Dubstepforum.com

I have tried to figure this out for myself now for a good week or two and its starting to do my head in so i thought i would ask here.
I have read through a lot of the guides on this site and they have helped me out a lot, i know there are guides to help me but i cant understand it properly and i feel like i need a down to earth answer from another user.

Basically, i have created a nice sub bass in massive that i would like to use. I read that a rough guideline where a sub bass should be peaking is -10db on the master.
Whenever i EQ my sub so that its around about the -10db mark it sounds pretty weak. Also i could only find some guidelines on where the kick and sub should be on the master but i was looking at where i should have my hats and and snare at?

Also, on my sub bass i have added a free filter and put it at 100HZ

Do i need to do this with the snares, hats and kicks in order to keep everything sounding smooth together?

Thanks for any help

read the moneyshot thread

http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=233775

pure sine wave at -10db should be perfectly fine. probably just whatever you're using to listen to it

I think the font should be in bigger, bolder letters for the moneyshot sticky

Boost the sub around 50-60hz, or put a limiter on it a up the gain. Low cut everything (snares, mids, etc.) under ~80-100hz depending on what your kick sounds like. You can also try compressing it and upping the gain. Make sure your sub patch doesn't have too much harmonics or it'll be weaker.

you should get used to mixing by ear as well because every tune is going to be a little different

what do you mean you eq'd your sub down to -10db. you dont eq to control volume really. use the fader to pull it down to about -10db. but remember -10db is all relative to the song your working in...

I have my sub lowpassed to 80hz, sometimes lower to around 60hz, where my bassline sits. And then I have it 2 db under my kick. My kick is highpassed usually around 45hz to 50hz, depending on where the bassline goes and where it just sounds best.

can anyone explain to me the point in lowpassing a sub.. it (should be) a single frequency

mikeyp wrote:can anyone explain to me the point in lowpassing a sub.. it (should be) a single frequency

some people chose to use some saturation to add some extra harmonics to their subs so you can hear them in cars. personally i use the tail end of an 808 kick which is not a pure sine. its got some extra harmonics and its weighty.

Eat Bass wrote:

mikeyp wrote:can anyone explain to me the point in lowpassing a sub.. it (should be) a single frequency

some people chose to use some saturation to add some extra harmonics to their subs so you can hear them in cars. personally i use the tail end of an 808 kick which is not a pure sine. its got some extra harmonics and its weighty.

yeah i get that part, but i feel like you should clone the sub patch, and highpass the harmonics in the second, and handle them separately. if you're including those harmonics in the same channel when you mix, you're just losing headroom for the real sub to shine (at least this is how i see things in my mind)

I do it just to make sure no matter what I do with it always stays in that frequency range. Also when I use pure sines I get clicks and bumps when starting and stopping notes.

ChadDub wrote:I do it just to make sure no matter what I do with it always stays in that frequency range. Also when I use pure sines I get clicks and bumps when starting and stopping notes.

some good adsr'ing should take care of those noises, no?

I ADSR as well because I make my own 808 type sound by having a sine or a triangle lowpassed and then having a stand alone kick playing before the bass, so I have the slightest bit of predelay on the sub so it doesn't play when the kick is playing.

It's just the way I work, so I use the lowpass on the sub.

not hatin', just wondering

do your beast thang

This depends totally on your mix. If you don't want your kick fighting against your sub, proper eqing is more important than levels. I normally cut my kicks at 80 - 120 Hz to make space for the sub, same with all other sources, which have a lot of deep frequencies. Low-Cut is your friend

Don't forget that you can loose quite a bit of headroom eq'ing your subs and kicks. Pay attention to those meters.

ChadDub wrote:I ADSR as well because I make my own 808 type sound by having a sine or a triangle lowpassed and then having a stand alone kick playing before the bass, so I have the slightest bit of predelay on the sub so it doesn't play when the kick is playing.

It's just the way I work, so I use the lowpass on the sub.

Chad, the beat in your sig is solid, not really feeling the hits but the pads + beat are nice!

Phase Down wrote:

ChadDub wrote:I ADSR as well because I make my own 808 type sound by having a sine or a triangle lowpassed and then having a stand alone kick playing before the bass, so I have the slightest bit of predelay on the sub so it doesn't play when the kick is playing.

It's just the way I work, so I use the lowpass on the sub.

Chad, the beat in your sig is solid, not really feeling the hits but the pads + beat are nice!

Thank you I guess you could say I am very blessed by The Based God himself. #TYBG.

In short..... consider choice of sounds and their pitch/harmonic relationship, treat your room if possible, listen to good references, level match and compare, listen on different systems, try headphones too.

cheers

SafeandSound Mastering
Online music mastering
Online audio mastering