I frankly don't believe it could be said better. I hardly expected anyone to add anything else. It was explained so simply but yet has so much implication.oddstep wrote:No to layering as a solution. there will be two or three big differences between your productions and big league commercial productions.
1) monitoring. better monitoring allows you to hear flaws in your mix more clearly and fix them. this translates into clearer mixes with more audio energy where you want it.
2) experience in mixing. getting levels right and gain staging is something people learn over time - with a powerful computer its possible to make tracks that have a lot of elements going on at once. this makes it difficult to mix in such a way that the whole sounds good.
3) mastering. if you're making money you can pay someone to get your stereo recording to sound as good as possible for a given medium. like mixing, this is a mix of experience and talent.
so, if you have some resources the biggest jump start you can give yourself is better monitoring. I'm still pretty rough sounding, but my mixdowns have definitely improved over time, just by thinking through what people have said with regards to compression, cutting frequencies and relative levels.
How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
One good thing about music...when it hits..you feel no pain..[-Bob Marley....."Trench Town Rock"}
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
step 1: Understand writing, voicing and instrumentation, it could be called "Orchestration".
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Yeah. Its like "hey, ive purchased a violin. How do I create a clasical orchestral composition". Obviously you need to learn a lot of stuf. But it doesnt have to be 20 years, like some of us have used. If you go to school or work with someone with lots of experience you can pick up the most esential in a few years.Angstrom wrote:step 1: Understand writing, voicing and instrumentation, it could be called "Orchestration".
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patrick.olson86
- Posts: 160
- Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
There's a lot of junk here, no offense to anyone. But, if you're satisfied with the mix (where things are in the frequency range, meaning it's not muddy sounding) then take it to a professional mastering engineer who has years of experience. It's really that simple.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
^I think there's a good variety of quality advice in these past two pages.
Sending your song to a professional mastering engineer is great advice too.. but send it to 5 mastering engineers and you'll likely get 5 very different sounding mixes.. because at the end of the day.. no matter how professional and experienced you are.. there's still a large element of subjectivity to the whole process.
Sending your song to a professional mastering engineer is great advice too.. but send it to 5 mastering engineers and you'll likely get 5 very different sounding mixes.. because at the end of the day.. no matter how professional and experienced you are.. there's still a large element of subjectivity to the whole process.
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patrick.olson86
- Posts: 160
- Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
^ good point. When working with a mastering engineer be sure to listen to stuff they've worked on in the past, bring in recordings of tracks you like and would like your finished product to sound like. Sometimes, a good mastering engineer will give you samples of a track. Ie - he will do a wet/dry mix of one of your tracks. Maybe 30 seconds unmastered and then 30 seconds more of mastered version.
It's not to say that the past few pages have had bad material in them. They don't. But, when you really want to go from unprofessional to professional sounding, then it's mastering. I'm assuming the mixing is ok. But then again, don't master something that isn't mixed properly. That's like eating a great feast with uncooked meat.
It's not to say that the past few pages have had bad material in them. They don't. But, when you really want to go from unprofessional to professional sounding, then it's mastering. I'm assuming the mixing is ok. But then again, don't master something that isn't mixed properly. That's like eating a great feast with uncooked meat.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Tarekith wrote:Sounds like you just need to keep practicing by doing, there's no simple solution to sounding like someone with 20 years of experience.
Unless they're my tracks. Attention to detail: 0. If he compared his tracks to mine they might sound pretty good.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Listen to the small things in the 'pro' tracks. I'm always finding little things they do that make the track sound more alive. Swooshes, little bleeps and bloops, tape distortion, how they build up, how they tear down, etc... Listen intently and write down everything you hear and if it's not in your track, try it out. This little bit of advice made a WORLD of difference in my tracks.
levimoniz wrote:yes i'm a hypocrite and not intelligent
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regretfullySaid
- Posts: 8913
- Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:50 pm
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Use the EQ8 in M/S mode and roll off the Mono sub/bass unless it's the sub/bass.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
When people say "thanks in advance" and then dont reply or comment on anyones replies it's hard to decide if it's worth posting.
But Im sure a lot of people, especially those just starting out want to know this, so fwiw...
This was a burning question for me back in the early to mid 90's when I was just starting to make tracks I wanted played in clubs. Back then I was making drum n bass and was also a Massive Attack worshipper.
These two sources of inspiration seemed to make my task a little harder than the average house or techno dude, who seemed to be able to whip stuff off in Acid or whatever, using TR sounds and pre packaged loops and whatever and have it - if not sounding particularly good, at least not sounding weird and totally off like mine. I was designing ALL my sounds from scratch, which I knew my influences did, and that had a learning curve in itself.
Gradually like crumbs from a table you would hear about this or that technique to get the kind of snare or bass or whatever you were obsessing about. You run back to the studio, try it and 'eureka!' it worked. Still, somehow it never solved all that was not coming together. One by one, you weed through all the elements and tricks that go int your favourite music and discover you cant arrange a tune for shit. It just doesnt have the same vibes and hype. Youve got all the right sounds and your tune still sounds meh. You even try copying, out of desperation, what you think Ronnie or Krust or Mushroom is doing to build a tune. Meh.
So someone tells you about gainstaging and mixing better. In my case I wasnt that far off in this respect. But with each little thing, my stuff got a little better but still didnt quite hit the mark. I started to go crazy actually.
Then someone tells me that if I never learned to break or DJ as a kid and didnt know the breaks and their history and have it in my blood I would never sound quite legit. There was something to this for sure, like if you werent around in Jamaica watching and learning from Tubbs or Scratch you cant really know how they got to where they did, or how much apprenticing or peripheral knowledge they had whoch all played a part. Kind of thing.
But an important thing for people that want to make smokin dance music of any genre is to understand dj'ing. Not just beat matching - anyone can learn that. But you get an instinct, especially from watching the girls, how people react to what. You see it intheir body language, how sexual they get, how crazy they get, when and why. This cant be learned in a studio, or even just from hanging around the dance or trainspotting the DJ. You have to learn how to connect with people yourself.
But what if youbare making noodly or intellectual IDM or whatever that only boys like and you dont need to connect as much as impress. Or what if all of this still doesnt, after all, get you that "professional sound"?
When people talk about the importance of mastering, theyre right. But a lot of the time its not about competance or gear or monitoring that makes the difference. After all alot of great choons sound quite shitty - all sidechained to hell, lo-fi, distorted, tubby in the middle and somehow it doesnt stick out as amateurish or weird.
One word - loudness. Its a form of audio violence and ignorance in a way and and it lowers the bar. But nevertheless there it is. Limit the crap out of the dynamics and mash it all together into a rock of sound and mixing and level mistakes sound intentional. The discovery of multi-band compressors was very illuminating for me. If you are working in live just load one up on your stereo master and see what it does. Play around. You'll see what I mean. Then limit the whole thing and try and get as much loudness as you can without going too far,
All of a sudden your so-so music can go on a mixtape amidst your heroes and it doesnt stick out and sound weird. Just lowbrow.
This aspect is what carries the bedroom producers until they get access to better engineers and studios where you can properly discover, by watching, what you know and what you dont. You will realize how advanced you had actually become in some areas, and a bunch of other things, some shamefully obvious that you missed.
By the time I got there I just didnt care as much anymore. Then you learn the value in objectivity, dispassion and deadlines.
Hope this helps someone, somewhere.
But Im sure a lot of people, especially those just starting out want to know this, so fwiw...
This was a burning question for me back in the early to mid 90's when I was just starting to make tracks I wanted played in clubs. Back then I was making drum n bass and was also a Massive Attack worshipper.
These two sources of inspiration seemed to make my task a little harder than the average house or techno dude, who seemed to be able to whip stuff off in Acid or whatever, using TR sounds and pre packaged loops and whatever and have it - if not sounding particularly good, at least not sounding weird and totally off like mine. I was designing ALL my sounds from scratch, which I knew my influences did, and that had a learning curve in itself.
Gradually like crumbs from a table you would hear about this or that technique to get the kind of snare or bass or whatever you were obsessing about. You run back to the studio, try it and 'eureka!' it worked. Still, somehow it never solved all that was not coming together. One by one, you weed through all the elements and tricks that go int your favourite music and discover you cant arrange a tune for shit. It just doesnt have the same vibes and hype. Youve got all the right sounds and your tune still sounds meh. You even try copying, out of desperation, what you think Ronnie or Krust or Mushroom is doing to build a tune. Meh.
So someone tells you about gainstaging and mixing better. In my case I wasnt that far off in this respect. But with each little thing, my stuff got a little better but still didnt quite hit the mark. I started to go crazy actually.
Then someone tells me that if I never learned to break or DJ as a kid and didnt know the breaks and their history and have it in my blood I would never sound quite legit. There was something to this for sure, like if you werent around in Jamaica watching and learning from Tubbs or Scratch you cant really know how they got to where they did, or how much apprenticing or peripheral knowledge they had whoch all played a part. Kind of thing.
But an important thing for people that want to make smokin dance music of any genre is to understand dj'ing. Not just beat matching - anyone can learn that. But you get an instinct, especially from watching the girls, how people react to what. You see it intheir body language, how sexual they get, how crazy they get, when and why. This cant be learned in a studio, or even just from hanging around the dance or trainspotting the DJ. You have to learn how to connect with people yourself.
But what if youbare making noodly or intellectual IDM or whatever that only boys like and you dont need to connect as much as impress. Or what if all of this still doesnt, after all, get you that "professional sound"?
When people talk about the importance of mastering, theyre right. But a lot of the time its not about competance or gear or monitoring that makes the difference. After all alot of great choons sound quite shitty - all sidechained to hell, lo-fi, distorted, tubby in the middle and somehow it doesnt stick out as amateurish or weird.
One word - loudness. Its a form of audio violence and ignorance in a way and and it lowers the bar. But nevertheless there it is. Limit the crap out of the dynamics and mash it all together into a rock of sound and mixing and level mistakes sound intentional. The discovery of multi-band compressors was very illuminating for me. If you are working in live just load one up on your stereo master and see what it does. Play around. You'll see what I mean. Then limit the whole thing and try and get as much loudness as you can without going too far,
All of a sudden your so-so music can go on a mixtape amidst your heroes and it doesnt stick out and sound weird. Just lowbrow.
This aspect is what carries the bedroom producers until they get access to better engineers and studios where you can properly discover, by watching, what you know and what you dont. You will realize how advanced you had actually become in some areas, and a bunch of other things, some shamefully obvious that you missed.
By the time I got there I just didnt care as much anymore. Then you learn the value in objectivity, dispassion and deadlines.
Hope this helps someone, somewhere.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Amazing and helpful replies from everyone! Donmich's reply was what especially made me want to sign up to the forums to say thank you. Wonderful perspective and helpful guidance for myself and I'm sure others out there that have come upon this thread over the years...
donmich wrote:When people say "thanks in advance" and then dont reply or comment on anyones replies it's hard to decide if it's worth posting.
But Im sure a lot of people, especially those just starting out want to know this, so fwiw...
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Looking to David Guettas terrible poppy edm trash is perhaps your first problem. this is basically cheesy over produced big room garbage. Its made with big money involved. These people are a joke to serious electronic music fans... their music will sound big and professional yes but its also very very bad to aim for that style of pop music. Try sounding like yourself and stay away from the edm.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Mmmm, a little more credit for the guy isn't misplaced here. It may not be your taste, but David knows what he is doing, and helps a lot of other guys to get there......torocks wrote:Looking to David Guettas terrible poppy edm trash is perhaps your first problem. this is basically cheesy over produced big room garbage. Its made with big money involved. These people are a joke to serious electronic music fans... their music will sound big and professional yes but its also very very bad to aim for that style of pop music. Try sounding like yourself and stay away from the edm.
Taste is a very personal thing, and burning down an artist is easy, be carefull what you say maybe. I'm not a big fan of his music, but he sure knows what to do. And yes with succes comes in the big money thing.
Greetings from Miyaru.
Prodaw i7-7700, 16Gb Ram, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen, ESI M4U eX, Reason 12, Live Suit 10, Push2, Presonus Eris E8 and Monitor Station V2, Lexicon MPX1,
Korg N1, Yamaha RM1x
Prodaw i7-7700, 16Gb Ram, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen, ESI M4U eX, Reason 12, Live Suit 10, Push2, Presonus Eris E8 and Monitor Station V2, Lexicon MPX1,
Korg N1, Yamaha RM1x
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jestermgee
- Posts: 4500
- Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:38 am
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
Yes, it's bad for anyone to aim/aspire for a professional sound. It's also not common to rehash 5 year old threads with a late-to-the-party thought on the subject.torocks wrote:Looking to David Guettas terrible poppy edm trash is perhaps your first problem. this is basically cheesy over produced big room garbage. Its made with big money involved. These people are a joke to serious electronic music fans... their music will sound big and professional yes but its also very very bad to aim for that style of pop music. Try sounding like yourself and stay away from the edm.
Re: How do I finally make my music sound "professional"??
It could be a number of things.arguru wrote:Hey guys,
I've been using Ableton for a while now (first DAW) and have gotten the hang of it. I've got a few good tracks (at least they sound good to me) but there's still only one problem...
My music sounds like it was made by a kid in his bedroom (it is, actually).
I have Ableton 8 suite and I use NI MASSIVE and have plenty of quality sounds that I've used... don't get me wrong, the music sounds good... but when I compare it alongside the pros tracks (i.e.. Axwell, Guetta, Alesso, Avicii, etc) it just sounds like it's missing something... although I can't really put my finger on it!!
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me or can relate? Maybe I would benefit from the use of effects to take away that "bedroom generic" feel?
I know, the question is vague, but I'm hoping that maybe a few of you will know where I'm going with this and understand my problem... hopefully I'm not the only one.
I mean, should I just layer the hell out of my tracks with effects like the pros? Ahhh I just don't know.
Any and all help is so much appreciated!!
THANK YOU in advance!!
Arrangement
Rhythm
Musicality
Choice of sounds/programming/layering/synth tweaks/instrumentation/sampling
Recording techniques
Mixing translation
Relative volume
EQ
Panning
Compression
Reverb
Saturation
Misc EFX
MIDI/audio editing
Automation
Mastering
Also a lot of the industry folks have a wealth of experience, mentoring, time, and various resources to get to the final product.
What you is hearing is often a combination of many small/big things.