This is an important time to remind everyone that composition and orchestration are also a critical part of a good mix: the more notes happening at once and the more instruments playing at once, the more
sounds are present.
Good questions to ask yourself, before trying to process your way out of this:
- Can I simplify any of the melodies or rhythms to allow more room in the track, without compromising the musical idea?
- Can I remove any of the instruments or layers, while maintaining the feel of a "finished" song?
- How much fluff can I trim off of this song? What are the essential elements of this track, and what can I take away from my current arrangement to get to that?
Big Room is really loud because there's three or four sounds happening at any one time - Dat Big Kick™, Dat Percussive Lead™ or Dat Supersaw™, and maybe Dat Clap™ or Dat Ride™. Hardstyle is surprisingly quiet in comparison, because holy shit what did you do to your 909 you shouldn't pu-DONK DONK DONK DONK DONK DONK