Best way to clean up the low end

[GOODLAND]

I find that on alot of my mixes I tend to get a mushy low end. I want to here what some of you guys do to get a tight sounding low end on your mixes. Thanks.

 

[Massive Master]

It's all about clean lows in the core sounds.

That, and accurate monitoring of those sounds.

 

[aaroncomp]

If you haven't, work on using some highpass EQ on almost all tracks. As always, a search should find some good info on this. Sync'ing up the kick and bass guitar can help, also.

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Record clear and tight sounds... problem takes care of itself. Also, don't try and push the envelope too far when mixing. A *TON* of issues I had years ago came from wanting an unreasonable amount of low end in stuff.

 

[Rokket]

Too many things recorded in the lower freq's can really muddy it up. You may have to cut some of the lower freq's to clean it up.

And like was said a couple times already: record it clean and tight and it will mix that way.

 

[FALKEN]

yeah...

just cut all the crap out on the tracks that dont need it, like vocals and snare drum and guitars.

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

I typically high pass filter almost every track... although many of them you can't "hear" the adjustment in the final mix. I'm just shoring things up. For electric guitar hp filtering is critical IMHO... too much low end in guitar sounds these days.

 

[Ronan]

Just repeating here. Try cutting low end off everything but the bass and kick drums.

 

[matt rascal]

Just let it turn out how it turns out... then sculpt it with a hard multiband compressor

just kidding... some good advice here.

 

[AGCurry]

A good room is pretty important!

 

[GOODLAND]

Thanks everyone, the thing that has worked best so far in getting rid of some low end on the guitar and vocal tracks. Even cutting a small bit off the bass track helps. I think I'm getting the hang of it, thanks.
Anymore ideas?

 

[GOODLAND]

A good room is pretty important!

Almost everything is going in direct though. Accept my acoustic guitar, which is recorded in a acoustic treated room.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

A good room is not just important for the tracking, it's also impoortant for the mixing. If your mixing room is playing games with the bass response (a common occurance in project studio situations), this can effect what you're hearing from your monitors when you mix and when you play back your mixes in that room. Affecting what you hear on the low end can certainly have begative effects on how your resulting mix sounds when played back elsewhere.

That said, though, definitely try the tricks with bandpass as recommended above. Also, on the acoustic, mic selection and placement can make a huge difference (e.g. if you're getting too much from the sound hole at the wrong angle, that can add some mud to the track).

If after those adjustments in the recording and mixing techniques still don't solve the problem, then it's definitelytime to look into some mix room tuning.

G.

 

[7string]

Affecting what you hear on the low end can certainly have begative effects on how your resulting mix sounds when played back elsewhere.

G.

That begative effect has hit me quite often! I can't tell you how many times I've crumpled to my knees begging God to help me get the mix right...

Ok, sorry... couldn't resist...

 

[FattMusiek]

I like what Cloneboy said about trying to obtain an unreasonable amount of bass on your recordings. For instance, if you want a really powerful sounding kick drum, you might be inclined to boost around 70 Hz. A large boost in this area might sound good to you on your monitors, but if you reference your mix on another sound system, such as a car stereo or home speaker system, you might notice excessive bass frequencies. The trick to tightening up your low end, from my experience, is finding the right frequencies to boost and cut at. I love the cliche' recording proverb, "Mix with your ears and not with your eyes." And be sure to listen to your mixes on a number of sound systems.

 

[GOODLAND]

Thanks everyone for your input, great ideas from everyone, time to put them to work.