How do you handle the low end ?

[mrhope]

Do you filter out some bass frequencies to keep the mix from overloading speakers ?

[oceanzen]

I didn't vote because it's complex.

But generally I put a 36db per octave hi pass filter at about 25 hz on my bass instruments. If I'm layering another bass line and octave higher then I might move the hi pass on the 2nd inst up to 35Hz or whatever. This stops them from becoming muddy and undefined.

Sometimes with a really low note with a fundamental frequency down at around 32 hz I find I need to move the hi pass up to about 30HZ otherwise you get this horrible flappy sound.
(the flappy sound can unfortunately be heard on Distance's My Demons at exactly 3:20 and 3:24 )

I also put a hipass filter at about 25 HZ at the mastering stage. It changes the quality of the bass sound.
Since lower frequencies take a lot of energy for speakers to produce, (read Sound On Sound this month) cutting out >25HZ lets the speaker give a more focused bass sound.

Good Topic, thanks for starting

[emu]

great tips thanks!

[misk]

yeah, excellent tip oceanzen, and great thread as well. anyone else do anything they might think is rather, different, when it comes to bass design/perfection?

[twatty vagitis]

tbh i dont care what any of u do, i want ppl like n-type, distance, scream and kromestar to come in here and tell us what THEY do

[deadly_habit]

filter out high end compress then side chain compress as necess
edit and eq in between each step

[decklyn]

filter out high end compress then side chain compress as necess
edit and eq in between each step

Sidechain compression is usefull

Also another hint that I hear which helps is to run a wet and dry signal of your bass - one with distortion and one without
High pass the distorted one just above sub bass frequencies that hit the subs, and low pass the clean at the same point, so that the bass hitting the sub is clean. This allows you to have a distorted dirty bass sound where it counts - in the mids and sibilance - while keeping the actual sub bass frequencies nice and clear. I learned this after I wrote a ditry muddy bass track.

[oceanzen]

Also another hint that I hear which helps is to run a wet and dry signal of your bass - one with distortion and one without
High pass the distorted one just above sub bass frequencies that hit the subs, and low pass the clean at the same point, so that the bass hitting the sub is clean. This allows you to have a distorted dirty bass sound where it counts - in the mids and sibilance - while keeping the actual sub bass frequencies nice and clear. I learned this after I wrote a ditry muddy bass track.

Excellent advice
I have recently finished a dubstep track and one of the criticisms someone mentioned is that it needed more mid range bass, the sub's good but if you listen on some headphones you hardly notice a bass line, will give this a go.

[misk]

filter out high end compress then side chain compress as necess
edit and eq in between each step

Sidechain compression is usefull

Also another hint that I hear which helps is to run a wet and dry signal of your bass - one with distortion and one without
High pass the distorted one just above sub bass frequencies that hit the subs, and low pass the clean at the same point, so that the bass hitting the sub is clean. This allows you to have a distorted dirty bass sound where it counts - in the mids and sibilance - while keeping the actual sub bass frequencies nice and clear. I learned this after I wrote a ditry muddy bass track.

yeah i do this a lot, another good thing about this is that you can apply effects to the high passed bassline that you wouldnt normally be able to do to bass. i added some cavernous reverb to the HP bassline the other day, sounded dope! and i didnt have to worry about fucking up the low end

[Sharmaji]

yeah to really move air in a room you need bass at 40-80hz. you can add some punch to a kick at 30 but sustained 30hz can just suck up headroom. there's almost nothing useful below 30hz.

little speakers tend to cut off at around 250hz... if you're doing the dry bass/distorted bass thing, make sure the distorted bass has some nuts @ 250

ideally if your kick sound is good and bright you won't need to sidechain it... but if you want some pumping, it's the way to go. sidechaining a sub will totally change how it feels--and how it makes people feel-- in a dance.

[__________]

tbh i dont care what any of u do, i want ppl like n-type, distance, scream and kromestar to come in here and tell us what THEY do

I'm not being funny, but some of the people in here make really good music! Misk for example, he's got the skills. you can even learn shit from people that are worse at producing than you are yourself, believe.

there's always gonna be unsigned producers that are better than the signed ones.

[shonky]

tbh i dont care what any of u do, i want ppl like n-type, distance, scream and kromestar to come in here and tell us what THEY do

I'm not being funny, but some of the people in here make really good music! Misk for example, he's got the skills. you can even learn shit from people that are worse at producing than you are yourself, believe.

there's always gonna be unsigned producers that are better than the signed ones.

Plus they're gonna be too busy dj'ing, travelling the world, producing, shagging groupies, etc.

Boost somewhere between 50-60hz for weight and high pass everything beneath the lowest note of the sub. Or don't, I really couldn't give a fuck

[oceanzen]

Another common technique used across all styles of dance music including Pop, Trance, Dubstep etc is...

Tuning your kick.

If your sub bass line is in the key of Bb then try using a drum synth (I use Logic's Ultrabeat) to produce a kick in Bb. This will make them sound tight and focused together instead of strangling each other.

[jtransition]

Stick a high pass filter on everything apart form the kick drum and bass line.70 hertz is a good starting point .........move up or down to taste,And remember try to mix at low levels(Walls not vibrating)

[decklyn]

Some great advice in here for sure.

tuning your kick can REALLY REALLY help if it has low bass frequencies. Depends on the bassline tho.

I've been reading some production articles lately and one thing that caught my mind was considering bass and drums as one single element if they are rhythmically connected. If such is the case, then tuning your drum will work wonders. Otherwise, consider them seperate parts and EQ them so that they work together ie) drop the kick down a bit below 100hz
or something and drop the bass down above 100hz

Also another fun thing to do with basses is to cleave it not into just 2 frequency bands, but into three. I did this in a dnb track where one instance is just sibilance, so there is clean sub bass, ruff lows and mids, and then a gap and then seperately filtered highs, with lots of stereo imaging and such

Always keep bass frequencies in mono.

Another hint for sperating lows is to pan the kick very slightly to the left and pan the bass very slightly to the right. BE SUBTLE HERE. it's just to give a touch of definition and space to each.

[parson]

i try to make the walls rumble

[misk]

thanks 10 bag

i can usually tell if the bass is the new hawtness if my feet rumble, and the bass hits me in the chest. compression with a slow attack time (30ms) adds a nice thump to basslines, especially wobbles.