Professional Mix Comparisons / Pro Advice???

[Iron Keys]

Just wondered if anyone knows of any professional mixed(but not mastered) tracks that are floating about, to use as comparison??? (surely trying to compare your mix to a professional master isn't totally helpful??)


Also, are there any professionals (decent) that have tutorial videos/dvd's or whatnot??? I found The guy who mixes/ed a lot of the west coast brehs stuff, like pac, dogg pound. Is there any others out there???

Desperately wanna be able to get my tracks sounding how they should. Especially the kick.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Just wondered if anyone knows of any professional mixed(but not mastered) tracks that are floating about, to use as comparison??? (surely trying to compare your mix to a professional master isn't totally helpful??)


Also, are there any professionals (decent) that have tutorial videos/dvd's or whatnot??? I found The guy who mixes/ed a lot of the west coast brehs stuff, like pac, dogg pound. Is there any others out there???

Desperately wanna be able to get my tracks sounding how they should. Especially the kick.

While its best to get the same track, you can compare two tracks RMS. It needs to be tracks that you want to sound alike though.

Mike Chav and Pensado's Place have a few vids. What is most beneficial is bringing a few tracks you respect into your DAW loading up a freq analyser, and playing with your track and comparing the two

Post something of yours in question

 

[Iron Keys]

While its best to get the same track, you can compare two tracks RMS. It needs to be tracks that you want to sound alike though.

Mike Chav and Pensado's Place have a few vids. What is most beneficial is bringing a few tracks you respect into your DAW loading up a freq analyser, and playing with your track and comparing the two

Post something of yours in question

On the last point of that... Where's the best place to post a track to get feedback / ideas etc on mixing and getting the sound right (excluding the 'showcase'), don't wanna be posting shit in all some wrong places. Is the lab suitable for such shit?

The thing with the freq analyser etc, if I get it to match, my track always ends up sounding really lacking in the bass/kick area.

Do producers / engineers of hip-hop whack hard limiting on the kick channel or something?

I'm proper skeptical about sampling kicks off mastered tracks, as the kick has already gone through processing/reverb etc, then you're going to go and add more on top of that, i imagined a kick sample could have gone through tonnes of diff verbs by the time it gets to your harddrive...

 

[UNORTHODOX]

On the last point of that... Where's the best place to post a track to get feedback / ideas etc on mixing and getting the sound right (excluding the 'showcase'), don't wanna be posting shit in all some wrong places. Is the lab suitable for such shit?

The thing with the freq analyser etc, if I get it to match, my track always ends up sounding really lacking in the bass/kick area.

Do producers / engineers of hip-hop whack hard limiting on the kick channel or something?

I'm proper skeptical about sampling kicks off mastered tracks, as the kick has already gone through processing/reverb etc, then you're going to go and add more on top of that, i imagined a kick sample could have gone through tonnes of diff verbs by the time it gets to your harddrive...

1) I think the actually correct place to post that would be the showcase section but it gets closed pretty quick, but I'd post it in my own thread, only after more respected members asked you to. (Which could be completely wrong, someone may chime in tho)

As far as the kick, music is perception. The Kick doesnt need to thump, it just needs to thump in context of the rest of the beat. I cant tell you the specifics until you post something.

I dont put any limiting on individual busses, only the master. If you gotta do too much, you have the wrong sound or the wrong tuning, or the wrong Eq or a combination

Mastered kicks can be your best friend, they've already been tightened! Of coausr they are tailored to that track, so it doesnt quite work on just anything. Dont be afraid to steal kicks, unless you've went to the studio and sampled your own, you are, 8/10, sampling a mastered kick, even if its from a kit off the net.

 

[Iron Keys]

HOw wioll you work a kick (or snare/clap) that's sampled off a track that already had reverb applied? Gonne have double verb, double processing, double distortion, double mastering etc etc :s

 

[UNORTHODOX]

If thats already applied, why would you need to add it again?

 

[Iron Keys]

If thats already applied, why would you need to add it again?

So you're gonna sample a kick drum, then when time comes to get the track dealt with professionaly you say 'dont master my track, the kick was sampled off a mastered trakc!' ???

Add verb, cos you it has to fit with the 'space' of your other drums?

 

[UNORTHODOX]

1st off, I never put reverb on drums, Thatt puts them in the background. Alittle compression, some slight EQ and some limiting on the master buss, then tweeking everything after you set the limiter how you want it, so the beat gels perfectly

 

[Iron Keys]

1st off, I never put reverb on drums, Thatt puts them in the background. Alittle compression, some slight EQ and some limiting on the master buss, then tweeking everything after you set the limiter how you want it, so the beat gels perfectly

Personally I found leaving drums 'dry', make them sound too synthetic/fake...

I add a little 'pre-delay' to the verb, so that the dry cuts through slightly, so the drums aren't muffled/push back, but to give them a real feel and a bit of space.

I keep the tail on the verb very un-obvious, unless I'm going for a blatant tail.

I've learnt to keep compression very small in terms of gain reduction, i.e not really any more than 3db, else it pulls the 'oomf' out... but compressing this small bit can help to make a kick 'cut' thru the mix...?

Eq... I tend to cut the subs, but boost at around 60 hz to bring out 'weight' in a kick... if i boost elsewhere it tends to not do much (except for boosting at about 1-2khz to bring out the hit of it)