low end - much more needed than I ever thought

[Klosure]

I recently did some mixing and was lucky to get a top engineer help me with it.

I noticed the low end was really lacking in my mix, probably as I was often led to believe it was supposed to be like that with hall the flitering and headroom eating.

But once I grasped how much you have to push it and then control with compression I began to unfold things. I was working harder on the mids of the guitars so they didnt hurt so much and my mixes have started coming together with energy. I can now turn my mixes up in the car (and they are just as loud as other mixes from RMS point of view) and they dont hurt.

Its so critical to get that right down there.

Was I fooled? Nope with the right treatment eq and comp it can sit great.

For those who have not got the hang of the balance here is a trick.


put 3 tracks with a signal generator 1x100hz 1x 1000hz and 1x 10k

then a master bus with PAZ or some analyzer on it. Then make it sound comfortable to hear. If you are unsure use a track you like going through the analyzer, then match each band of the signal generators to the point of the mix (so get 1000hz volume set to the same as in the track you reference.

I noticed almost 20db difference between 100hz and 10k. Thats a lot and should teach you not to be low end shy.


Oh and some say "turn up the bass" but thats not the low end as such, the low end consists of the bottom relationship of kick and bass guitar and can include low end on guitars as well.

 

[Deuteronomy]

I agree,but it's not just the compression,it's especially the EQ going on between the kick and the bass.This process takes many years to master.
The mixing environment also plays a huge role,in order to hear properly the bass freq's,something rare on homestudios

 

[Studdy]

"put 3 tracks with a signal generator 1x100hz 1x 1000hz and 1x 10k

then a master bus with PAZ or some analyzer on it. Then make it sound comfortable to hear."

Can you explain what you mean by comfortable to hear. Maybe go into a bit more detail on what your listening for and perhaps the levels of the signals? Thanks, im trying to understand what we are trying to achieve here.

 

[Klosure]

"put 3 tracks with a signal generator 1x100hz 1x 1000hz and 1x 10k

then a master bus with PAZ or some analyzer on it. Then make it sound comfortable to hear."

Can you explain what you mean by comfortable to hear. Maybe go into a bit more detail on what your listening for and perhaps the levels of the signals? Thanks, im trying to understand what we are trying to achieve here.

Those three tones should sit comfortably with their volumes. If you listen at a reasonable volime the 1k feels like ig should come down and 10k is really annoying. By turning down that you can emulate the sound of a confortable mix. If this doesnt help look at my other example. Try the trick of putting up a commercial mix you like and look at it in Paz. Keeping paz on the master/mix bus adkust the signal generated tone levels and notice where the frequencies poke out above the mix - on paz youll notice it just poke through and match each one to just about that point. If you cannot ge

 

[Klosure]

[E=Deuteronomy;10675006]I agree,but it's not just the compression,it's especially the EQ going on between the kick and the bass.This process takes many years to master.
The mixing environment also plays a huge role,in order to hear properly the bass freq's,something rare on homestudios[/QUOTE]



The key with eq is to get the bass guitar low end to sit flat, thats whats tricky. You can go in with Paz and deal with the low end with q10 or something. You can split the bass di up into separate tracks and deal with low end separatly.

The eq for the kick is also pretty simple just dial in the low end to push under the bass,get that and the top end slap right and it starts to just muscle into the bass. Sometimes you need rbass to go on bass as well. Feeding all this into a final comp on each track tightens it altogether.

Im lucky to have a set of dynaudio M3 monitors in the studio (check them out...). Took me a while to learn them but you know when its tight!

Mixong at home can work but learning to mix over the internet at home is the problem. Getting out there is where i have learned things. With too much guessing in forums you never get anywhere - useful but only with the background knowledge and experience. My little test cam to me when i tried out this little trick to show someone else in the studio the overall mix balance but i wanted to break it down to hear simply.

 

[Terminus]

Reference pro mixes in your car.

 

[Klosure]

Reference pro mixes in your car.

Only reveals some of the mix.

 

[Terminus]

The part you need though right? Bass?

Oh that's right...no humor in here. It's forbidden.

 

[Klosure]

The part you need though right? Bass?

Oh that's right...no humor in here. It's forbidden.

?

sorry? You been affected by something.. I have plenty of humour, but you are right I keep it out of forums cos its usually a waste of my time/arguements which is better spent on the craft.


Proof of humour... I posted this to see the reaction.


As for the bass, its not the bass its the low end thats the issue, bass guitar is far more than low end in my view.

 

[MusicProductionTips.net]

While Mixing bass I always experiment with a high pass filter.
Some times I cut up to 60Hz, while it seems too high it sounds good so I keep it.

Also try cutting a lot in the 100 - 350Hz area with narrow Q.
It helps the bass blend better in the mix.