Bass guitar tone and eq

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tc424

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Looking for some guidance on what is needed to improve the bass on this. Is it just a volume issue, an EQ issue or both. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.



TC424
 
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On the system I listen to at work, its really bass heavy and I can hear the kick very well but the bass is barely there. I would try bring it up a couple decibels first. It sounds like when you do, it may be very low end heavy. So you may need to roll of the low freq a touch. Are you running it through a compressor at all?
 
I have my signal going through a BBE opto-stomp and Sansamp BDDI and an EQ on Reaper. I think I will try a compressor on Reaper and fiddle more with the EQ some. Thanks for the help.
 
Sounds to me like the kick and the bass guitar have a lot of resonance around 60-80hz so it's hard to distinguish the two when they are played close together. If bass and kick's dominant frequencies are different they will each stand out better in the mix. Bottom end of the mix starts sounding muddy otherwise. Did you use sampled drums for this track? If so eq the kick how you like it and work with your bass sound with the track until you like the mix. Perhaps re-record your bass. I think it's best to get the sound you like when you record your tracks rather than try to fix things in the mix. Also maybe shelve or hi pass your acoustic guitar below between 60 and 80hz to make room for the bass.
 
I don't even really hear the bass too much. And I think you need to EQ some of the bass off the bass. The little that I do hear seems to be too muddy. Make it fit into the song to where you can clearly hear it and make it so the other instruments can display a little bass tones themselves :D
 
I'm not sure what the BBE does for you, but the sansamp di always has a hump in the 80-100 hz range. ( im on my phone and cant listen to your file)

From everyone elses description, your bass is too heavy in the low end. try adding some 800hz or so, to bring out some clarity to the notes. It will make the bass part stand out more without adding so much low end that the mix grts muddy.

---------- Update ----------

I'm not sure what the BBE does for you, but the sansamp di always has a hump in the 80-100 hz range. ( im on my phone and cant listen to your file)

From everyone elses description, your bass is too heavy in the low end. try adding some 800hz or so, to bring out some clarity to the notes. It will make the bass part stand out more without adding so much low end that the mix grts muddy.
 
Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I forgot to mention that the drum and acoustic guitar are from Wikiloops in which I added the bassline.

In the bass line I pumped up the eq in the 800 hz and the 450ish range. I also took out some of the 60 hz range. I added a compressor also. I also eq'ed the drum/guitar track and a little compression. I noticed that the kick drum was pretty boomy itself and also took out some 60 hz range also.

I am learning a lot from this forum and trial and error at home. Hopefully in the future I will be able to help someone like you guys have helped me.

Here is the remix I did with the advice I received. I am liking it whole more now. Thanks again.

 
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Try the compressor both before and after the eq. each way sounds different, so you can take your pick .
 
Well, at least on the second version I can hear the bass, but I feel it's lacking body now. I'm not so sure the original was that heavy, but if it was, you may have gone a hair to far in the opposite direction.
 
I could hear the bass well enough in the 1st mix. It was playing a supporting role and didn't have much in the way of top end definition but that's cool as many, many bassists prefer the 60s/70s sound.
the most recent has not much bottom end in the bass and lots of definition - as well as being a little too loud - it now sounds like a lead or melodic instrument rather than part of the backing.
Try for somewhere in the middle or go back to the 1st.
IF you're going to addvocals to this then wait until you've done that before tweaking.
 
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