Author Topic: Mixing the bass with the sub  (Read 35176 times)

Mohanad

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Mixing the bass with the sub
« on: January 06, 2016, 09:37:31 pm »
Hi everyone!

I'm having some problems in mixing the bassline with the sub-bass. I usually put a high pass filter on the bass around the 150-200 hz range and cut the highs and mids in the sub "don't know if this is right but the it sounds good" the problem is that sometimes the bass sounds too weak. How can i get the bassline to sound strong and driving without getting a muddy mix?

Heatcliff

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2016, 09:41:17 pm »
As I posted in the "EQUING the kick" thread - treat your room first (acoustically - bass traps for example) and it will help you make better decisions on that.


Heymac

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2016, 09:42:33 pm »
For me the bass is kind of the voice of the low end, its supposed to be heard so its got to be more present so maybe not filter it as much. The sub bass is the feeling part of it. You don't hear it but its the rumbling that the subs give out. If its sounding weak might be that you just cut too much of the bass portion off. that or your bass patch has some aspect of a sub bass in it too which might muddy things up a bit.

Mohanad

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2016, 09:56:32 pm »
As I posted in the "EQUING the kick" thread - treat your room first (acoustically - bass traps for example) and it will help you make better decisions on that.
I'm not mixing with monitors, i'm using Audio Technica m50x

Mohanad

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2016, 09:59:17 pm »
For me the bass is kind of the voice of the low end, its supposed to be heard so its got to be more present so maybe not filter it as much. The sub bass is the feeling part of it. You don't hear it but its the rumbling that the subs give out. If its sounding weak might be that you just cut too much of the bass portion off. that or your bass patch has some aspect of a sub bass in it too which might muddy things up a bit.
Yes my bass samples have some subby frequencies on them so sometimes i try using a low shelf instead of cutting but there's no big difference

Miles Dominic

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2016, 10:23:24 pm »
Hi everyone!

I'm having some problems in mixing the bassline with the sub-bass. I usually put a high pass filter on the bass around the 150-200 hz range and cut the highs and mids in the sub "don't know if this is right but the it sounds good" the problem is that sometimes the bass sounds too weak. How can i get the bassline to sound strong and driving without getting a muddy mix?
I would suggest high-cutting your sub above 130- 150 hz.
For a powerful sub, just take sylenth. Take a sine or square, 1 voice with retrig on. slap on some sausage fattener and apply the eq. thats literally all there is too a good sub.

Heymac

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2016, 10:26:21 pm »
Can you render an example of what you hear so we can get a better idea of what you're working with?

Mohanad

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2016, 10:52:45 pm »
Can you render an example of what you hear so we can get a better idea of what you're working with?
Here you go, started working on this two days ago and i literally did nothing but working on the low end and, as you can hear, it's so far from being ok https://soundcloud.com/mohanad303/untitled-1/s-pB3wo

Mohanad

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2016, 10:56:48 pm »
Hi everyone!

I'm having some problems in mixing the bassline with the sub-bass. I usually put a high pass filter on the bass around the 150-200 hz range and cut the highs and mids in the sub "don't know if this is right but the it sounds good" the problem is that sometimes the bass sounds too weak. How can i get the bassline to sound strong and driving without getting a muddy mix?
I would suggest high-cutting your sub above 130- 150 hz.
For a powerful sub, just take sylenth. Take a sine or square, 1 voice with retrig on. slap on some sausage fattener and apply the eq. thats literally all there is too a good sub.
Thank you man, will give this a try!

producer_chick

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2016, 10:58:47 pm »
It really depends on the individual bass sounds or samples used. This is how I personally do it:

I first analyze my sub and mid/high bass sounds with an EQ by dragging the meter all the way up and across the spectrum. If they respond well and solid enough in the desired areas (after analyzing the kick and knowing what you want) then it's a sound combination good enough for further processing.

Then it's time to EQ. I start out by removing the mid/highs from the sub, and the lows from the mid/high bass. This setting is only raw and temporary. Once I've started adding my desired plugins to process the sounds, I'm fine tuning the EQ settings. I like using Waves Renaissance Bass for my subs, I really recommend it - but use with caution. So, I first EQ more than necessary, just to carefully move them back closer together after until it all falls into place.

I also mute the low/mid/high bass to check and see if my sub bass conflicts with the kick. If your kick sounds louder and/or more clear when you mute your sub, then it needs fixed.






False 9

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2016, 03:08:36 am »
I've actually got a question thats really similar to this, when you guys make electro, bass heavy tracks, do you leave the main bass' sub region on or chop it and throw on a dedicated sub? I usually do the 2nd technique but im curious as to how other people do it.

Tiongcy

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2016, 03:13:10 am »
I've actually got a question thats really similar to this, when you guys make electro, bass heavy tracks, do you leave the main bass' sub region on or chop it and throw on a dedicated sub? I usually do the 2nd technique but im curious as to how other people do it.

I would chop of the bass and have a dedicated sub works for me haha

Scribit

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #12 on: January 07, 2016, 03:17:46 am »
I've actually got a question thats really similar to this, when you guys make electro, bass heavy tracks, do you leave the main bass' sub region on or chop it and throw on a dedicated sub? I usually do the 2nd technique but im curious as to how other people do it.

I would chop of the bass and have a dedicated sub works for me haha

I think its really important to seperate things into all the different layers. Never try and get 'the perfect' bass sound with amazing sub as well as amazing grit. It doesnt exist. Separate things into 2/3/4 layers so that you have full control of its overall sound.
"Very very way more stronger" - Carnage 2k15

Mohanad

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2016, 10:52:03 am »
Try and ensure your lowest sub bass note is peaking around 41.20hz which is E1, each frequency is assigned a note, not to get technical, but club systems would have to be the best systems on the planet to pick up below that. Remember sub is meant to be felt, however... it seems to me you are layering and using the sub as the main bass lead, in that case refer to my article I wrote here http://phatmonkey.me/#xl_xr_page_bass <-- Where it mentions about duplicating bass forget that, as you do not want to duplicate the sub, instead leave the sub as is, just duplicate the other bass layer your using and follow the tutorial from there....
I'm actually playing 1 subbass in F4 and 3 layers of bass

FRISSONT

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Re: Mixing the bass with the sub
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2016, 01:50:29 pm »
Here you go, started working on this two days ago and i literally did nothing but working on the low end and, as you can hear, it's so far from being ok https://soundcloud.com/mohanad303/untitled-1/s-pB3wo

your kick tail is extremely long.

shorten it to 1/4 of a bar.

have your sub sidechain to 3/4 of a bar - lfotool or kickstart will take care of that.

your sub energy right now is like offbeat melbourne bass - kick taking up half the bar and sub on the other.

remove any pitch envelope you might have on the sub. make it flat with sloped attack/release to get rid of clicks.

highcut your rolling bass at 100hz with a 72db/oct slope. good sub energy doesn't get past 100.

here's the routing part:

bass(highpassed) routed into the sub channel.

compress the channel with a glue compressor 3-4dbs off.

route the bass/sub channel to the kick.

throw in a simple limiter - MLimiter from melda is good. use the clip 3 shape. check a visualizer- the kick and bass/sub channel should be hitting the same ceiling.