Some sounds just overlap in frequency too much and don't really work together. Sometimes I'll replace one of the sounds because of this, other times I just avoid using them at the same time -- i.e. if the chords and bass don't work together, use a different bass in the part with the chords.

The following are mistakes I've seen myself make...

1. Don't fall in love with your sounds. Often you'll quickly create a loop, throw a kick drum on there, add some chords, add a bassline... and then you spend the next 2 weeks listening to those sounds over and over while you try to finish the song. This makes those sounds sound "right" to you. But they may not be. Try changing the kick, try changing other parts. When you do it will instantly sound "wrong" because you've grown accustomed to your first choices. But give it a chance and see what really works.

Related, sometimes there's a sound that just doesn't work with the track. It still sounds "right" to you but it's muddying your mix. Don't be afraid to at least consider deleting any track of your project.

2. Don't add an effect to a track unless (a) you understand what it does, (b) you can hear what it does, and (c) it improves the track. It's really easy to get in the habit of adding a compressor to every track, and maybe a saturator, but be sure they're helping your mix, not just adding noise and mud.

3. Don't overdo layering. I used to find 4-5 patches that sounded good for my lead melody, then basically use all 5 of them at various volumes and EQs in the hopes of creating a nice fat sound. I've found layering works much better if you pick one patch that is "almost" what you want the final sound to be, then add 1-3 layers that are subtle but add something to the sound. A layer should be adding something specific, like low-end or high-end or a transient. And like rule #2, if you can't hear a clear improvement when you add a layer... get rid of it.

There are EQ, reverb, and delay of course, but the two most important things that affect this are:

1. Sound selection. Some sounds (because of their frequency content, transients, etc.) sound "up front" and some naturally sound more background-ish. (Example: try making a shaker take the "up front" position. It's hard to do since it's a high-frequency sound and it wants to be in the background.)

2. Volume.

I know this sounds simple, but if you can't get a sound *almost* where you want it with just these two, adding tons of processing isn't going to help.

Genre: glitch hop? future something? I don't know either.

I like it! Nice and punchy but still sounds musical. I like the toms after the drop and the couple of glitchy parts and panning effects especially.

Mixing: the claps get lost sometimes in the mix at the beginning - especially around 1:30 - after the drop they sound way better because there is a kick (or something low end) layered on them. The piano-ish chords at the beginning could stand out a bit better at :30 when the arps start - maybe bring in more high end frequencies on those?

I get a little tired of the extreme sidechaining after the drop but that's probably a deliberate style choice.

Nicely done!

I spent years looking for the "one thing" that was making my tracks sound not-quite-right compared to professional tracks. Eventually I realized it wasn't one thing, it was EVERYTHING.

In other words, what makes professional tracks sound good is having well-chosen sounds that compliment each other, mixed with just the right levels, panned and stereo-processed just right, with saturation and compression applied in the right amounts, carefully EQ'd to sound good and not interfere with each other and to fill the frequency spectrum in the right way, run through just the right reverb and other effects, and then mastered with just the right subtle effects, limiters, and compressors.

I'm still working on half of those but I'm getting close. If you post a track I'd be happy to take a listen too.

Another thing I've learned about professional tracks--whenever I see one I notice they have some kind of effects on EVERY channel, and automation of some sort on almost every channel. I'm not saying you should add those arbitrarily, but be aware that it's that kind of fine-tuning that really makes a difference.

Oh, and general rule of thumb for panning: the higher the frequency, the more you should pan or widen it.

While you're composing / mixing:

1. Monitor on different sets of speakers. I switch between two sets of monitors and a set of cheap midrange-heavy speakers, plus some headphones. Everything has to sound good on the cheap speakers or else I know it will be a problem.

2. Try mixing at low volume. On your monitors, or even this consumer earphones, turn the volume down until you can barely hear all of the instruments in a reference track. Mix your track at that volume - that really makes the bad parts stand out. For instance, if I play at low volume and all I hear are kicks, I know the kicks are too loud. If I feel like "It sounds great, I wish it was louder" I know I've got it right.

I don't know... I have on-and-off issues with depression and when I make music while depressed, it inevitably ends up being a happy bouncy cross between progressive house and circus music. The two or three "Sad" WIPs I have were made while I was in a really good mood.

Lots of the music I listen to is dark and gloomy, but when I try to make dark and gloomy music I end up with something happy again.

But I'm the kind of person who deals with bad situations by making lots of jokes... I guess music shows my true colors too.

If you play a high-frequency sound from one speaker, it sounds to your ears like it is coming from the direction of that speaker.  Lower sounds are harder to locate with your ears. (Ever had a weird humming noise in the house and spent hours trying to figure out where it's coming from?)

I think really high-pitched sounds are hard to locate too, so really our ears are best at locating midrange sounds.

This is one of the reasons baselines are usually mostly mono.