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sammyg 3 October 2004

Hey guys,

after some advice ( arent we all!).

A lot of times when i am mixing kick and bass guitar i find that if i boost a certain freq on kick and cut a little of the same freq on bass it gives an element of seperation, this is fine if the kick and bass guitar are taking up different areas of the spectrum and crossing over each other slightly, however, what do you do when the majority of the bass guitar tone resides in the freq you wish to cut in order to have seperation, hence a bass that doesnt sound the way you want it too, lifeless and no body, etc.

I understand that choosing the correct bass sound during tracking is paramount to avoid such a situation but i have encountered times where the bass player refuses to change their sound, even if it will make things easier later!

I usualy like to have a big kick underneath, and the bass guitar sitting on top, maybe when this sort of situation arises I should reverse the roles and have the bass carrying underneath the kick, i dunno!

Thanks,

Sammyg

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Comments

Guest Sun, 10/03/2004 - 06:08

bass

well, 1st and foremost bass guitar is more important than drums or guitar or life in general. But I am a bass player.
So i know what you mean about getting the bassist to change his sound.
my suggestion: try to use a direct box on the bass guitar, it might help in keeping his bass sound and tighten up some of the loose EQ in the lower range
Also: try not to use the same type of mic for recording kick drum and bass---because if mics have the same or even close frequentcy response you will run into these type of problems
worse comes to worse: tell the bass player there is free beer in the house, when he goes to get one, re-ajust his EQ so he wont be the wiser
hope it all works out!!!
i was only joking about bass being the worlds greatest instrument,
everyone knows its the kazoo :lol:

RecorderMan Sun, 10/03/2004 - 10:16

in those situations just Eq the kick in the offending area and leave the abss alone..especially if what you will do will emaciate the bass.

BTW...it's my personall pref to let the bass be bigger and deeper than the kick. The two together should have the bass be thew meat and the kick the snap/punch. Punch doesn't need to be as low as meat.

KurtFoster Sun, 10/03/2004 - 11:01

Try this ... it has always worked for me and everyone else who has tried it said it worked for them too ...

First, you need a fully parametric EQ (that has bandwith controls on the mid frequncies). "Semi parametric EQs", like those found in small mixers, (Mackies and Behringers etc.) don't do this.

With as narrow a bandwith ("Q") as possible ... "notch" out about -6dB @220Hz or so .. . on the kick drum .. this leaves everything under 200 pretty flat .. you can boost with the low shelf eq at 80Hz if you need too ...

Boost the same freq (with a narrow "Q") on the bass ... this will not only make the kick and bass define well but has the added benifit of making the bass stand out a little better on systems with small speakers (like the average car stereo) ... I hope this helps out.

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