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Hey guys, I just joined the forum today...been trying out making dubstep now for the past couple of months and I've managed to produce two songs I think are worth showing you all of you at DSF. I'm looking for some help on the audio quality side of things, it seems the tracks I produce sound fine when they're being made, but when they're mixed with other tracks...they sound childish in comparison. I've limited and compressed the hell out of em(not sure if that's the problem or part of the solution), i'm using Izotope Ozone 4 as a mastering unit. Any feedback you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

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Welcome to the forum! First off, those tunes are great to say youv only been at it a couple of months, Iv been producing a year and havent even got near that kind of stuff haha. To answer your question, they may not sound as good regardless of what you do because your putting unmastered tunes up against professionally mastered tunes. They'll always have the edge so don't get too upset about it, but Id say take all the compression and limiting off, and maybe look at any weaknesses in your mixdown and make sure its absolutely spot on, because if it is, then your tunes might stand up better against the pros.

Thanks for the response Cheeky!

I guess I didn't clarify enough, I've been producing electro house and mash ups for a few years, but I got the dubstep bug a couple of months ago and I havn't looked back since. Its way more fun to produce. Thanks for the advice about the mix-down, I'll definitely take off Ozone and have a look at all of the levels.

However I can't help but think theres more to it. Once again, thanks for the advice!

Tracks ain't bad at all.

On the first track, your drums seem to be getting lost in the mix and sound pretty flat at times. If you aren't super experienced with using a compressor, you'll likely end up killing the dynamics of your song. No more snappy snares and thumping bass drums.
Everything else you seem to pretty much have down, so spend time reading up on mixing and compression as much as you can.

Can't listen to the tracks as I'm on iPod, but kick ozone and practice gettingthe same effects yourself.

dont have anything to really add except i love the bass
synth in thefirst track

Thanks Heartless, Looks like the mixing is where i'm gonna be putting my focus for the next little bit.

Also have a bit of a read on melodies and notes etc, the tracks are good, especially if you only been producing for a short while so don't stop! But you have to choose different notes if you like to go for that more "dark" or "scary" feel.

that "set me free" tune is very good, that midrange synth is a bit rinsed tho. people will say you're biting flux pavillion. try to add some more movement by using very subtle (!!!) effects, a bit of chorus or phaser (obvs not on the actual bass). maybe add another midrange synth here and there to give it a sort of call and response, i guess a plain ol' wobble or weird sounds would do well.

snare's a bit low in the mix, could use some more snap. maybe use parallel compression to preserve both tail and initial transient?

to top it off, some white noise sweeps can give the track the final touch to make it sound really professional (listen to dr p's sweet shop, such a simple tune, not a lot of stuff going on but the white noise sweeps make it sound a lot fuller)

as for the actual songwriting, what makes crowds go completely mental is changing the key of the song for the second drop. but who cares, do some of the stuff mentioned above and send it to a label.

will be checking out your other tune later tonight

edit: if you'd like it i could get your tunes played at the local dubstep night, i have the feeling people (including dj's) around here are gonna love your stuff.

@ Phase Down - I'm definitely trying to figure out new musical techniques, stuck in a bit of a rut with my piano abilities at the moment, thinking about getting a synth/midi guitar though! i've been a guitarist for 15 years, probably the easier route. Thanks for the input!

@ hasezwei - Thank you very much for all of your comments! i'm gonna go and try to fix up some of those things, and I was definitely highly influenced by flux in that track, trying to achieve that 'Bass Cannon' tone is difficult though. The key change idea never even popped into my head, but thats brilliant! As for Dr. P, he has so much swagger i can't even start to comprehend what he's doin, blows my mind.

If you could get those tracks played out anywhere that would be so sick. Please update if anything happens!

Again, thanks so much for the support. I've been lurking this forum for a while, glad I made the choice to join.