getting that commercial sound

[mono]

we could be here all day breaking down what makes material sound commercial. an easy first step though is a software called izotope ozone.

this vst is NUTS!

 

[Relic]

I'll be bangin' on my shit until they plant me! I think of me making music as one big hobby with the potential of turning a profit. That way I eliminate most of the frustration and continue to enjoy my isolation time! I think of it like going fishing alone. THERE'S NOTHING LIKE IT!

Keep doing what you do man...if you stop trust me....you'll go crAzy because if it's in you...IT'S IN U!

Good point, good advice..I'll take it!

 

[God]

Most hit the nail on the head with this one....if you truly want your music to sound like the commercial pro shit you hear on the radio there's really no other way. There are very few "top dawg" mastering facilities around and all the big boys use one of them.

Not saying you can't have good recordings other ways, it's just that the majors don't take chances with possible mediocre facilities. When it's time to compete they don't chance the sound.

Most and LDB are 100% right.

1) Getting that "pro" sound means using the pros.\

2) My opinion is that I can not adequately mix a premaster print for the mastering lab unless I can hear the mix through near-field and wide-field monitors (those costs thousands of dollars.) Home project studios lack that.

I sometimes spend three to four days to get the "mix" right (due to my obsession with EQ automation). The cost of doing this in a "pro" studio costs thousands of dollars.

3) My opinion is that if I can't get my mix sounding "right" - I will hire a professional mixer to mix it for me. For example, I would hire an Andy Wallace or CLAlge on a rock mix and part with the $7-10K per track and know I have a good mix.

- The mixing engineer will take your files (make sure to have them properly tagged as desired by the mixer) and apply their own take of compression, EQ's, FX etc. to make the producer's "vision" a comprehensible reality. NEVER DISRESPECT YOUR FUCKING MIXING ENGINEER. They are unsung heroes.

4) The pros are pros for a reason. A bad mix or a bad mastering job can make very good songs sound like crap. The reverse of "polishing a turd."

BUT...

Home DAWs can make very professional demos that can "sound" like they should be on the radio. In either case, a record company will either re-record you, or take your tracks and have a professional mixing engineer work their magic and "the" mastering lab do their work. It'll have that "pro" sound.

 

[krysolite]

get a booth. no background noise or reverb. then use a good mic to get a good recording. then use eq to get it close to a hip hop track on the radio. try using a pro mixed pella to compare it to? i duno.
then mix it with your beat to match that of the radio. yezzir.