Clashing frequencies causing artifacts

[LiveLargeBeats]

Yo guys,

I was wondering..if you have two layers of the same kinda frequency occupied sounds (instrument tracks). And you start hearing these crackled noises,
what is your go to solution to fix that? I noticed that with these sounds having lots of mid freqs/reverb tail its hard to add another new track instrument using the same frequencies..
I tried side chaining them but didnt really help much. I panned them out to left and right and sorta seem to do the job. But dont really wanna pan to much as it takes the focus away from the center of the sound obviously.

Your thoughts/experiences?

 

[TWU]

You mean clipping? EQ sweeper if there's a resonating frequency in the sample, or if you stack sounds, adjust level or EQ the part where the frequencies clash. Do you have a compressor active on one of the channels?

 

[Iron Keys]

You mean clipping?

Sounded like this to me.

Even if you're hitting a limiter or something it could be distortion.

You might be clipping within a plugin. Some plugins don't have headspace. Some can pass an overloaded signal through them without clipping.

I'm currently trying to figure if one of mine does, it shows red on the clipping light but I think it said you can overload the output if going into another plugin after.


Have you also considered it could be like sibilance? Maybe your tweeters are getting pushed to their limits.

 

[LiveLargeBeats]

Nah the meters are fine within the orange..unless you can clip before the 0db?

You might be clipping within a plugin. Some plugins don't have headspace. Some can pass an overloaded signal through them without clipping.

This might be the case..they are sounds from Omnisphere, quality wise top notch, but as i said..the mid frequencies go way up...and somehow clash when having a similar sound layered together sometimes..

Perhaps compress the shit out of it?

@Andante No experience with EQ sweeping yet, ill have a look into that bro tx

 

[Iron Keys]

So like,

VST1 -2db
VST2 -2db
Bus +2db into an insert/plugin (clipping)
turn down fader -2db on meter

The signal will clip inside the plugin, so even if it's fine after, it could be clipping inside. (some plugins allow for headroom above, some don't)

alternatively they're hitting a compressor/limiter and getting distorted,

You'd have to show us an example maybe

 

[YannFer]

I have never encountered digital clipping inside a plugin or inside a daw actually...
But if it's clipping, just turn'em down or compress the specific frequencies with a multiband compressor until your meters are in the green, not orange.

You can try and check the bit depth you're working with and also check that your meters are showing you True Peak levels.

What plugins are in your signal chain ?

 

[3ternal]

My order of operations in that situation would be: volume, panning, filter, EQ, etc. As for panning versus not panning, the only things that I never pan are kicks and bass. Everything else usually gets panned, even if just an imperceptible amount. For example I always pan the snare just a hair to the left, because that's how an actual drum set is set up- the kick in the middle, the snare just to the side, the hats just a little further to the side. I never pan the bass because that's like an unwritten rule in rap music, bass always down the middle. But after the kick and snare I start panning things if I need to make room, or if I have two sounds competing for the same space. After that any panning is usually more of an effect and more extreme, like if I have a tom roll I'll pan them sweeping from one side to the other, like how it would be on actual drums in real life.

 

[Space_The_Face]

When I have clashing frequencies I'm usually able to fix it with EQ. I start by finding the most dominant frequency in the first instrument (It's usually in the upper to middle section of the mids).
After that I go to my second instrument and lower that same frequencie range to give the other instrument room to breathe. I may also raise some good frequencies in the second, and go back and lower them in the first.
This is the same thing I do with my kick and bass when I don't want to side chain.

 

[LiveLargeBeats]

Cool cool =) I havent touched the project anymore since tbh, but ill definitely have a look into the tools you guys gave me!

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

 

[3ternal]

Also a stereo imager is a great tool for making space. That's what I use after everything else I listed. Usually it never gets that far unless you're trying to cram a lot of stuff within the same frequency range.