[theshaggyfreak]

Originally Posted by Meteo Xavier

...
Really not trying to be rude there, but, again, I'm not talking about frequencies. I'm asking if there is a mixing effect or technique that softens the transients in all the instruments in a mix without adding real attack and release to stretch out the sounds - because I keep hearing one but no one seems to know what I'm talking about.

Don't mean to be obnoxious, but this happens everytime I ask on it. Am I just asking a silly question or why is this difficult?

Actually, you really are talking about frequencies and amplitude. The transient may indeed just be a certain set of frequencies that are poking out. So, EQ and filters can work there. Otherwise, you need to look at using a compressor, gate or limiter to bring down the amplitude of the transient itself.

These are things that should be looked at on an individual track level first. Doing these things after the fact is more for getting things to gel together. You could certainly squash things in the final mix to tame transients but I don't think it'll give you the results you're looking for.

After listening to the examples you gave, these things are what I feel would work best. I really do understand what you're trying to say but I think you need to look at the answer differently.

[Rozovian]

Concerning "out", how about timing? The timing of when an instrument exits. Line it up with when a new instrument enters so its exit is masked by this new attention-grabbing thing.

Concerning "in", how about screwing with the envelopes? If you want to reduce the attack of an instrument, consider that you're screwing with the wrong envelope. Maybe you should be screwing with the amplitude envelope instead of the filter envelope. Maybe you shouldn't be screwing with attack and release, but with sustain and/or decay. All that is easy in synths. As for samples, maybe you should start them after the transient, or open them up in an audio editor and adjust it there. afaik, old game samples weren't particularly dynamic, so they wouldn't have the transients that modern stuff has.

[Neblix]

Dude, you HAVE TRANSIENT MASTER. It's not just for drums.

Turn down the Attack knob. If it doesn't fix the issue, add another one onto it. Keep doing that until you actually hear an effect.
You're asking for something that softens transients, and you freakin BOUGHT KOMPLETE for it, and now you're complaining it doesn't do the job? Ever wonder if you're just not using it right? :/

Truth to be told, you're probably not going to be able to do it, because it requires a # of Guitar Rig instances the same as the # of instruments you want to soften.

Are you Transient Mastering the ACTUAL MASTER track?

That's like wanting to add reverb to a guitar so you put it on the master. :P

[Level 99]

Originally Posted by Neblix

Dude, you HAVE TRANSIENT MASTER. It's not just for drums.

Turn down the Attack knob. If it doesn't fix the issue, add another one onto it. Keep doing that until you actually hear an effect.
You're asking for something that softens transients, and you freakin BOUGHT KOMPLETE for it, and now you're complaining it doesn't do the job? Ever wonder if you're just not using it right? :/

[ectogemia]

Originally Posted by Level 99

I lol'd. 10CHAR10CHARILOVE10CHAR

[Meteo Xavier]

Originally Posted by theshaggyfreak

Actually, you really are talking about frequencies and amplitude. The transient may indeed just be a certain set of frequencies that are poking out. So, EQ and filters can work there. Otherwise, you need to look at using a compressor, gate or limiter to bring down the amplitude of the transient itself.

These are things that should be looked at on an individual track level first. Doing these things after the fact is more for getting things to gel together. You could certainly squash things in the final mix to tame transients but I don't think it'll give you the results you're looking for.

After listening to the examples you gave, these things are what I feel would work best. I really do understand what you're trying to say but I think you need to look at the answer differently.

At this point, I'm pretty much accepting I've been running a fool's errand for years and that I have been chasing the wrong thing. I even started hearing it last night and I've been afraid to respond here since. It's a heavy thing to admit you've been questing for nothing for a long period of time.

It stems from an even longer problem I've been having in just getting my tracks to sound more professionally "fluid". I keep feeling like all my mixes, no matter what I do or how many velocities or automations and such I use, always come out sounding very stiff in the mix and noticeably different than everyone else's. I can't tell if I'm being criticizing myself too hard on that or if I'm really doing it or not. Again, no one's ever really been able to give me a straight answer there. I hear "use compression, derp", "use reverb, derp", "use velocities, derp", "use your ears, derp", etc. in very, stupidly simple responses without any better idea what to use inside them to do what with and video tutorials I find almost as useless.

What I almost never see are people who post their settings for such devices to get what they want out of them.

It's a very frustrating business if you're not one of those people who just magically tune in to this shit.

[zircon]

No one is able to give you specific settings because most tools are entirely dependent on the source material and the mix. That's just how it is. A compressor setting that works for MY acoustic guitar might not work for yours, due to different recordings, different mixes, different context. If you have specific questions about specific mixes that's another thing entirely.

[ectogemia]

Welp, on that note, I have a specific question. What exactly are we talking about, and what is a general solution to the problem? When would this problem arise?

For my general mixing knowledge... :D

[Meteo Xavier]

Now it's looking like the problem was never really there to begin with - which is awesome except I wasted years trying to fix something that never was.

[Moseph]

Does this sound more like what you're going for?

Exploring the Temporal Lobe With a Bomb in My Mouth (Edit)



If people are willing to do it (and I would be, at least), I think the most helpful thing for you would be if you could post the audio stems for one of your tracks, let us mix them ourselves, and if any of our mixes seem to solve the problems you've been having, we can show you exactly what we did in the mix.