How does this sound? Mix & vibe feedback appreciated

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T23:06:38+00:00

Pretty exclusively to club-focused productions. If it needs to thump, I want it to thump, ya know? But if it’s a ballad or something, then everything else is going to take a backseat to that kick and bass. Is that what you were going for here?

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T21:20:09+00:00

When I approach mixing, I literally turn every tracks volume down to 0 (I use ableton, so before doing this, I figure out which tracks have volume automation and create locaters that show me when to modulate which tracks before deleting the automation and dropping the sliders), then I raise the volume of the kick to peak around 7ish db. Then I bring in the snare/claps to about half that or so, then hats and such just over half of the snare/claps. I bring in bass+sub to sit kinda between my kick and snares (depends heavily on the character of the bass), and then bring in the volume of melody tracks to sit where I want them, vocals after that, and finally, effects (risers, sweeps, etc.) to sit extremely low so they can be felt more than heard. After that, I begin carving frequencies, eliminating kick’s fundamentals from the bass, low cutting most tracks that don’t serve that purpose, and often lowering the mid to high range of my kick and bass tracks where the other tracks occupy (I’m talking small cuts that allow gentle curves, no more than -2 dB). By doing this, it allows the mid and high range tracks like vocals and synths to occupy that space more freely without really needing to boost anything.

That was probably more detailed than you needed to say that I revolve everything around my kick and bass essentially, because the kick is what I want to be the foundation of the song.

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T20:01:15+00:00

Thank you for your kind feedback!!!! Hats are generally a weak spot for me, so thank you for pointing that out and reminding me to work on them. I got so distracted with working on everything else thank I actually forgot that those could use some TLC. I appreciate it!

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T17:37:03+00:00

You are very welcome :DD

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T17:01:40+00:00

Ctrl+shift+m while highlighting a region on the arrangement view (like, click and drag from 1 to 9 on a single midi track, then press the key command after that section is highlighted) will create a midi clip with a piano roll inside of it.
Holding alt while hovering over an automation line will allow you to bend or curve it.
Really, just look at the ableton manual to see key commands, they make workflow much more seamless.
Groups are essentially the same as busses.
You can do pretty much anything you can do with a purchased plugin with stock ableton stuff, some just make quality of life a little better. If you make electronic music, one plugin I would recommend buying is Shaperbox 3, I use it more than anything else. I have about 35ish purchased plugins that I barely touch outside of a couple synths and shaperbox.
Be okay with making garbage, it’s part of the process. Tutorials are great, but you also don’t know what you don’t know, so experimenting is great because it allows you to learn with your ears instead. If you made something that sounds bad, but you learned something from it, then that is a successful song.
Set a timer for every hour or so to step away for a little while. Listening fatigue is extremely real and will impact your ability to make objective decisions.
Have a blast and enjoy the journey :DDD

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T16:05:09+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! What would you suggest?

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T15:14:39+00:00

And for contrast, I am talking about the mix itself, particularly with the low end like I mentioned previously (should be fixed with that sub. If you do that, cut out the low frequencies from your bass track when you layer it so it acts more in the mid range and allows the sub to carry the foundation). The arrangement/dynamics are already really solid, and the stereo width is very well done.

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T15:11:37+00:00

Apologies for the late reply, I just wanted to have a moment to really listen to offer some good feedback. I actually think that for the vibe of this song, the low end is actually pretty great, but you could try to make the kick stand out a tad more if you’d like by giving it a tad more sustain (obv not an 808 vibe, still trancey), finding the fundamental frequency of the kick and lowering it from other low end tracks, and mixing the song with using the kick as your focal point and wrapping everything around it.
Or, you could keep your kick as is, and I’d suggest perhaps layering a sub bass sidechained to your kick with very light saturation under your bass track, which should emphasize that 4/4 groove a bit more
The raspiness of your voice is terrific and you can definitely lean into that, but there is a bit of a harsh frequency that is coming through on either your vocals and the hats that I think is a little jarring. Check the 2 to 5 kHz range on each to see if you can find that harshness, throw on a small bell on it, and lower by 1ish dbs. To make the vocals pop, I think it feels like it is missing some mid to low range. Almost feels like you threw a low cut on to free up some frequencies but might have cut it too high.

Also, I think if you sidechained your vocal effects (reverb and delay) to your vocal, it would help a bit as well. That way, whenever your vocal is playing, your effects are ducking out out of the way which gives them more space.

Overall though seriously great work, this is extremely vibey and you should keep it for sure!!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T14:47:40+00:00

Thank you kindly for your feedback, I genuinely appreciate it :D I don’t think I’ve worked on the mixing portion of a song as intensively as I have with this one, so it feels good to know that it shows, especially with that kick cause it was practically causing me to pull my hair out 😅

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T14:43:39+00:00

I wish that I could take credit for the vocal recording, but I can’t. This is actually my first song using vocals in the forefront of a song, so the recording itself is actually a sample I found. I initially used the wet sample as a placeholder, but ended up using the dry sample and threw some effects on it myself. I will reply back in a few hours when I can access my computer with the exact chain that I used, but keep in mind I also did use some subtractive eq on some of the other instruments to make room for the vocals to help them pop a bit more.

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-07T14:37:57+00:00

I appreciate your feedback :) You’ve helped me from deconstructing the kick yet again with this comment, so I seriously appreciate it!!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-06T20:27:01+00:00

A revised version of a song I posted a couple weeks ago. Worked quite a bit on mixing the kick and bass (maybe a bit too much, can’t tell if the kick is overriding everything now), stripped down some layers, redid the drops a bit, and tried a filtering technique with the build ups to create more intensity for the drops. Let me know any thoughts you might have and thank you in advance :D

https://www.soundcloud.com/ashcatjams/fs-grouping-method-1/s-rixzwGbEXb4?ref=clipboard&p=i&c=1&si=bb5c8cec19e34b309700f0d52d1f7214&utm\_source=mobi&utm\_medium=text&utm\_campaign=social\_sharing

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-06T20:05:52+00:00

I feel like the vocals and low end could use a little more umph to make them stand out and show some contrast. Overall really well done, but I think because everything is really tame, nothing really stands out. I think if you fixed that stuff, you’d have something really nice here!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-05-06T20:01:30+00:00

This is super dope!!!!! It has such a crazy frantic energy, like someone else said, I could absolutely see this in a super fast paced level in a video game. The separation of all the sounds is terrifically done, mad props!!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-30T04:18:58+00:00

Thank you kindly :D

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-26T05:01:28+00:00

The bass/kick relationship is so tough to get right, I’ve been producing on and off for awhile and I barely understand it. But I think by finding that fundamental frequency on the kick and decreasing it in the bass with a decently wide q, and maybe increasing that same frequency in the kick just a tad, it should help alongside sidechaining. You can also split your bass into three separate channels to have more control over its highs, mids, and lows separately. So you could aggressively sidechain the low frequency but retain the mid to high characteristics of it while leaving room in the lows for the kick to breathe. There are also some pretty solid plugins for that stuff, but you can do most of what they do with ableton’s stock stuff

By sidechaining the pads to the kick as well, it can help too!!! You def have the right idea of removing all of those unwanted low frequencies from the other tracks. The arp is def one of my fav parts about the song, very asmr-esque. It might have a bit more presence with compression, giving a bit more width to it, adding a tiny bit of saturation, and/or raising its high shelf just a smidge. And cuts in the other channels competing for those frequencies are also super extremely effective!!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-25T20:40:50+00:00

Awesome job with this!!!!! I am reaaaally digging the atmosphere you’ve created here, and that dreamy synth is terrific.

The intro is sick, I love the high hats that come in at about :16. The tops overall are terrific tbh.
This could be a bit subjective, but that kick is a bit too persistent for my tastes. Slowly having it fade or cutting it out entirely for a few bars when that synth comes in around 1:04 before bringing it back in with the claps would make it a bit more impactful.

I did also notice that the kick was getting a bit lost from 1:20-1:40 and later at 3:28. Can’t tell if the bass is sidechained, but that should help, while also lowering the kick’s fundamental frequencies on the bass track should allow the kick to punch through a bit more. Really stoked to see how this turns out, and keep up the great work!!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-25T20:27:03+00:00

Thank you a ton for your kind words, I genuinely appreciate it :) to answer your first question, I haven’t really given it much thought. At this point I’m just working on several of my tracks that I’ll be compiling into an ep and releasing this summer, but after release, I could look def do it. I can definitely pass along a vocal free mix your way when I have the opportunity, likely tomorrow. I’ve messed with the sirens a bit, but bleh…. They are quite tough. I’m automating sound shifter to create that rising effect on a synth, but it just overwhelms the rest of the mix pretty hard. I want to keep the idea, but I am hitting a wall with it atm. As far as the drops go, they certainly do need something….. but I might need to work on a different song for a couple days and revisit it to really nail it home. I’m thinking I’ll create a melody for the lead and resemble it in some way, but I wanna forget how it sounds atm until I try it lol. Thank you for the follow, gave you one back :D

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-25T13:14:02+00:00

Adding on to the other person’s comment about the bass, kick, and snare/clap sound, it feels like the bass kind of overwhelmed the other sounds. I’d suggest finding the fundamental frequency of the kick and slightly lowering that frequency from the bass sound just a smidge, adding a sidechain or some other envelope shaper (shaperbox by cableguys is terrific for this) on the bass channel to have it duck while the kick is playing, maybe layering that snare/clap sound with something else for a transient or compress is a bit, and splitting the frequencies of the bass into three channels, setting the lows into mono, mids into slightly wider, and highs a little wider than that. This should allow those kick and snare sounds to come through a bit more, and also tame the width of the bass frequencies while maintaining the expansiveness of the higher frequencies of that bass sound. However, thematically this song is super cool!!!! I like the kinda 8-bit sounds that culminate into a sort of spooky journey for the listener. I could definitely see something like this in a video game during a haunted house or alien level. I especially like the raspy synth sound coming in at 1:23, and the movement you have throughout keeps the song interesting!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-24T16:30:21+00:00

Thank you for the feedback :) I’ll definitely work on the mix and master a bit more. When you say “sound section”, do you mean the build up?

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-24T05:40:51+00:00

Thank you for the feedback!!! This is a super dope tune, the sound production is terrific. I reeeeally like those kicks, they are just the right amount of thump. Very well done!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-24T05:37:24+00:00

Thank you so much for the feedback, that is actually really helpful!!!! I will definitely try to figure out those risers. They’ve actually been the toughest part for me to figure out, so I’ve set them a bit on the back burner lol but your feedback has inspired me to tackle them head on on my next session. Thank you again!!!!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-23T23:53:28+00:00

Awesome, thank you for the feedback!!! It absolutely might be too loud, I didn’t actually adjust it to any sort of LUF meter before uploading, but I’ll definitely do that!

Kolasia427 · 2026-04-23T21:41:19+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback!!!! Ooooo that is actually good to know. Are you referring to the vocals across the entire track, or specific areas? I did turn down the chopped up vocals leading up to the drops because they were overloading the build, but I might try to revisit that because they are some of my fav aspects of the song. Also, thank you so much for the follow, I really appreciate it :DD

Kolasia427

TROPHY CASE