Mixing Bass & Kick Drum!!??

[senn]

Mixing Bass & Kick Drum!!??

How do you guys like (support) the idea about delaying the bass (just a touch- a few ms) in comparison with the kick (later then kick)??
Any ideas about mixing these two together would be handy, as they are very important part of every mix.

 

[tubedude]

I would say the tighter the better. You can get a good mix sometimes by tuning the bass dru maround the bass guitar. I sometimes tune the bass head to where its lower in freq. I'm not sure where it sits on a RTA in comparsion to the bass, but it seems to fit better. The tune I have in the mp3 mixing clinic, we had tuned the kick drum WAY down, and it still sounds natural to me. The bass track isnt what it shoulda been, but the same method has worked well in many situations. Aside ffrom that, learn to sculpt. You can usually pull alot of the 200-300hz range out of the kick to make some room and eliminate some mud.

 

[bass331964]

If your interested in suggestions I've never tried putting a delay on the bass in the way you have suggested but I have put a very sutle delay on the kick to fatten it up not enough to hear the actual delay then I compress it 10-1 found this gets a really big kick drum sound.

 

[Gidge]

It kinda depends on what sound you are going after...I like a kick thats lower than the bass, as tubedude mentioned....scooping out 200-300 from the kick and boosting the bass there helps....a little boost around 80hz on the kick if needed and a cut in the bass there if needed.....try to keep your other tracks pretty freed up in these frequencies and let the kick and bass do it.....a stereo bass track panned left and right (slightly or hard) MAY help in certain situations to keep from stepping on the kick and also leaves the center open for other tracks.....

 

[asi9]

I find that I always make the kick louder than I think it needs to be in the mix.... I always found it wasn't loud enough by the time I added all instruments. It's much easier to pull it down than boost it. I used to try to seperate different parts of the lower freq, say the kick between 50 and 80 hz, and the bass between 80 and 120hz.... then reallized that as long as I kept the bass guitar under the kick, it all works out, and they could both have their fullness with only minor eq... even if the kick drum is masking some bass guitar freqs, it's only for a split second, you're still gonna hear the bass guitar in between. However, if the bass guitar masks over the kick drum..... if you're lucky, you might here a little of the kick drums attack, if anything at all.

Keep in mind, though, I mix rock/metal... so my idea of good is a bombastic pound-your-chest mix.

 

[bass331964]

I agree on the eq'ing stuff no matter what effects you add or don't how you eq two things taking up one space in the pan universe is going to make the difference, and as was mentioned it all depends on what kind of music you are recording or further still what the kick and bass mean in that particular song.
Such as is the bass guitar locked into the kick drum like a funk style song or is it driving eighth notes like you might hear in a heavy metal style, or is it a walking bass for a blues number all these things can influence how you decide you want to eq and use effects on these two items.