this is commonly known as "more me" syndrome. it commonly effects musicians of all instruments. it's not related to mastering in particular, but every step of the recording process.

It's really just not the bass guitar that i'm overbassing. It's the whole bottom end of the track.

maestro7879 wrote: It's really just not the bass guitar that i'm overbassing. It's the whole bottom end of the track.

Well, this is a good start...you know that you put to much lf on the tracks so the problem is half solved, isn't it ? By knowing this you have to work differently and listen listen listen and comparing all the time. There are no shortcuts.

Regards,

Richard

depends on why you are putting too much low end in. Is it because you are using low end light monitors? Why would you put too much low end in if you know you are putting too much in and you can hear you are putting too much in? Do you think maybe it's a pride thing? You don't want to be a bass player with bass light masters.

I also was a bassplayer before i got into mastering and i too made some bass heavy stuff. Mainly because my focus was to much on the low end, but also because my old monitors didn't want to show me how beautiful the whole spectre could be.

depends on why you are putting too much low end in. Is it because you are using low end light monitors?

This is true my monitors do not have alot of low end.

Why would you put too much low end in if you know you are putting too much in and you can hear you are putting too much in?

My thinking on this is that my ears have been somewhat desensitized to low end due to playing bass for years. Just a guess ? After realizing that this could be the problem I have compensated and my masters have been 100% better.

Do you think maybe it's a pride thing? You don't want to be a bass player with bass light masters.

That's not how I work. I'm there to due my part in making the band sound the best they can.

Bass done right

If you are mixing at a home studio then get a pair of AKG 240 headphones to double check you low end mix. I have cut severial masters with them for CD releases all over the country and have always had good success.

Don't take my questions as disrespect, they are just questions to consider. It's hard to seperate your feelings from the work, sometimes impossible. It's good that you question what you are doing and how you are doing it.

don't use headphones to judge masters. If you want to listen on them just to see how they sound, then that's up to you. But it's not a good way to make a final judgement. I use heaphones to listen to maybe clicks and pops, or maybe some types of noise, but not balance.

Learn to play "all of the instruments" and you bias will go away.

Bass guitar is an issue with many mixers..it is either buried too deep, not enough compression on them or "plunky"

Micing a speaker from a DI works wonders in a mixdown.

If I get a lousy bass mix, I do request a stem.

BillRobertsMastering wrote: Learn to play "all of the instruments" and you bias will go away.

I'm sure this is what Pastorius would have said.
Great advice, I'm sure it will work and you will get a deeper understanding of the music.

Playing all the instruments can mean different things, being aware while playing you own instrument is the most important. Imagine to sing, blow or play drums through your instument.

Best Regards

Ammitsboel wrote: [quote=BillRobertsMastering]Learn to play "all of the instruments" and you bias will go away.

I couldn't agree with this more. I do play guitar , drums and occasionally lay down some background vocals. It has helped me have a better understanding. It was the realisation of what I was doing wrong that really helped. Also talking to the musicians about how they want there music to sound and feel.

Re: Bass done right

audio4you wrote: If you are mixing at a home studio then get a pair of AKG 240 headphones to double check you low end mix. I have cut severial masters with them for CD releases all over the country and have always had good success.

I have tried this with bad results. I just really learned my monitors and trust them. Everytime I put the heaphones on I felt like I was taking a step backwards in my mastering. Learning to trust and learn my monitors has been the most important thing. Also the room i'm in but we won't get into that.

I'm a beginner in the mastering end of things and these are things that have helped me. Oh yeah and reading every Bob Katz book.

Ammitsboel wrote: I also was a bassplayer before i got into mastering and i too made some bass heavy stuff. Mainly because my focus was to much on the low end, but also because my old monitors didn't want to show me how beautiful the whole spectre could be.

Hey Henrik... I played bass (still play once in a while) for 25 years too 8-)

Personally, it did not happened to me to over put bass freq because I play bass. Bass is one of the toughest thing to deal with in a mix, it could influence so much other instruments and the entire mix.

So Maestro, if you know you have that bad habit to put to much lf, because of monitors or God knows what, you need to get to know your monitors and room on how they translate.

Richard

Monitoring!

I have a lousy room to mix in- I get lots of retained bass in the immediate area, so I have to keep an ear on how the track's behaving as I mix. Also I need to mod the room! But anyway, if it's 'just bass-heavy' enough, I tend to keep it. Then I go upstairs to the house stereo and listen to a burned cd of it. I then listen to it in as many bad systems as I can get to over a period of time (the mini-van player, etc), and end up coming up with a mix I can live with.

I'm a novice, and no mastering engineer, but I'm trudging on through the swamp, amongst the buffeting and jeers, and will eventually arrive at a habitable destination called "listenable". I'm hopeful, anyway (read: 'display of gratuitous humility')! But I figure if I get used to my Fostex PM 0.5 monitors, that's going to be the practical foundation of my efforts.

I can do this! 8-)