Getting a low end 'thump in the chest' while also cutting through the mix

shadoe said:
Here. I've uploaded an example. The way I mix first is by muting everything except drums and bass to make sure they have a good relationship in the bottom end (giggity). And then, I unmute guitars and make my high/low pass adjustments ac necessary.

The first bar is the full mix. The second is just the guitar. The third is Bass and drums. And, the fourth is the entire mix again. So, that you can hear everything after I've given you an example.

Keep in mind; I'm no pro. But this is what I've gathered just from experimenting/doing research/reading everything I can off of this forum.

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Excellent sounding mix sir!
 
Very good example Shadoe! Especially since this is drop tuned (or 7 string) metal style, where the guitars sound so fat and deep.
 
shadoe said:
Here. I've uploaded an example. The way I mix first is by muting everything except drums and bass to make sure they have a good relationship in the bottom end (giggity). And then, I unmute guitars and make my high/low pass adjustments ac necessary.

The first bar is the full mix. The second is just the guitar. The third is Bass and drums. And, the fourth is the entire mix again. So, that you can hear everything after I've given you an example.

Keep in mind; I'm no pro. But this is what I've gathered just from experimenting/doing research/reading everything I can off of this forum.

Click to expand...


wonderful example made more wonderful because it's so extreme…
really gets the point across
 
I almost always cut around the 200-250hz range, to my ears that's just mud and cardboard and makes the mix stodgy. Usually with a high pass around 100.
 
shadoe said:
Here. I've uploaded an example. The way I mix first is by muting everything except drums and bass to make sure they have a good relationship in the bottom end (giggity). And then, I unmute guitars and make my high/low pass adjustments ac necessary.

The first bar is the full mix. The second is just the guitar. The third is Bass and drums. And, the fourth is the entire mix again. So, that you can hear everything after I've given you an example.

Keep in mind; I'm no pro. But this is what I've gathered just from experimenting/doing research/reading everything I can off of this forum.

Click to expand...


This is a great example of using the bass to carry the majority of the frequency load. The electric guitars are so weak and thin on their own, but because of the bass guitar taking up such a large footprint, it works out in the mix. I personally do not mix like this, but to each there own.

However, I must break from the pack here and say that the bass guitar is taking a massive dump all over the kick drum. The 60Hz to 80Hz area is so cluttered by the bass guitar, that the kick drum can't poke through the mix because of this. You can definitely hear it in the "bass and drums only" section of your mix.
 
shadoe said:
Do you cut on your master bus, or on each individual track?
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My guess is that he's talking about the bass guitar because that is an area where I usually do a wide scoop (between 250Hz and 500Hz).

However, high-passing the bass guitar around 100 is quite high. It's not completely unusual though to get close to 100Hz, but in that situation I'd counteract it with a shelving boost.
 
Andrew Male said:
I almost always cut around the 200-250hz range, to my ears that's just mud and cardboard and makes the mix stodgy.
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For live show recordings, I do exactly this. I cut every track in this range. For tracks cut correctly in a studio, I don't find the need to mess with this range nearly as much if at all.

I also put a freq analyzer plug last on the master bus. I look to see if there is a hole in this range. If there is a dip here I either adjust all my cuts to flatten out the master freq balance at that freq or put a finishing EQ on the master to fill this back in.
 
levipeto said:
easy solution: fire the bassplayer! you don't need him anymore!
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Haha no. He's a very important piece. It should go like this, "Fire your your shitty bass player and get someone who knows their craft, really well.

Lionheart said:
This is a great example of using the bass to carry the majority of the frequency load. The electric guitars are so weak and thin on their own, but because of the bass guitar taking up such a large footprint, it works out in the mix. I personally do not mix like this, but to each there own.

However, I must break from the pack here and say that the bass guitar is taking a massive dump all over the kick drum. The 60Hz to 80Hz area is so cluttered by the bass guitar, that the kick drum can't poke through the mix because of this. You can definitely hear it in the "bass and drums only" section of your mix.
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I am still working on it. I haven't even written the rest of the song, yet. Thank you for the direct advice, I'll try cleaning up those frequencies.
 
sounds great, although i would be inclined to pan the arpeggiated guitar part to the left, or to the centre, so it's not sitting right on top of the ride cymbal :)
 
shadoe said:
I am still working on it. I haven't even written the rest of the song, yet. Thank you for the direct advice, I'll try cleaning up those frequencies.
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My apologies. I was presuming that it was a finished mix.
 
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