Handling Your Lead Synth, Pads & Sound Effects When Mixing EDM

After we found out how to handle the drums section and the Bass line when mixing Electronic music we’re going to break down the rest of the track up next so let’s see what we can do to improve when making the beat.

Even if the drums and the Bass line take a leading role in Electro music, the main melody and the small details do have an important role because they will set the listeners into a certain mood. This is a move you should visualize when making beats and hopefully our tweaks will help you to carry out that vision into plain reality.

The lead Synth, usually found in Trance music should really stand out in your song and depending on the sound of your choice the volume should be set just below the Kick drum if you’re making beats. EQ it up next and if there’s a lot of low ends in it, you might get it to compete with the Bass line and we don’t want that to happen when making the beat, of course. The sequence is a key feature as well and if the main melody goes really low and it’s a sound with a fat low end, a low cut filter is needed by any means necessary.

Consider adding some brightness to the main melody and use EQ to slightly boost frequencies around 2kHz with a narrow bandwidth to make the main melody more enjoyable for the public and for you when making the beat. Use more than just one lead and pan them similar to this scheme: first one= 20 to 40 % left, second one= always centered and the last one=20 to 40% right. This will create a stereo sound and combined with the drums and the Bass line you will have a pretty neat tune up until this point. Consider adding some Delay and maybe even Reverb, depending on what you got so far with your making beats session.

The Pads should always be kept in the background so lower the levels and use EQ to cut down the low frequencies. Consider cutting down some high frequencies as well in case they mess with the lead Synth when you’re making the beat.

Up next the sound effects will most likely create a bit of “madness” in your song but in the best way there is. Don’t be afraid to add noise sweeps, explosions, rising sounds and basically everything you think will set the listeners into that certain mood you’re visualizing. By any means necessary, use Reverb and Delay and extend these sounds for how long you think it’s necessary when making beats.

Also, diversify when it comes to song structures and don’t aim to make every tune you put out exactly the same way as the other one no matter how good it actually sounds.