Big Bass Like Waka Flocka

N

NYJ

New member
How do you get the bass to sound big like Rick Ross and Waka Flocka tracks.I know about distortion and harmonics,but i still can not achieve this sound,I also tried turning down everything else but the bass and still no luck,Can somebody please help.I know its possible because some sound click artist know how to do it.

---------- Post added at 08:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:29 AM ----------

Somebody!
 
Two pointers:

First, have the right sound. Good/full bass usually has a tight frequency where it hits. Distortion is definitely a neat thing to play with if it feels like your bass needs more beef.

Second, more important, have the right mix. Most of the power of the bass usually comes from how it relates to the other parts of your mix.
 
what should be higher in the db meter,the kick or the 808 and how much seperation between the two
 
I'm not sure where i read it but I tried it and it seems to yield some pretty good results. Play the same bass part an octave higher keep the lower bass part mono and add a little stereo width to the higher part. Hope it helps.
 
what should be higher in the db meter,the kick or the 808 and how much seperation between the two
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My 808s are usually a good 1-3 dB below my kick. I'm not a master mixer but from what I've heard I think everyone's 808s are quieter than their kicks. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong though!

How do you get the bass to sound big like Rick Ross and Waka Flocka tracks.I know about distortion and harmonics,but i still can not achieve this sound,I also tried turning down everything else but the bass and still no luck,Can somebody please help.I know its possible because some sound click artist know how to do it.
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EQ, EQ, EQ. EQ out the mud of your bass and emphasize the key frequencies to get it beefed up. A little saturation and compression never hurt either.
 
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^^^You hit the nail on the head with your post.

Only thing I disagree with is compression. Alot of people still compress drums, i think it serves more of a purpose when leveling live drums or samples, but when you're programming digital drums like what you'd find in an 808 kit, you can control everything with velocity and vol/gain knobs.

I don't even waste time EQing individual drums. I just load a 7 band EQ on the master track, cut everything below 31hz, boost at 78-80hz.

I never EQ individual instruments unless it's needed to sit well in a mix that usually involves more filtering and playing with mids and highs(with what I do, but everyone works different, so no written rule).

Also keep up with the sound of the times. These day I find myself bossting at 78hz alot more to keep up with the sound of current releases.
 
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Also keep up with the sound of the times. These day I find myself bossting at 78hz alot more to keep up with the sound of current releases.
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Boost at 78 hz on your master? What is the effect of this other than ramped up bass?
 
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It's the same thing you do in the mastering process to entire mixed songs. Don't M.E.'s "ramp" the low end to give it presence(yes, they do, trust me, I know)?

There's no right or wrong answer other than making the mix sound good, but all you're doing is EQing an entire mix. 78-80hz is where the presence I like to fatten exsists in music I do. Same place it exsists in most clean bassy hip hop. It can exsist at 64hz in bassier subby mixes, can exist at 120hz at cleaner "poppy" sounding mixes.



Why would that seem like the wrong thing to do? lol.

Tell you what, try it, if you don't like the results, don't do it, lol. :cheers:
 
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The only problem with that is that it boosts that range in other shit too, like samples or synths you haven't cleaned up. But hey, whatever works for you -- but what you can do in the mixdown, it's probably a good idea to fix it in the mix, instead of on your master. :cheers:
 
"I never EQ individual instruments unless it's needed to sit well in a mix that usually involves more filtering and playing with mids and highs(with what I do, but everyone works different, so no written rule)."

^^^From my prior post. It's too many steps to mixing to dive into strings, vocals, and guitar when someone askes about Drums. That "more filtering" was referring to is HPF on anything I don't want effected by that boost at 78hz. Somtimes I shave all the top of subs off using LPF to give it the right place. Sometimes, I do nothing but load samples and play. Depends on what the mix needs. But I've found my mixes benefit from cutting anything below 31hz and boosting at 78-80hz. Always use sharp curves as well to give more thump. Just my own set of rules that I've never got any complains from and more often than not get complimented on.

Alot of lows actually do clear well at that freq though, you get alot of sweet spots from intruments, and when they don't fit...you clean them up, more often than not, it works. That's why I came to a point where that's my go to range for low end in overall SONGS.
 
So far i got everything right,but im still working on harmonics,the -1 to -3db helped mostly and the 31hz cut thanks for the help
 
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