Mixing/Mastering?

[mbenny123]

What do you do when you have a song where the bass guitar is playing at the same frequency(hz) as one of the toms on the drums? So, every time the drummer hits that tom while the bass is playing the same note, it clips the mix, while other times they don't play at the same time, it sounds awesome.

Would this be fixed in mixing or mastering? And how?

 

[Massive Master]

If it *messes* with the mix, it needs to be fixed - Simple volume curves can fix that. It's a transient - You can allow the impact of the tom and then the hold of the bass note.

If it only *clips* the mix, then just turn it down so it doesn't.

Or a little of both - If the mix is still "in the red" at any time, it's probably too hot anyway.

 

[Robert D]

Problems are almost always better fixed in the mix than in mastering. When two instruments are competing for space in the frequency domain the solution is usually to EQ them out of contention. This is the main reason why the "make every instrument sound it's best soloed, then mix them together" approach doesn't work very well. What works best for a track by itself often sucks in the mix, and what sounds great in the mix often sounds lacking by itself. A parametric sweep on the main buss with a narrow band boost will find the offending frequency, then you can either remove some of the offending freq from one or the other, or both tracks with a static eq adjustment, or you can automate the eq fix for just the collisions, or you can employ a multiband comp (just use one band) to dynamically fix the offending frequency. The multiband could go on a sub buss with the two tracks routed through it, or on one of the problem tracks, or one on each of the tracks, or even on the main buss. Experiment and see what works best, including Johns suggestion to simply edit the volume curves to duck the problem.

Regards,
RD

 

[FALKEN]

how busy is that tom?

if not very busy you could duck the tom against the bass as robertD suggested.

you also could try a compressor with a fast attack time and a fast release on the bass, and a compressor with a medium attack time and a long release on the tom. this would allow the tom to provide the crack and the bass to fill in the resonance.

if the tom is only hit a couple times in the song, I would just limit it or something.

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Problems are almost always better fixed in the mix than in mastering.

Actually I'd say problems are *ALWAYS* better fixed while tracking--or better yet, problems are better avoided by a careful setup before you ever press record.

I've always viewed "fixing in the mix" to be the leading contributor to turd polishing.