How to get that BIG sound?

I have a question in regards to mixing down hip hop beats. I was wondering how I can get the big surround sound feel on my samples and drums. For example when I listen to Outkast or A Tribe Called Quest in my headphones or car I feel like the music is surrounding me. It sounds REAL BIG. How can I get this effect?
I use an MPC to make beats and I use Cool Edit to mix.

the difference is mostly in the mastering. an unmastered product, even if its good, cant really compare to the mastered product.

CueBiz wrote:I have a question in regards to mixing down hip hop beats. I was wondering how I can get the big surround sound feel on my samples and drums. For example when I listen to Outkast or A Tribe Called Quest in my headphones or car I feel like the music is surrounding me. It sounds REAL BIG. How can I get this effect?
I use an MPC to make beats and I use Cool Edit to mix.

you can do it. just try.

I was wondering if there is a certain effect I can use to put on my samples that will make it sound more full. I know nothing compares to mastering, but some of my mixed beats sound thin.

try these techniques for BIG sound:

#1. Pan-pot. have the same sample play the same rythym, but on two different tracks. in the mpc's mixer pan one of the tracks all the way left and the other all the way right. listen and see if you can tell the difference. you may have to turn down the output of those tracks as they will seem much louder in the mix.

#2. Chorus. period. put some chorus on a sound (not too much) and the sound will seem to be all around your head (ensemble works much the same way).

#3 Reverb. reverb will give your sound depth and tail, but don't overdo this one (especially with kick or bass drum) as the effect may get really muddy.

#4 Compression. compressing a sound the right way can bring it forward in the mix and make it boom.

the trick with any effects is not to overdo them. add effect until you can hear it then back it off a little. you want to feel the reverb rather than hear the verb, etc.
hope this helps. cheers

oh also. you gotta start with good samples. the old saying goes "sh-t in, sh-t out." If you've got "thin" samples to begin with then there ain't gonna be much you can do...

Effects and compression wont make your song big, just loud.

I still believe older records like Tribe's Low End sound good cause of the equipment and engineers they were working with back then.

#2. Chorus. period. put some chorus on a sound (not too much) and the sound will seem to be all around your head (ensemble works much the same way).

This is what I was looking for, that feeling that the music is surrounding you.
I put some of my samples in Cool Edit and used the Acoustic Duet Chorus and sometimes it would make the sample sound dope, but other times it makes it sound "Spacey" and "Robotic".

big surround sound

Reverb. Delay, Panning, Chorus

also if the actual song/beat has to many elements using reverb,delay etc,,,
is just gonna make it sound worse, i think creating space is not just down to the dynamics of the samples,but how each element interacts with the next,in a musical way and a dynamic way....

I agree with REVEAL:
more than one type of verb can make the track sound wrong. too much delay, too much chorus, too much whatever and your stuff will sound whack.

when mixing you don't so much want to hear effects as feel them ( unless you are going for that obviously huge reverb sound.

@Koolsha178:
perceived loudness is definately different from big wide "all around yer head" sound. equipment has a lot to do with it. sure. but if you've got a skimpy kick drum, add some compression the right way, and your kick will be on its way from a weak kick barely heard in the mix, to an in front kick that cuts through and shines. I mean what the hell do engineers do but EQ, excite some freq. cut others. add compression here some verb there. make everything nice and tight.

@cuebiz:
chorus can work wonders as you've found, but too much and not the right kind can have a negative effect.

I forgot to mention EQ as a way to excite thise freq your missing. if you lack high end then your sound is muffled and damp sounding. can't have big sound if it's not well rounded.

I just don't believe that big sound is all in the equipment and engineers. there are plenty of people making tracks on fruity loops or reason who acheive good sound without paying an engineer to do it. good well rounded sound.

^
I was messing around with some eq's on my samples and bass, but it just added or subtracted highs and lows out of the samples. It didn't give the sample width or fullness.
I feel limited on Cool Edit, what is another software that I can edit samples and drums on?
Also are there any books or sites that explain mixing techniques?

EQ can give fullness to a mix, not really to individual samples alone.

check this cite out for tutorials:
http://www.dnbproduction.net/tuthelp.html

cheers

CueBiz wrote:I have a question in regards to mixing down hip hop beats. I was wondering how I can get the big surround sound feel on my samples and drums. For example when I listen to Outkast or A Tribe Called Quest in my headphones or car I feel like the music is surrounding me. It sounds REAL BIG. How can I get this effect?
I use an MPC to make beats and I use Cool Edit to mix.

Are you mixing in headphones?

If so, this may be your main problem, we tend to mix too mono when mixing on phones because it sounds wrong to have some sounds panned hard right and left.

Professor cool site, thanks

Dos, you might be right. I do mix with headphones and when I pan sounds sometimes I feel its too far right or left.

I guess I just have to experiment with different effects and mixing techniques. Im gonna read some of the tutorials.