Now, this is a really tricky one (or it might not be).

I've been making electronic music since roughly 1997, so I would of been 13-14 years of age. If you do the math then you'll understand that I'm now a lot older and wiser and have had a few releases under my belt. Even so, my music STILL doesn't sound the way I want it to. The only thing I can put it down to is basically having Phase and Frequency issues in my songs.

This might sound like a strange question but...

How do you determine if two sounds (whether it's bass and kick or lead synth and percussion, whatever...) clash and what frequencies are getting used up to try and EQ so they go together? I've been using a spectrum analyser for the past few month which clears up some issues...but, how do I accurately measure which frequency a specific sound is in? I've read a lot of artists saying that they like to go through the frequency range and fill out the track as much as possible by using up each frequency? I don't really know how to get round this and was wondering if someone out there either knows a) what I mean and b) how they listen for, where they listen for it in a track and obviously what they listen for?

I hope this makes sense. I believe that if I can brush up on this sort of area then my tracks will sound better when they get mastered and not just sound like the same shit song but louder.

I appreciate it a lot if anyone has read this far. You've done me proud if you have.

Thanks,

Alan

Prescribed formulas are hard as every sound you work with is unique and there are too many variables. What sort of room are you working in? Is it treated and, if so, to what extent? Also, what is your monitoring situation like?

I guess the first thing I personally listen out for is what frequencies a sound doesn't require in order to sit in a mix and begin subtracting these frequencies. As a general habit, I high pass everything which doesn't need low end to prevent muddying up the low end - vocals, guitars, cymbals, snare etc usually don't need to exist below 100Hz. Depending on what I'm working on, I sometimes stick low pass filters on certain elements in a mix as well in order to let other elements have free reign in the upper end. Another thing I try remain conscious of is if I'm actually listening to my EQ work or if I'm *looking* at it and fooling myself. Sometimes its best to just shut your eyes and ignore the metering.

It's just a balancing game and, really, when was the last time you found two sound engineers EQ something in the exact same way? It's personal!

As for phase, a simple mono switch (either physical or on the master channel of your DAW) will quickly tell you if something is being phased out.

Best thing would be to speak to people who have mastered your work, they're usually more than happy to let you know what frequency areas were problematic for them, especially if it means that you make their life easier the next time round. Also, remember that you are probably your toughest critic and you might just be being a little hard on yourself!