Which frequencies to cut to get LOUD mixes

The frequencies that typically sound great, lol. The low mids, bass and sub frequencies take up the most sonic space in a mix. Ironically, they are usually my favorite frequencies. This is where very judicious usage of EQ and carving on certain tracks is very important. To create a better kind of loudness. It's part science, part experience, and learning where to make the sacrifices.

It also helps to make sure the digital harsh 3k zone is dealt with properly. Pushing the right mids and hi-mids forward can also help.

Instead of cutting frequencies I'd typically use one of these. You can get an incredibly loud, musical mix.

Gyratec XXI: magneto-Dynamic Infundibulum (G21)

The issue I've found is less the bass content and more frequency buildups in the track. If overall you've got too much 300Hz, that will be limiting how loud you can get and will get cloudy fast when the limiter kicks in.

Stick an instance of SlickEQ on, it has automatic gain compensation) and try some low mid cuts and see what makes the track feel more even. You can probably push it harder and get more transparent gain reduction after that fact. The tracks I had sent to a mastering house recently came back with *more* bass.

If you really need loud, the multitracks have to be loud. Parallel compression, limiting on buses etc. - it's up to you to decide how much that stuff interferes with the aesthetics of the tracks. I think 1-2dB here or there is fine, I insert some tape saturation on the drum bus and some light limiting, but some people will really push it.

Typically the 250-400 range is where most build=-up occurs, but it is very instrument specific. You need to clean the mud out of each mix component, individually in order to achieve the results you have an expressed desire for.

I was messing around with mixing today and was thinking drums are the only thing that really keep mixes from getting loud . Vocals , Guitars , Bass....for the most part are compressed and stay about the same level throughout a mix . Drums though , mainly kick and snare  are what keep mixes from getting loud easily . So a lot of people clip tracks in Mastering to shave off those peaks which are usually kick and snare , maybe some overheads too .

Why not just clip the kick , snare and maybe a little overheads in Mixing instead of waiting for Mastering to do it ? People seem to mix a track , compress a track , then clip , then limit . Why not clip the drum peaks ahead of time in mixing and don't do it in Mastering ? Do you get different results ?

That's what tape (or tape "like") processing is for. At least as far as I'm concerned.

As much as I hate the "loudness war" (although I'm admittedly as guilty as the next guy in participating - under protest in most cases), that's the key.  Don't give a rats a$$ about volume when you're mixing.  Mix it to make it sound good.  I get mixes in all the time that are "pre-loudened" at the track level and (A) they already sound weird and unbalanced and (B) they're usually shooting themselves in the foot.  Without question, the loudest* mixes that come out of here were almost always the most dynamic and well balanced when they came in.  

* Loudest and decent sounding -- Anybody with a limiter can make any mix as loud as any other.  How that mix handles the abuse is totally dependent on every single step before that.  

because editing quotes is a black art in this framework, and even when you know how to do it it's easy to F up and have to start over.  

I've noticed that everyone who uses a real console or at least a summing mixer gets louder mixes than me that are still clean. So I don't think it's about cutting any frequencies. I've seen online tutorials about making some sharp cuts in the bass and kick drum so they don't overlap too much, but that's a little over my head.

Also, I've found that one compressor plug-in seems to get harsh when pushed for loudness, ao I add a little bit of multiple compressors. First, a tape sim, (probably the best beginning to get louder) UAD's are quite good. Then Slates VBC, mostly for tone, but adding 1-2db more volume. Then I'll put a workhorse compressor like the UAD API 2500, find the Mix Glue preset, tweak that, which adds the last little bit of volume. 

I'm planning on using ARIA for some mastering soon. At the prices they offer, I'd say just get it to sound good, and let them handle it.

re Quotes, when you're editing your post on a desktop machine, click the 'BBCode' button and you'll see the BBCode tags and whatnot. that's where you can edit quoted content and also fix when your text shows up inside the quoted region.

Well, since nobody asked me what the heck I meant by that crack I guess I'll have to do it....

HEY EPPSTEIN - What did you mean by that?

Well, the point is this - when everything is pushed "loud", nothing is loud. It's just a compressed mess that usually causes ear fatigue and makes people want to turn it down.

In order to make things seem  LOUD you need dynamics - dynamics between sections of the music (like Nirvana, - which has become something of a cliche), but more importantly dynamic range of parts within the music. You don't want to smash that kick and snare, that makes them small. You need dynamics on them so they kick you in the face and gut. That means that when you do compress things like kick and snare you use a slow attack so it doesn't step on the initial transient. Same thing on a chugging rhythm guitar part. And you might want to apply a little judicious boost with the EQ to emphasize the frequencies where that attack occurs.


Well, that's another way of making your mix not loud. Compressing that stuff all the time so they "stay about the same level throughout a mix" tend to make a mix sound small. You need dynamic range. Let the transients come through. Let the natural dynamics of the vocal come through. When the singer emphasizes a word or phrase you should feel it - compression can work against that.

I'mk not saying you shouldn't compress, but if you're having problems with things not seeming loud the problem is likely too much compression, misapplied, not too little.

Of course, it all starts with the music - you can't emphasize what ain't there to begin with.

Oh sing it to me sister!!!!!

I used to use a limiter, to take care of that working mic preamp convertor.....and then ITB.

Its amazing what transformers in outboard do to help you in that regard alone

cheers

Wiz