Where Does Your Bass Live?

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neech

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Whats good.

Ive had subwoofers in my car since I can remember driving. Bout 10 years. So when I make beats I feel like whenever I am missing bass I am aiming to low somewhere around 40hz to 80z. Realizing though a lot of folks don't have serious low end speakers and most music is made in the midrange, I'm curious as to where the bass should live for the best overall performance. I just feel like they don't sound right any higher then that. 808s of course have that low low range.
 
Many Sub Bass heavy sounds can have generous harmonics up into the low mid frequencies and above. You can also excite them with gentle distortion (but I don't really do this myself - rarely). I rarely use a pure sine sub; and this helps have content in the low / low mids which most car stereos and home stereos will produce well enough these days.

You can EQ in a para increase around these low / low mid freqs to help them stand out a little. You may even choose to separate "bass" from "Sub" and layer in two sounds (a sub with High Cut; and a "Bass" with Low cut...

Me - I normally program "Bass" sounds to span freqs from the subs right up into the low mids and even higher into kHz range (depending on the sound / tune). If they don't smack enough sub, I'll layer one in beneath it OR have an entirely different Sub line just playing around a kick drum for chest hitting rhythm stuff (I'm Techno / Tech House oriented though for what it's worth).

As for bass in low mids / lows (and the question - does it "need" to be there), I kind of think it's up to you and the music you like to produce - if someone has a cr@p stereo and can't hear big subs, but big subs are the style you're into, then too bad for them ;)... Write and mix tunes for how you want them to sound on the system you want them played on. I know this is against a lot of advice out there, but hey - if you want it to "sound good on a range of systems" then aim for the middle ground.. think about getting low mids on your bass line; or try a little distortion on your sub to raise the harmonics up; etc.); if you "want it smashing the club at your next gig", then mix to suit.

Hopefully helps with some ideas?
 
That was a big help. I've always thought iffy when it comes to layering basses. What your saying though makes perfect sense. I will give these a try. Thanks again.
 
neech said:
That was a big help. I've always thought iffy when it comes to layering basses. What your saying though makes perfect sense. I will give these a try. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

I agree about some of what jBam wrote, certainly not all of it, but that's unimportant. What is important is that he highlighted the importance of the monitoring process. You know how much bass you need, by becoming good with density optimization in the monitoring process. And I don't mean density as in the low end only, I mean the density as the product of the frequency response of your mix.
 
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i layer my basses all the time with good results. My low ends are anywhere from 30 to 250hz range typically. it widely differs between mixes. Sometimes having too much sub can warp your opinion on what a good mix is - you should try to get the mix to sound awesome, and the bass booming WITHOUT the subs then you add them for effect. if it doesn't sound good without them it probably won't make much difference just MORE. More isn't always better. Most car systems are not flat they have eqs and settings to make them sound more bass heavy or more vocal, none of this is good for reference. Dont be afraid to experiment - sometimes what sounds good on the monitors doesn't sound good on a system, so anticipate what you'll be mixing for and try to have you monitors when your testing as flat as possible. cheers
 
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