAP, CRASH, NOISE, FLUTE, + (DISTORTION AND OVERTONES)
#

@rain apex

#

any questions? I'm here for like 5 more minutes before I gtg

proud drift
#

OMFG ..

#

truth .. nuke.. ‼️‼️

rain apex
jaunty viper
rain apex
#

so many people in this thread

#

AND WHY ARE WE YELLING HOLD ON

rain apex
proud drift
#

thats a lot of guitar

rain apex
#

indeed

proud drift
#

so are u double tracking

rain apex
#

wait no

#

one is acoustic

#

ok good

#

i have 2 electric guitars playing then

rain apex
proud drift
#

sheeeesh 😂😂😂😂😂

proud drift
proud drift
rain apex
proud drift
#

i use reaper 😂😂☝️

rain apex
#

ok my mids and lows are balanced in the mix

#

now for the high end...

proud drift
#

at the end section i felt like theres too much noise

#

like literally white noise building up

#

and electric guitar is already kinda like pretty noisy / frequency full

rain apex
#

wait ill go fix that rn

proud drift
#

the guitars are good i think. but like the section is losing clarity overall cause theres Too much noise and its causing masking a bit

rain apex
#

i accidentally stemmed it all together

proud drift
# rain apex

to me i think layering this supersaw with noise is kinda overkill 😂😂

rain apex
#

i fixed it, it doesnt sound so noisy now

#

in the mix, the mids and lows seem balanced

#

its just the high end thats causing me trouble

rain apex
#

@quartz locust what do you think now?

image.png
#

but the kick lowkey lost its power now

#

hold on let me send the file

quartz locust
#

listening now

#

definitely sounds quite harsh now. immediately at the start is my first impression

rain apex
#

i have this eq that im using which i found is making all this messed up

#

but it still sound really harsh without it

quartz locust
#

hm

rain apex
#

its very warm 10/10 would recommend if yk how to use it properly

rain apex
quartz locust
#

so it sorta harsh and piercy. usually caused by over abundance in higher frequencies. those can be attenuated and filtered to on some sounds in most mixes (including this).

it sounds like too much high end to my ears, but at the same time, still sounds slightly like too much bass and low mids?
this is a common paradox to encounter at times. although it may seem weird that both of these can be true, the explanation usually this sort of sound indicates conflicts in overlapping or competing frequencies. and yes, from what I hear it sounds like there's quite a bita of frequency overlap and everything's fight for each other in terms of space

#

(in other words it doesn't really sound mixed at all to me) not yet anyways

rain apex
#

i can send you the non-mastered version

quartz locust
#

oh yea sure

#

mastering something unmixed usually doesn't turn out too ideal lol

rain apex
#

alr hold on

#

its 70 mb

#

this is gonna take a while bruh

quartz locust
#

most people have fast upload speeds

#

but I relate to you

#

I live in the woods and uploading files is painfully slow

rain apex
quartz locust
#

yeah, me neither, so I relate tbh

#

finally someone understands the struggles

rain apex
#

i thought i was alone ngl

quartz locust
#

same tbh

rain apex
#

cause even at home my internet is slow as hell, we live in some fuckass neighborhood with no cell towers nearby

quartz locust
#

how the hell do people see 1,000 gb internet and act like that's normal

#

that's like like rich people acting like getting richer is "eh good enough"

gaunt basalt
#

no wonder you make every beat sound like lost woods

quartz locust
#

hell yea

rain apex
#

with optic internet n stuff

quartz locust
#

oh yall have optic access

gaunt basalt
quartz locust
#

that must be nice

#

the cell service don't even get to me

gaunt basalt
#

he pays 799.99

rain apex
#

we dont have optic

gaunt basalt
rain apex
rain apex
quartz locust
#

sometimes I get cell service here but it's a very weird kind I've never seen anywhere else

gaunt basalt
#

😭

#

for what purpose dude

quartz locust
#

my phone says "1x" (idek what it means)

#

and it only works with phone calls and SMS, no internet

gaunt basalt
#

idk how you get it done with that slow of internet

rain apex
quartz locust
#

if I go anywhere where actual towns and stuff are it says the usual "3g", "4g", or "5g"

#

but here, "1x"

rain apex
quartz locust
rain apex
quartz locust
#

like not slow at all. literally just the upload is slow

gaunt basalt
quartz locust
#

so Google Drive and any other uploading based things are annoying af

quartz locust
rain apex
#

anyway its almost sent

gaunt basalt
quartz locust
#

10 mb up or down?

rain apex
rain apex
quartz locust
#

dude that's slower than mine

rain apex
#

upload is like 2mbps

#

i know man

gaunt basalt
#

2????

#

WHAT

quartz locust
#

ah 2mbps upload yeah that's basically what I've got to

rain apex
#

yes 😭

quartz locust
#

well it fluctuates between that and 0.6

#

but my download is like 40

rain apex
#

our internet provider is hot ass

quartz locust
#

I wish the isp made it a bit more even for mebut whatever

rain apex
#

anyway the mixed version is there if u wanna check it out

rain apex
quartz locust
# rain apex

honestly there's one thing you can do if you're fine with it that'd make it significantly faster and easier to give you feedback and suggest useful mixing changes

rain apex
#

send in mp3?

quartz locust
#

as you have a lot of elements hear and it's hard to hear them properly do to lack of mixing

quartz locust
gaunt basalt
#

DUDE MINES LIKE

IMG_0976.png
rain apex
#

oh mb

#

send stems or

quartz locust
quartz locust
quartz locust
gaunt basalt
#

HOW DO YOU GUYS RUN AT 2

rain apex
#

i cant even load the mf site

image.png
quartz locust
#

literally

gaunt basalt
#

thank god for my internet man

quartz locust
#

how is what you have

#

needed in any way at all

gaunt basalt
#

ask my dad dude

quartz locust
#

I barely even notice the slowdown ever

#

because the modern internet is pretty well designed around these speeds I have access to

#

only really affects file sharing for me

gaunt basalt
#

all i have is the cox max

rain apex
quartz locust
#

that's because both your "send it in mp3" and the "1500 gbps" put me in so much shock I forgot to

rain apex
#

😭

quartz locust
quartz locust
rain apex
#

i would

quartz locust
#

I can't really help you much then

rain apex
#

1.45 gb

#

are we joking

quartz locust
#

it'll just be a very challenging case of guess and check

quartz locust
#

I just let it run for, the night

#

or whatever

rain apex
#

they cut our internet out after 2 am

quartz locust
#

wtf

#

tf

#

f

#

_ _

rain apex
#

ikr

#

i mean i can always hop on stream

gaunt basalt
rain apex
quartz locust
#

man that sucks dude I'm sry for you

rain apex
#

some dude stayed up playing LoL till 5 am

#

and they started cutting it out

quartz locust
gaunt basalt
#

ofc a LoL player lmfao

quartz locust
#

or I can teach you how to shrink wav files if needed

rain apex
#

i mean sure

quartz locust
#

what

rain apex
#

like

#

stems

#

but mixed

quartz locust
#

no like stems

#

yeah

rain apex
#

or unmixed

quartz locust
#

mixed I guess in this case

rain apex
#

i could do that

quartz locust
#

so I can hear what it sounds like and not only identify potential condflicts or issues but also diagnose the cause and solution

rain apex
#

i can send it in mp3 tonight probably maybe

quartz locust
#

how much smaller would it be if you exported the stems in .ogg

rain apex
quartz locust
#

yes

#

literally so much newer and modern than mp3. supports all the same stuff too, but preserves clipped details (meaning it allows for unclipping later if needed, just like how a .wav does), and it doesn't mess with the timings of the beggining and end like .mp3 does. so it's better in a musical editing context where you have a tempo synced grid

#

it's basically .wav in terms of features, but .mp3 in terms of compression and file size

rain apex
#

i dont think it will let me

quartz locust
#

oh really?

#

can stems only be .wav?

rain apex
#

well shit

quartz locust
#

can you download a program called "shutterencoder"?

#

I can link you if needed

rain apex
#

what does that do

quartz locust
#

you can convert video and audio files to and from formats in bulk

#

so you can multi select files and convert them all at once

rain apex
#

i can do that online cant i

quartz locust
#

probably but you'll have to find one yourself

rain apex
#

yeah but uploading them would be hell

#

ill download the program

quartz locust
#

yeah, see that's why I'm suggesting the download

#

to do it on your device

#

it's mainly for video editors and people who have cameras that record in standard formats or whatever but it's helpful for audio in some cases too

#

it's also helpful if you want to import a video file into FL Studio as just the sound part only

rain apex
#

should i export the stems in 16 bits?

#

holy internet

quartz locust
rain apex
#

they will be compressed anyway

quartz locust
rain apex
quartz locust
#

that was fast

rain apex
#

i found the website lol

quartz locust
#

yeah the OBS Discord server suggested me this

#

a couple years ago

rain apex
#

this might take a while

#

till when are u available

quartz locust
#

ah alright rip

rain apex
#

cause i can use my hotspot if needed

quartz locust
#

or I might be here on and of, it depends

rain apex
#

alright well ill export them and send them over

#

probably in dms cause i dont want my stuff to get stolen 😭

quartz locust
#

yeah that's fair

rain apex
#

alr ill add u on my main

quartz locust
#

if you have winrar installed

#

you can also set a compression method

#

if you really want to ensure you're getting the smallest file size you can before you send it

rain apex
#

i have nitro on my main so i dont think sending them would be a big problem

#

also i dont have winrar lol

quartz locust
#

if you got 7zip or anything similar should still work

quartz locust
rain apex
#

i mean, even if i did have fast internet, what would it be worth if i cant send the files

#

cause of stupid discord restrictions

quartz locust
#

yeah sure but with winrar and stuff you can kinda bypass those as well

#

but I'll get to that later if needed. doesn't seeem like it is rn

rain apex
#

let me get the files compressed first then we'll go from there

quartz locust
#

for now, do you really not want to send these in a compressed format?

#

and by compressed I mean, like a zip folder or whatever

#

with "Best" compression settings

rain apex
#

i could, but what does that mean?

#

like why isnt it the default then

quartz locust
rain apex
#

there must be some sort of catch

quartz locust
#

yeah it takes slightly longer to make the zip file and to open it/extract

#

doubt you'll notice. computers are pretty fast with that these days. only really matters if you have hundreds of files I'm guessing

rain apex
#

alr ill compress it and send it over, doesnt seem like that big of a deal

quartz locust
#

alright

rain apex
#

bro

#

i cant see my taskbar

#

or nothing

quartz locust
# quartz locust

basically the only reason to send the ones that are larger file size

#

is to like

#

if you back up a massive folder on a drive very often. to a zip or related format. one where the time it takes actually matters

quartz locust
#

if it doesn't you can open task manager if it lets you, and fine "Windows Explorer", click restart on that to manually bring it back

rain apex
#

my fl done crashed

#

are we serious

quartz locust
#

ah rip. well at least it's not just me that happens to then

rain apex
#

nvm we are so back

quartz locust
#

cool

rain apex
#

its done

#

but

#

theres not ogg option

quartz locust
#

I believe it's called "vorbis" or similar

rain apex
#

oh here it is

#

thank you

quartz locust
#

because the full name of the format is "ogg vorbis"

#

opus works too

#

alright yeah

#

glad it works

#

so yeah despite it being a compressed format it'll still make things significantly easier to diagnose. infinitely better than me trying to listen deeply into an non mixed, unclear master export

rain apex
#

alr it still compressed it by only 5mb after so ill have to send it from my main lol

#

or wait

rain apex
#

ill upload it to file.io so you can download it from there

quartz locust
#

alright

rain apex
quartz locust
#

alright. unfortunately i can't check through rn but can in a bit

#

I'll get it ready by downloading it though

#

..."oga"?

rain apex
rain apex
quartz locust
#

I hope my shutter encoder will convert these back because I specifically asked for ogg. I don't know if FL will import this other kind

#

the file itself should be identical or the same roughly but even just the extension at the end being different can make a software not open it unless renamed

rain apex
#

but it compressed it to oga man

quartz locust
#

"it won't"? wdym

rain apex
#

i tried importing the .oga file in fl

#

its not like

#

importing

quartz locust
#

yep me neither

#

....now u're gonna make me convert it?

rain apex
#

i dont know what to do 😭

#

i can convert it back to wav

#

lmao

quartz locust
#

yeah, it's alright I'll figure it out if I can adjust it easily to work again. but just maybe not send the wrong format to the one helping you next time

#

also I have no idea what this one is

rain apex
#

the vortis thing

quartz locust
#

they are, it's just now I gotta rename them in bulk

rain apex
quartz locust
#

and I shouldn't really be the one renaming these but yeah

rain apex
#

i mean i can rename them and send them again if it makes an inconvenience

quartz locust
#

here I'll just quickly check through to make sure I'm not missing something obvious here

#

but yeah it's looking like I have to manually rename, idk if there's any tools to do that in bulk. I could program my own but yeah not looking to learn that rn

rain apex
#

i can rename them idm

rain apex
quartz locust
#

uh I ain't gonna run that probably

rain apex
quartz locust
#

then it'll be ready by then

rain apex