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-- mixing with a sub, or no sub

Posted by prestige on May-23-2003 01:37:

mixing with a sub, or no sub

for all you TA's that record your own sets, i was wonderin if you guys mix better with or without a sub.

i have 2 altec lansing subs that i use when i mix, and during my set all my transitions sound flawlwss to me.

but when i play them back, i can hear that the transitions are slightly appart..

is it the same with you guys..???

Posted by DjJade on May-23-2003 03:28:

well i think this is a matter of mixing style... bass is always good to get your beats in ball park but mixing highs is much more precise imho... especially if you have a sub thats sorta muddy its like trying to mix with sony 700s [sorry i had to say that becuase i had that problem : )] anyway so yeah...depends on what your style is and also how good your sub is. mine is tuned to hit the really low notes so i use it to get my beats close and also for some phasing but my bookshelf speakers have pretty tight bass so those are a bit better for beat matching. mixing highs always works since the waves are much closer together by nature and thus more precise. i donno it just makes sense to me but again thats just my opinion

Posted by hey cheggy on May-23-2003 06:12:

If you're recording, don't use subs, cos it will make the kicks bigger, and so they seem like they are together when they are not. Turn the sub off for recording to get the kicks in line, then you can turn them on when playing back if you want that extra bass.

Posted by deejay2002 on May-23-2003 06:28:

lol shit I wish i have subs.....i want that "CLUBBY" feeling when i play........

Posted by Tony Morello on May-23-2003 18:29:

subs are a waste for recording
they only do good when you're listening

even on a big system you'll have smaller tighter speakers for monitors
like the eons or equivalent

turn off your subs when recording
listen to the high end to beatmatch, you'll notice a huge difference in your recordings after a week or less

Posted by prestige on May-23-2003 22:31:

alright thanks alot guys.. i tried out what you guys said, and i can mix alot better now..

thanks again

Posted by ludeboy12 on May-23-2003 22:48:

sounds like good advice....

and though im too new to record any REAL sets yet im def gonna try this out....

thanx for the tip

Posted by _Nut_ on May-26-2003 02:16:

quote:
Originally posted by DJ_Shockwav

even on a big system you'll have smaller tighter speakers for monitors

This is true. The club that i spin at has 4 'cans' as we call them. Each can has 4 22 inch subs inside, each can being placed through out the club for the lows. It is all fine and dandy but in the booth to monitor we have a JBL monitor. Hits only midbass and up. When i mix i dont even listen to the boom of a kick. I could actually do well w/o bass. To get the most accurate transistions, listen to the highs. But if you are recording make sure the bass is coming from one speaker. not a sub and speaker combo. For one the sub is tuned to a frequency that it seems to sound good and loud at. For two there is a slight delay between the speaker and sub and for three: if you are mixing you want good clean TIGHT bass. boomy bass will only make your transitions seem muddy and echo-ie when you play them back. Any other questions ask away.

Posted by JohnSmith on May-26-2003 02:56:

22 inch? holy shit that's almost 2 feet! the biggest i usually see around here is 18"s

Posted by prestige on May-26-2003 03:30:

quote:
Originally posted by JohnSmith
22 inch? holy shit that's almost 2 feet! the biggest i usually see around here is 18"s

ya, strait up yo... 22 inch is pretty big. are you sure its 22 and not 18?

Posted by Greedy on May-26-2003 05:31:

amateurs beatmatch with bass alone

Posted by _Nut_ on May-26-2003 12:37:

quote:
Originally posted by prestige
ya, strait up yo... 22 inch is pretty big. are you sure its 22 and not 18?

Remember that is not for my home use. This is a night club. and yes. they are 22's. How do i know? Ive replaced 4 of them inside of one of the cans that we over powered. According to the boxes they arrived in; 22 inches is it. But anyway this thread isnt about that, so get back on topic! lol

Posted by Hootchis on May-27-2003 12:43:

hold on a minute now boys.....i'm new to dj'ing. On almost every beginners/intermediate thread, you all talk about matching the bass beats when beatmatching, and now all of a sudden you bring out beatmatching with the highs. Is beatmatching with the low's completely for beginners or am i just crazy. I've only been mixing now for about 2 months, and can't even begin to imagine where to start beatmatching using the highs. Someone please exlain!

Posted by Tony Morello on May-28-2003 01:23:

i've always beatmatched with the highs and have never told anyone to do otherwise

listen to the high end in the tracks, if you can hear eq changes in the headphones, turn down the incoming track's bass when beatmatching

your mixes will be a lot tighter

Posted by JohnSmith on May-28-2003 14:39:

well, i still beatmatch with the bass. maybe it is an amateur thing, i've certainly never been paid to DJ, and that's the definitition of amateur. i've had my decks almost a year now, and beatmatching with the bass (or mid bass anyway, not the really low stuff) just seems easier to me, because often times the high hats are in crazy patterns.

BUT

what i do is once i get it in the ball park with the kickdrums, and i am in the mix or about to be, then i listen carefully to the high hats, because you can hear them drift first, and your ears will be used to the pattern.

*shrug*

works for me!

Posted by Hootchis on May-28-2003 16:37:

for example, lets say you have the bass beats matched....and you're about to bring the cued track in...go thru the process of where all the eq.'s would be both before, during and after the mix. Just do a hypathetical mix. I realize that every mix is different, but i just want the feel for how the process plays out. thanks.

Posted by club4life on May-29-2003 17:14:

I�ve sub-consciously started to rely more and more on the hi-hats during my mixes over the past couple months. Just seems more natural now, and easier to get an accurate mix.

Posted by spit_heron on May-30-2003 02:03:

quote:
Originally posted by Hootchis
for example, lets say you have the bass beats matched....and you're about to bring the cued track in...go thru the process of where all the eq.'s would be both before, during and after the mix. Just do a hypathetical mix. I realize that every mix is different, but i just want the feel for how the process plays out. thanks.

second this request.

Posted by DjJade on May-30-2003 02:20:

i dont think that one way works for every song. i have 4 bands on my eq and generally i bring in the highs first and gradually bring the lows in but i think its all dependent of the song. sometimes its better to be gradual. sometimes it works well to just fade out the bass on the first then kick the second one in. usually i make my eq and fader changes every 4 or 8 beats along with the change in a song... usually i bring soemthing in after a pause or along with a new bar thats introduced by some sort of high sound... thats all i can really say. i think you will get the feel of it later after enough experimentation wtih your eqs... you will figure out what sounds good and what doesnt in different situations

Posted by Acid John on Jun-01-2003 06:46:

for mixing in general, i turn my sub down a bit, but not completely off. when its on @ full power, the bass sounds really muddy, and i usually get soms bass feedback. never good for mixing.