help on mixing kick and bass guitar

[paul101]

As a newbie this is the one area I seam to have the most trouble with.
Say for example I use the kick drum sample that andy sneap posted. This sounds great on its own, but as soon as I bring the bass into the equation I loose alot of the low end definition that was their before.
Ive tried hi passing the kick at around 60hz and sitting the bass below it. This has given the best results so far in terms of clarity, but obviousy Iam loosing all the sub low end in the kick to achieve this.
With alot of metal stuff I've heard, the bass guitar seems to be lower in the mix than maybe a typical rock tune but its still clearly audiable. How is this achieved?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can point me in the right direction.

 

[DP40oz]

I find it depends alot on how it was recorded. For years i had low end troubles. I used to only use a mic for the bass and it was never sitting right. So for starters definitely use a direct signal for the low end part of the bass.

With Andys bass drum sample, if i remember correctly the fundemental for the kick was alot around 60hz which is pretty deep, so using that sample i would have the bass sitting more at 80hz. If you're trying to tuck the bass below that 60hz you're gonna lose bass on small systems because to find a system that responds well to anything lower then 60hz is rare, and you may end up with a mix that lacks balls on systems without great subs.

You can also take your Eq and with a pretty narrow Q, and sweep along the bass guitar frequencys until you find the one thats competing and then bring it back just before you start losing the definition you're looking for. If you mix through a compressor on the mix buss you can also boost the bass drum more then usual that way when it hits it sorta pulls the mix with it. It keeps the kick drum loud and clear sounding but without it being distracting.

I hope some of this helps you... I've been there and the low end in mixes is frustrating as hell.

 

[ReliXKeepeR]

Well, the main think is to prevent the both instruments from frequency accumulation.
Everything else is just taste and musical needs.

If you want more help, you can post example of your bass

Good luck!

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

try pitchshifting the kick down 1 or 2 cents and go from there