How to get thumping bass?

[HIMbeats]

i might be wrong because i'm still learning how to mix myself but shouldn't the kick be the more dominant force in all three bands? i mean like shouldn't it punch through? because it sounds ducked over your bassline.

I am sure I changed the kick some once we laid his vocals to bring it out, but no this is no such rule in mixing that says the kick must be dominant in all bands. Ducking is used on different genres of music and for different reasons. Sometimes you can duck in a dance track to create air, or to get give a kick its own space in a pop track or to pump in a house track. Anyway, i may have ducked on this track..I don't remember the process as I have made hundreds of track since.

 

[acetheface954]

I am sure I changed the kick some once we laid his vocals to bring it out, but no this is no such rule in mixing that says the kick must be dominant in all bands. Ducking is used on different genres of music and for different reasons. Sometimes you can duck in a dance track to create air, or to get give a kick its own space in a pop track or to pump in a house track. Anyway, i may have ducked on this track..I don't remember the process as I have made hundreds of track since.

Lol ah the whole "know your genre" rule again. Luckily for myself I'm currently just into making different variations of house. Yo I'll look you up once I tighten up on the EQing though man.

 

[HIMbeats]

Learning is a never ending process when it comes to music. I been doing this coming up on 9 years and I learn everyday man. Working in someones studio makes you learn because we work on everything. Right now Im mixing a country track for a commerical, but it's fun. Alway, I am home now so I will hunt through some tracks and see if I can give you a better example of a 3 kick. But yeah, I would love to hear some of your stuff, hit me up anytime.

 

[acetheface954]

Learning is a never ending process when it comes to music. I been doing this coming up on 9 years and I learn everyday man. Working in someones studio makes you learn because we work on everything. Right now Im mixing a country track for a commerical, but it's fun. Alway, I am home now so I will hunt through some tracks and see if I can give you a better example of a 3 kick. But yeah, I would love to hear some of your stuff, hit me up anytime.

Yeah man tell me about it. But its a great thing to continue to learn though. Nothing us greater than creating something from the use of your imagination. And commercial jingles are a good look. Especially if its catchy. People like myself seek that type of sh*t out on youtube heavily. Good luck with that and I'll send my completed works your way when I get done.

---------- Post added at 03:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 AM ----------

Try stacking a punchy Kick drum over a sub synth or real subby kick drum. Let the sub come through stronger around 60-80 hz and let the kick come through stronger around 120-130 hz. This is what I do, and I generally get good results.

Like Venemous said, you can also add a little to the kick in 2000-8000 range. Maybe pick an area in there that you mix isn't already using for another instrument. This will add to the 'click' of the kick.

I also agree with Venemous about the final mastering. Compression/limiting is something you have to be really careful with, but it can make your mix sound fantastic if done right.

When mixing bass/kick always listen on large monitors. Headphones/small monitors will NOT give a good read, and you'll end up with a poor sounding bass range when you play it back on other systems.

does this mean the bassline or bassy lead should be between 80-120hz?

 

[Bryst]

does this mean the bassline or bassy lead should be between 80-120hz?[/QUOTE]

No not necessarily. I would take these other guys' advice before mine if I were you lol... They know a lot more, I can tell.

I was basically just saying that that rumble part of the bass is usually around 80 hz and the punchy part is more like 120-130. At least that's what i've experienced. It's different for diff drum sounds prolly.

I usually stack two kicks (although I might try stacking 3 sometime after reading this thread...) one is more sumbly like around 60-80hz and one is more punchy around 125hz... Something you could possibly try. Sidechaining is another good method of getting the kick to come through, but I'm still not very good at that. Workin on it

good luck man

 

[acetheface954]

does this mean the bassline or bassy lead should be between 80-120hz?

No not necessarily. I would take these other guys' advice before mine if I were you lol... They know a lot more, I can tell.

I was basically just saying that that rumble part of the bass is usually around 80 hz and the punchy part is more like 120-130. At least that's what i've experienced. It's different for diff drum sounds prolly.

I usually stack two kicks (although I might try stacking 3 sometime after reading this thread...) one is more sumbly like around 60-80hz and one is more punchy around 125hz... Something you could possibly try. Sidechaining is another good method of getting the kick to come through, but I'm still not very good at that. Workin on it

good luck man[/QUOTE]


Actually I think you're right. Because the sub should not have the greatest range out of the three (sub, bassline, lead kick) since it has the most power behind it. I would say that whatever pumps out the most air out of the woofer should occupy the farthest to the left of the band. Somebody quote if this makes sense or not. Lol

 

[Bryst]

Actually I think you're right. Because the sub should not have the greatest range out of the three (sub, bassline, lead kick) since it has the most power behind it. I would say that whatever pumps out the most air out of the woofer should occupy the farthest to the left of the band. Somebody quote if this makes sense or not. Lol

Sounds right to me. I know I usually cut all the highs out of my sub bass or sub kick.

I guess it depends how you define sub bass and bassline. Cuz some basslines can have a lot of sub, but also come through strong in high ranges. Like a lead type of bass synth. In that case I would NOT do a high cut on it, cause i'd wanna hear that whole range. But usually I'll have a bassline coming through strong in higher ranges then a seperate sub-bass thing that's just really simple and might only hit while the kick is hitting like softly behind the kick to give it more rumble.

So yeah, i agree with ya, but maybe not in all circumstances...

 

[acetheface954]

Sounds right to me. I know I usually cut all the highs out of my sub bass or sub kick.

I guess it depends how you define sub bass and bassline. Cuz some basslines can have a lot of sub, but also come through strong in high ranges. Like a lead type of bass synth. In that case I would NOT do a high cut on it, cause i'd wanna hear that whole range. But usually I'll have a bassline coming through strong in higher ranges then a seperate sub-bass thing that's just really simple and might only hit while the kick is hitting like softly behind the kick to give it more rumble.

So yeah, i agree with ya, but maybe not in all circumstances...

Well I define it by where the instrument is mostly heard from. That's how I determine what has the lowest sub out of the two. But I believe that sub bass should always have the most weight to it and be at the base of the song. Bass, bassline, drums, melody, hihats. For those bassy leads with some high end I only cut out a bit of the high if it starts to conflict with my hats, cyms, and other highs. You know the deal. So yeah man I think we're both just about on the same page.

 

[RobYung]

What I do is pan out my high frequency sounds and leave the center for the bass and kick. I get 2 kicks. Stack them. One i cut everything below 100hz to 120hz and that would the pop of the kick and another kick I cut everything below 35hz to 40hz. The average listeners speakers can't handle those frequencies and honestly when you cut everything below that cleans up your mix tremendously. & like stated before. Even if you have great monitors, if your room isn't treated, your still not listening to a true "flat" mix that the monitor company tells you that you will.

 

[acetheface954]

What I do is pan out my high frequency sounds and leave the center for the bass and kick. I get 2 kicks. Stack them. One i cut everything below 100hz to 120hz and that would the pop of the kick and another kick I cut everything below 35hz to 40hz. The average listeners speakers can't handle those frequencies and honestly when you cut everything below that cleans up your mix tremendously. & like stated before. Even if you have great monitors, if your room isn't treated, your still not listening to a true "flat" mix that the monitor company tells you that you will.

ha! tell me about it. mixing in a room NOT designed for mixing is pure hell lol. i usually take the more bassy kick and pan it out from ear to ear and leave the more punchier kick sitting at dead center along with the bass lead.everything else gets panned all over the place lol.

 

[WeissSound]

lol..yeah I know three kicks sound like alot but they are molded with eq to work together. I mainly do r&b and pop stuff now, but I do have a track that I used 3 kicks on about 6 months ago for my friend Random Focus. So even though it was a rap song, he has a wacky rap style and because of the bpms I used my old house method for the kicks. If i remember right its a 808, some club kick from a kit and a 909, but don't quote me on that cuz I don't really remember. This is the track as I had it before his vocals were added....I just put it up so you can hear it.

http://soundcloud.com/mr-himbeats/beat37-wait

I've worked mixes with as many as 6 kick layers. 3 isn't weird at all.

With the house stuff, I usually layer my snare drum on top of the 1 & 3 kick, very low in the mix. It adds a cohesiveness in texture between the 1,2,3 and 4 beat.

 

[acetheface954]

I've worked mixes with as many as 6 kick layers. 3 isn't weird at all.

With the house stuff, I usually layer my snare drum on top of the 1 & 3 kick, very low in the mix. It adds a cohesiveness in texture between the 1,2,3 and 4 beat.

Wow i'd like to hear that. Got a soundcloud page?

 

[Storyville]

Wow i'd like to hear that. Got a soundcloud page?

I don't, but I do have a website.

worldwideweb weiss-sound.com

I don't believe the track that had 6 kicks is on there. The song "Till The Horn Blows" by Random has 3 and a triggered sine wave.

 

[acetheface954]

I don't, but I do have a website.

worldwideweb weiss-sound.com

I don't believe the track that had 6 kicks is on there. The song "Till The Horn Blows" by Random has 3 and a triggered sine wave.

i didn't see that one under "what i do". but man i'm blown away. you even added the analog pops in feel real track. that is really great mastering their man. must've taken ages to get to this point. i did not see this coming. wow lol

 

[WeissSound]

thanks! You're actually the first person to comment on the vinyl pops. Believe it or not, I sampled them off an old vinyl and then lined them up by ear to where they formed their own sort of rhythm with the drums.

"Til The Horn Blows" is in my portfolio area. you might have to click "View All" right under where it says "Portfolio." I'm trying to change it so it just lists all of my stuff.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words!


Edit: That's really weird, I just realized one of my posts is under my old screen name.

 

[HIMbeats]

I've worked mixes with as many as 6 kick layers. 3 isn't weird at all.

With the house stuff, I usually layer my snare drum on top of the 1 & 3 kick, very low in the mix. It adds a cohesiveness in texture between the 1,2,3 and 4 beat.

lol..thanks matt, but I will always be weird..lol..your track sounds great! Nice work my friend.

 

[acetheface954]

thanks! You're actually the first person to comment on the vinyl pops. Believe it or not, I sampled them off an old vinyl and then lined them up by ear to where they formed their own sort of rhythm with the drums.

"Til The Horn Blows" is in my portfolio area. you might have to click "View All" right under where it says "Portfolio." I'm trying to change it so it just lists all of my stuff.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words!


Edit: That's really weird, I just realized one of my posts is under my old screen name.

yeah i actually saw that your screen name changed. didn't know who i was talking to at all lol. and your welcome man. subtle sounds in a mix is what i love the most man. makes it all the better for the listener. those pops really give it that vintage old school touch. you really can never go wrong with the old school. but i think you're purest tracks on there have got to be from that christmas album. then again i'm a christmas lover so you know lol.

 

[Storyville]

lol..thanks matt, but I will always be weird..lol..your track sounds great! Nice work my friend.

Thanks man! Weird is GOOD. Weird = unexpected = unconventional = fresh. Hip Hop needs as much weird as it can get if you ask me.

I'm in a production session, but I'll check out your tracks as soon as I'm done.

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 AM ----------

yeah i actually saw that your screen name changed. didn't know who i was talking to at all lol. and your welcome man. subtle sounds in a mix is what i love the most man. makes it all the better for the listener. those pops really give it that vintage old school touch. you really can never go wrong with the old school. but i think you're purest tracks on there have got to be from that christmas album. then again i'm a christmas lover so you know lol.

Ah, the Ronnie Spector thing. I didn't produce that album, I tracked, edited and mixed it. That Christmas one actually went pretty far, it got national distribution through Target and Walmart, and Ronnie had a David Letterman appearance last week!

 

[acetheface954]

Thanks man! Weird is GOOD. Weird = unexpected = unconventional = fresh. Hip Hop needs as much weird as it can get if you ask me.

I'm in a production session, but I'll check out your tracks as soon as I'm done.

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 AM ----------



Ah, the Ronnie Spector thing. I didn't produce that album, I tracked, edited and mixed it. That Christmas one actually went pretty far, it got national distribution through Target and Walmart, and Ronnie had a David Letterman appearance last week!

really? well then i had good reason to choose it as the overall best. you gave it a sheen you know? never even heard of him before. and as i was writing you i thought to myself "it's a damn shame these songs won't be heard by much folks." couldn't be more happy about being wrong. i couldn't catch the layered kicks in the song till the horns blow. guess my ears need more training. /

 

[WeissSound]

really? well then i had good reason to choose it as the overall best. you gave it a sheen you know? never even heard of him before. and as i was writing you i thought to myself "it's a damn shame these songs won't be heard by much folks." couldn't be more happy about being wrong. i couldn't catch the layered kicks in the song till the horns blow. guess my ears need more training. /

Good! It's not supposed to sound layered - it's supposed to sound like one thump. The producer sent in two kicks that blended together and had a really cool texture, but the combination made the kick feel a little "soft". So I dubbed in a really hard attacky kick - which made it nice and hard, but seemed to detract from the low end. So I added a triggered sine wave. I'm pretty meticulous about dubbing in my own drums into other people's production - I don't want it to sound like I've actually changed their drums.

As a general guideline when I blend drums together, especially kicks, I want to sit back and say "that sounds like one monstrous kick drum."

As for Ronnie, Ronnie had a hit out called "Be My Baby" in the sixties. She was in a group called The Ronnettes. She later married Phil Spector (crazy wall-of-sound producer guy, who's in jail for murder now). That was a nice situation because my sole job was engineering - there was a producer, an arranger, song writers, musicians - everyone just stuck to their specialty.