So you want to make a track that sounds awesome and as good as the biggest producer? The fact is that If you want to release tracks on labels you have to be able to match the big names in the industry.
The first step to do this is to compare their tracks to yours.
It is important to remember tracks from big labels will be heavily mastered so your track will not be as loud or as bright but you should be aiming close to this end result.
Step 1
Pick a few of your favourite tracks from your favourite producer and critically listen to it in detail.
This means spending time really analysing the sound of the tracks from the deep bottom end to the sparkling top end, its also worth making notes so you have a guide or structure to work towards when your working on your track.
Step 2
Open your latest track and the track you are referencing in your production programme of choice (Albeton, Cubase, Reason etc)
A good tip here is try and use a WAV file of the reference track as MP3 loses some of the depth of sound.
Step 3
Adjust the levels of both tracks so they appear to be the same volume.
Step 4
Ask yourself some of these questions :
How long is the track?
What is the structure or form of the track?
How are the main ideas / hooks used?
How many different instruments / synths are there in the whole track?
What is the rhythm of the track? E.g. Straight 4/4, Breakbeat, Dutch etc.
Step 5
Listen to the sound content in detail.
How does the bass sound? Is it low and deep or is it tight and punchy?
Does it sound brighter / sharper than my track and why?
What are the main instruments / parts which stand out? E.g. Has it got a big bassline, are the drums the most important or the vocals.
Step 6
Try and ask yourself as many questions as possible and be as critical as possible on your own music.
Step 7
When producing your own tracks try importing a copy of a professional track into the mix. Check back to this and use it as a reference as you work.
The trick here is to make sure that you are always working and creating your track within a similar frame or frequency range to a professional track, this way when it comes to mastering you are never too far away from a good sounding track and a few tweaks by a good mastering engineer will result in you having a stunning track.
The more you do this the more you are training not only yourself but your ears into knowing what the right sounds is, this helps in everyway from EQing to compressing.