does anyone else have this issue? for example, I'm working on a song, and they sound great on my monitor speakers, then i plug in my ipod headphones for reference (since i listen to 99% of my music through my ipod on heaphones) and my song sounds like crap, especially compared to other songs.
I know what you're thinking, the other songs have been mastered to perfection, etc. which is correct but on the other hand i'm also attempting to 'master' my songs as well, (ie. using maximisers and eq, etc to the best of my ability) but even after that process my songs come through as thin.
The kick drum is especially irritating me, as when i pick the kick sample when i start the song, it sounds full and fat, and yet the same kick through the headphones sounds THIN. If i compare my kick to other people's songs, their kick ALWAYS sounds better, bigger, fuller, etc even if they are using a punier kick... so yeah... frustrations frustrations...
but the thing is like i said before, all my stuff sounds awesome on my monitors, it just sounds like crap on headphones.
anyone else having these issues?
my songs sound like crap on ipod headphones - why?
No song and no track were ever mastered to perfection. there are very limited things you can make better in the mastering process. it does not compensate on mixing errors.
the reason is bad mix. sorry if im too harsh, but thats the truth.
most mixing engineers keep another set of monitors in the studio to compare the mix as it goes, usually they take it to other rooms with different systems, headphones and the try it also on their stereo in their car.
they do it and until they find the right balance so the tracks will sound best on all systems.
the reason is bad mix. sorry if im too harsh, but thats the truth.
most mixing engineers keep another set of monitors in the studio to compare the mix as it goes, usually they take it to other rooms with different systems, headphones and the try it also on their stereo in their car.
they do it and until they find the right balance so the tracks will sound best on all systems.
try to layer your kick with some other kicks. Send them all to a buss and put a nice compressor on that one... put a send on that kickbuss and put another compressor/eq on the send... over do it and add a bit of the send to the kickbuss.... VOILA a phat kick with more happyness.
Not a standard formula, but mostly it works.
Not a standard formula, but mostly it works.
The thing that mostly confuses me is when people say to compress a kick drum. I mean compression does not make it fat, in fact it just makes it flatter. Of course I understand that when you layer a few kicks and then compress them to gel them together so to say, but that is a different thing. I mean if you compress an 808 kick it won't be that fat anymore, it will loose the whole bassyness.
One thing you could try is when you are mixing your song load up a reference song that is sonically similar to the song you made. And try to mix your song by checking whether it sounds like the reference track.
BTW what monitors are you using? Have you thought about putting sound absorbers behind the monitor speakers and your computer display, because if the speakers are too close to the back wall then the sound you hear will not be accurate.
One thing you could try is when you are mixing your song load up a reference song that is sonically similar to the song you made. And try to mix your song by checking whether it sounds like the reference track.
BTW what monitors are you using? Have you thought about putting sound absorbers behind the monitor speakers and your computer display, because if the speakers are too close to the back wall then the sound you hear will not be accurate.
not kinda true... it depends on your settings of the compressor. You can adjust the dynamics. if you have a fast attack and slow release and compress it gently... the belly of the kick will be compressed. That means that the peaks will be squeezed. Most of the compressors also have a gain button. Touch that one after you compressed it. gain it up so it sound it bit louder.
The compressors you use and settings are not always the same... at least in my projects not. 1 compressor use for body pump up, other compressor to create my transient (attack) etc. in that way you form and morphing a kick to it's fatness. and because you use sends in certain ways that means you layer your kick again on the original dry signal. so your layeren the same kick with different twists and settings. May that be eq, compression, distortion, tubewarmer, etc.
The compressors you use and settings are not always the same... at least in my projects not. 1 compressor use for body pump up, other compressor to create my transient (attack) etc. in that way you form and morphing a kick to it's fatness. and because you use sends in certain ways that means you layer your kick again on the original dry signal. so your layeren the same kick with different twists and settings. May that be eq, compression, distortion, tubewarmer, etc.
IMO the kick change like that because it based too much on lower frequencies that you iphone headphones might not be able to produce (40-60hz, depends on the headphones).
try to filter out the low frquencies (cut everything under 35-45hz) than boost 80-100hz to get the low end back. these are frequencies your headphones are more probably able to reproduce.
i also suggest to use a spectrum analyzer to compare your kick with other similar commercial tracks.
try to filter out the low frquencies (cut everything under 35-45hz) than boost 80-100hz to get the low end back. these are frequencies your headphones are more probably able to reproduce.
i also suggest to use a spectrum analyzer to compare your kick with other similar commercial tracks.
I see, basically you are doing parallel compression which is a widely used technique. But I am still saying that if you want a fat and bassy 808 kick drum, don't squash it to death with a compressor. Yet there are tracks where a squashed kick drum does sound the best. So probably it depends on the track.kdgh wrote:not kinda true... it depends on your settings of the compressor. You can adjust the dynamics. if you have a fast attack and slow release and compress it gently... the belly of the kick will be compressed. That means that the peaks will be squeezed. Most of the compressors also have a gain button. Touch that one after you compressed it. gain it up so it sound it bit louder.
The compressors you use and settings are not always the same... at least in my projects not. 1 compressor use for body pump up, other compressor to create my transient (attack) etc. in that way you form and morphing a kick to it's fatness. and because you use sends in certain ways that means you layer your kick again on the original dry signal. so your layeren the same kick with different twists and settings. May that be eq, compression, distortion, tubewarmer, etc.