bass mixing?

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Nathan1984

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Here recently, I have been working on my bands demo. I have noticed that my bass track almost fades away when I reference in different sources other than my studio monitors. I was wondering what you guys suggestions are about that. Do you guys recommend double tracking bass? I am only single tracking the bass and have it centered. It sounds fine in the mix when I hear it in my studio monitors, but it fades away when listening to it in my car or my laptop or such.
 
The most likely reason why your bass fades away in other systems, even though it sounds fine in your studio monitors, is that your monitors may be too strong on the bass. This means that when you hear a good mix of the bass on your monitors, its level in the mix, i.e. where you put the fade, is less than what is needed for other systems that are not as strong on the bass..
 
Nathan1984 said:
Do you guys recommend double tracking bass? I am only single tracking the bass and have it centered..
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No, you're doing that right. Consider what Gekko said about your speakers. It could also be the room you're mixing in. Or both.

But, in general, single tracking the bass and putting it up the middle is a pretty common and accepted way to go.
 
Also, do you have any bass traps in your current mixing room?
 
Odds are, your monitors are just too bass heavy. If that's not true, guitaristic may be on to something...
 
As everyone else has been saying, it may just be that your monitors are too bass heavy (or of course, that your laptop/car speakers are too bass light).
Personally, I'd try to reference my bass levels in relation to a professional record. Turn the volume down on the professional one (they're going to have it mastered to a louder volume than your mix), and then see how loud their bass is in relation to the other instruments.
If theirs sounds like the bass is louder than yours, maybe the bass is too quiet on your mix.
 
Or it's missing overtones and there's nothing up there to speak on the systems with no lows.
 
MrWrenchey said:
Personally, I'd try to reference my bass levels in relation to a professional record. Turn the volume down on the professional one (they're going to have it mastered to a louder volume than your mix), and then see how loud their bass is in relation to the other instruments.
If theirs sounds like the bass is louder than yours, maybe the bass is too quiet on your mix.
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This ^^^^
 
Help us out a bit:

What size room are you mixing in?
Do you have any acoustic treatment? If so, what are you using and how much?
Do you have any bass traps? If you do, how many and where are they located? What size and material is used in their construction?
What type of monitors are you using?
What DAW / program are you using to mix and record?
 
I would say the room is 10x14, i don't have any acoustic treatment in this room either. I am using behringer b2031a monitors, and my preferred daw is Sonar 8 PE.
 
Nathan1984 said:
i don't have any acoustic treatment in this room either.
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There's your bass problem right there. You can't hear what the speakers are trying to tell you in an un-treated room. Not saying you can't get any decent results at all. But it's not surprising that the bass is giving you the most problems.

I would start with bass traps in the corners, that's a bare minimum to get started with room treatment.

Comparing with "professional records" is not the way to go, it's just guess work.
 
gecko zzed said:
The most likely reason why your bass fades away in other systems, even though it sounds fine in your studio monitors, is that your monitors may be too strong on the bass. This means that when you hear a good mix of the bass on your monitors, its level in the mix, i.e. where you put the fade, is less than what is needed for other systems that are not as strong on the bass..
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Gekko, can you {or anyone that understands this, for that matter} explain this a bit further, I'm kind of confused about something. If the bass is hyped in ordinary stereo speakers, wouldn't a healthy volume of bass in the monitors produce the opposite effect, that of too much bass on other sources ? And if the monitors are too strong on the bass, does that not run counter to the accuracy that monitors are supposed to give ?
 
grimtraveller said:
Gekko, can you {or anyone that understands this, for that matter} explain this a bit further, I'm kind of confused about something. If the bass is hyped in ordinary stereo speakers, wouldn't a healthy volume of bass in the monitors produce the opposite effect, that of too much bass on other sources ? And if the monitors are too strong on the bass, does that not run counter to the accuracy that monitors are supposed to give ?
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The idea being if the stereotypical ( :) ) 'ordinary system' is 'bass hyped', that must mean your monitors are even more so. Not bad. :listeningmusic:
 
mixsit said:
The idea being if the stereotypical 'ordinary system' is 'bass hyped', that must mean your monitors are even more so.
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So is the idea that monitors are supposed to offer a greater degree of accuracy than stereo speakers a load of rubbish then ?
 
RAMI said:
It depends Grim. Any company can slap the word "monitor" on their speaker.
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That's true. Lt Bob has been making that point for the longest while. But both Gekko Zzed and Mixsit implied that the monitor in question and by extension, monitors could be hyped in the bass area, which rather blows open the whole monitor debate again.
 
I don't know if it starts any debate. He might just have shitty monitors in a shitty, un-treated room. All Gekko is saying is that whatever situation he's in (speakers and room) aren't translating to him what's really happening in his mixes. It's not that complicated.
 
The terms are vague here. From my experience, many smaller sized driver monitors are 'hyped', to make up for the inability to move air and recreate low end frequencies. Trying to fake what the bigger ones do. The problem here is not based upon what a speaker sounds like, it is based upon how mixes done using a set of monitors, translates on other systems and playback devices, 'outside' of your mixing environment. Any monitor, big, small, cheap, or expensive, is only as good as the room it is used in. Any monitor used in an untreated room, especially even dimensioned rooms, will have cancellation of frequencies, that can cut out chunks of the frequency spectrum. There will also be frequencies that in effect, enhance themselves, due to reflections supporting each other at your listening position. Trying to mix in this type of untreated environment, will lead you to make decisions that are ruining your mixes.

So basically, a set of monitors that reproduce bass well, can still give you a mix that is light on low end in translated mixes, because the room they are in, is sucking the low end out.

Room treatment, at least trying to take care of the low end stuff by trapping corners, should be everyone's first step in making their control room work. No amount of money, advice, or choice of monitor will make a bit of difference, if the room is screwing it all up.
 
RAMI said:
He might just have shitty monitors in a shitty, un-treated room. All Gekko is saying is that whatever situation he's in (speakers and room) aren't translating to him what's really happening in his mixes.
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jimmys69 said:
From my experience, many smaller sized driver monitors are 'hyped', to make up for the inability to move air and recreate low end frequencies. Trying to fake what the bigger ones do.
Any monitor used in an untreated room, especially even dimensioned rooms, will have cancellation of frequencies, that can cut out chunks of the frequency spectrum. There will also be frequencies that in effect, enhance themselves, due to reflections supporting each other at your listening position. Trying to mix in this type of untreated environment, will lead you to make decisions that are ruining your mixes.

So basically, a set of monitors that reproduce bass well, can still give you a mix that is light on low end in translated mixes, because the room they are in, is sucking the low end out.
Click to expand...
Put like that, I understand it a little more.
 
grimtraveller said:
So is the idea that monitors are supposed to offer a greater degree of accuracy than stereo speakers a load of rubbish then ?
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That's a pretty big leap.
All that's happend so far if tossing around a bunch of generalities and know and unknown cause and effects' to try to explain the what and why of this as yet undifined 'less bass.

At least- take some commercial tracks that fit or represent your mix/music style and play them on a system that you feel shows your actual mixes lost the bass. What happens when you load (and play them flat) through your DAW/monitor chain?
At the very least you'll have a point of comparison.
 
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