Before you rush into the next stages of mixing, spend some more time with your volume faders.
This provides the headroom necessary for the mastering stage.
Then, try pushing up the volume of your main instruments to exaggerated levels before dropping them back off.
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See just how in-your-face it’s possible for you to make them without them sounding harsh.
It’s easy to pan different instruments to different panning values; this will produce a sense of width.
Now, everything should sound down the center.
Perhaps your vocals drown out your guitars, or vice versa.
Once you’ve identified these clashes, you could use your panning dials to separate those specific instruments.
This is where plugins, like EQs, come to the rescue.
Another tool you’ll want to use in all your mixes are compressors.
If compressors are an unfamiliar topic, look intothe different types of compressorsas well ashow to use compression plugins.
It’s easy to create a musical idea with MIDI and then move on.
Use quantization to experiment with different rhythms, such as adding 16th triplets or muting existing notes.
Then, you could compare your work with the reference and learn where your own creation can improve.
There are also somewebsites it’s possible for you to use to legally download music for free.
Invest time in balancing out the levels of your track to generate a sense of depth.
In addition, add some stereo width, and separate competing instruments by using your panning dials.
Then, refine your MIDI ideas with quick experimentation, and find reference tracks to compare and learn from.
Do so, and the quality of your productions will improve in leaps and bounds.
