29-11-2016, 09:37 PM
Meh, side-chaining and gating aren't too complex but I'll admit I'm usually too lazy to do it too. It varies depending on what system you're on but I'd say try it out and see what happens. It won't hurt anything to try it. Usually though, I'll admit to rarely finding a use for side-chaining in most of the ways I work. I use de-esser plug-ins but they do all the work. Other than that it rarely comes up. (Except for in the mix version I talk about below)
Absolutely "cheat" and look up compressor settings. It's a great way to learn what works and what doesn't. I've been doing this a long time and I still throw up a preset and get surprised by how someone else set a compressor for certain things. Then I tweak it from there. If it sounds great then, done. If it sounds awful then look at it and try to figure out why. Don't take presets as gospel but it's definitely a way to learn.
After I downloaded the multitrack of this song to see what's going on I decided to mess around and give it a somewhat rough mix. http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showt...?tid=17245
Here's some things I did specific to what came up in talking about your mix.
-I copied the sample to a different track. I made it mono and filtered everything down to 200hz or so to give it a fake bassline. It sort of worked but ignorer to try to give it some more movement I copied the "bass-line" to another track put a gate on it and triggered it with the kick via a side chain(!). The two bass parts together give it some movement. It's not a great solution but I think it helps. You can hear what it does at the end.
-I added a delay to the snare to give it some more bounce and occasionally muted the snare to break up the loop a bit.
-Copied and filtered the sample track and added it to the chorus and intro.
It's pretty rough and the balances aren't great but I think it hi-lites some of the things I mentioned earlier.
Hope it helps.
Absolutely "cheat" and look up compressor settings. It's a great way to learn what works and what doesn't. I've been doing this a long time and I still throw up a preset and get surprised by how someone else set a compressor for certain things. Then I tweak it from there. If it sounds great then, done. If it sounds awful then look at it and try to figure out why. Don't take presets as gospel but it's definitely a way to learn.
After I downloaded the multitrack of this song to see what's going on I decided to mess around and give it a somewhat rough mix. http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showt...?tid=17245
Here's some things I did specific to what came up in talking about your mix.
-I copied the sample to a different track. I made it mono and filtered everything down to 200hz or so to give it a fake bassline. It sort of worked but ignorer to try to give it some more movement I copied the "bass-line" to another track put a gate on it and triggered it with the kick via a side chain(!). The two bass parts together give it some movement. It's not a great solution but I think it helps. You can hear what it does at the end.
-I added a delay to the snare to give it some more bounce and occasionally muted the snare to break up the loop a bit.
-Copied and filtered the sample track and added it to the chorus and intro.
It's pretty rough and the balances aren't great but I think it hi-lites some of the things I mentioned earlier.
Hope it helps.