bass issue

[manzatour]

hi
i tend to use sine basses, not really sub, but pretty low in my tracks and i amost always encounter problems in the mixdoxn.
if i want to hear the bass track i have to go at the limit of clipping, sometimes over...
what i already do:

- cutting under 20 hz
- compress / limit instead of having high volume
- cutting bass at 120/200 hz on all other tracks (not on the kick)

do you also have this problem?
how do you solve it?

[tone-def]

if your using sine waves you don't need to cut under 20Hz.
try not to use compression.
maybe try turning your monitors up and turning all the other elements in your track down.

the bass and kick should be taking up most of the headroom.

[Rookas]

what monitors are you using?

[pafufta816]

alot of dubstep producers sound like they use a good amount of high and midrange in their bass sounds. they let the resonance give the bass identity, and then real low frequencies are more felt than heard.

it's hard to mix pure sine waves, as conventional EQ'ing isn't ideal for sine waves. i would give the waveform more high end, turn up the resonance perhaps. then mix the high end with a smidge of reverb.

i tend to divide the bassline into 2 channels, a low end channel with the bass you "feel", and then the high end channel where mid-to-high range can give it definition. the low end is mixed so it doesn't cause clipping, and i do very little EQ'ing (other than a low pass filter). the high end i arrive at by sending the bassline through and high pass filter (500hz or more), then i add a touch of EQ. this way i can fade between two sounds, the boomy "heady" lowend freq's, and the high end (which might sound like it is coming from a distance). i can dose out the heaviness of the bassline by applying more of less of the two channels in the mix, i rarely begin a track with the full amount of low end in the bass. i save that for a point in the track where the climax is to be felt.

[Camel]

i tend to divide the bassline into 2 channels

+1 good advice. I do it all the time for keeping your low end mono and adding all sorts of stuff to the high end, that would otherwise muddy your whole bass.

[isaaclevy]

i tend to divide the bassline into 2 channels

+1 good advice. I do it all the time for keeping your low end mono and adding all sorts of stuff to the high end, that would otherwise muddy your whole bass.

nice, i will give it a try. thanks to both.

[pafufta816]

i'll try and post an example if i get some spare time. yeah, another great point camel, the low end should be mono to avoid phasing issues, but the high end can be stereo to give it dimension. have fun isaac.

[eggnchips]

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http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1211