Energy

[16b441khz]

I like to think of energy in a song (in terms of freq) to be around 1-3khz ie the main part of vocals. The power of the mix comes from the lowend, 250Hz and down. The presence, clarity and 'expensiveness' comes from about 6Khz and up while the low mid stuff in the 300-800hz range is what can either destroy or make a mix, it contains certain tones and spatial elements that help in defining the instruments around it. Then it also comes to what others were talking about above in terms of the songwriting itself.

[ksandvik]

If the drums and bass does not move the dancer, something is seriously wrong with the track.

[ModularJack]

You actually will get more "lift" by removing the bass drum and/or bassline for a few bars and then bringing back than an over the top snare roll or stacking layer upon layer on top hoping to build some big energy. Negative space (aka: quiet and silent parts) is absolutely the most important and under-utilized element of music writing nowadays. Listen to reggae and you will see what I mean. There are big gaps between the hits, the bass notes, the offbeats, etc. And that is some seriously groovey stuff. Too much dubstep is wall to wall flatlined noise, hence it lacks groove. Use rests and don't let your 4 bar loop to play more than twice... 15-20 years ago that was how it was done, nowadays you will put people to sleep.

[Barnesor]

Hey,

Quite obvious equal energy level maintenance through out the music note is the prime requisite. Drum and base add up to this energy level. At the same time it is required from the person too playing the notes.

[AllDay]

Hey,

Quite obvious equal energy level maintenance through out the music note is the prime requisite. Drum and base add up to this energy level. At the same time it is required from the person too playing the notes.

LOLwhat?

[RockingClub]

LOLwhat?

[lolski]

sometimes when you add too much you started to lose the energy as the sounds are clashing. solution is to clean the mix a bit by doing some quick mixing: high pass everything except drums and bass, remove unneeded frequencies from instruments, etc

you'll feel more energy when it's not all mud and rumble

[AllDay]

sometimes when you add too much you started to lose the energy as the sounds are clashing. solution is to clean the mix a bit by doing some quick mixing: high pass everything except drums and bass, remove unneeded frequencies from instruments, etc

you'll feel more energy when it's not all mud and rumble

You are just joking right?

[RockingClub]

You are just joking right?

?? Nothing wrong with that
I assume he's talking about generally giving the song a high-cut at around 19-20 khz, a general low-cut at around 30-40 Hz plus individual low cuts on instruments depending on their main frequency range. So on strings you will want to cut everything beneath 100Hz or more for example.
This all might reduce mud and rumble but I don't think it will really enhance your songs energy if there was a lack.

[vpech013]

You actually will get more "lift" by removing the bass drum and/or bassline for a few bars and then bringing back than an over the top snare roll or stacking layer upon layer on top hoping to build some big energy. Negative space (aka: quiet and silent parts) is absolutely the most important and under-utilized element of music writing nowadays. Listen to reggae and you will see what I mean. There are big gaps between the hits, the bass notes, the offbeats, etc. And that is some seriously groovey stuff. Too much dubstep is wall to wall flatlined noise, hence it lacks groove. Use rests and don't let your 4 bar loop to play more than twice... 15-20 years ago that was how it was done, nowadays you will put people to sleep.

hey im very interested by your point about negative space. Is there any particular reggae songs you recommend? Maybe you can elaborate a little more on the topic?