Taming Bassline/Low Frequencies

C

caycay

New member
Im trying to mix the low end of my tracks better, but I have a lot of trouble with basslines and other low frequecy instruments. My basslines/or low octave instrument are upfront in the mix, but they are usually too "boomy", and usually takeover the mix, even after I eq some lows out them....

Are there any tricks to taming resonant frequencies in basslines or low octave instruments? I've tried eq and regular compression, but nothing seems to work too good to keep the sound intact to an extent.

Are there any tricks to this, or am I doing something wrong?
 
Audio example?

I don't know how you've edited with the EQ's, but the first thing that spontaneously came to mind was that you maybe haven't highpassed those instrument enough, or have used a too gentle highpass curve. If so, I would start by using a steeper curve.
Start with the steepest possible (make sure you don't get a resonant bump), and then back it off if it sounds strange.
 
I'm going to suggest that there are issues with your room and ask if you know what it's resonant profile is?
 
Room dynamics can definitely be a problem unless you're using headphones. I struggle with mixing bass all the time myself, it's what I struggle the most when it comes to mixing. My best advice:
*Use reference tracks!
*Trust your ears not your eyes!
*Practice
 
see, you did not provide that information which is useful to know....

which model? got a link to the manual/freq response curve?
 
Your boomy basslines are probably produced by your headphones inability to accurately represent the low end. What I would do then is get a proper monitoring system and/or learn how to compensate for what your headphones lack.
 
wallengard has said it - I think the claims made for the freq response of those headphones are extremely optimistic (15Hz -20000Hz+), more like 150Hz -15000Hz at the -3db spl points and likely to be very bumpy across the rest of the range

This will be a case of suck and see until you get it right -i.e. knowing what your headphones are telling you about your mix is going to take many months of constant listening to reference tracks with spectrum analysers to understand how they are failing to reproduce the bass in these mixes. this is going to be a situation where you need to use your eyes and your ears equally to get a true understanding of your mix

Once you can hear that there is an issue and know what that issues actually is, you can begin to apply the principles of mixing to the problem
 
Have you tried listening to your track through studio monitors? I have not used your headphones but, as bandcoach said, headphones that claim so low Hz rarely have a flat response curve and boost bass frequencies. This is done because headphones cannot reproduce bass heard through normal speakers. There is just not enough mass and size to drive the sound. If you cannot mix anywhere else you will need, as people above said, to use reference tracks. Fix the bass first and then add the rest of your mix onto that.
 
don't disagree too much, but it is almost certain that issues on other systems he is noticing is down to the failure of his headphones to provide a flat image of the audio he is mixing, therefore without addressing/fixing his mix environment and equipment nothing will change

hence my suggested learning regimen
 
bandcoach said:
This will be a case of suck and see until you get it right -i.e. knowing what your headphones are telling you about your mix is going to take many months of constant listening to reference tracks with spectrum analysers to understand how they are failing to reproduce the bass in these mixes. this is going to be a situation where you need to use your eyes and your ears equally to get a true understanding of your mix
Click to expand...

thanks....I was wondering what you meant by failing to reproduce the bass in the mixes?
 
steffeeh said:
Audio example?

I don't know how you've edited with the EQ's, but the first thing that spontaneously came to mind was that you maybe haven't highpassed those instrument enough, or have used a too gentle highpass curve. If so, I would start by using a steeper curve.
Start with the steepest possible (make sure you don't get a resonant bump), and then back it off if it sounds strange.
Click to expand...

Honestly don't like posting up my tracks.... The problem is I am high passing it, but it takes most of the bass out of it. And I cant keep much of the original sound intact in order to take out the boominess. And its not just bass, its instruments like low octave pizzicato strings, for example, that have a lot of resonance due to how they were recorded. And people who listen on monitors say they hear the same problem....
 
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caycay said:
thanks....I was wondering what you meant by failing to reproduce the bass in the mixes?
Click to expand...

even though you probably think that the headphones have a clear bass sound, it is not accurately reproducing (or failing to reproduce) the bass content of the mix fed to them

you need to learn what different levels of bass and different regions of bass sound like through these headphones in relation to their expected signal level based on a spectrum analyser view
 
bandcoach said:
even though you probably think that the headphones have a clear bass sound, it is not accurately reproducing (or failing to reproduce) the bass content of the mix fed to them

you need to learn what different levels of bass and different regions of bass sound like through these headphones in relation to their expected signal level based on a spectrum analyser view
Click to expand...

I understand what your saying. But will this help me with taming the frequencies? Is there any tools I could use?

I have people with monitors tell me it's boomy too. And I have this same problem with low octave/frequency pizzicato strings, low octave/frequency pianos, etc...
 
Generally speaking, unless you are micing an actual bass amp, or micing an acoustic bass, or something OTHER than a bass from a keyboard or VST, you aren't going to need to do any 'surgery' EQ on it. 99% of the time I'm just using the low and high shelf if I'm EQing a synth bassline. Your problem is likely that you are making the same mistake most people make: you've turned it up too loud. You would be shocked at how low the basslines actually are on the records I mix. You just don't NOTICE because of how well everything is balanced on my records. When you've got everything mixed, turn the bassline down ALL THE WAY to -infinity. Then slowly turn it up. As soon as you have what you consider the BARE MINIMUM needed for it to be heard, STOP. That's the level of the bassline.

Do all kinds of EQing and other squirlly is more likely to cause more problems than fix anything. I could be wrong.... but based upon my far too many years doing this pretty successfully, I suspect I'm right.
 
Alex Keith said:
Have you tried listening to your track through studio monitors? I have not used your headphones but, as bandcoach said, headphones that claim so low Hz rarely have a flat response curve and boost bass frequencies. This is done because headphones cannot reproduce bass heard through normal speakers. There is just not enough mass and size to drive the sound. If you cannot mix anywhere else you will need, as people above said, to use reference tracks. Fix the bass first and then add the rest of your mix onto that.
Click to expand...

Most of my tracks aren't meant to have the bass be in the background like most tracks are. Just get this problem with some basses, and low octave instruments with a lot of resonance...
 
I agree with what Chris has written for you
- you have your basses too loud and have probably tried to provide corrective eq when it is not needed, which is causing the resonance problems
- all of this is because you are using the headphones to do your primary mix on
-- they are providing a poor indication of the balance in your mix
 
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