Not picking the right sounds and not taking time to find the right sounds.
The difference between professional producers and newbies is the time they spend learning their sound libraries and picking sounds. (This includes things like reverb, amps, delays, and other fx). Most new producers learning how to make beats complain about the same thing. “I just can’t get my mix to sound good” Usually Mix problems are a result of bad choices of sounds.
This should go without saying but spend more time on your tracks. Look at your options. You may be working on a track and know that you want a string to play a certain melody or pattern. Next, you should ask yourself what kind of string? Do you want it to sound like a real string section? A string quartet? Synthesis strings? Do you want to use a sound that is very thin and sits in the back of the mix or do you want it to be full and wide replicated the sound of a full orchestra? Don’t just pick a sound. Pick the right sound. All of these choices will affect the mix.
Use layering to build you sounds. Continuing with the strings as an example you can use layering of different string libraries or string samples to make one big lush sound.
Don’t think to yourself I’ll fix it in the mix. Before modern recording equipment had been invented the mix was done in real-time using two elements. The composer picked the notes and the instruments being used and the musicians who played them listened and balanced the sound as they played. Using this concept while you build your track will make mixing a breeze I promise.
Spend time listening to your effects like reverb, delay, and compression. It is not uncommon at all for a professional mixing engineer to spend an hour alone auditioning different reverbs or combinations of reverbs and delays looking for just the right sound to make something in the mix come alive. (Usually starting with the vocal)
Not playing or singing in the right key.
There is nothing that sounds more amateur than production that has pitch problems.
Remixes that have acapella’s in a different key than the production is just awful, especially when it is done by “professional” DJS and Producers on the radio. Some new singers and songwriters also have a hard time learning to “Sing in key”
Learn the basic fundamentals of music. There are some really good books about music theory that teach basic major scales and music theory. At the bottom of this article, I’ll recommend some of my favorites. Spending time practicing a musical instrument will help big time. Doesn’t even matter what it is. It could be a tuba, piano, xylophone, anything. Even if you can’t become the best instrumentalist technically it is still extremely important to develop your ear. Even if it’s not your goal to become a classically trained musician or then next John Coltrane you still need to learn the fundamentals.
Fix the pitch if you must. If you can not sing the correct pitch of a track then at least do your best to fix it. If the problem isn’t too bad, once it is corrected no one will ever know. Professional engineers in recording studios use programs like Melodyne and Autotune all the time to correct minor problems before the T-Pain sound went big time. If your problems are much worse Melodyne and Autotune will still help however you’ll end up sounding like T-Pain, Akon or Cher. Right now the T-Pain sound is very hot and trendy so you can get away with it. Eventually, the trend will come to an end though so it’s not going to work forever. In my own work, I have found Melodyne to be a bit less noticeable especially when it is blended into the mix with other vocal parts.
Bad timing. aka your tracks are offbeat.
Now let’s be clear. I’m not suggesting that every element in a track should be perfectly quantized. The feel of a track is one of the most important elements of music production and should never be sacrificed for anything. That does not mean it’s okay for a track to be offbeat.
Using the quantize feature in your DAW of Digital Audio Workstation is the easiest way to fix this.
Correct the problem by improving your skills as a musician and producer and learning to play better. You can do this by turning on the metronome of your DAW and playing drum beats, keyboard, singing while you listen to the click of the track.
The last thing you can do if you working on a beat or playing a MIDI part into your sequencer is slow down the BPM of the track until it is easier to play, then return it back to the original tempo once you’ve got it right. Sequencers like Logic Studio also have functions where you can double or half the speed of a MIDI region.
Music production software has become affordable to just about everyone. Using things like loops and samples can make beat-making fun and quick. That’s great. It is not however an excuse for not taking time to learn the fundamentals of music.
If you want to take your production skills to the next level start by mastering the fundamentals. Please leave any questions or comments below and I will answer them for you.
Melodyne DNA – http://amzn.to/glRskU
Autotune Vocal Studio – http://amzn.to/gdk4uN
The Jazz Piano Book – http://amzn.to/fv4OYC
The Jazz Theory Book – http://amzn.to/fFFORe
How To Play And Improvise – http://amzn.to/eWwPMM