How do producers like Lex Luger and Southside get the perfect bass levels?

SoundHustle

SoundHustle

New member
I noticed over the years from listening to there stuff that thier bass which is usually pitched 808's, always knocks so hard and loud in the car (atleast from a loudness perspective). If his bass levels are low why does it still sound loud in the mix? Or if his bass levels are just turned up higher why does it not rattle you're car but still sound prevelent in the mix?

So what is that they are doing? I've come to a couple conclusions.

I'm guessing they high pass or by pass a lot of the other sounds so the bass get's isolated and will sound louder. Or maybe they compress the bass? Does compressing you're bass help with this?

I also noticed limiting the ceiling on my bass almost to squash it makes it vibrate less physically but still sounds just as loud.

What do you guys think?
 
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They pay professional audio engineers to mix their tracks.

And yeah, compression is what they're going to use, on 808's the key is to get the attack just right.
 
Simple. The bass has room in the mix to do what its supposed to do.
 
Yeah I watched a video where Lex talked about how he mixed his 808's... something along the lines of "I turn dat shit up till it knock".... what he means is a professional engineer takes his mix and makes it sound good. 808's is about tuning and attack. Ducking helps to give extra space for the mix. But think about trap music, there is not much competing with the 808, considering most of it is orchestral and higher frequency drums, so there is plenty of space to let the 808s sing.
 
SvenD said:
Yeah I watched a video where Lex talked about how he mixed his 808's... something along the lines of "I turn dat shit up till it knock".... what he means is a professional engineer takes his mix and makes it sound good. 808's is about tuning and attack. Ducking helps to give extra space for the mix. But think about trap music, there is not much competing with the 808, considering most of it is orchestral and higher frequency drums, so there is plenty of space to let the 808s sing.
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here it is

Producer Lex Luger-Episode Pt 1 - YouTube
 
Echoing what everyone else has said, Lex admitted that he doesn't EQ or compress anything. He takes a hard hitting bass drum, turns it up high and professional engineers take care of the rest.
 
Styl said:
They pay professional audio engineers to mix their tracks.

And yeah, compression is what they're going to use, on 808's the key is to get the attack just right.
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Do you want a longer attack and shorter release? or the opposite?

I never really compress my bass, only a few times, is this a common procedure with you guys?


Sixth said:
Echoing what everyone else has said, Lex admitted that he doesn't EQ or compress anything. He takes a hard hitting bass drum, turns it up high and professional engineers take care of the rest.
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Man it sure is a luxury to be able to just crank out beats all day and have someone make it sound good. I probably spend the majority of my time in the mixing and mastering stages than actual composition lol
 
Definitely a lot in the engineering. It's easy to pitch 808s on FL, but compressing and messing with the attack is something else.
 
SoundHustle said:
Man it sure is a luxury to be able to just crank out beats all day and have someone make it sound good. I probably spend the majority of my time in the mixing and mastering stages than actual composition lol
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That's why I'm in the belief that unless you're a professional engineer, you shouldn't be obsessing about mixing/mastering. Worry about making the beat and someone will come up behind you and make it sound how it should. It's their job to.
 
SoundHustle said:
Do you want a longer attack and shorter release? or the opposite?

I never really compress my bass, only a few times, is this a common procedure with you guys?
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Not to cop out but it just depends on the 808 sample and what the mix calls for. Not too fast of an attack or you'll lose that nice knock at the beginning of it. Generally I aim for 3 or 4 db of reduction. Some may do more but its easy to squash an 808
 
Layering, compression, eq and good mixing. All of the tracks your hear from lex are professionally mixed, which means the engineer can and will layer whatever is needed to get a certain sound.
 
SoundHustle said:
Do you want a longer attack and shorter release? or the opposite?

I never really compress my bass, only a few times, is this a common procedure with you guys?



Man it sure is a luxury to be able to just crank out beats all day and have someone make it sound good. I probably spend the majority of my time in the mixing and mastering stages than actual composition lol
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there're pretty mix engineers in this section that can give you a great mix
himbeats,HAKIM CALLIERand I believe Overdose does mixing as well...hit them up
 
Sixth said:
That's why I'm in the belief that unless you're a professional engineer, you shouldn't be obsessing about mixing/mastering. Worry about making the beat and someone will come up behind you and make it sound how it should. It's their job to.
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co-sign!
 
Well, I haven't worked with Lex or Southside, but I've worked on a number of Sonny Digital tracks. These guys don't hire the engineer. It's not like every track they do gets a professional mix. They just get their production sounding good - if the client hiring them wants a great mix, that's totally separate.

I've never had to layer my own sounds into any of Sonny's production. He's a monster with layering - he never over layers, and what he chooses to layer blend really well without any kind of eq/compression. Anything I'm doing in terms of that, is simply enhancing something that already sounds good. Now - for folks who are doing something similar but don't quite have the layering down I may layer something in - but not too often.

Basically, if you can't get a mix to sound decent on your own merits - it's probably the sound sources or something in the production that's lacking. You should be able to set levels and call it a day. Or if you want to go crazy, a couple of hours using a little eq, compression, reverb, whatever.
 
yes your beats should sound good enough to entice artists and then when they make a actually song to it ...the "real" or "pro" mixing starts...once the whole album is done that's when the "pro" mastering is done

I forgot Weiss-Sound on my list great mixers
Weiss Sound
 
Sixth said:
That's why I'm in the belief that unless you're a professional engineer, you shouldn't be obsessing about mixing/mastering. Worry about making the beat and someone will come up behind you and make it sound how it should. It's their job to.
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IMO this is only viable advice if you already have a name. Nobody want to buy a beat off some nobody that sound like ass.
 
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