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Hey guys a problem that i have with alot of my tracks if they sound too thin and not full enough, for example i'll be playing a nice mid ranged brostep bass but there would be nothing in background making it sound pretty empty if that makes sense. However i have heard songs that do similar things, just a huge midranged bass with a kick and the snare in the background and it sounds full and huge. Can anybody help me out with this?

Either add pads, or try and give the main sound more character with effects.

layers layers layers layers layers layers

Basically the a 'full' track is a track rich in frequencies.

Layering synths then running them through the same fx bus can make it sound bigger. Try some resampling too.

Pads are good too. White noise sweeps throughout the track can also help fill it out.

use the frequency analyzer that comes with your DAW (spectrum in ableton) as your making your track and see where everything lies, try to get an equal amount of frequency in every area (bass,mid bass, mid high, highs)

getting the right levels for volume could be a good starting point. ( i dunno how good my suggestion is , i only just started producing )

take a song you like, and think is full, and put it into your daw. listen to it while looking at a spectrum analyzer and eq it so only certain areas play, see what kind of sound is taking up that part of the spectrum and so on. it'll help you to know all the elements you need and where they should be and how they should sound

mikeyp wrote:take a song you like, and think is full, and put it into your daw. listen to it while looking at a spectrum analyzer and eq it so only certain areas play, see what kind of sound is taking up that part of the spectrum and so on. it'll help you to know all the elements you need and where they should be and how they should sound

Pads and synth counter part/lead lines man. Also use reverb on the synth lines... can relaly help give space and a back drop to a dope wobble bass that sounds empty and alone.

What do people mean by 'Pads"

JTreeZY wrote:What do people mean by 'Pads"

Long drawn out atmospheric notes, usually chords of saw and square waves with plenty of decay and sustain.

Soundcloud

drums with a bit of bitcrush, parallel distorted sent to long reverbs with tube drive really adds texture,then sidechain the reverb to the kick so it ducks a few dbs.

wormcode wrote:

JTreeZY wrote:What do people mean by 'Pads"

Long drawn out atmospheric notes, usually chords of saw and square waves with plenty of decay and sustain.

Soundcloud

To "pad" out the sound.

You wanna be filling up alll of that frequency spectrum.

One thing I like to do is whack a compressor on the master buss, then bring down the threshold till it's just starting to pump, once there the aim is to see how much you can fill out that area before you get any more pumping. You can do this by either boosting on the area's that there aren't enough of, or cutting away from frequencies that are pushing the compressor too hard.


This + distortion will go a long way

a track with 7 different kicks, 2 pads, a melody line, a wobbling bass, a sub, an arpeggiator, 2 hats, 2 shakers, all going at the same time is NEVER going to sound full. it's going to sound cluttered. Every single time I mix a track, for myself or for someone else, as the sounds get more powerful, elements get muted in sections or deleted all together.

fullness comes from a good, clear arrangement FIRST. forget frequencies, forget any mix tricks or spectrum analysis. it starts from the source.

from there, it's got more to do w controlling dynamics and letting elements overlap frequencies enough to sound exciting, but not enough to mask each other.

and, of course, a shitload of limiting

often when you perceive the simple bass + kick/snare track as being full there is a lot of stuff going on that you're just not aware of.

you can have a ton of things going on if they all serve there own little purpose.. could be something barely audible .. or could be a percussion sound layered just under the kick..

btw, throwing a pad on the track won't make it fuller it will just attenuate the master level by about 10-15 db'a hehe

I like putting reverbs on chords, and making the snare/kick come out alot. Not to mention that not everything is too loud.

outbound wrote:compressor on the master buss, then bring down the threshold till it's just starting to pump, once there you can either boost on the area's that there aren't enough of, or cut away from frequencies that are pushing the compressor too hard.

This + distortion will go a long way

Interesting idea, and one I've not come across before.. will def be trying it out!

I use hihats, rides, crashes and white noise sweepes to make my tunes sound fuller. A decent amount of reverb too on some of it.
+ lately I've started layering a lot more.

JTreeZY wrote:What do people mean by 'Pads"

Tape a Depends to your screen.

But seriously just layer shit and try not to eq anything.