Getting this 'crushing' effect? Hard to describe.

[FrontlineGuitar]

I'm talking about this at about 0:02, after the intro effect:





And this

again at about 1:43


It sounds like some kind of really compressed bass drop that's making the limiter go crazy, but it's not lowering the volume of the whole track by the sounds of it...

It just sounds pretty crushing, and putting that in a few well-placed parts of productions could bring them to life a bit

Just any ideas or pointers to achieving this without destroying the Master would be awesome

 

[Bay Studio]

It´s basically a sub drop. You can create them yourself by using a sub frequency sine wave and automate the pitch so that it has the "drop" effect, OR, you can simply make a sub HIT, which i guess is used in the first song. If you feel like it, you can go to joey sturgis´ page and purchase the sub he is selling. It´s a long drop, which is good. You can cut the drop down to a hit, or make it half as short, which gives you a couple of varieties!

 

[FrontlineGuitar]

Cheers , I guessed it was a sub drop, by I was mainly asking on how to do it without pumping the master really badly. Maybe I should rephrase the title haha, 'Getting this crushing effect without screwing up the Master' haha

On a side note, does anyone know if a subdrop has to be in pitch with the song? Like the exact frequency of the root note or something? Or is it just that low end THUM that matters?

 

[bryan_kilco]

Yes - pitch it to the tuning of the song/breakdown/whatever.

Also - I think it's pretty common to add the subdrop in during the mastering phase or after the master chain, this way the drop won't make your limiter go nuts.

 

[FrontlineGuitar]

Okay cheers for the answer

So I'd just bounce the entire song/album down after and then add all subdrops outside of the actual mastering chain. I'll try that, cheers

 

[DullElysium]

Wouldn't putting a sub drop after the mastering chain make the track clip really easily? I mean if there's around 0,2db of headroom in the loudest parts and the bassdrops usually hit in pretty loud parts.

Though I remember someone here giving a great advice of splitting your master chain in to two tracks. Master bus 1 contains your whole mastering chain minus the final limiter. Master bus 2 contains only the final limiter. Then you just send the sub drop to Master bus 2 instead of 1. And of course send the Master bus 1 output to Master bus 2.

Those thing aside I notice that both of your examples have a buildup before the bass drop. And in the second one there's a reversed cymbal before the bass drop so that can also add to the effect. Another kind of cool effect I found by accident awhile ago: Before the bass drop put a sound of a pre-impact swoosh like when you hit something with a baseball bat really hard it makes this swoosh before the impact. Then try adding a sound of something like breaking glass etc.

Experiment with different sounds. It doesn't have to be just a bass drop.

 

[RedDog]

No way. treat your sub drop AS AN INSTRUMENT SIGNAL. It's the only way to get a cohesive result from the final product. If you want it to tear your mix apart, then mix it that way. if you want it clear and precise, mix it that way.

Also, as a personal preference, quit it with the sub drops. I hate them and they sound retarded now that everyone wants them. But hey, I can make you your very own sub drop for a small price, very affordable and customized to your preference.

 

[Bay Studio]

^This! And yeah, he´s right. treat it like an instrument! When mastering, you might have to pull the sub hit/drop back a little. You don´t want them to be "upfront". Sub drops are kind of annoying already if used more than 2/3 times in a song.

 

[DullElysium]

I like how some songs have really overdone the amount of sub drops For an example I remember there was a song that had this 2 bar breakdown repeated around 4 times and there was a sub drop every time it was repeated.

On a serious note I still love them when they're tastefully placed and add to the song rather than just be there because they're supposed to.

Just do what your ears say is good and commit to it.

 

[sayocean]

I've found ahj:s tutorial about subdrops and mastering useful. You should check it out!

 

[FrontlineGuitar]

I remember someone here giving a great advice of splitting your master chain in to two tracks. Master bus 1 contains your whole mastering chain minus the final limiter. Master bus 2 contains only the final limiter. Then you just send the sub drop to Master bus 2 instead of 1. And of course send the Master bus 1 output to Master bus 2.

Those thing aside I notice that both of your examples have a buildup before the bass drop. And in the second one there's a reversed cymbal before the bass drop so that can also add to the effect. Another kind of cool effect I found by accident awhile ago: Before the bass drop put a sound of a pre-impact swoosh like when you hit something with a baseball bat really hard it makes this swoosh before the impact. Then try adding a sound of something like breaking glass etc.

Thanks so much for this, i'll definitely try the split-master effect.. that sounds awesome. I already do the mastering chain just as a group track instead of on the actual master track so that I can have tracks of a couple reference mixes that I can toggle to be soloed, so that should be fine. I use ozone for the majority of it though, so I guess I'll just have the limiting section of ozone 4 engaged on the master 2 group track and the rest of my mastering chain including the other parts of ozone on the master 1 group track.

Also, what you said about getting more creative and adding something like a 'swoosh' before it, then maybe breaking glass or something. I love that idea I remember a studio diary of a band I like where they took a golf club to a really old TV, and then reversed it to build into a fairly punchy sub-drop..

Also, as a personal preference, quit it with the sub drops. I hate them and they sound retarded now that everyone wants them.

I know where you're getting at.. Many bands overuse them and also use those really annoying long sub drops in the background of a breakdown that end up sounding terrible.. I like it for the 'punch' kind of vibe it gives when used, as you probably noticed in the previews, after a small build up...

Also, cheers for the YT link

 

[colonel kurtz]

Sub drops are kind of annoying already if used more than 2/3 times in an album.

fixed that for you

 

[Fandus]

If subdrops are done right and felt, not heard, then they rule.

 

[RedDog]

Still though... if you want one, I got you.

 

[FrontlineGuitar]

Still though... if you want one, I got you.

Haha, I know man.. I'll be fine for now though

 

[Bay Studio]

fixed that for you

Hahaha, thanks buddy Was just joking around!