TIPS FOR SOUNDING "BIGGER" ON A BUDGET

[30CRATES]

Im Running Logic Audio 4.8 On My Windows 98 Pc. For Some Time Now, I Have Been Trying To Figure Out How To Make My Tracks Sound "bigger And Thicker" When Recording To Cd ( 2 Track }. Sounds Good When I Listen On My Home Moniters, However In My Car And Portable Cd Player, My Joints Sound So Goddamn Thin!!!! The Snares Even If I Stack Them Sound Like Lil' Taps Or Some Shit. Even With Certain Bass Sounds My Trax Sound Very Thin. Why Is This?

 

[gram green]

thats strange yo... i mean im sure lots of peeps have had problems like that but it shouldnt sound horrible.... set up a bus for you drum tracks and run a compressor on it... the logic compressor has a preset for drums that sounds pretty good... then also on the main i usually put a multipressor or some kind of finalization on the main outs when bouncin....

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Exactly, you need to make sure you got everything separated and use another source like a box I got my old boom box set up with the same signal going to my monitors, i use that too as a reference when mixing.....also are you recording each individual track to wave? or recording everything from playback to 2 track?.....your mixing technique might be to blame also....but putting a compressor on the kick and snare will definitely help and you can also lower the volume of all of your channels about 3/4 or the way then start to raise the channels you want to be more prominent in the mix....like the bass, the kick and then snare and then start raising the master volume to where you want it, you might need to equ a lil to also boost the mids....

 

[Rhythmikal]

i think it comes down to the quality of your soundcard, as its that which generates and processes the sound.

look at them huge mastering studios, thats what it takes to get that sound your lookin for. you cant really accomplish that with a mere PC.

sAfE.

 

[Architect]

Better gear (if on a budget get better at using the gear you have) better instruments, better producing playing or whatever it is you do. I wouldn't recommend using a compressor to compensate for bad playing, first learn how to get a good recording with what you have. If your productions and mixing aren't at fault look at what the next bottleneck could be in your production chain. Could it be the audio interface, or equipment or monitoring, etc. This is just a start but a lot of times it could be the simple things to look out for. Compressors can't save a bad mix, neither can EQing unless you know how to use it, but both of those tools can be used to enhance a mix. This is just some things I do to help myself when recording.

 

[dahkter]

IMHO
I wouldn't recommend spending more cash. Do some research on good recording/mixing/engineering, there's a ton of good material online, including here.
Try running your beats through a limiter/compressor, make them louder, A/B them against some other tracks. Nowadays, most of what you hear on the radio (not just hip hop) is so squashed sonically, that all you hear is a continuous loud track.
Try that, if that's not it, come back
EZ
Dahkter

 

[M!nd_Ctrl]

The Beginner's Guide to Mastering

I've been looking into Mastering recently and I'm gonna try some of this:

http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutorial/mastering/mastering1.asp


As it says "professional mastering" is the better option, but this is sure worth a try.


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