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When Sounds Just Won't Sit In A Mix


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What do you do?  I've been studying about mixing and production for a few days now and I've managed to get such higher quality than I was getting (which was crap)  And it's finally starting to come together.  And in some songs I get everything placed really well sounding and it all stays inside the mix and works well and compliments each other, but there's this one song that needs a keyboard section in it.  I've eq'd it every which way I know how, applied compression, removed compression, added chorus, it's midi and I even went through other keyboard sounds to see if it was just that sound in general, but nothing I'm doing is working.  It's either buried to where it has no impact, or it's outside of the mix and over the vocal and I have no idea what you do or how you figure out what the problem is.  I suppose it could be the rest of the mix, but that would suck because I like how everything else sounds and it took me a while to get it that way.  Any suggestions?

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It would be tough to figure it out without hearing it, but it could have something to do with the keyboard sounds frequencies....it could be sitting in the same frequency as some other instruments, so it's difficult for it to stand out on its own. That's the first place I would take a look. If you can pull up a frequency analyzer that will help you narrow it down a bit. Hope it helps

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Hey

It sounds like a classic frequency clash. Here is one solution. Use notch filters (EQ) to cut holes in your keys (a pad maybe?)

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Try using a notch filter to cut the holes, and a spectrum analyser to identify the hole you need to cut. Keep it to a minimum width and depth... Ie just enough to allow the guitar to poke through.

I hope this helps

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Hey

It sounds like a classic frequency clash. Here is one solution. Use notch filters (EQ) to cut holes in your keys (a pad maybe?)

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

Try using a notch filter to cut the holes, and a spectrum analyser to identify the hole you need to cut. Keep it to a minimum width and depth... Ie just enough to allow the guitar to poke through.

I hope this helps

Oooooo I have never tried that before.  To be honest I did find a solution.  Not a perfect one, but one that was good enough for me.  And that was panning my guitars wider than I had them, it seemed to create the space I needed to get it in there.  Also, as far as the spectrum analyzer is concerned, I made a thread today earlier about how I can't get Span to work and asked if there was another spectrum analyzer I could work with in Studio One hahaha  

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It may well just show up as a menu option somewhere.. Sorry I am not familiar with Studio 1 so it is hard to advise, I left comments in your spectrum analyser thread

For what it is worth, most of these things are VST Ireland VSTi, ie they use a common interface, so if it doesn't work with Studio 1 it won't work on any OR you are looking for the wrong thing in the wrong area

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  • 2 months later...

What do you do?  I've been studying about mixing and production for a few days now and I've managed to get such higher quality than I was getting (which was crap)  And it's finally starting to come together.  And in some songs I get everything placed really well sounding and it all stays inside the mix and works well and compliments each other, but there's this one song that needs a keyboard section in it.  I've eq'd it every which way I know how, applied compression, removed compression, added chorus, it's midi and I even went through other keyboard sounds to see if it was just that sound in general, but nothing I'm doing is working.  It's either buried to where it has no impact, or it's outside of the mix and over the vocal and I have no idea what you do or how you figure out what the problem is.  I suppose it could be the rest of the mix, but that would suck because I like how everything else sounds and it took me a while to get it that way.  Any suggestions?

You probably haven't EQ'd the other tracks enough and your mid frequencies are getting clogged. As well as that, make sure some instruments are panned out. Typically your guitar should be two mono tracks (exactly the same) one panned full left and one panned full right.

 

If you take out the bass in your snare, take out some trebles in your bass guitar etc etc you'll create 'room' for your keyboard. Use a stereo expander on your keyboard if necessary to blend it.

 

Then compress your master.

Edited by Medi
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You probably haven't EQ'd the other tracks enough and your mid frequencies are getting clogged. As well as that, make sure some instruments are panned out. Typically your guitar should be two mono tracks (exactly the same) one panned full left and one panned full right.

 

If you take out the bass in your snare, take out some trebles in your bass guitar etc etc you'll create 'room' for your keyboard. Use a stereo expander on your keyboard if necessary to blend it.

 

Then compress your master.

That is something I will definitely try.  And it is so good to see you posting, I've been wondering where you ran off too haha

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That is something I will definitely try.  And it is so good to see you posting, I've been wondering where you ran off too haha

Yea my audio workstation packed in on me so I'm using an old laptop at the minute and can't mix :(

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Yea my audio workstation packed in on me so I'm using an old laptop at the minute and can't mix :(

That's great to hear man, when you seemed to disappear right after getting the files I was like "He didn't like run off with my song did he??"  So I'm just happy to know what's going on.  I hope you get it sorted out soon man!

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