should I be recording optimizing for average quality computer speakers ?

[heatmiser]

It's a bit like a couple, one of whom doesn't care how the fridge is arranged, the other being one that likes it neat with everything in it's place. The one that doesn't care has the onus to keep the fridge neat because they personally don't care but by keeping it neat, everyone is happy.

Except the one who doesn't care has to work at keeping it neat merely to satisfy the other's OCD...not happy .

 

[grimtraveller]

Except the one who doesn't care has to work at keeping it neat merely to satisfy the other's OCD...not happy .

Ah, but they don't care whether it's neat or not so it isn't really work because either way, it makes no difference to them.

 

[Armistice]

Your bass playing friend is going to be really unhappy if you remove the bass altogether then, isn't he...?

Link us to the "offending" YouTube vid so we can see what you mean.

 

[T Sat]

I think the bottom line is don't worry about it, optimize for the best you monitors you can afford because everyone else is in the same boat as you, the people that are serious about the music they listen to will listen on the best they can afford to use so it all works out. You certainly can't and shouldn't optimize for the crappiest that can be found.

 

[diannaZ]

guys....I understand I wasn't clear that I don't think the bass should be mix out anymore. (it was a thought, not a suggestion)
after trying to do so to make it sound a little better on youtube I posted this:

my logic is: do not make the bass the most important part of the song as long as you are trying to make a song internetly viral.
because most do not the speakers to actually hear that bass at the first time which is when they decide if to share it or not. (hence: make it viral)

this is where I'm at right now.

I got a song that is guitar bass focused and I can't seem to make it sound good on laptops....this thread is how to optimize tracks for listeners that hear their music with laptops and cheap speakers.....that's what I meant the thread to be....I don't know how that "mixing out the bass" got so much attention in this thread....

 

[Steenamaroo]

Ok, fair enough. You're probably on the right track.

Focus on the difference between bass frequencies and the bass instrument.
Quite often a bass guitar will carry a lot of low mid or even upper mids, especially if it's playing a complex melody.

Someone suggested parallel distortion? Sounds like something to play around with?

If you really really want the bass instrument to be heard, reference your song on laptop speakers.

Obviously you'll want to do your final mix elsewhere and what not, but frequently reference on a bad system.
At least then you aren't waiting for a phone call.

Maybe you could try boosting some of the higher frequencies in the bass guitar part, but maybe use volume automation or a compressor to maintain consistency?

I stil think you'd stand to benefit from posting your mixes and a list of your monitoring equipment.
Apologies if I missed it.

 

[grimtraveller]

I don't know how that "mixing out the bass" got so much attention in this thread....

It got so much attention because you highlighted it. Your original thrust was

I think I have to take into account that bass is nearly invisible when you play stuff on youtube

to which Gecko replied {summing up the consensus}

It's possible that on some systems the bass will be nearly invisible.

So, what are you going to do? Mix the bass out because it can't be heard? Or give it more prominence in the mix in an attempt to compensate?

at which point you said

mix it out basically.
or in other words: change the track so that it will sound good even if the bass is nearly gone, like it will on laptops or cheap speakers, by making the bass less of an important part of the track.

. I replied that if the bass is an important part of the song, then it's an important part of the song.
If you take out the bass, not from the mix but from the place it has in the song, then the entire song may change because the relationship everything else has in relation to the place the bass has changes.
You may find then, that the song you want to go viral is no longer the song you intended it to be.

Let me ask you this; when you hear a song on a laptop or cheap speakers, does the fact that you can't hear the bass make a difference to you ? Do you know, by hearing it on a laptop what the song should be like if played on a system with full, audible bass ? Do you know if the song was mixed in a way that is optimized for laptops and shitty speakers ?

 

[ecc83]

It was not so very long ago that audio systems were judged on their ability to reproduce reality. The better audio reviews of say speakers would not only include listening tests using music, classical and contemporary but "noises" as well, recordings of keys jangling, glass breaking and most seaching of all the spoken word. There were and probably still are very few loudspeakers that can stand against the original human voice and fool you, especially male voices it seems (sorry girls! Just a quirk of acoustics!) This is of course the real and original meaning of High Fidelity. Sadly the term is now one of almost derision and the HI Fi mags populated by crazy people.

So what I am trying to say is Yes, we should always strive to get the best, truest reproduction we can regardless of the (probably unknown and possibly conflicting) ultimate destination. Quality of reproduction CAN have a profound effect upon our appreciation of the musical "art". A cautionary tale...

I worked in a factory with about 70 other souls and there was about 10 grotbox radios dispersed about the place. One toon drove me mad! Perfect Ten. All I got was what seemed a 1/2 arsed rip of the (brilliant*) Walk this Way riff and little else. It was not until I hear the song decently reproduced (for my ICE is only ever on R3 or R4!) that I realized what a clever and complex drum pattern it had and how the guitar riff works so well with the bass glissando.

* One of THE great riffs IMHO and that Run DMC track is one of the very few pieces of rap I enjoy (yup! I am an old white fart!).

Joe Public has been crucifying great music and recordings ever since the technology began. Who here recalls the Dansette record player and its ilk? 10+ gram tracking weight with a crap ceramic cartridge directly into a single UL84 (an EL84 with a 100mA heater)

Dave.

 

[bigdaddysun]

My computer speakers are a pair of mid sixties Jensen three-way walnut cab with 15" woofers and a pair of Bose model 21 stacked on top. Mix for those...LOL

FYI I got the Jensens at a garage sale 10 years ago. There were 3 sets of speakers in a pile and a I asked how much for the Acoustic Research speakers on top and the guy said $30 for all of em. And I said "OK!". I sold the AR's on Ebay for $200 and still have the rest.