when is bass off-centre/chorused acceptable?

Daeronb · Post by **Daeronb** » Wed May 18, 2011 10:34 am

Yo guys,
So lately ive been hearing alot of tracks with the bass being off centre. Or at the very least the bass has a subtle chorus effect on it, to give it a wider sound (i think thats the reason).

I was under the assumption that having bass off-centre/chorused/etc is a big no-no.

Right now for example i'm listening to Cirez D - Exit, (for the youtubers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB7TyO1-sVA) and it seems he has, although very subtle a chorus on the bass (starting at 2:30). (can anyone confirm this?)

I know switching off the 'retrig' button on sylenth, somewhat has the same effect, and alot of basses sound alot better with it switched of, but im afraid to use it because the bass gets put off centre.

So when is off chorused bass (especialy for club tracks) permissable? simply when it sounds good? are there other things to think about?

AK · Post by AK » Wed May 18, 2011 10:47 am

Why would you even want your bass 'off-centre'?

I guess it comes down to taste in regard to chorus type efx, I have experimented with that kind of thing before but have never been totally happy with the result. If you want to try a chorus or something, try putting a HP filter on the returns and keep the weight of the bass centred. IMO, that is a better feel than having the weight chorused.

deccard · Post by **deccard** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:40 am

splitting the bass in hi (chorus fx) and low freq (mono channel) is an option. but i think its easier to make a mono bass and a low mid freq sound with chorus. easier to mix. also you can use this
http://www.nugenaudio.com/monofilter.php
normally for vinyl the mastering guy starts to make everything mono below 300hz (varies a bit from engineer to engineer).

simonb · Post by **simonb** » Wed May 18, 2011 12:33 pm

deccard wrote:splitting the bass in hi (chorus fx) and low freq (mono channel) is an option. but i think its easier to make a mono bass and a low mid freq sound with chorus. easier to mix.

This is a pretty common approach in either form - keeping the low part of the bassline mono and centred while applying effects to the higher frequencies, say above 500Hz or so.

I tend to go for fairly understaded low basses - maybe with just a bit of saturation or something to bring it out more on small speakers and cut through the mix - but if you're into the more "big" bass sounds then frequency splitting or having two seperate sources seems to be the way to go.

P.S. "a lot" is two words

Daeronb · Post by **Daeronb** » Wed May 18, 2011 10:11 pm

nice man! didnt know about the monofilter
Ill check out the demo tonight

hydrogen · Post by **hydrogen** » Wed May 18, 2011 10:46 pm

AK wrote:Why would you even want your bass 'off-centre'?

I guess it comes down to taste in regard to chorus type efx, I have experimented with that kind of thing before but have never been totally happy with the result. If you want to try a chorus or something, try putting a HP filter on the returns and keep the weight of the bass centred. IMO, that is a better feel than having the weight chorused.

Panning stuff is a great way to creat space in your stereo image. Even a slight pan to the right like 12.4 could be a huge difference and won't fck up your impact of a kick.

livecollective · Post by **livecollective** » Fri May 20, 2011 12:53 am

hydrogen wrote:
AK wrote:Why would you even want your bass 'off-centre'?

I guess it comes down to taste in regard to chorus type efx, I have experimented with that kind of thing before but have never been totally happy with the result. If you want to try a chorus or something, try putting a HP filter on the returns and keep the weight of the bass centred. IMO, that is a better feel than having the weight chorused.
Panning stuff is a great way to creat space in your stereo image. Even a slight pan to the right like 12.4 could be a huge difference and won't fck up your impact of a kick.

Don't pan your kick. Only time you might do this is when mixing a band. The middle/high frequencies can be panned for stereo image widening.

Even when recording bands very rarely do they pan kick or bass. Love you hydro, but panning kicks in electronic music is a big no no... You should know that.

hydrogen · Post by **hydrogen** » Fri May 20, 2011 2:32 am

livecollective wrote:Even when recording bands very rarely do they pan kick or bass. Love you hydro, but panning kicks in electronic music is a big no no... You should know that.

Meh... Rules like this in music is a big no no. Unless you are going for a pristine "perfect" mix i guess... But i find the most interesting mixes to not be mixed "perfectly". all depends on what you are going for... for me i have been finding different panning techniques very interesting and wouldn't disregard stuff like this. if you are talking about the low end energy of your kick sure you'll probably have most critical impact if its centered. but i don't think its a rule that it must be perfectly centered... even on an old analogue desk you wouldn't be able to make it "perfectly" on center. pan that sh!t just a bit.