mustream
Eager Beaver
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 17
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| Need help on mixing kick & synthesized Bass |
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Hi All, I have question .. Does anyonehave any information on the “Technique” on getting the Bass and the Kick Bass to mesh as it were, or in other words how to get it to sound with that type of “Off the speaker sound”???? , ok, I know that term is a bit out there, but I’m trying to explain how it sounds to me…. When I listen to commercial recordings (B2K, Brandy etc…) I here the Kick and the Bass Hitting hard but at the same time its light on the Speakers, if you know what I mean… So I could raise the volume really loud and I wouldn’t distort the speakers. By the way there a pair of ALESIS M1 Actives… Now with our recordings we sound pretty ok too but that one element of the Kick and Bass is what were struggling with a bit…
Ok for the Kick, especially for R&B and RAP sounds big and nice but It BANGS on the speakers. Now I do use compression and equalization on the bass and kick but the result doesn’t really come close to what I’m looking for still. Now I know that these commercial stuff are recorded and Mastered in Multi-Million dollar studios and stuff, But I get the feeling that the TECHNIQUE for getting the bass and Kick to sound the way I described is a bit easier that I think…. Now I was wondering if anyone have any information towards this….
Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated
ASUS MB
INTEL P4 3.2 GHZ
1GIG RAM
Aardvark Direct Pro Q10 – (their company is now out of business apparently)
Mackie SR24. 4 bus Mixer
Aphex 107 Tub essence Preamp
APhex 204 Aural Exciter – Big Bottom
DBX Compressor 166a
Edirol UM-880
I use the DBX only for Voice compression..
All other compression I use with software (Waves, Ultrafunk etc) |
Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:24 am |
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AUdIoCoUrSeS
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 2014
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| Link to Track |
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Best thing to do is to post a link up to a track you would like people to explain, you know one of the tunes you are trying to emulate.
There are too many possible ways to talk generally really.
Have you got an mp3 link to it?
_________________
It's all in the ears. - Learn the concepts not the software.
Audio Courses is a way into the music business for you
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Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:27 am |
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vanhool
Assisstant
Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 31
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| Hello! |
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Have you tried compressor sidechaining?
It`s explained on this site and manny others as well.
Basic effect is, that the bass volume decreases just before kick comes in. This way you can easily get louder volume of both, they both soundand exact and are not mashed up.
Perhaps this is not what you want, but it`s a nicetrick, worth experimenting with! |
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Sat May 27, 2006 11:40 pm |
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ben m
Joined: 15 Sep 2002
Posts: 337
Location: UK |
Yes we have covered sidechaining here:
http://www.audiocourses.com/article1752.html
This is good for making room for the kick and can make the sound more 'punchy' and 'tight'.
Also compression may be used over the stereo buss and/or in the mastering process to mold the dynamics of the track.
I'd certainly have a look at sidechaining though.
Let us know how you get on. |
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Sun May 28, 2006 5:57 pm |
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LilBuddy
Engineer
Joined: 17 Nov 2006
Posts: 49
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wow...this is a post that i read, but now that i look back at it, will definitely help out a lot with a problem i noticed on the last 2 instrumentals i made. once the low bass comes in, it overpowers the kick. i've been wondering what i could do to over come that. now the only thing i have to do is try to use this concept in FL6. i'm pretty sure i can make it work the same way as in the article.
yep yep  |
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Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:43 am |
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wailingalleycat
Forum Manager
Joined: 07 Oct 2003
Posts: 694
Location: Jersey C.I (UK) |
| Make some space! |
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Hi again LilBuddy,
im gonna say forget about signal processing for now.
the key to a good mix is to give everything its own space, ill explain this as best i can but feel free to ask questions and pick it out.
the kick and bass is a prime example of where mixes can turn to mush. what you need to do is now u have your sound, stop worrying about how they sound on their own and get them sounding good together. solo the two and listen for any clashes in the way they sound together. for example, lets say u have a very clicky kick sound, and a very toppy slappy bass sound. what u need to do, is take out some of that click from the bass, and fatten up the low end so you effectively make a bowl in the frequency response of the bass guitar, so that the Kick can drop in and they can sit nicely together. this is a step that will require alot of fiddling and experimentation to get right but its well worth it for that professional mix. however if there is a section with just the kick on its own with no bass, it will sound a bit odd. so try creating another track, with your original kick sound, or even the reverse of what you did to get then two to slot together. so if the bass disappears u can bring up the original kick sound to rebuild it and get that killer kick again.
Looks like youll have to read through that a few times to understand it, i did, lol.
and as a side comment, i cant emphasise enough how much it helps to listen to and break down a track similar to the one you are producing. when im doing a mix i leave a CD running of a song that i like and that matches what im trying to mix. so then every now and again i can stop, bring the CD up to get bearings back on what im trying to achieve, pick out how they have done certain things, and perhaps most importantly, reset my ears. its too easy to get caught up in a mix and so lose track of what you are aiming for. when you are trying to get that killer sound with a particular instrument, in this case kick and bass. your ears soon adjust to what you are hearing so it becomes normal. this is what you experience every time u have exported a mix and then listened back to it the next day and thought "what was i thinking!" so always have that reference track at hand.
Sorry to ramble, hope that helps. and like audiocourses said, post up a track for us to listen to so we can give you more tailored advice.
-Paul
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If In Doubt...Hit It With a Hammer, If Still In Doubt... Find a Bigger Hammer. |
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Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:01 am |
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