Does sub bass or 808 bass take up an instrument octave?

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StanleySteamer

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Hey guys, as the title says, I am curious if when i use a sub bass or 808 does it count as an instrument persay? So I tend to only use one instrument per octave. But lets say I want to put a low brass or a low piano in my first octave will that interfere with my sub bass and 808 bass if they play at the same time in my track?

Also, what if in part of my chords i add a bass with a piano or something using the 5th note of the chord instead of the root and then use an 808 or a subass and play on the roots? Same octaves I guess but keys that would never touch I guess. I am basically trying to figure out if 808 bass and sub bass interfere with other instruments playing in the 1st octave whether they are on starting keys or different keys on the scale but part of the same octave. Any advice always appreciated thanks alot guys!
 
The idea that you can only have one instrument per octave isn't really right, there's much more to it than that.

If you wanted to have a low brass playing in the same octave as your sub, I'd either arrange it so that they don't play at the same time, sidechain one to the other, or highpass the brass at 100Hz.

Playing one on the root and one on the fifth isn't really far enough apart to stop them from taking up a lot of headroom: you certainly couldn't get a sub as loud as most producers would use that way...
 
I wouldn't think of it as only one instrument per octave. Think of it in terms how much "space" is in the track.

There's multiple ways this can be achieved, but panning, mixing, and EQ are a few basic ways.
 
I think if it it fits it should work. like a sub is more felt than heard unlike a tuba. IDK man it's weird cause they are the same frequency but have different TONES...so it's relative lol.
 
Are you asking do they share the same space? Usually an 808 or Sub is lower than everything else. A good trick to make it sit right is to cut some of the lower frequencies from other instruments in the mix. For example the Brass. Even if you have low brass you really don't need anything from it below around 130hz. I'd cut that out. That'll give your track more room to breathe. Depending on how much tone you want for your 808 you can roll off some of the highs as well.
 
Not necessarily, but the lower frequencies require more energy than higher ones so it's a lot easier to get cluttered in your lows
 
Hey guys thanks for the responses! I already have figured not to play 2 instruments in the same octave at the same time and switch them up in the arrangement. So if I play a brass low and a bass low in the same octave just arrange them not to play together but I was basically wondering more is what octave does sub bass or 808 bass technically play in? I mean on FL Studio I play in the 3rd octave but it clearly says on my parametric eq that the frequencies are coming from like the 1st and 2nd octave. I play my chords or sub melodies alot in my 4th octave so Im just trying to not let my bass clash with those frequencies when I rise up the bass in like break down spots or at like the end of 2 or 4 bar loops
 
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