Where do you like your sound to sit?

Acidhedz · Post by **Acidhedz** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 2:21 am

I'm starting to get into the more deep aspects of production, mixing properly and all that. I know it's basic for getting the best results, but I'm not good at the fiddly in depth work. I have seen why that's been hurting my productions. So I was wondering where you like things to sit in your mixes as far as different part's go.

Is it best to keep the sub bass for the kick, and keep the bass in the 100 and up areas for example.

Right now I'm doing more or less this:
Kick- pushing the 50-90 range, and dropping everything else out till it hits hard and only has a little overtone's left.
Bass- pushing the 100 range and dropping around the 70 range, plus dropping most of the mids to get solid bass with over tones.
Other drums- mids and highs depending on the drum. I don't have much trouble with them, I think.
Synths- mids and some emphasis on the highs. I use alieno a lot for the weird spacey/horror sounds.

I've been finding that my ears get fatigued when listening to my latest song, even though I have mixed it all together and eq'ed everything to more or less how I want it. I'm worried that I'm putting too much sub bass in, maybe too much in general.

I understand the principles behind production, but dubstep being such a bass heavy style I am wondering if I am pushing certain areas too much, to the point of being bad for the ears. Admittedly I don't have monitors and have to use my basic 5.1 surround speakers, and no I can't afford to get any at this time. Perhaps I should turn off my center speaker or move it so it isn't so close to me? Tips on how to get the best with what I have would be helpful too, since my issue could be more speaker placement than mixing.

Basically I don't want to mess my ears up and would appreciate some feedback on what I can do.

Please, and thanks.

Sine69 · Post by **Sine69** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 2:44 am

Turn down the volume? If your ears are starting to hurt its most likely just too loud imo.

hutyluty · Post by **hutyluty** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:19 am

>90 bass
90-200 kick
200-1000 pad
400-3000 snare
1000-20000 hats
1000-15000 melodies

Acidhedz · Post by **Acidhedz** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:23 am

Sine69 wrote:Turn down the volume? If your ears are starting to hurt its most likely just too loud imo.

Even if I am listening to it the next day only once? I may just need to let my ears rest a couple of days, but I can't help but wonder if I am pushing the low end too hard or something. When is it going too far? What levels do you like to see everything at when you are done mixing? Do you keep the really low freq's under 50, or cut them off?

In my latest track the bass is routinely the only thing hitting the upper db range of the track, is that okay, or do I need to pull back on the bass and push the other elements of the track more so it is better balanced?

I get the bigger picture with mixing just fine, I'm a quick learner, but I am having trouble with the persnickety bits, the fine details.

I am a fast producer. In the past I have worked too fast and have been leaving out too much of the fine tuning. I want to do the album I'm working on now right, but I'm

when it comes to getting the bass to hit hard, without feeling like my head is trying to vibrate off.

I am aware that most of the popular dubstep on youtube is crapped on here a lot, but how does a track like Bass Cannon, or Louder get that heavy bass without feeling like it's too much? That is what is escaping me, and I think what I'm doing wrong is pushing certain freq's too hard.

Is that something that can only be achieved with good mastering? Getting everything in the track to "pop out" properly without blowing your head off?

Artie_Fufkin · Post by **Artie_Fufkin** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:39 am

You'll be able to work on your music longer if you turn down your volume.

Acidhedz · Post by **Acidhedz** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:40 am

Artie Fufkin wrote:You'll be able to work on your music longer if you turn down your volume.

It's not a volume issue. I think I just had the bass too loud in the mix. I went back over it and turned it down in places. It doesn't seem as big now, but it also doesn't hurt me. I guess I just wont get the big sound without having the track mastered.

From now on I'm mixing the bass where I think it sits nice and if people want it to hit harder they can turn up their subwoofers and destroy their hearing on their own.

phrex · Post by **phrex** » Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:10 am

you're not eqing right if it hurts.

nasteeN8 · Post by **nasteeN8** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:31 am

maxing out my credit card to buy monitors was the best stupid thing i ever did. cant stress it enough. ive found time and time again if your mixdown doesnt pop off the speakers and kick ass!!! mastering wont do shit. now a proper mixdown and a good master job will make the song loud as fuck and crystal clear. but you really cant get a detailed look into the mix without monitors... unless you have a ton of different types of systems to audition the song on then mix for a happy medium between them all. thats what i used to do before i had monitors and it kind of worked.. but i only started getting the results i wanted after i got monitors and my songs have improven 10 fold.. even started getting tracks signed. so basically the moral of the story is splurge for monitors, go onto craigslist pick up some krks for 400 bucks and your laughin

phrex · Post by **phrex** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:05 am

expirience&knowledge > monitors

just my 5p

modulate_inc · Post by **modulate_inc** » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:48 am

Go for monitors!
We got some Fostex MKII in our studio, they wont hit freqs lower than 50hz really good.
So add a sub, if you want to play dubstep

When i produced with some crappy headphones, my mixes sounded even much more crappy.

So one thing is , that you need to love your monitors, dont buy some without hearing them!
Monitors are the one thing,but the other side are basic skills and knowledge, even the best equip will not help you!

Monitor placing is veeeery important (for me) ,because the Panorama(mid to side) will be different or even "wrong".

When i produce, the Subbass is mostly Lpf at 100hz, then i add a sidechain,to prevent the kick to "overtone"/"erase" the subbass notes, even if the punch of my kick is mostly at 100 - 80 hz.
I like to play my subbasses at around 40-50 hz.

The ranges of snares i use are very different, i often layer claps,snares,rimclicks/shots to get the sound! Sometimes their spectrum is a white noise lookalike

A good mark to listen to your mixes is at 85 db. 85 db is around the loudness of your voice when you are speaking normally.
At 85 db your ear is most sensitive. For some reasons it is good to hear your mix at louder levels , for example to check how hard a snare pushes.
Listening at lower levels often makes you realise more details of some instruments,at the other side louder levels will do for others.

Sorry for my english,im german

Greets

Modulate Inc.

mikeyp · Post by **mikeyp** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:53 am

just pointing out that I'm sure most if not all people have their kicks sit higher than their bass, and you have it the other way around. I for one find basses to be very annoying as they approach 100, so maybe that's it. well, no that probably is it because I know the fatiguing sound you're talking about.

try to keep your sub bass under 80, and let your kicks sit above that and see how it goes.

MoonUnit · Post by **MoonUnit** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:29 am

Was watching the Benga - Red Bull Music Academy interview, and this may just be wishful thinking, but Benga mentions that a FEW clubs really have their sound system fine tuned for Dubstep (including Forward, DMZ, and Iration Steppers)... is there a way one could capture or highlight the character of one of these clubs through careful mixing and mastering?

amphibian · Post by **amphibian** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:59 am

read the moneyshot thread. That's what it's there for, tbh.

Where do you like your sound to sit?

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