Getting a handle on sub bass? Discuss.

[Mattayus]

It's difficult to control, especially when you can't really hear it. A good worker never blames his tools, but let's face it.. I need a sub.

It's not until you hear your mix on a stereo that has a huge woofer or something that you can really hear what's going on down there.

I recently found that a lot of my mixes are really sub-heavy, and I'm definitely going to have to readdress them, especially when compared to commercial pro mixes.

The thing I've noticed is that pro mixes tend to have a really thick low end, but still have tight control over the sub (some mixes I've analysed on the subject barely have any sub bass at all, but still have a HUGE low end respectively). Is it literally just a case of hi-passing a bit higher?

Thoughts? Ideas? Tips?

EDIT: I've adjusted the mix now, but the subject is still worth discussing as I obviously still have much to learn in this area!

 

[AndrewB]

Definitely not the most experienced guy on this forum, but that sounded pretty good to me.

 

[Mattayus]

Thanks man, what are u listening to it on? I need a sub to really get the detail, or at least some better cans so I can monitor the frequencies <100hz on a closer level.

 

[Mattayus]

Another question I forgot to ask: What sort of frequencies are you guys putting the HP on your bass? 45hz? higher?

 

[Fandus]

I highpass to 70-80, remember that it's not cutting everything under the frequency you set it all, it rolls off gradually so you can put it quite a bit higher and it will still retain a decent amount of the lower end.

 

[Scott Horner]

Can't really comment on the mix as i'm listening on cheap earbuds at work but I usually hi-pass (or at least lo-shelf) my entire mix at around 30Hz to remove extreme low end rumble and then apply some multi-band compression on the master buss to level off the extreme low end. Depending on the mix, style and tuning of the particular track I'll start with the 0-120Hz range and adjust from there. The trick is playing with the hi-pass and multi-band comp frequencies to get the lows to gel. Not sure if this will help you or not but this method works for me.

 

[kool98769]

The mix sounds really good to me dude?
I'm listening through AKG k702's which are supposed to have a really extended frequency range.
Obviously it's not quite the same as a sub, but i don't hear any problems with the low subs.

 

[acappa]

Find the snare very machine like on the brakes. Other than that sounds awesome, I hope I could work with talented musicians like those who played that song...
@Fandus: I find high passing 70-80 to be very very agressive, at least in the Eq´s I tend to use. I high pass at 40 Hz before compressing + loudness

 

[AndrewB]

I'm listening on ATH-M40 closed headphones, so no sub.

Anyways, I usually high pass at 30-40Hz, and use the multiband compressor to control 150 and lower.

 

[Mattayus]

I suppose different EQ's have different slopes/Q to them etc but the consensus seems to be around the same mark it seems. FWIW, the mix there has the bass hi-passed at 50hz. I found this was the sweet spot for the low tuning I was in. Any lower and it didn't seem to make much difference to the sound, and if it were a higher tuning I'd bring it down some more but being that low made a huge huge amount "woof" in the subs.

@ acappa: This mix is my band, thanks for the comments man. Snare is a little robotic in places yeah but I'm working on that haha.