Kick n´bass

P Hallin

New member
So... How do you all do to make the kick drum and bass to "interact" nicely.
Do you have a step by step procedure or rule for EQ. Should they ocupy the same range or complement each other?
I have, for some reason troble with this, tweeking EQ and volume til Im close to nuts.
Sometimes I make it work but its more a fluke than anything else Im afraid to admit;)
 
I usually have the problem, with the added problem of the guitar's low end. Our music is heavy metal, and we love the beefy "chug" sound, which is a lot of low end, so that's three instruments competing for the same space. This is what I have done a lot lately:

-Roll off guitars at about 150hz
-Roll of bass guitar at a little around 80hz

so in essence, it goes:
150hz+ : "beef" of guitar tone
80-150hz : low of bass
below 80hz : kick drum thud

The advantage is that they all have their own space, and the bass and guitar melt together nicely.

Disadvantage: you probably won't hear anything but the attack of the kick drum on a crappy system. You can roll off higher (like rolling off 100hz in the bass guitar, making the kick drum a little more audible). But the good news is, if it's ever played in a decent system with a subwoofer, the kick drum will hit hard and you'll hear it clearly everytime.
 
Thanks for the input, all tips are helpful.
I will try your suggestion, I think my problem lies in the kick so I will look in to that.
You dont feel that the kick and bass feel separated when occupying different freq´s?
The result I want is that they are more "buddies", more like one. but mayby thats what I get with your idea, a yin and yang relationship...(eh, Im losing it)

Im not nice at all to my bass, but I like the sound I get. I record it with max tone and fingerpluck it. Then I roll of below about 80 hz and actually high-pass above 169 hz by 5-6 db
(Thanks for the chart btw, but I already had it.)
 
The way I eq it, the 80-150hz area of the kick drum ends up getting mostly masked by the kick drum, but the low, low frequencies still get through.

What kind of kick drum sound/bass sound do you go for anyway? What style of music? The kick drum sound we go for is a kind of scooped, thud-your-chest-with-a-click sound. Another good thing is that if you can't get quite the separation you need in the low end, you can still distinguish kick drum hits by the attack, and "feel" the low end more than hear it. I usually make a sharp, narrow-Q boost in the 2-2.5khz area for the attack, and make an eq "dip" in the other tracks that may cover that up (especially guitar).
 
Well asi, I think I can say I do fusion.
But I like to have a powerful bass end but still cozy, if you get my intent?
I´ve tried your ideas and found that a result that eorks for me is to lower alot of the freq´s above 200 hz on them both. The higher click part of the kick thats great for harder rock I could most often be without...

Your input has been useful though. Thanks!
 
Kick drum is my current nemesis as well. I think once I get it perfect I will rule the world, but here is something I am doing that is helping alot in getting a 'metal' kick sound


Mike the kick with a D112 or similiar mike (to get the boom)
and
mike the beater side with a sm57 (to get the click)

I add gates to both of these mikes as well.
then mix them together


Also I have found if I take out some of the low end on the bass and let it rattle somewhat I get a good present bass guitar sound and still have room in the mix for a good heavy kick drum




waalaaah!!
 
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