any advice on making sounds fit together better?

[joshisrad]

You're probably just not that good at sound design and using synthesizers in general.

turd

Lol no I'm not being a jerk.

judging by the track in his sig, he is perfectly capable of sound design.
everything flows well and sounds good, the only thing i would complain about is the mixdown.

now fuck off.

Lmao what the hell is this? So typical. I was not bashing on the OP, you are overreacting. YOU fuck off.

turd

^ stop.

You stop. I've done nothing wrong in this thread.

once again, TURD!!!

you were an ass to kilo, he is more than capable.
Battling to get sounds to fit has it`s own set of rules.

You're a turd. I suggested the possibility that he is not good at sound design. If he gets offended that's his choice. He can take what I said as criticism and do what he wants with it, taking it or leaving it. If he's emotionally stable that is, unlike the lot of you who are so quick to take offense and act hatefully. I did not tell him his music sucks, I did not tell him he sucks as a person, I was not an ass to him. YOU are the ones being asses in this thread, not me. If someone told me my sound design wasn't good I would take it as an opportunity to improve. Bunch of crybabies you are.

[Electric_Head]

How did you not try to offend him?
You basically dissed him

If you came in here and asked for help and all we said was, your probably no good at this music thing.
Would you just chuckle and ignore the statement?

None of us are being asses, we're purely defending something that we don`t agree with.
You`re one person that blindly disagrees while the rest of us agree you`re being rude.
Plus, if you listen to the tune he posted, he clearly has an idea of what he wants.
Telling him that he not good at sound design or synthesizers in general(considering synthesizers make up a large part of music),
is like telling him his abilities are not up to scratch and that is where his problems lie.

[JTMMusicuk]

lets all calm down children
The way i get my stuff to fit is through careful sample choice and subtle EQ i tend to stay away from compression for my drums as most of the time it will make them sound very flat and takes away their impact but if used stick it on a bus, transient shaping is alot more useful, for those who dont know transient monster is decent and free to download.
Also i stay away from reverb as again it takes away the samples impact, instead duplicate the track and replace the sample with white noise with a short release and apply reverb to that and mix it well.
For the most part though it is the mixdown, it just takes time for you to get used to knowing what sounds decent

[joshisrad]

How did you not try to offend him?
You basically dissed him

Did I basically dis him, or did I ACTUALLY dis him?

If you came in here and asked for help and all we said was, your probably no good at this music thing.
Would you just chuckle and ignore the statement?

That is not even what I said at all. Again, you are overreacting.

None of us are being asses, we're purely defending something that we don`t agree with.

No, you're being asses. Namecalling me from the getgo. I didn't insult him or his music at all.

You`re one person that blindly disagrees while the rest of us agree you`re being rude.

Bandwagon fallacy. Do I need to explain to you why this logic is fallacious?

Plus, if you listen to the tune he posted, he clearly has an idea of what he wants.

He certainly has an idea.

Telling him that he not good at sound design or synthesizers in general(considering synthesizers make up a large part of music),

false

is like telling him his abilities are not up to scratch and that is where his problems lie.

No, that IS telling him his abilities are not up to scratch. It's not like telling him, it ACTUALLY IS telling him. However, you are shifting the focus away from what I said. "Everything you do is not up to par" vs "your sound design probably isn't up to par"

You'll note one other thing about my original post that everyone seems to miss. I did not tell him his sound design sucks at all. I suggested that is a probable issue.

You're probably just not that good at sound design and using synthesizers in general.

Good grief you guys. So touchy.

[Electric_Head]

I`m glad you cleared all that up.

[JTMMusicuk]

i hope this is a joke argument

[ogunslinger]

[Sonika]

Um, yeah...so back to the actual topic at hand?

OP, I noticed you were mentioning a Kryptic Minds track as a comparison to yours. A cool thing is in their masterclass, they cover this exact problem of gluing drum kits together.
If you haven't watched their masterclass yet, it's awesome, definitely do.
I'm pretty sure they said bus to a reverb.

I would do that in certain cases, in a lot of cases I would also/instead bus my drums to EQ and/or compression to really glue em together.

[joshisrad]

[JTMMusicuk]

shit thats making me hungry

[CaveLvl]

lets all calm down children
The way i get my stuff to fit is through careful sample choice and subtle EQ i tend to stay away from compression for my drums as most of the time it will make them sound very flat and takes away their impact but if used stick it on a bus, transient shaping is alot more useful, for those who dont know transient monster is decent and free to download.
Also i stay away from reverb as again it takes away the samples impact, instead duplicate the track and replace the sample with white noise with a short release and apply reverb to that and mix it well.
For the most part though it is the mixdown, it just takes time for you to get used to knowing what sounds decent

Hey care to speak on that white noise with reverb bit a little more? Got a head scratching moment here.

[JTMMusicuk]

lets all calm down children
The way i get my stuff to fit is through careful sample choice and subtle EQ i tend to stay away from compression for my drums as most of the time it will make them sound very flat and takes away their impact but if used stick it on a bus, transient shaping is alot more useful, for those who dont know transient monster is decent and free to download.
Also i stay away from reverb as again it takes away the samples impact, instead duplicate the track and replace the sample with white noise with a short release and apply reverb to that and mix it well.
For the most part though it is the mixdown, it just takes time for you to get used to knowing what sounds decent

Hey care to speak on that white noise with reverb bit a little more? Got a head scratching moment here.

In ableton i duplicate the track with the snare on so there would be two snare tracks playing the same sample at the same time, replace the sample on the second track with a synth playing just white noise, so there would be one track with a snare sample one playing white noise, change the adsr so theres a small release tail so it doesnt abruptly end and add a bit of reverb. then have the white noise in the background so you can only just hear it, most snare hits have an element of white noise in them and only having reverb on that element takes away the muddiness that reverb normally creates

[JTMMusicuk]

forgot to add i normall only do this for kicks and snares, with kicks i dont add reverb or have any release on the white noise, this just emphasises the hit

[CaveLvl]

Hey I gottcha now, I remember wanting to try this at one point on hand drums and perc, because reverb on a bus or on the channel seems to wash it out. Thanks again. I use this or variations a lot as well.

[JTMMusicuk]

Hey I gottcha now, I remember wanting to try this at one point on hand drums and perc, because reverb on a bus or on the channel seems to wash it out. Thanks again. I use this or variations a lot as well.

no problem man, its all about being subtle, you dont want the white noise in your face, unless your sub focus or justice

[apastrat]

Like it's been said before:

1. Find fitting samples
2. Pitch and EQ (if necessary)
3. ??? (do what ever the fuck you want: Reverbs, Comp, FX - or none)
4. Profit

[Kilo beats]

I actuley pissed myself at that...


anyway, eurm..

You're probably just not that good at sound design and using synthesizers in general.

your right actuley, im not that amasing at synthesis.. although i know what all the controlls do on my synths i still find it hard sometimes to make sounds i actuley like.. ive studyed it a lot but realise i still have a way to come before im happy with it, so no offence taken (but tbh bro i wassent sure at the time if that was a rude comment or a general critism, its kinda hard to see peoples motives behind a computer screen, and i guess when reading that comment it could be taken both ways), no offence taken thou.. its given me something to think about.

the only thing i would complain about is the mixdown.

going off topic for a second, could i ask you what you think is wrong with my mixdown? i know its faaaar from a good mixdown (since i only spent a couple hours on it), but im hoping your fresh ears can highlight some problems in the mixdown..

The way i get my stuff to fit is through careful sample choice and subtle EQ i tend to stay away from compression for my drums as most of the time it will make them sound very flat and takes away their impact but if used stick it on a bus, transient shaping is alot more useful, for those who dont know transient monster is decent and free to download.
Also i stay away from reverb as again it takes away the samples impact, instead duplicate the track and replace the sample with white noise with a short release and apply reverb to that and mix it well.
For the most part though it is the mixdown, it just takes time for you to get used to knowing what sounds decent

Sounds really intresting.. i love subtle white noise, but its something i dont experment with enough... i will definatly be trying that. safe for the tip...

so yeah. loving all the advice and stuff.. any more tips on how you guys make your track elements sit together better and compliment the other elements, then keep em coming!!

[joshisrad]

Good man because it was not meant to be rude or offensive in the slightest!

[Insahn]

Why is it so difficult for anyone to actually stay on topic on this forum? You go through half of the stickies on here and most everything dissolves into some sort of argument that has nothing to do with the subject of the thread?

In my opinion, It comes down more to sample choice and a clear idea of the feeling you are trying to achieve in your song rather than some magic compressor that is going to make everything work together. That is not to say compression isn't important, but in the end, its a tool for controlling dynamics and while compressors have character they aren't going to drastically change a sample that just doesn't fit. I listened to the OP's tune and the first thing that immediately jumped out at me was how heavy the kick drum sounded and how punchy and weighty the snare sounded and how that seemed to contrast with the atmospheric percussion and the minimalistic vibe the synths were giving off. If you listen to the Kryptic Minds song you'll see what I mean. Their kick is less weighty, woodier sounding, and has more character. The OP's kick sounds like it would be better for high energy music. The kryptic minds snare sounds like an acoustic snare layered with white noise or a clap and then distorted a bit. Again though, most of the weight is gone out of it and it's just punch and character that achieves the feel they are going for. Essentially if you are going for more of a sparse, atmospheric tune then don't give it a weighty Feed Me Pink Lady style kick drum and snare, it just won't feel right ever. I liked the OP's tune though, keep at it man.

[render]

bump

Got some golden advices in here, but some mod needs to clean up the poop