EQ Rolling Bass & Kick Drum

S

strizzack

New member
Its a fact, two overlapping frequencies on different instruments can create muddy sounds.

So lets say you have some of that deep rolling bass in a track. Then for a kick drum, you have a hard hitting 808 drum...something that hits the lows real hard.

Any EQ tips where you can still get the deep punch of the kick w/o interrupting the rolling bass? Keep in mind I don't want to cut the low or high end out of the rolling bass or the kick drum, but I want them to blend together well. Any ideas?
 
EQ and do cuts.

also do a search on this it has been looked at not very long ago, and many times before this.

one way cut kick at 70hz cut bass at 120hz. well around there play with the eq you will find it.
 
i generally juss cut everything below 20-30 hz right off the bat. however, if u cut your deep rolling bass at 130 hz it usually loses its power. find a good eq and first cut everything and slowly touch it up til u get the sound u want.
 
finding the "magical" freq can do a little tricky. However, my opinion is: the kick drum must be the bottom end (some hip hoppers may disagree) In this case, you should roll off some low end of your bassline, in order to avoid the "kick/bass syndrome". So, I keep trying until I find the right number, since every kick/bass are very different, and deals with different freqs.

But the low-low end cutoff suggested above is very useful and can give you more headroom, so you can work another areas easily.

Some people says compression can help, but I dunno.
 
It's all about how you EQ both parts. For them to Both work together you need to find out what frequencies the parts use and see where you can make them "slot" together.
 
I usually find with this problem (especially when the deep bass is playing 16th notes), that a higher frequency kick drum, with a decent floor, is a cheap way to start off on the right foor. Keep in mind, I said "start on the right foor", so It's not the end to the problem.
 
Actually, to show you'all what I'm talking about, I submitted a small clip of the track I'm currently working on at my band page. It's called "Psy-Trance Bass problem" click here to find it:

Raunchy Music Here

The mp3 features a STRONG rolling bass that I dipped anything below 150 Hertz significantly. Then there's the Distorted hummer thumping off the high, synthetic kick that has little floor to mention. The distorted bass has got me in fits of rage right now. I'm seeing lots of parametric analysis in my future and I don't even do astrology.

The kick isn't quite low enough, the rolling bass is alright for current purposes, and the other lower bass is bullying everything else. Honestly, it feels like I'm stuffing three elephants in a phone booth.

This mix isn't clean yet, it's not mastered, and certainly isn't mixed properly yet. Enjoy the acid if you can. I did this to contribute a point, as well as see what your advice is.
 
Last edited:
i always cut the extreme low end off of the kiks. and often with the basslines. but i dont know how much that actually helps them work together. i know it keeps all the energy of your track from being blown out the bottom end...

but this is what sidechain compressors are used for a lot. its one of the reasons ive been looking into those...

i think with sidechains you can get this to work really well. and you can do a whole lot with eqing each of them and maybe compressing one of them. ro both.... i usually just load up an eq on each, put a small dip in each, and adjust em back and forth while theyre both in front of me til i find something that 'works'....

but i agree with what was said. i also often end up keeping the kik nice and low and strong, and nudgin the bass up a little bit, out of the way.... i dunno if thats a good idea, but thats how ive gotten it to work so far....




peace.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top