FATTEN up the mix

[DKushner]

take a few of your instruments and psuedo stereo them. There's a bunch of different ways from chorus (more voices + modulated detune) unison (morevoices + unmodulated detune), slight delay the one channel relative to another etc...


something I like doing is duping the track, and then sending it through guitar rig 2, and choosing a different cab and mic for the left and right side. Then mix that back in with your original source. Voila. Stereo fattness.

[unusable]

Thought I'd throw my 2cents in.

as stated earlier, subtractive EQ, never add.

I'm of the opinion that if you're not getting the sound that you're looking for you need to go back to the source in order to get those great results you're looking for. If you're not happy with a part or instrument, Isolate it and listen to it while you're adding other instruments from your mix. If there are parts that get muddy, or unclear isolate those sound that are fighting for space. And if the sound itself sucks, go and re-record it.

Maybe this is the wrong thread but I'm trying to get the best mixes with the least amount of efx, while utilizing compression(varying degrees) all over the place on almost everything. Then when I'm happy(relatively), I'll look at adding something here and there in the way of efx. (obviously, different musical style lend themselves to more/less efx, if you melody hook developed from a delay with tons of verb or a step filter or something I don't kill it

[skyworm]

After reading every expert comment on this thread. I went ahead and listened to over 23 pop cd's and watched their settings on my stereo's EQ.

You know 22 of the pop cd's EQ flys off the map!. Hot as Hell. Does this mean that industry standard sound quality is so pumped up that, standard EQ settings are a thing of the past? The only cd I thought of a standard quality mix with a "real " visual meter EQ and only one hot spot, was Peter Gabriels "Security CD. "shock the monkey" was the only track with a hot spot, but I liked it.
i guess I don't know what I'm talking about, but I sure do know what I hear.

[knotkranky]

After reading every expert comment on this thread. I went ahead and listened to over 23 pop cd's and watched their settings on my stereo's EQ.

You know 22 of the pop cd's EQ flys off the map!. Hot as Hell. Does this mean that industry standard sound quality is so pumped up that, standard EQ settings are a thing of the past? The only cd I thought of a standard quality mix with a "real " visual meter EQ and only one hot spot, was Peter Gabriels "Security CD. "shock the monkey" was the only track with a hot spot, but I liked it.
i guess I don't know what I'm talking about, but I sure do know what I hear.

Your stereo's meters have very little headroom and are calibrated for visuals. Useless as a ref, though it looks loud. I can't say that I follow you on standard eq settings or quality. Though, new cd levels can be off the charts making older level standards more punchy. I bet Peter watched the mastering process of his own record and made sure they didn't crush his levels. There is really nothing standard about any of it.