I suck at bass drops

[NSGUITAR]

So... I find myself sucking at bass drops specifically..


Typically my problem lies around the low end.. I get a really good mix/master but when I add bass drops in, they either wash everything out, or they're not audible.. There's no in between really.. And I feel that it's because of my master compressor.. Is there a way to compensate for this and no change my mix?

 

[RichMinerva]

Bounce out after master import into new session add drops bounce out.

 

[mmmatthew]

Are you mixing with or without a sub? If not, the bass drops might be more audible than you think. How focused is 60-80hz in your mix? This is where sub drops live...if your bass guitar or kick is too heavy in this area it will definitely mask those sub drops. Also, don't do the method where you add sub drops to a bounced stereo track if you are mastering your own tracks, your sub drop will clip. There really should be no need to ever do this actually...some automation maybe on the compressor, but if your mastering compression is really freaking out on sub drops bad, you probably are compressing too much, or you are having to turn up the sub drop too loud because of messy/overwhelming 60-80hz.

 

[amarshism]

Hi pass on your master bus comp

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

If you don't have a sub you're never going to hear them as you're supposed to

 

[Trevoire520]

Sometimes limiting the sub drop can help. Generally I find that putting the subdrop in last with all the master bus processing in place is really important, as it's a fine line between it being inaudible and it sucking out the entire mix. Too much compression on your master bus can really fuck it up too.

 

[NSGUITAR]

Thanks guys! No I'm not using a sub, but I can hear bass drops in other people songs, so I figured it's me doing something wrong.

 

[OneDaySky]

Hi pass on your master bus comp

Sounds like a good idea, hi-pass around 80hz.

 

[NSGUITAR]

Hi pass on your master bus comp

Are you talking about during the bass drops or all the time? I've never done that before!

 

[OneDaySky]

Are you talking about during the bass drops or all the time? I've never done that before!

On the master all the time, maybe even @ 60hz, and do the comping of the bass before the master

 

[Trevoire520]

I find that generally I much prefer master bus comps with the hpf in the sidechain, makes it much less likely to pump along with the kick and bass (though sometimes on rock stuff that's exactly what you want) Should help with bass drops too i expect.

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

Am i misunderstanding or are people seriously suggesting to high pass your entire mix at 80hz?

 

[NSGUITAR]

Am i misunderstanding or are people seriously suggesting to high pass your entire mix at 80hz?

That's what I got from it too lol. No way I'm doing that. My mixes shine in that area..

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

The people that are saying to hipass the mix at 60hz-80hz are retarded (unless it wasnt explained correctly). What you can do though is get a 2buss comp that has sidechain filtering, so you can hipass the compressor till, for example, 60hz so it doesn't react to anything under that frequency which is also useful for avoiding general pumping

 

[NSGUITAR]

Oh that's beautiful! I'm 99% sure "the Glue" does this, yes? I'd look but I'm on my laptop!

 

[Ryuno]

Am i misunderstanding or are people seriously suggesting to high pass your entire mix at 80hz?

I too am confused.

 

[RichMinerva]

Am i misunderstanding or are people seriously suggesting to high pass your entire mix at 80hz?

OSCAR MICHAEL GOLF!!!

 

[Ionei]

I recommend NOT high passing your entire mix at 80hz.
I would think a high pass at the time of the drop would be effective, and not super detrimental to the mix.


High pass 60/80hz on the master all the time?
Really?

 

[Trevoire520]

Hi pass on your master bus comp

I find that generally I much prefer master bus comps with the hpf in the sidechain, makes it much less likely to pump along with the kick and bass (though sometimes on rock stuff that's exactly what you want) Should help with bass drops too i expect.

High pass the sidechain of your master bus compressor. Not high pass the whole mix. Learn to read peeps!

 

[pikachu69]

Stilwell audio's 'The Rocket' does this as well. It is a good 1176 style comp with built in parrallel comp, side chain and highpass on the side chain.