muddy low end

[coreyB]

hey there... i've been working on recording my band for the first time and things aren't coming out as well as i want them to... can you give me some advice?

the low end sounds way too muddy... the bass lines are not clearly defined and tight and the kick drum doesn't have the low thump it should... as a result when i listen to the songs everything just sound kinda rumbled if you're paying attention to the low end... any hints? how can i make the bass guitar sound tight and defined and how can i make the kick drum sound thumpy and how can i keep those two from battling each other...

just for information's sake here's what my current setup is...

behringer mx2004 8 channel mixer (for the drums) running into my pc via a creative labs audigy 2 soundboard (so the drums come in as one track, which i don't like but don't know how to modify) and i'm using cakewalk sonar 2.... thanks so much for anyone who can help... if you want to hear one of our songs click below and you can give me any and all tips and criticism you may have... please help! thanks...

 

[dachay2tnr]

any hints? how can i make the bass guitar sound tight and defined and how can i make the kick drum sound thumpy and how can i keep those two from battling each other...

You can generally use complimentary equalization to allow each instrument to make room for the other.

For ex., try boosting the kick at 100 Hz and cutting the bass at the same point. Then boost the bass and cut the kick at around 400 Hz. You may to play around with these settings to achieve what you want - even possibly reverse them. However I assume you get the general idea.

Also, for articulation in the bass, try a small boost at 1500 and/or 3000 Hz. Or, ff the bass is muddy, try a cut at 300 Hz.

 

[coreyB]

ok thanks... i'm not quite sure of how to do what you said as i haven't seen EQ modifications in my cakewalk to do that but i will try and find out what you are talking about and play around with those numbers... thanks! anyone have anything else to recommend?

 

[dachay2tnr]

i haven't seen EQ modifications in my cakewalk to do that but

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to start to do some reading. Use of eq is basic Mixing 101 stuff.
http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/articles6.htm

BTW, Sonar 2 comes with at least 2 EQ plugins. Maybe not the best in the world, but certainly useable for this.

 

[noground]

I would agree that you should do a lot of reading. I'm interested in what mics you are using. That might tell me something.

 

[HangDawg]

A real quick thing you can do. Cut some 250-300Hz out of every track (4-6 db worth) and see what happens. It will make a huge difference. Then if something really loses it's body, you can add a little back to that track. I'm not saying that this is the correct thing to do, but I believe you will be suprised at what happens.

 

[NYMorningstar]

On the first song the controlled guitar feedback is eminating a tone anywhere between 300 - 500 Hz that is dominating and muddying up your bottom end. Try backing it off and listen to your bottom clear up. Nice tune by the way.

 

[coreyB]

I'm interested in what mics you are using.

for the drums? we're using a 7 piece samson drum mic set... i know samson isn't the best in the microphone world but i don't think they're getting in the way too much...

 

[coreyB]

On the first song the controlled guitar feedback is eminating a tone anywhere between 300 - 500 Hz that is dominating and muddying up your bottom end. Try backing it off and listen to your bottom clear up. Nice tune by the way.

yeah that's my guitarist using an ebow to hold that note... i'll try cutting that out a bit but is that really getting as low as the bass and kick drum? that's the area i'm concerned about... thanks for the help... i'll report back when i try to remix this thing...

 

[noground]

The drum mic set should not be your problem. The mic placement (or mode or pattern), or equilization is more likely the problem. I second NYmorningstar's notion. It's not that this is exactly what you should do, but what it sounds like once you do it will probably tell you something about what you should do. I'd also expand that range a bit to 200-400 Hz. Cut it by 6 dB. See what that sounds like. It might not be good, but I bet it won't be muddy.

 

[Sonixx]

here's my observations after listening to both clips:

very little stereo imaging

sounds basically like a mono mix

backing vocals sound like they were recorded in a tunnel...

mix sounds dull, not just muddy

consider this:

double the guitar and pan them... if you really want just one guitar, use two mics either in a spaced pair or M+S

find another reverb for the backing vocal

final mix EQ suggestions:

hi pass at 40Hz

cut < 3db around 250Hz low Q

boost < 3db around 3K low Q

shelve +2 db around 10K