My mix sounds too tiny. Help me achieve a bigger sound!

[m3l-mrq3z]

Hello everyone,

I just uploaded a short sample of a mix I did today and I am not very pleased with the overall sound. I think it could be bigger. Everything. This is the sample:

Sphereal-Sample by Mischjok on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

This is a mix I regard to be perfect:


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How can I achieve a bigger sound?

 

[King Boo]

hey man! sounds big enough to me, maybe throw an eq on the master though bring up the lows and mid lows it helps!

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

Hmm I am not a big friend of messing up with the master EQ, but I will try to boost those frequencies on the bass and guitar channels.

 

[Progfather]

Hmm I am not a big friend of messing up with the master EQ, but I will try to boost those frequencies on the bass and guitar channels.

I agree.

I am no master at mixing, but from what I have learned you never want to rely on your master EQ to fix your problems.

From what I heard I would definitely boost everything besides the drums in the mix. Personally I start with the drums, then I adjust the bass enough so it does not interfere with the drums, then guitars, etc. Your tracks want to mesh and compliment each other so to speak.

As far as getting that punch, maybe add some low end to your guitar tracks. Mess around with EQ'ing the lower frequencies on the guitars + bass, plus the compression settings. That plays a huge roll in adding the punch.

Hope that helped somewhat.

The mix is an awesome starting point though. You definitely got the basic principals down for sure.

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

Should I really use compression on the guitar group channel? What for?

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

No, don't put any compression on the group channel. Distorted guitars don't take bus compression well.

 

[ShadowAMD]

No, don't put any compression on the group channel. Distorted guitars don't take bus compression well.

Distorted guitars don't take anything well..

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

Exactly. All you can really get away with on distortion guitars is filters and EQs.

 

[KingAenarion]

No, don't put any compression on the group channel. Distorted guitars don't take bus compression well.

Disagree COMPLETELY!

Subtle bus compression on guitars can really help them when set correctly and used in the right context.

 

[Genome]

Yup. A sprinkle of multiband compression on a guitar track can really help it, especially on the low mids.

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

Would that be a good idea for guitars that are sometimes playing 16ths and triplets?

 

[ShadowAMD]

Disagree COMPLETELY!

Subtle bus compression on guitars can really help them when set correctly and used in the right context.

I disagree, the only type I would use is multiband like the sneap effect or even broadband if considered. If not the mastering engineer or the person mastering can also do MB style M/S comps if needed.

Chances are the mixes are going to be tickle compressed on the master print for a couple of Db anyway. So I would avoid guitar bus compression like the plague.

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

Disagree COMPLETELY!

Subtle bus compression on guitars can really help them when set correctly and used in the right context.

Multiband is all I would ever consider, and even that would just be to tame peaks between 200-350hz. Distortion guitars already have no dynamic range.

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

Multiband is all I would ever consider, and even that would just be to tame peaks between 200-350hz. Distortion guitars already have no dynamic range.

This. That's the reason why I was skeptical about using compression on their bus.

Anyways, any thoughts on the mix? What needs improvement?

 

[sakeido]

Your guitars sound thin in the low mids. I've never even tried broadband compression on guitars but hey with a nice character compressor it might do the trick sometimes. But imo multiband compression is a must to tame the low mids. guitars I don't boost anything, I just cut frequencies I don't want then increase the level of them in the mix to compensate. in this case I would probably cut the treble a bit, and increase the level on the distorted guitars drastically

bass coming through nice and clear that sounds good

drum balance is nice. hard to judge right now.

mix sounds like it has no mastering on it at all? it is very quiet. not saying it has to be brickwalled, but right now its lacking power. for an unmastered mix, the snare drum does not cut quite as much as I would like. it is bright but doesn't have a low end "pop" that gives it power. usually I give it a nice boost just under 300hz which matches up nicely with a region you typically have to cut mud from guitar & bass from. gives it a "hole" to help it sit in the mix