Can someone explain this paragraph?

C

CowboyClyde

New member
Trying to mix 808s and Kick drums. I'm trying to follow instructions from this website:
How to Mix Trap Music

What does this mean:

  • The 200hz range: There’s a good amount of punch in your average kick drum around 200 Hz. That range won’t do much for standard 808 which is hanging out below 100hz – but if you are working with a layered kick for punch (something I would consider dubbing into the mix if it isn’t already present) – pushing that range can be very helpful. If you can blend the layered kick under the 808 and extend the 200hz range – you end up getting what basically sounds like a super punchy 808.

^What does it mean to "extend the 200hz range" and what are some techniques to do this?

Also, from watching different videos, I am noticing that a lot of people don't low-pass their 808s/kick drums...Wouldn't that be good so that you open up space for your higher-frequency instruments? (ex. make some space for hi hats or something)?
 
It just means boosting that frequency range using eq on your non-808 kick. There's other ways to do it but the most simple is just to take an eq and boost it around 200hz. This will give you punch at the start of your kick and then the 808 will give you the low end.

You shouldn't worry about low passing your kicks unless it's making a noticeable problem with other instruments. If you low pass all of your lower frequencies, people won't be able to hear them at all on things like laptop speakers and crappy earbuds.
 
ahhh, thank you. What about cutting low end? I read somewhere that you should cut the low end on all your kicks and bass instruments at 20-200hz because you can't hear those frequencies and it muddies up a mix?
 
low-cut or high-pass at 20Hz with a shelving eq/filter is normal practice

but I certainly would not band-pass a kick between 20Hz and 200Hz - there is so much information found at 600Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz and 5kHz in most kick drums that it is just plain silly to remove those frequencies from the signal
 
What most people do is cut somewhere around 150hz on all NON-BASS instruments, this leaves extra room for your bass and kick. On your kick and bass track, you could either cut 30hz and below (because then it becomes inaudible) or you can just cut out the 30hz and below on your master track and not have to do it on the individual tracks.

Absolutely don't cut out the low end above 30hz for bass instruments unless its a noticeable problem, even then, just reduce it a bit, don't eliminate it. Hope that helps a bit.
 
200hz is a bit high tho, thats getting into "boxy" range. Around 100hz is gonna be your punch, <60-80hz is where your 808 is gonna sit.
 
The Funk Junkie said:
What most people do is cut somewhere around 150hz on all NON-BASS instruments, this leaves extra room for your bass and kick. On your kick and bass track, you could either cut 30hz and below (because then it becomes inaudible) or you can just cut out the 30hz and below on your master track and not have to do it on the individual tracks.

Absolutely don't cut out the low end above 30hz for bass instruments unless its a noticeable problem, even then, just reduce it a bit, don't eliminate it. Hope that helps a bit.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Was looking for advice like this!
 
The Funk Junkie said:
It just means boosting that frequency range using eq on your non-808 kick. There's other ways to do it but the most simple is just to take an eq and boost it around 200hz. This will give you punch at the start of your kick and then the 808 will give you the low end.

You shouldn't worry about low passing your kicks unless it's making a noticeable problem with other instruments. If you low pass all of your lower frequencies, people won't be able to hear them at all on things like laptop speakers and crappy earbuds.
Click to expand...

Really? Kinda sounds like it's talking about layering a kick under the 808 to extend information by using two sources.
 
Depends on the style of the track but I know a lot of Drum and Bass producers tune a sampled kick quite high (up to around 200hz) then layer with a lower kick (808 for example)
 
No rule is followed every time. But in reference to an 808 kick, I'm not sure why anyone would advise boosting at 200hz. Most of the presence felt from the 808 is going to be in the 60-90hz range. You'll have a little into the 100s, but an 808 is about "feeling" more than hearing. Advice like this is why you get 808s today that you can hear in a song on laptop speakers, but sound weak when played in a club or a car with a system in it. THAT"S BACKWARDS AS F**K!

I've always boosted lows at 78-80hz(not sure where I learned it at, but it always sounds great). By "lows" I mean anything you want to feel, the "punch" of a kick, the "rumble" of a bass. Some go low into the 60s for this, but that always sounds too "dirty" to me, I like everything sharp and hard hitting. I boost higher for what I call "audible bass" that's low freq sounds you actually hear like harmonics(not rumble) of a bass guitar, or bassy synths with audible presence in the mids/highs as well. But 808 has no needed "audible presence" IMO, it's all feel. I'm perfectly content with a mix that sounds clean where you're not able to make out 808 while listening thru iphone speakers as long as when you put on a pair of heaphones it knocks your head off. When you pop it in your car, it punches you in the back and makes the girl in the passenger seat bite her bottom lip, roll her eyes back, and slump down in the seat(you know what's happening, yeeeeeaaaah)! When it's played in a club, your heartbeat should skip when it hits.

Your 808 kicks are more than likely mixed wrong if you're hearing them through smaller speakers with no sub. Alot of guys who make music use 5" monitors, but think these types of sounds are supposed to be in their face. End result is you get overboosted freqs that make 808s audible with no "knock", just "buzz", it sounds soooo shytty.
 
This(overboosted higher freq 808s):


Versus This(boosting 808s at lower freqs):



Not sure if most even have the speakers to hear the difference...but, hey.
 
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on my computer speakers 2.1 logitech set I've had since mid 2002; I can hear the difference between the two as clear as day
 
A lot of house tracks have kicks that hit higher up. (like 100-200hz). And I bet a bunch of other genres do the same.

808s are lovely, but what's the point when you're playing it on a laptop speaker? Or off an ipod?

I sometimes high pass my kicks at 50hz to let the sub run on its own below. Then do a light boost in the 100-200hz range to give the kick(s) some punch.
 
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