How to handle cock head bass players that want their bass too loud in the mix?

yeah dude, bring the bass up more and automate the soloed bass part to be louder also.

I have done bass parts like this, and I found the easiest thing to do was to have the solo part be EQ'd and Compressed differently. Either through automating the plug-ins or having it be on a separate track
 
I kinda figure they're a kinda Necrophagist worhship band. They probably want those bass fills to sound like that. I'm not on my monitors but listening on pc speakers the bass is way too quiet. When that sick bass fill is played it should be as loud as 1 of the guitars.

Bass player sounds pretty badass, i'm sure he wants his chops in the mix more. I would if I was him.
 
To me it's more an issue of muddyness rather than level. The bass isn't separated enough from the rest of the track, so there is no sense of clarity or individuality to the instrument. I would first fix up the mix and then consider final leveling issues.
 
Gotta agree with the bassist here. I would be pissed if my playing was only audible for 3 seconds in a song and I played that good.

+1 on this, not only from the bassist perspective but also from a listener perspective. I don't agree at all with most of the early replies in this thread. In the end it really depends on the compositions and skills of the bass player. Some bands really benefit from a more up front bass. To give an example I wouldn't have liked Akercocke's Words that go unspoken as much as I do if Neil Kernon would have kept to the idea that the bassist just needs to support the guitar sound.
 
what do you guys do?


Mix the album the way you think it should sound. Mute everything except for bass and vocals and give that to the bass player. Give the rest of the band the complete mix. :erk:

They get the point quick.
 
Yup. They get the point that you're an asshole, and to never work with you again and to tell all their friends that they shouldn't record with you.

If you're getting paid, the band is your boss. If it's just ignorance then yes, maybe you should help them out and explain things to them.....nicely. But in this particular case, the band/bassist is right.

I'm really surprised to see so many people with that attitude on here. If a band asks you to be producer then by all means push your beliefs on them. If not, then your carreer will probably be very short lived.
 
I played with a bassist like that. He was practically deaf and could only hear himself if turned up waaay too loud. I think what eventually happened was in the control room we had him really loud while he was there but the mix that went to the mastering engineeer had him at a normal level. At least that's how it sounded to me.
 
I can barely hear any bass on the riffing stuff, and the solo is way too low it seems to me.

EDIT: Oh, I get it he's is playing in sync with the guitar lead. What the fuck, yeah it's cool but then you got no bottom end filling up the backing riffage. Laame
 
Yup. They get the point that you're an asshole, and to never work with you again and to tell all their friends that they shouldn't record with you.

If you're getting paid, the band is your boss. If it's just ignorance then yes, maybe you should help them out and explain things to them.....nicely. But in this particular case, the band/bassist is right.

I'm really surprised to see so many people with that attitude on here. If a band asks you to be producer then by all means push your beliefs on them. If not, then your carreer will probably be very short lived.

Don't take what I said so seriously...it was a joke. Obviously, if you did that to one of your customers...they wouldn't be for much longer.
 
what do you guys do?

Now for my serious response....

It depends. What about his bass is too quiet to him? Is there enough bottom end for their liking? What does the rest of the band think? Have you sat down with him and the band, turned up the bass to his liking, and then ask the band what they think?

At the end of the day it's your job to do what the band says. If they collectively agree the bass is too quiet then you need to make it louder.

Here is how I work with my clients...

-I create a mix without band members present
-I have the band sit down on their own time and come up with a list of changes they ALL agree on
-They all come in to the studio to "mix" the album

Usually, the changes that are made consist of maybe making a vocal louder, making a snare more quiet, adding reverb to a synth...little things. All of the projects I record don't sound a whole hell of a lot different than the finished mix as we are recording it. I make it a point to make decisions up front and get the sounds we want going to tape (or hard disk). I really don't like the "lets record flat and make it sound how we want it later" approach.

When I mix something recorded by someone else I'll usually sit down with the band, listen to any rough mixes they have, figure out their expectations, and then decide if I want to work on it.
 
usually if i find the musicians im working with to be "cock heads" (it happens, they want a tight metal album with natural kicks and no compression lol) i just give them the raw tracks and part ways claiming artistic differences as the reason. really, they are just stubborn cock heads who will always be a shitty garage band lol.

but this way, they cant slander you, you part on good terms, and you dont have to worry about having your name on their shitty mix that they paid you to destroy lol

ive done this a few times. im not professional, so i can choose who i work with and be a picky cunt lol

they give the raw tracks to some other poor fool to wrestle with hahahaha
 
Do it the way it's supposed to be done: mix the track so that every musician thinks that he/she is the loudest in the mix at all times.

That's the true secret of pleasing the band and simultaneously making a great mix :)
 
-I create a mix without band members present
-I have the band sit down on their own time and come up with a list of changes they ALL agree on
-They all come in to the studio to "mix" the album

+1