Need some advice on mixing my sub-bass

Jef Ferson

MUZIEK
Hey folks,

I've been working on a track last couple of days and i'm having a hard time getting my sub-bass to sit nicely in the mix.
Sometimes it just seems to dissapear, and other times it becomes boomy and loud depending on which note is being played.
I only started noticing this when i listened to the mix outside of my room. When sitting infront of my monitors the problems are not as pronounced. Maybe something to do with the acoustics in my room ?

The bass comes from a short sample i cutted out of a track and re-arranged in midi. It's also sidechained to the kick.
I'm working without a subwoofer on krk rokit 6's.

You can find a sample of the mix and a solo from the bass in the attachments.

Hope someone has some more knowledge about this than i do :o

Cheers.
 

Attachments

  • Cherisch 3rd mix.mp3
    689 KB · Views: 22
  • Cherisch 3rd mix (Bass Solo).mp3
    642.1 KB · Views: 23
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The lower notes seem to be a bit quieter but only a bit in my setup.

Perhaps you're playing this on a sound system that rolls off the bass a lot down low, that would make the lower notes quieter.

Tricks you can get around it so it's audible on all systems would be to use some distortion / exciter to add some upper harmonics that "less than ideal" speakers can reproduce easily. You'd still get the bass roll off down there but the upper harmonics should be fairly consistent giving a more balanced sound. Make sure to check references in the same key that hit those sort of notes and see if the bass drops off down there on those systems as well.
 
The lower notes seem to be a bit quieter but only a bit in my setup.

Perhaps you're playing this on a sound system that rolls off the bass a lot down low, that would make the lower notes quieter.

Tricks you can get around it so it's audible on all systems would be to use some distortion / exciter to add some upper harmonics that "less than ideal" speakers can reproduce easily. You'd still get the bass roll off down there but the upper harmonics should be fairly consistent giving a more balanced sound. Make sure to check references in the same key that hit those sort of notes and see if the bass drops off down there on those systems as well.

Thanks for the advice jrace !

I think you're right about my system not being able to handle those lower notes to well. I played around with a sine wave at those notes and they are definitely allot quieter for me.
Might have to look into bigger monitors or maybe a subwoofer.

But the tip you mentioned about using some distortion did actually help quite a bit ! I already had a decapitator on the bass but i handn't touched the drive on it yet. I upped that pretty high and lowered output, and it's coming through allot better now :) So thanks again for that tip.

Think my next step is to have a listen in a car and see how it sounds in there.

(I added a new mp3 if anyone is interested to hear the difference)

Greetings.
 

Attachments

  • Cherish mix (Dist bass).mp3
    773.5 KB · Views: 59
Last edited:
flat frequwncy headphones monitor subs the best, if you don't have speakers that can reproduce it... multiband compression can pull down the higher note frequencies, and leave the deeo low end, so you can sit it better in the mix, parallel compression could also assist u :)
 
try a linear phase EQ on it. If you're using a low-cut EQ on your sub, that normally introduces phasing, that drains the power.
 
If you are using midi for this sound, maybe try some saturation. Maybe don't compress the lower notes to the kick, but compress it by using a volume envelope at the start of the note instead....may help.
 
My advice is just head for the best EQ you can get on those subs! It will at least solve the problem of velocity inconsistency when different notes are played.
 
I agree with with many others have said here. I listened to this on an augspurger system. Try some saturation. Sub frequencies are a tough thing to deal with in an untreated room, because you can get dead spots. With something like this, maybe try some metering tools so you can see if any phasing is happening. Tools that let you see what's going on are great because you can adapt for what you can't hear.

Listening to them on the system, I didn't notice anything out of place, but I'm not really sure what you are looking for.

I only listed to the new mp3 you did.
 
flat frequwncy headphones monitor subs the best, if you don't have speakers that can reproduce it... multiband compression can pull down the higher note frequencies, and leave the deeo low end, so you can sit it better in the mix, parallel compression could also assist u :)

I'm using sennheiser HD600's. Not sure if they fall under that category :D But it does sound better on my headphones than on my speakers. I'll have a look into multiband/parallel compression. Haven't used that technique yet so i've got some learning to do :)
 
I agree with with many others have said here. I listened to this on an augspurger system. Try some saturation. Sub frequencies are a tough thing to deal with in an untreated room, because you can get dead spots. With something like this, maybe try some metering tools so you can see if any phasing is happening. Tools that let you see what's going on are great because you can adapt for what you can't hear.

Listening to them on the system, I didn't notice anything out of place, but I'm not really sure what you are looking for.

I only listed to the new mp3 you did.

Hey man thanks for the reply,

I'm working in FL studio and i'm not sure if there's any decent metering tools in there. Are there any you could advice ? I still got a lot to learn about things like phasing. I wouldn't know how to see on a meter if phasing is going on or not. Gonna have to learn some more about that i guess ! I'll try and mess around a bit with saturation as many people have mentioned it ^^

But i'm glad it sounds decent enough on your system. Just looking for that subb to come through well enough as it's one if the main things that drives the track.
 
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What monitors and sub are you working with? That will determine how much sub you can hear, for instance my genelecs only go down to 67hertz, so a sub is needed.


Yea bluecat makes some free metering tools. You can just do a quick google search, and you'll find everything you need in terms of free metering plug ins. kvraudio website is a great place to start as well. Everything I've gotten has been through a quick google search.
 
What monitors and sub are you working with? That will determine how much sub you can hear, for instance my genelecs only go down to 67hertz, so a sub is needed.


Yea bluecat makes some free metering tools. You can just do a quick google search, and you'll find everything you need in terms of free metering plug ins. kvraudio website is a great place to start as well. Everything I've gotten has been through a quick google search.

Hey thanks for the info man. I'm using krk rokit 6 monitors but don't have a sub. So i'm probably not hearing the lowest frequencies proper enough. That's probably a big deal of the problem i have when mixing the subb. I'll have a look at those bluecat plugins ! thanks again :)
 
FWIW I also use the HD600's they go plenty low trust me, that being said.....

Try the "foam mod" APureSound - Where The Music Is Always Pure - APS Audio LLC. this will get rid of that bump around 100-200Hz and makes things sound a bit more neutral (however a bit less fun)

Then combine with Sonarworks, they have a HD600 preset. Give their trial a go, it's the some of the flattest low end I've ever heard.
 
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