EQing kick and bass guitar

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AndyCarpenter

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What should the approximate frequency ranges for the kick drum and bass guitar be? I have a lot of problems with the two competing with each other for that area around 100hz. I like the sound of the bass boosted a little at 100hz because it sounds big and bassy but this is also an important frequency in the kick drum's sound. Is the kick drum generally lower or higher frequency than the bass guitar? What can I do to make these two stand out from each other, not clip, and work together all at the same time?
 
Hi Andy
You really need more specific info if you want to avoid scooping great gouges out of the spectrum.A scalpel is better than an axe here.A couple of ways you can go about this;
Use a parametric EQ set to a 10 dB boost and sweep to locate the key frequencies.
Use an analysis software like this to see the exact frequencies on your kick and bass tracks.
Once you know your kick is 57-62 Hz (or whatever) you can use the para EQ to make just a thin slice out of the bass so that they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.Snare is around 125 Hz or so,in the bass' second octave so don't forget to notch the bass there as well.
 
I always low shelve my kick drum, the lowest frequencies below 50 Hz usually just muddy the mix up, and most speakers don't provide the decentely anyway.

From then it's a matter of taste. There is an attack in the kick between 50Hz and 100Hz, and another one in the higher frequencies in (1, 2 or 3 kHz) . Try different settings with them, depends on the style you want. You can usually cut some mid-frequencies that are in the way with your mix.

Kick and bass must sound well together. So if you have heaps of low in the kick, you can cut lots away from the bass and vice versa. Notice how in several metal songs you only seem to hear the attack of the kick and the low range of the bass covers it all.

So I would experiment if I was you, and cut several frequencies in your lower bass. There is also often kind of a natural hum in your bass between 200 and 300 Hz.

experiment and find out

greetingz

Brett
 
Hey Tom and everyone.

Great thread! This is just what I was looking for myself. I have a specanalize plug and use it to check though I can usually hear when the kick/bass mix gets better, but I'm still not clear on a few things. Sometime I will try to eq out certain freqs. but they still seem to remain strong when looked at with the analizer. Am I just fighting againt the current if an instrument has been recorded "fat" in certain freq. areas. I guess I still don't understand the frequencie relationships.

So....generally the kick should reign over 100hz and below?
Let's say it's more of an organic acoustic approach to the mix could that change which instrument would occupy the lowest end?

How wide a freq. band should your "notch" be and how deep a cut will usually suffice?

BrettB...What do you mean by cutting "mid freq's." i.e. mid of whole spectrum or mid of that instrument spectrum, kick/bass?

Thanks,

Rusty K
 
In my case,I am referring to cutting notches in the bass to the exact width of the prominent frequencies of kick and snare of about 10 dB.The examples I used are the exact numbers I got off the analysis software from my drummers kit.The way I record drums,the overheads are capturing the basic flavor of the entire kit and I add in just the essence of the kick and snare for extra punch by using a combination high-pass low-pass "frown" curve on each of those two tracks.
I recorded a tune with my band recently in experimenting with this technique where I deliberately went overboard on the "slice and dicing" and made the drums too loud in the final mix to observe the effect.Here is that tune if you want to have a listen.
 
Tom,

I still have questions...where you referring to a 10db notch or cut? Also where do you curve the lips on the hi low pass frown, that is, for the kick and snare...I figure kick would be 40hz/10000hz but what about snare? How sharp to cut?


I listened to "Believer". Good live drum sound. The tune I'm working on is R&B style. This drum mix approach just may work for it.
I'll give it a try. One question....The high hat had more presence than did the rest of the kit. Was the high hat on a spearate track?
It amost seemed as if the high hat was an add on track. My only suggestion is more of the "overhead/mic distance" on the hat to place it with the overall drum mix.

Thanks,


Rusty K
 
Thanks for listening and commenting,Rusty.
On that tune,I notched the bass with a narrow 10 dB cut at 57-62 Hz and 122-128 Hz.The full range of the kick and snare was present in the overheads,so I felt free to really EQ the hell out of the individual kick and snare tracks,seeking to keep only where the main energy was.On the kick,I set up a high pass curve on paraEQ above 57 Hz and a low pass curve below 62 Hz.Visually,this looks like an extreme frown.Same thing with the individual snare track with the center of the frown at 125 Hz and about 6 Hz wide.
The slices in the bass jigsaw with the "frowned" tracks like a hand in a glove and let me make the important bits loud without the mud that would otherwise have occured from all that low-end energy being goosed in the the mixdown phase.
I am relatively new to recording drums so I appologise for any deficiencies in my techniques or explanations.
 
Oh yeah,the high hat wasn't even miced separately.That's just the overheads.It's my placement,really,inside the cymbals.Next session I plan to try a wider overhead placement
 
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