How do you mix your bass?

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pasnu

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When you guys mix your bass, what are the general eq and compression settings? What other effects do you usually add to the bass? and do you like to side chain?
 
pasnu said:
When you guys mix your bass, what are the general eq and compression settings? What other effects do you usually add to the bass? and do you like to side chain?
Click to expand...

It really depends on the track, but I generally scoop a bit around 300-400 and boost a bit around 1k. Almost always run an 1176 on 8:1 or 12:1 with a pretty fair amount of GR to get some growl. But that's my taste. If it's not sitting right, I've found that a little of "Da Tube" in Cubase helps glue it a bit.
 
I use a puigtec eqp1a with a serious boost at 60hz and a slight attenuation. also boost at 3k and attenuate a lot of "air".. sometimes for bass it's good to compress in two stages to make it less of a strain on one compressor so i might add a limiter before a more heavy handed compressor. hope this helps
 
This is my recent bass chain...

DI into REAPER
TubeBooster (Drive at noon, Tone 1 o'clock)
UAD Helios (bass bump at 200 hz, -3 db at 1khz, Treble Rolloff @ -6)
NoName EQ (hi-pass filter at 60-70 hz)
UAD LA-2A, gain set pretty high

Best bass tone so far, but still improving.
 
I stick a mic in front of the amp and press record. From there, usually nothing. Sometimes, depending on how much presence I want the bass to have, I'll do an EQ notch depending on where it needs to be.
 
For most things It's just a Bass into a Tube MP into the PC and Blue Compressor (I love free shit)with a ratio of 1:4 and an attack between 30 and 50ms depending on the material and the threshold I just toy with until I get good dynamics control without excessive pimpiness. I have active electronics in my bass and try to do most of my EQing with that first. For most styles it sits in the mix well enough on its own. For heavier stuff I'll add some distortion before the comp just enough to break up the signal a tad and make up for the mud it adds with a slight sweep in the 175-400hz range and a boost at the 1000-1500khz range. I like to hear that "clang clang" sound in metal just a little bit under the crunch of the guitars but I do tend to scale the bass back in those mixes. It's all about heavy guitars for me and the bass is just there to make them sound heavier. I'm not really a bassist though so I would be more apt to bring the bass more upfront if I was working with a talented bassist.
 
For my last project:
Limiter, 1 eq with highpass 50hz, and a dip at 100, 1 more eq with a wide boost around 1,khz
 
I find that in a lot of mixes, the low end is a huge problem and it gets muddy. I usually put a HP at around 150Hz (Not for good haha,) and then mess with the mids until i find the tone i like. I usually do a few cuts somewhere between 300-700 Hz. There are a few problem frequencies that really aren't necessary that guitar or other instruments will use. A small Q boost at 160 in the bass and a small Q cut in the kick will really help the bass stand out. Sometimes depending on how dull it is, i'll add a small Q boost around 800HZ. Then i roll back in the lows until I can feel it, and then i then back off just a little bit. And if there is any boosts in the kick drum i usually do a small Q cut in the bass, so they dont clash together.

And then i use a compressor / limiter usually 8:1 or 10:1 You don't want the attack too fast, because you want the transients to come through. And you dont want the release to be too slow.

I think someone else said it. But if you use 2 separate compressors, they dont have to work as hard and can give you a better result.
 
for me it depends what you have done with the kick drum and guitars. if you have a full sounding kick drum with a nice low end to it then i will roll of any low end fromthe bass at about the 100hz mark just so it doesn't interfere with the kick but still have enough low end to make it sound fat with the guitars. if you have a clicky kick drum as found in metal then i will allow the bass more freedom and even add some eq at about the 60/80hz range then cut the kick drum there and add eq on the kick at about 125hz to get some low from it.
 
pasnu said:
When you guys mix your bass, what are the general eq and compression settings? What other effects do you usually add to the bass? and do you like to side chain?
Click to expand...
For anybody actually responding with numbers:

When you guys are hitting against Cliff Lee, what are the general bat speed and timing settings? I'm looking to hit the ball on a line roughly 20 feet off the ground over the left side. Nothing fancy. I never really want to hit it anywhere else. So, how many milliseconds do I wait before beginning the swing, how far up should my hands be, etc.


The numbers don't mean anything because the incoming bass sound could be an offspeed inside or a fastball off the corner of the plate. Even if you want the bass sound to end up in a common place, you need totally different settings to get you there based on your own unique input.

---------- Post added at 14:41 ---------- Previous post was at 14:34 ----------
Greg_L said:
I stick a mic in front of the amp and press record. From there, usually nothing. Sometimes, depending on how much presence I want the bass to have, I'll do an EQ notch depending on where it needs to be.
Click to expand...
That's usually how it should go. There are problems with the recording or arrangement if the above doesn't work.
 
First I'll duck it behind the kick with a side chain. After doing all the usual stuff (compression, EQ notch -- the notch will depend upon the bass used) I'll usually add a Waves plugin called Renaissance Bass on the track. What you can do with it is cut the mud out by pretty much eliminating everything below a particular frequency and boost some of the harmonics of the fundamental that is missing from most audio systems that don't have a subwoofer. Creates a psychoacoustic effect. You'll still get the thump. Sounds good through subwoofer systems too. I bought it direct from Waves. I think they still might have that single plugin blowout sale going on. I also use this on the kick drum.
 
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