Author Topic: How many layers should a finished song have?  (Read 44601 times)

Joefitz

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How many layers should a finished song have?
« on: January 07, 2016, 08:37:05 am »
I have put together many songs and I found they usually do not have less than 50 layers. unfortunately, when I get to that point my songs begin to sound crowded. How many layers do you guys usually have in your finished track? Also if it is around this many, how do you minimize the crowdedness in a song. I know that this question could be under mixing and mastering but I figured if I am asking how many layers for a song, this question goes hand in hand with that.
Thanks in advance,
Joe

Miles Dominic

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2016, 08:44:20 am »
Depends on your workflow, the result you want and the amount of processing you use, and thousands of other variables. I don't see why you want want to use the number of layers in a track as a usefull 'aim'.

Also; About getting rid of the crowdiness. Use as little layers as possible, but as many as needed. EQ everything properly and give it its own space in the L/R and stereo field. Layering synths with different textures reduces the amount of layers you need and can create new textures.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2016, 08:46:03 am by Miles Dominic »

BorderCity

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2016, 08:44:35 am »
I tend to have quite a range, but i'd say around 15-30. No more than 30 usually :)

It just depends on the style though; for me I try to produce quite ambient/synth pop music which doesn't require many different sounds, but for glitchy dubstep you would need lots of different layers.

If you want to get rid of layers you need to listen very critically; loop a part you think is too cluttered (probably the drop/chorus) and silence a layer you aren't sure about; see if it makes a difference to the song as a whole. If it doesn't make a difference, I take it out. Hope that helps :)

Joseph

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2016, 09:01:42 am »
Right now my song has around 60, but I'm not even close to done. I want to keep my track constantly changing so the listener doesn't get bored, and the only way to do that is by adding new elements at certain points. It could be something as small as a click or as big as a new melody. I usually add in a bunch of random things that I think will sound cool and then cut some of the bad stuff out until I get what I want. Just remember that you shouldn't be adding anything to your song if it doesn't serve a purpose. For every single element in your track, you should be able to explain to yourself why you put it in there.
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VOIID

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2016, 10:55:09 am »
I think there's not an actual answer for that, it really depends on your track and what you're aiming for. If the final result sound muddy and crowded is because there's too much layers or because you haven't mixed them properly (sometimes both xD) so my advice is to make sure those layers you have are really adding something to the track, if not, just remove them.
 
Also, adding a ton of elements doesn't really mean your track won't be repetitive, try to use the same sounds in different ways to keep the song interesting.

Thats it I guess

Yens

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2016, 12:54:34 pm »
There is no right amount of layers, you just have to make it fit perfectly ofcourse.

This makes me think of a screen of one of madeon's tracks:

deathy

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2016, 03:03:44 pm »
This makes me think of a screen of one of madeon's tracks:


huh.  Is all his work so basic?
If the truth can be... told...
so as to be... underSTOOOD...
it will be... belIEVed.

- Terrence McKenna

Danyella

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2016, 06:24:08 pm »
Hmm.. for me it's anywhere from 40 - 100. To avoid crowdedness I mute everything down to the kick. Then I unmute one layer at a time, starting from the sub bass and so on, only unmuting another layer when I'm completely done processing the previous one until nothing sounds muddy or crowded.

BorderCity

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2016, 06:26:44 pm »
There is no right amount of layers, you just have to make it fit perfectly ofcourse.

This makes me think of a screen of one of madeon's tracks:


Classic Madeon ;D ;D ;D

noahnorrod

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2016, 04:43:18 am »
Honestly, as many as it takes, but I would say there are a few base layers that a lot of finished songs would have.

Lead - For melodies
Chord - For chords (duh)
Drums - For rhythm
Vocals - For added meaning
Bass - For groove

And sometimes:
Sub - For speaker-rattling

Those are some very common layers that most songs would probably have, but almost all music is made about as differently as the people who are making it. Just do what feels natural, you shouldn't really have a set number to go by. Make it with as many (or as few) layers as you see adequate.
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aaron

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2016, 05:59:05 am »
I don't think a finished song should have any sort of minimum or maximum amount of layers. You shouldn't have to worry about something like that. I have a song from a year ago with nearly 60 tracks and a song from last month with just 5 tracks, both of which are completed entirely. Not every song has to be terribly complex.

Tiongcy

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2016, 07:12:22 am »
It really depends on you! sometimes you can make a song with just 20 layers sometimes up to 100! it really depends on how it sounds and if it sounds complete for you

icehunt

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2016, 11:47:07 pm »
So many people like to brag about that fact that they have 300+ layers and 400+ hours on a song but it honestly does not matter at all. There shouldn't be limit either way. It took me a while to learn that complexity doesn't equal quality.

guillotine

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2016, 12:20:07 am »
I usually end up around 50 tracks in my song. But a finished song should have the amount of tracks it requires. If you want to reduce stuff in your projects you can try bouncing down certain groups of stuff into audio but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter (As long as it's not eating up your CPU. But you probably don't have 50 elements going at once and it's spread throughout the project anyways :P).

MifzanHerawan

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Re: How many layers should a finished song have?
« Reply #14 on: January 10, 2016, 05:47:50 am »
So many people like to brag about that fact that they have 300+ layers and 400+ hours on a song but it honestly does not matter at all. There shouldn't be limit either way. It took me a while to learn that complexity doesn't equal quality.

whoaaaaa nicely said
yea me 2 i think you shouldn't care at all about layers' quantity