THIS is What's Wrong With Your Mix... (and How To Fix It!)

[@radiofloyd2359]

One thing I've slowly come to realize is that this kind of resonance suppression isn't always the best for all tracks, specially in ambient. I used to do full resonant suppression a lot, but then, listening, to, for example, the works of absolutely incredible artists like Tim Hecker or Fennesz, I could hear that they kept in certain resonances I might've considered harsh and removed, and that just added to the power of the tracks. As such, I took away the lesson that you should always try to find a balance between creative vision and what is technically "good". Too Much resonance suppression can kill a mix.

[@davidrogers3875]

Interesting video Chris. Everybody works differently. I create loops and then mix them together. If you are creating a piece with lots of effects and treatment, I recommend creating the initial loops without effects and then adding them later. If there is too much distortion, drone, echo, reverb etc and it creates a mix that is a mess, it is easier to remove those harmful elements if they have not been part of the recording of the initial loops.

[@davidrogers3875]

I just want to mention something that I do, if I can hear that there is a problem. I put the file in Audacity and look at the wavelength. I can easily see if it is a problem in a very small area, in that case I may use the envelope tool and just lower that particular spike. Is it two loops “clashing”, do I need to use a compressor or a low pass on one or both of the loops. My biggest problem is drowning loops with too much reverb, echo etc over multiple loops that are playing at the same time. Sometimes less is more.

[@LucaRossoDeVita]

A quick note on Pro-Q. Aside from being a great EQ, it visualizes not only the frequency but also the musical note correlated to that frequency, so you can be more focused on finding which instrument track is causing the spike.

[@TheCubeMusic]

Yeah !! 🎉 thanks 🙏🏻 again Chris

[@LucaRossoDeVita]

It’s a common issue when you stack several layers of sounds to do the same thing. If they have the same frequency range, certain frequencies spots can (and usually do) combine together and the volume of those spots goes up until it becomes a knife stab in your ears. As Chris says, one sound alone can be really good but when you mix sounds together you have to be careful. Synthesizers are powerful and dreamy-sounding but for a mix engineer they can quickly become a pain in the axx and ruin your mix if you don’t tame the mids, because our brain is more sensible to those frequencies that are related to human voice and tends to focalize on that range, amplifying the results.

[@ElJuloProduction]

The multiband compressor...!! 👏Thx

[@billydenkmusic]

Chris, I was so happy when you got a channel on SomaFM. Your videos (and music) are an inspiration to me. Keep up the terrific work! -B

[@macronencer]

Great tips, Chris! One thing that occurs to me is that when you have several tracks that work together to make a layered sound, like pads for example, it's probably helpful to group them so that any EQ and dynamic processing you apply doesn't affect other types of sound in your mix. Probably obvious to many of us, but worth mentioning for beginners. :)

[@DashGlitch]

Really really really good video! In b4 it goes viral :D

[@synkrotron]

Damn! You beat me to it 😁

[@iamelohym]

Good you are doing this, brother.

[@boerboelmummy5075]

Thank you Chris.

[@DaveDorgan]

Good info Chris. Thanks. It’s like digital surgery. As you did, I prefer to tame those resonances on individual tracks. Dynamic EQ can be good on the whole mix if you have a spike in part of a piece, but you still want some of that frequency in the quieter parts. And ProQ3 is definitely on the wishlist.

[@nuellmartin155]

Thank you for the info!! You know I have tons of problems with those resonances and sometimes gets really hard to deal with. Being an Omnisphere fan and having up to 4 sound layers to work with on every track, they are prone to generate resonant spikes if I don't do my best to surgically remove them. And most of the times I fail to fix it, you know...

[@delphisignal]

Thank you! I get these resonant build-ups that get so bad sometimes, I have to pause the track to save my monitors. haha.

[@concretewave8]

Great video.. Thank You!

[@marcus268]

I just heared your Stratosphere track, really, really nice tune!!

[@stizan9185]

Resonances sound beautiful sometimes.

[@pablosmith5473]

Great stuff! Pretty cool info here. @S1gns Of L1fe: a bit of a left field question here, you Ableton Live Theme is very soothing and mellow on the eyes. What it is? Where can I get it? :) Thanks!

[@s1gns0fl1fe]

Volatile from livethemes.co

[@pablosmith5473]

@@s1gns0fl1fe Very cool! Thanks alot for sharing it, much appreciated. I found it :)

[@tristen_grant]

Hey Chris, do you usually do the EQing when the track is in midi or should you freeze the track first?

[@s1gns0fl1fe]

I think I mention that in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4uzn2Zjmrp2fLssi=J0TvT1g1gfwVmKRX - If it's a Utility EQ I leave it as is but if it's something more major I either fix it on the synth level or wait until it's bounced to MIDI and shape it from there.

[@DigitalAura]

Do you ever use mid/side processing, Chris? (listening in Mono kind of does the same thing, but I was curious as you didn't mention it specifically here)

[@s1gns0fl1fe]

I do! It’s useful for getting low end out of pads, or some extra sparkle on the sides. iZotope has a great article about it, which you’ve probably read already but here it is: www.izotope.com/en/learn/what-is-midside-processing.html

[@wiggertvanameijde4584]

What do you think about soothe2 for reducing resonance frequenties in ambient music?

[@s1gns0fl1fe]

I've never heard of Soothe2 before but WOW! The demos on their website are amazing. Expensive though!

[@wiggertvanameijde4584]

@@s1gns0fl1fe yeah they are really expensive, i am still saving to buy it.😂 But i really like the idea that the plugin adapts to the key when the track changes notes and some resonance change from key. But i am still doubting of it is necessary, but i know that a lot of edm, but also rock/metal producers are using soothe2.