Softening Up Synth Leads Without Losing Too Much 'Power'

[David Heath]

Hmm ... I'd like to ask for everyones advice on softening up synths during the production process.

On some of the stuff I enjoy doing I like having a nice synth lead as the main melody. Nothing too heavy or fat - just a nice rounded little synth noise that sounds great with a bit of tinkering and can be used as a basis for a song. Now, I always find that when I'm working with these things at a fairly high volume, they tend to rattle my speakers ever so slightly. I've EQ'd everything (up to a point), taken the bottom 80Hz or so out completely and I also often use Ableton's auto-filter tool to squash the middle down a little bit as well, but it will still end up rattling it a certain amount once it gets turned up.

Now I can EQ it up to a point to stop this, but eventually I'm going to lose the timbre of the sound completely and end up with something that sounds very flat and unlively, and ultimately quite removed from the sound I spent hours getting using the synthesizer itself. I've loaded up some tracks by other artists to compare my piece to in the sequencer and none of them produce the same rattling effect at the same volume, even though they are using very big, very full synth sounds. Why is this? Is there a trick I'm missing out on, or is the skill here in finding the balance between the sound you want in the synth and the equalisation necessary using my EQ tool? I can't imagine it can rely too heavily on the latter - I'm also certain there is a trick or two that I'm not familiar with that I can start using to really get some nice synths going without causing any rattle. Any help is, once again, appreciated greatly.

Thanks : )

[membrain]

What type of speakers are you using and does it happen on other systems. I'm thinking it might be a resonant frequency that sets off your speakers.
Is the channel clipping/distorting?
Does turning the entire volume of the song down remove the rattle?
If so it might be that you are pushing the limits of what your speakers can reproduce.
In this case compression is your friend and thoughtfully Ableton have supplied some nifty ones.
Commercial music is often heavily compressed so it gives the impression of volume without moving the speaker cones so much.
Also pay attention to what else is going on in the music around the lead sound. Finding a spot for the sound other than the downbeat will give it room to be heard.

[David Heath]

I have a strong feeling that it is the fault of my monitors after reading your reply. It is certainly the fault of certain notes and not others, and I am certainly getting carried away with listening to it in isolation, so maybe I need to put more precedence on listening to it in the context of the full mix.

Thanks for the advice - I think I'll need to save up for some better monitors, but in the meantime I have access to some good listening environments at my University, so I'll burn off a CD and carry it around with me for now.

Thanks again,

David