LEADS | General, Troubleshooting, etc

[Digital Shifter]

Do you have any tips or put me into a different perspective of creating a good and powerfull synth? I mean, the thing i do is layer and EQ, Reverb, maybe phaser chorus etc.

But yet, i still can't get my synth so powerfull that i think like wow, this has it's own life you know what i mean?
I want my synth to be alive. But it's not easy though.

EDIT: Wait, i was searching for some tips on the internet and came across this: ''use eq cuts to get rid of inessential frequencies''

So he is saying like, cut out the bad parts and replace them with good parts? Aha, well that was easy

[Euphorizer]

EDIT: Wait, i was searching for some tips on the internet and came across this: ''use eq cuts to get rid of inessential frequencies''

So he is saying like, cut out the bad parts and replace them with good parts? Aha, well that was easy

Pretty sure he was saying cut out low freqs from your lead beacuse you won't need them in the mix.

[Digital Shifter]

EDIT: Wait, i was searching for some tips on the internet and came across this: ''use eq cuts to get rid of inessential frequencies''

So he is saying like, cut out the bad parts and replace them with good parts? Aha, well that was easy

Pretty sure he was saying cut out low freqs from your lead beacuse you won't need them in the mix.

Yeah maybe. But this time i had a pulse synth detuned and the treble wasn't that great. Took a cutoff on the treble from the detuned pulse and replaced it with the treble from a detuned saw synth. Kind of experiment but sounds promising. Still need to put some effects on it though.

[SCH]

Always cut out the low ends on a synth when the kick is playing.

[ljk32]

Edit: Ljk have you tried to sidechain the reverb to the synth? It works really good as long as you have some space between the notes

Yeah, I've considered it, but I can never be sure about whether the technique would've been used in tracks in the past so I try to avoid it.

[SCH]

Well, my guess is that no, it would however result I'm a cleaner synth with a slightly lower volume Ass there's less reverb playing beneath the synth.

[ljk32]

Yeah, it's just a personal thing. I don't like the idea of using more recent techniques to make something sound as though it's older. It wouldn't be the same.

[Euphorizer]

EDIT: Wait, i was searching for some tips on the internet and came across this: ''use eq cuts to get rid of inessential frequencies''

So he is saying like, cut out the bad parts and replace them with good parts? Aha, well that was easy

Pretty sure he was saying cut out low freqs from your lead beacuse you won't need them in the mix.

Yeah maybe. But this time i had a pulse synth detuned and the treble wasn't that great. Took a cutoff on the treble from the detuned pulse and replaced it with the treble from a detuned saw synth. Kind of experiment but sounds promising. Still need to put some effects on it though.

I know about that method. It's not something really stupid to do, but in this particular case I'm just really sure that he didn't refer to what you're thinking of. But that doesn't really matter anyways.

[Dj Reaper]

nice topic there is one thing I still don't understand about leads. People always say one should cut out the annoying (resonating) frequencies. But if I analyze my leads of course the base frequency and its overtones are loud and whistle when I boost them in notches. I once tried to still slightely cut all those frequencies, but as I thought, the lead sounded lifeless. Since than I only lowpassed the leads and did simple eq boosts or cuts and never had problems, but I guess, sooner or later I'll have to come back to it if I want awesome mixdowns, so better asking now. What exactely is the sense of cutting those frequencies and how should one approach it to stll have a fat lead?

[ljk32]

Generally a well-designed lead won't require a whole bunch of processing (at least, a whole bunch of notches). If you're finding that there are a lot of unpleasant resonant frequencies present in your leads, there's a good chance that the leads have been poorly constructed. However, if you're making these notches simply because you feel that it's something you need to do, I would reconsider. Personally, I never cut highs on leads (or barely ever, and if I do it's generally a low q 1-3dB cut in the mids or high-mids), and while I think I should look into it a little more, boosting frequencies gets me results a lot better than cutting (that is, regarding the high-mids and highs). What I'm getting at, is that you should do what works for you. If your simple boosts and cuts don't give you problems, and they leave you with satisfactory results, continue doing it that way. Only apply these specific notches if you feel it will aid the sound. If there aren't specific resonant frequencies that are negatively affecting the sound, don't bother trying to do something that doesn't work for you.