Some info about what I did:
I used Cubase 9 artist, I mixed in the box with stock plugins, Voxengo’s SPAN and some free VST instruments for the synths and GA SE4 for the drums.
For the mastering part I just used Cubase’s maximizer (and probably overcooked it all?) on the Stereo Out bus and then exported the tracks. I did not do separate mastering like importing all the songs into another project and using the same Maximizer settings on all of them because I was having problems as it was.
So I’d appreciate everyone’s opinion and knowledge to help me improve my demo or at least improve my next mixes.
What is the main problem, you’d say, or the main solution that would make my mixes sound better? Is there any frequencies lacking? are my drums too loud? I feel that my ears betray me and I don’t know anymore. Drums are definitely too harsh in several songs but I don’t seem to be able to compress them and have them sit right in the mix, they end up either too compressed or hurting my ears, I did parallel compression in the drums in almost all the songs and didn’t make much of a difference, or I can’t hear it.
Also, why do my songs sound so “canned” or thin? is it an error of the mix? the arrangements? the mastering? what can I do to make them sound more ‘full’ ?
As for the vocals, they are badly sung and recorded and hopefully I will give it another go once I summon the will.
Hey,
My view is that the voices are beautiful. But the Main Synth is too loud/in the front end.
Around 2 :30 I also ear 2 or 3 notes from the solo that don’t seems correct to me.
To answer your question about the thin aspect, you can try to add some PADs, but the main thing (again it’s me only) is about percussions.
Hi, Thank you!! and thank you for your answer. Are you talking about song 3, the one that plays automatically? and do you think the drums are too compressed or need more compression? or do you think it’s also about volume balancing in the mix like the main synth? or just choosing the wrong samples for the song?
I used modified presets of Retrologue that comes with Cubase 9 and also some of Yamaha emulators that came with the keyboard I use but which are not free otherwise and also a Juno emulator, but I meant I used only the stock plugins of Cubase for EQing, compression, reverb and so on, in case it was useful for anyone giving me advice on improving the mix.
I totally agree about the drums, I don’t seem to be able to mix them properly, I’d like to just use the ready to go drums that come with Groove Agent but I don’t like the patterns nor the samples that come with it
