High/Low Pass Question

[Robert W]

funny you say that cuz just yesterday I was thinking how much easier it is for me to get a better sounding tone from lower tuning things when using PODfarm

dunno I guess I'm not taking player into consideration like i should be

I've noticed that by using a "lighter touch" w/ the palm mutes, I can decrease the severity of the flub considerably. I backed off a little on the pre-amps bass, and added some more mids, which helped a little.

If anybody reading this can add a bass track to this riff for the sake of reference I'd be very grateful. Some guy was supposed to do the bass tracks for me, but he's MIA atm. Pretty typical of the guys who say they'll work w/ you, then disappear as soon as you need them to do something. Unfortunately, I can not currently have access to a bass, nor do I have the funds to purchase one, or else I would have.

 

[Robert W]

you're filtering WAY too much. you need to understand why it is you're doing this and LISTEN as opposed to doing it Arbitrarilly, based on numbers.

The hi pass filter is to help eliminate any rumble. heres the best way to do it.
click on the knob to adjust it.
Close your eyes
then start moving it very slowly till you can begin to hear the bottom end clean up a little/lose some rumble
then move it back ever so slightly. Now open your eyes.

Now move the mouse over the bypass button.
Close your eyes
click wildly until you have no idea whether the eq is bypassed or not
then click alternating between the two.
when you hear which one sounds better, open your eyes and see what it is and whether you were right.

Do the same with the low pass filter.
With this you want to eliminate some of the nasty fizz you can get at the very top end (between 12-20k) on SOME guitar tracks
I tend to prefer a pretty steep filter as I feel the more gentle ones dont quite get me where I want, but you need to decide for yourself.

DO the same
close eyes,
adjust filter
see where you put it.
bypass.
click wildly
close eyes
click until you are sure which sounds better.

train your ears!

Taking all your suggestions under advisemnt, thanks!

I believe I have a general enough understanding of what high/low passes are for, but there's still a few terms I'm pretty fuzzy on like low/high shelf/ notch/ band pass for instance. Although, I'm assuming a notch is a very specific cut, yes/no?

 

[TheWinterSnow]

In terms of passing, I compulsively set my high pass at 60 (when playing in a low B tuning) and leave it there, the low pass is set at 12K but depending on the tone and my saturation settings on the guitars will move around where the low pass is at. So even though I compulsively go to certain settings, they are just a starting point to get an idea of where to go from there.

the terms:

Shelf: A plateau on the extreme high or low frquencies, followed by a slope where the cutoff frequency is located, the intensity of the slope is determined by the q

Boost and cut response of a high and low shelf:

Low Shelf: Pertains to a low frequency shelf
High Shelf: Pertains to a high frequency shelf

Pass: removes everything below or above a certain frequency

A low pass filter:

High Pass: Only allows high frequencies to pass, removes lows
Low Pass: Only allows low frequencies to pass, removes highs
Band Pass: The combination of both a High and Low pass, only allowing middle frequencies to pass

A bandpass filter:

Band-stop: The opposite of a bandpass, removes middle frequencies, allowing low and highs through
Notch: A high q band-stop filter (cuts frequencies), however in the audio world, the amount cut is variable.
Peak (Resonance): The opposite of a Notch, a high q boost in frequency

here is a place that has pictures of every type of basic filter

http://fuzzbass.fuzzphoto.eu/020703.html

 

[Robert W]

TheWinterSnow,

Great link! Thanks for posting it.

 

[Sam Bottner]

I've noticed that by using a "lighter touch" w/ the palm mutes, I can decrease the severity of the flub considerably. I backed off a little on the pre-amps bass, and added some more mids, which helped a little.

If anybody reading this can add a bass track to this riff for the sake of reference I'd be very grateful. Some guy was supposed to do the bass tracks for me, but he's MIA atm. Pretty typical of the guys who say they'll work w/ you, then disappear as soon as you need them to do something. Unfortunately, I can not currently have access to a bass, nor do I have the funds to purchase one, or else I would have.

Download 4front and write some MIDI for it.

 

[Robert W]

Download 4front and write some MIDI for it.

Sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what that means.

 

[DanLights]

yeah use a midi bass just for reference, it could help a lot