Mix critiques & advices - reach your mixing goals!

Ruud Reiher

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Adam Dooley
Oct 06, 2023
Hi, this is a track I made a while back. I think I'm on my way but would like to hear where people think i'm at.
Opem to all feedback :)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aoOGBcv1vWQvFj9q8xVTQSSJAsrcg8zX/view?usp=drive_link
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Alessandro Piacci
Oct 06, 2023
Be careful while exporting audio files, you probably didn't select the right range to be exported, because from 3,14, there's just void. Also, you should separate kick from 808 bass, so that you can hear them separately, you can try setting the kick with a low pass filter till 120 hz, with a curve at 18 db and try with a fast compression. You can even experiment making the bass sounds stereo above 120 hz. If you want to add more spiciness try to variate sounds or creating new vibes through the whole song. Good luck
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Adam Dooley
Oct 06, 2023
Yes hahah was meant to fix it on the next render but havent got round it. Only for demo purposes atm.
Youre right I think I was actually trying to combine them for some reason but I agree it be more lively and pack more punch if they were more distinct.
I like the sound of stereo bass. Stereo spread is a bit of a weakness of mine. I tend to (reasonably) hard pan only a few elements (hats and percs). Any tips on getting more stereo in a track generally?
As for stereo bass ive been somwhat brain washed or atleast missinformed by youtube and instagram (college even) that bass should be not be stereo. (I was actually talking to an acoustician recently and he has me interested in trying stereo sub [though I feel that might be a concept that really has a time and place and doesnt fit for most tracks]). I digress!
Other than widening tools and using the haus effect, how would you add more stereo to a bass line (above 120hz)?
Ive heard of people duplicating guitar tracks and hard panning but to me unless their different recordings this is just mono with extra steps lol.
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ygor sobrinho
Oct 06, 2023
The track needs compression, vocal nee a better eq and compression, the kick and bass you could prioritize the lows on the kick and cut the bass between 40hz and 80hz. And no don't make the bass wide, like the other guy said + cutting the kick on 120hz is really dumb.
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Alessandro Piacci
Oct 07, 2023
It's not a dumb thing at all, if you know what you are exactly doing. Spreading the stereo would help make the kick sounds better. Also it's a good deal for experimenting with sound design, if you know what I mean. One of the most common problems in music production, and mixing, is mixing kick and bass. They play a central role in electronic music and beyond.
It is therefore very important to enhance them and make sure that they coexist smoothly within the mix.
The difficulty in mixing these two elements is due to the fact that they both cover the same frequency range, causing lack of definition in the low frequencies, imbalance of the sound spectrum, masking and phase cancellation. In addition, low frequencies are more complex to handle as they are poorly reproduced by the vast majority of reproduction systems.

We can divide the kick into three sections, Body, Muddy and Attack.
Each section corresponds to a specific area of the sound spectrum, respectively:

Body: 50-120 Hz
Muddy: 200-800 Hz
Attack: 1-15KHz

The bass, on the other hand, we can divide it into four sections:

Sub: 20-50Hz
Body: 50-120 Hz
Muddy: 200-800Hz
Attack: 1-15KHz

In any case if you don't like the sound design option, you can go for the classic way..

Eq, compression and sidechain.
You have to cut the fundamental frequency of the bass from the kick, and viceversa for the kick, then go on with compression to enhance transients and then you can add a punchy groove with the sidechain.

You have to try, let me know which way is better for you