Cliche thing to say but don't over do things, know when to step back and not make everything overly complicated.

Yeah man, agree with you for sure, still trying to find that point myself hah.

So I can also practice good composition and mixing all at once.

I'm glad you're so inspired and ready to learn, but you really should not be trying to load yourself up with so much stuff! Like you said, you have only been doing this for a couple of months. It's fine if you don't want to recreate other artists' work, but make sure to analyze them critically and understand what they do - that is a secret to unlocking your own taste as a producer! I really would make sure you focus on composition and arrangement. Proper mixing and mastering is something that comes with experience and experience alone, and you can easily develop bad habits if you don't know what you're doing. It's often better to make a song that you don't really have to mix and process than to make a roughshod piece that you spend hours slaving over just to make it sound pretty.

Like matthew said, having a good source sound is important. You want to be able to enjoy it even if it sounds messy, so you have an easier time working. Using the example of a kick drum, would you rather have:

• a kick that has a lot of unnecessary hissy noise at the tail end, sounds really flabby, and sounds like it was recorded with someone's iPhone?
• a kick that only contains the frequency information of the actual instrument or drum machine, has a clear punch, and was recorded with a high quality dynamic microphone through a $5,000 pre-amp and a $3,000 compressor?

The same is true for every single part of your song. So it's better to learn how to make a good song that you mix into a great one than try to wear every hat at the same time.

Not exactly, sure you want good quality samples, but say you're layering a kick or clap/snare, some samples may just sound bad together, so picking the right ones to make a good kick or clap/snare is important. Even sequencing drums, not everything is going to work well together, picking the right samples for your sequence to work well is important.

I was more so talking about the whole mix in general though. Say you have a drop with a good lead going on but you want to add more elements, this is where you have to watch for what part of the frequency spectrum the new elements are most dominant, you want to be sure the sounds you are using are not going to over power or drown out your lead. If there's part of the spectrum you're trying to fill, use something that fills that part of the spectrum, don't throw any old synth in there & EQ it to fill that specific part.

Having a hard time trying to explain it, but hopefully that helps a little bit hah
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Yeah, I get what you're trying to say. Should I have an eq on the master channel(not to actually EQ), but just to see where all the frequency ranges are peaking and where I have free space? Would that be considered a normal technique to do? lol

Quote from: Marrow Machines on January 22, 2016, 05:44:38 pm

It's tough to discern what makes a good sound with out understanding simple components of the mix.

A catch-22 is almost evident here, because with out the learned ears of experience you won't be able to discern the what is tasteful for yourself to have it relate for other people.

I wouldn't quit say that it's a catch-22, because that implies you are creating in a vacuum. Thankfully, we as artists and human beings are lucky enough not to exist within a vacuum. There are thousands of tracks that have been released that you can use to train your ear. You find the records that inspire you and you listen to them in a different way - not as a fan, but as a student. You ask questions about what the producer was doing and why, and experiment to try and apply those concepts to your own work. You also look for records that you dislike and listen to them as well, trying to figure out what you dislike about them and why, and making sure to avoid those sounds when you are composing your work.

These experiences are not going to be as effective as trying a bunch of different things and failing until you get it right, but when you're just starting out it can be an invaluable resource to get you started.

It's the catch at first because of the initiation of the learning process of many components if you aren't actually in a more stable and focused setting. I may not have chosen the right word, but it's definitely the mindset that you'll have to overcome with practice, experience, and equipment (and this is part of it).

But once you break through that initial wall, you'll be equiped and ready to go to take on the more complicated tasks.

But like i said, it's the learning part that kind of circles itself, and if you can't get out of it then you're stuck in that loop.

It's a hell of a lot easier if you go to a school and try to make this your career, or surround yourself with individuals who do this thing professionally, have the time of day, or have gone to school for this sort of thing.

But that depends on the individual, disposition, and resources.

the first one is not a mixing tip - make whatever music you want to make. don't feel the need to conform to whatever anyone else wants you to make.

second - panning some of your auxiliary percussion (hi hats, toms, other misc. percussion) can really add some life to your drums.

Quote from: Heisenburgerz on January 21, 2016, 10:20:17 pm

What are the only plugins you should use in your master channel?

Only plugins you'll use most of the time: EQ for tone, limiter/multiband compressor for loudness, saturation for warmth, and maybe reverb for shimmer.
Only plugins you should use: whatever it needs.

Hopefully this video helps you a bit too

Am I the only one who avoids putting anything on the master channel at all costs until the very end/something odd/irregular requires it?

This a track I made the other day. I also attempted to mix it. I know its nothing special, but I would just like some constructed feedback. So check it out if you'd like, and let me know your thoughts on what I could improve. (Also disregard the soundcloud name, its an old account I made years ago lol.)

https://soundcloud.com/austimusprime/sbfambientbeat-re-work-mix-2/s-ECp4r