***Relationship between kick and bass note placement please***

[GreenBurn]

I understand that a popular way is to place your bass notes in the same spots as your kicks (in your drum pattern) but when I do this it sounds horrible. Can someone please leave some tips or links to info on how this is done. If anyone has specifics regarding how to do this with particular hardware/software then please leave a detailed response...I can use any of the following or a combination of any of these: mpc, reason, cubase. Thanks in advance.

 

[Toges]

Well your kick and bass shouldn't mainly be occupying the same frequencies. What I mean is your kick should leave some space for the bass so it doesnt come off sounding horrible. Use EQ

 

[GreenBurn]

Right...eq'ing may be the only thing I know about the relationship between kick and bass...I usually boost the kick in the 0-80hz range and boost the bass in the 80-200hx range while dropping the kick above 80hz and dropping the bass below 80hz. My question is more regarding where bass notes would go in a pattern.

 

[Toges]

You already said it. Bass should go anywhere the kick goes.

 

[GreenBurn]

I dont think it sounds right (even eq'd correctly) when a bass note hits on every kick.

 

[deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup]

Well your kick and bass shouldn't mainly be occupying the same frequencies. What I mean is your kick should leave some space for the bass so it doesnt come off sounding horrible. Use EQ

Sometimes it's better to pass on EQ and just adjust you volume. One always drowns the other. In Hip Hop, it's best to keep kicks loud and dominant and turn down the bass. Even quiet basslines are very recognizable and the kick standing out is driving your song.

In other genres, lighter and sharper(shorter)kicks are usually used, and it's not uncommon to let the bass and kick meet a little closer to the same loudness.

 

[BobbyGarcia]

Move it over

I found that sometimes letting the bass hit like a 1/16th note right after you place the kick allows some space for the two. If I'm using a keyboard, I will quantize my kick, but play the bass manually so I can control it...or, if I have the wav's laid out in a track edit mode, I'll slide it over... but this dosen't always work...I'll only do this if I can't live with the bass & kick hitting at the same time... IF this is what you're talking about, hope it helps a bit... Peace.

 

[noblewordz]

I have made tracks where the bass follows the main lead not the kick pattern. If you cant get them to work together then don't have them playing at the same time.

Sometimes it's better to pass on EQ and just adjust you volume. One always drowns the other. In Hip Hop, it's best to keep kicks loud and dominant and turn down the bass. Even quiet basslines are very recognizable and the kick standing out is driving your song.

Good point.

 

[Hosey]

Right...eq'ing may be the only thing I know about the relationship between kick and bass...I usually boost the kick in the 0-80hz range and boost the bass in the 80-200hx range while dropping the kick above 80hz and dropping the bass below 80hz. My question is more regarding where bass notes would go in a pattern.

No boosting. EQs are not amplifiers. You need to isolate where your kick's sweet spot is. Sweep your EQ until you find the spot where the most important part of the kick (the thump and low end) is pretty much all you hear. Most of the drums I use have a sweet spot somewhere between 120Hz-160Hz. You should be able to find it with a very narrow (no more than 1 octave) band-notch. Make a note of the freq, return it to zero, then don't boost any of the kick. Go to your bass track, and cut the freq about 3 dB or so with a notch at the freq you found with your kick drum. That should put the bass 'under' the kick for lack of better description. The problem you're having is b/c of the boosting. It's like you're asking your system to accentuate and highlight two separate things, which is bad enough, but with bass and kicks, it's like you're trying to highlight and accentuate two things that are in the same spot, doing almost the same thing. If you're going for hip hop or radio pop, the drums are almost always the most upfront part of the instrumental, since it's the part that requires no musical inclination to appreciate.

I'd pretty much always say not to boost with your EQ. Ever. If you want to 'boost' a certain freq, cut the freqs you don't want a little and then turn the entire track up.

 

[ameliablack]

yeah, i wouldn't advise boosting anything with EQ, but there are times when people prefer to have the bass in the lower frequencies instead of the kick. also the 808 "boom" sounds always go lower than the kicks, which is more representative of a bass note than a kick thump

 

[chosen1]

No boosting. EQs are not amplifiers. You need to isolate where your kick's sweet spot is. Sweep your EQ until you find the spot where the most important part of the kick (the thump and low end) is pretty much all you hear. Most of the drums I use have a sweet spot somewhere between 120Hz-160Hz. You should be able to find it with a very narrow (no more than 1 octave) band-notch. Make a note of the freq, return it to zero, then don't boost any of the kick. Go to your bass track, and cut the freq about 3 dB or so with a notch at the freq you found with your kick drum. That should put the bass 'under' the kick for lack of better description. The problem you're having is b/c of the boosting. It's like you're asking your system to accentuate and highlight two separate things, which is bad enough, but with bass and kicks, it's like you're trying to highlight and accentuate two things that are in the same spot, doing almost the same thing. If you're going for hip hop or radio pop, the drums are almost always the most upfront part of the instrumental, since it's the part that requires no musical inclination to appreciate.

I'd pretty much always say not to boost with your EQ. Ever. If you want to 'boost' a certain freq, cut the freqs you don't want a little and then turn the entire track up.

great call always use subtractive eq