How do you give mnml tracks that subby-sounding space?

[patrick bateman]

be careful with panning bass sounds if you plan on eventually putting it to vinyl. It'll make the needle jump out.

Noob question:

Is this also a problem if you play a wav/mp3 through serato/traktor? (vinyl control)

no
because the sound isn't actually on the vinyl.
You can pan all you want with anything digital without having to worry about that.

That's what I thought, but wasn't sure.
Thanks for making it clear to me

[damagedgoods]

be careful with panning bass sounds if you plan on eventually putting it to vinyl. It'll make the needle jump out.

Noob question:

Is this also a problem if you play a wav/mp3 through serato/traktor? (vinyl control)

no
because the sound isn't actually on the vinyl.
You can pan all you want with anything digital without having to worry about that.

Generally good practice not to have anything stereo going on below 150 hz or so anyway, no? At least for club-destined tracks? Many clubs (esp. small ones) run their subs in mono and if you don't get phase cancellation effects you'll probably get at least some weird muddying at the frequencies your ears have a harder time separating.

[Torque]

be careful with panning bass sounds if you plan on eventually putting it to vinyl. It'll make the needle jump out.

Noob question:

Is this also a problem if you play a wav/mp3 through serato/traktor? (vinyl control)

no
because the sound isn't actually on the vinyl.
You can pan all you want with anything digital without having to worry about that.

Generally good practice not to have anything stereo going on below 150 hz or so anyway, no? At least for club-destined tracks? Many clubs (esp. small ones) run their subs in mono and if you don't get phase cancellation effects you'll probably get at least some weird muddying at the frequencies your ears have a harder time separating.

That's true in general on the low end and for the most part on the rest too. Making the stereo field too wide can cause you problems in the club. Most people aren't in the sweet spot to be able to enjoy the stereo effect of a track in a club and it all ends up sounding mono from farther back in the crowd anyways. If you're not mixing for the club and you're doing a mixdown for an album or mp3 or something a wider stereo field can sometimes sound better. Usually in the mastering studio when they are getting a track ready to cut for vinyl if the stereo field is too wide they will close it up a little so you don't get phasing problems and the needle doesn't jump out.

[miro pajic]

i'm getting good results right now by putting reverb as insert on the bass channels with loads of filtering etc....

I'm into Miro Pajic-style basslines atm

thank you!

in my case i barely ever use reverbs on my basslines. Maybe a very short little delay. Mostly just EQ and compression, maybe a touch of saturation for harmonics. I'm old fashioned in using lower bass - usually only in mono..

if you guys don't care about the mono bass thingy: just to 100% (in case of possible vinyl release) just throw a plugin like DDMF stereo on your mixbuss and set to mono below 200 or 150 or so....your stereo width will not collaps!

[Wizz15]

Hi guys, I've been experimenting with subby bass too, but I'm really struggling with this, and right now I don't know if i need to believe my monitors or my headphones

I know my room is less than perfect, but I know my monitors (Dynaudio BM5a) are not the worst. I also know my headphones (Beyerdynamic 770Pro) are bass heavy and when I make tracks with subby bass it sounds ok on my headphones, but on my monitors there's almost no bass.

The strange thing is that mastered tracks with subs from other producers do sound good on my monitors as well as on my headphones

(PS. If any of you guys with a good monitoring situation read this and are in the mood to help me figure this out I really don't know if my headphones ore my monitors are more accurate : short snippet with subs (soundcloud))

[miro pajic]

hey wizz,

i wouldn't make major mix decisions on headphones. (i barely use some actually - things sound WAY different, which confuses me personally)
you have great speakers that you can/should trust! if you can't hear the sub at all you should work on the bass a bit more.
even if they just go down to like 50Hz you should hear audible sub bass. don't go TOO low. you don't need 30Hz bass. 50 is super low already
(IMO and i work alot with low bass).

little tricks such as a pinch of saturation can do it, to make the (in case it is a) clean sinewave bass more audible. shape your bass,
so that you can hear or notice it even on your speakers. compare your tracks with top notch tracks - it helps!

good luck.

[Wizz15]

thanks for your reply miro. i do have some bass coming from my monitors, but i think i might have standing waves in my room. sometimes the lower frequencies are really noticeable (no need for a subwoofer at all) but in my own recordings they are sometimes almost not audible.

I know i don't have to go very low with my subs, I always cut everything below 30 hz anyways. I knew my levels etc would be off if i start a track on my headphones, but sometimes i don't have a choice (i dont live alone ).

I've tried every trick mentioned on this site, but i can only get it right on my headphones two sinewaves together, one an octave above the other and through a low cut filter etc. The reverbs mentioned in this thread.

It's just that it's very rare that i create a sub bass on my cans that also sounds good on my monitors. Most of the times the bass sounds full on my headphones, but when i listen to my track on my monitors it sounds 'clicky' and bass light. When I do it the other way around my track sounds ok on my monitors, but boomy on my headphones. I know my monitors have a roll off and my environment is not treated (and i suspect full of problems) and i also know my headphones are bass heavy

That's why i was wondering if i should believe my monitors or my headphones when it comes to low bass.

Edit: How low would you go with a pure sinewave bass? What are the notes that you use and which do you avoid? Perhaps this will give me some insight on my problem

[Myfirstcasio]

Might be a stupid question but how do you identify if you have standing waves? What do they sound like typically?