Where can I find an example of an isolated, layered, uncompressed bass note or loop that I can listen to in the environment I produce in? I ask because my bass is sitting too low in mixes and it was recently suggested that I layer the bass and expand the frequency some. I'm taking tracks I know pretty well and trying to eq just down to the bass, but I'm afraid when I'm cutting certain frequencies to isolate the bass, I'm actually cutting frequencies from the bass... so it's not terribly helpful as a guide.

I'd just like to hear - in my monitoring environment - what a final version of a layered and processed bass could sound like (isolated from the rest of the mix)... I know there are various ways of doing this and one sample will not be the end all, but if anyone has a snippet or could direct me somewhere that I can grab a layered bass note/line as a starting point it'd be really helpful!

Thanks.

hey dude i understand your thought process on this but you need to be careful of soloing your sounds too often... you should be working with all the music going all the time... only solo stuff together when you hear crossed frequencies

It sounds to me like your over analising the situation mate. Just layer some more oscilators etc into your bass and thicken it up a little. Try some slightly different wavs layered together for texture and different octaves for depth and just make sure it sounds good. Theres no rules. You aint guina learn diddly from listening to a bass note playing. One tip i find if you've got quite a full track and have trouble making the bass stand out is just rout the whole bass track to a bus and run them both. You wnt need the 2nd bus up very load at all but it will bring the bass out more without having to turn it up to clipping point. Prolly good to low cut the sub off that 2nd one sumwhat too. But basically getting more bass is often as simple as turning it up a few db...

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Last edited by theartfulducker on Apr-24-2008 at 03:12

Both duly noted... the bass is just frustrating me. It sounds fine as I'm listening to it, but getting it right to sound good on other systems is a hassle. i know i could use some more room treatment.. but was just thinking a sample could give me a reference point. I'll just keep tweaking it... thanks for the input.

Maybe you allready know this but a good tip is to just put your track up beside similar tracks from artists you like in soundforge or similar app and play them and flick straight between yours and thiers. You will be able to judge your levals etc aginst pro stuff. Its very handy.

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If it sounds good on your system, but you have a problem making it sound good on other systems, it might be an idea to upgrade your listening equipment.

quote:

Originally posted by Falck If it sounds good on your system, but you have a problem making it sound good on other systems, it might be an idea to upgrade your listening equipment.

I hear you - I think it's more a matter of room treatment more than the equipment though. I've done some treatment for reflections, which helped a great deal on the mids, but not much in the way of setting up traps or treatment for the low frequencies. That will likely be the next investment... The problem is the angles of the room. I think I've made some progress on latering it - I'll try and post a sample later.

i tend to make at least two basslines, one for the sub bass (the simple off note one for example) and a higher bass playing a more complex score... each eq'ed seperately and compressed seperately and then combined to a third track which is also eq'ed and compressed, and maybe sidechained to the kick... and on top of it all i put all of the basses (kick, bass1, bass2) into a single track compressing them even more... i find it easy to handle them when their togather, i tend to do this sort of treatment on all of my rhythm sections...

but i find it hard to belive you would wanna sound like someone else... do your own thing mate! maybe really low basses will make your tracks stand out more among others, who knows... anyway i think you should also listen alot to commercial cd's you like for a while and then go back to mixing... mixing or mastering for too long make your ears accept the current frequencies pressure and therefor youll make a muddy mix or a lacking of bass mix, etc.... you should take a break every once in a while, its really helpful...

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quote:

Originally posted by Ray_Chappell I hear you - I think it's more a matter of room treatment more than the equipment though. I've done some treatment for reflections, which helped a great deal on the mids, but not much in the way of setting up traps or treatment for the low frequencies. That will likely be the next investment... The problem is the angles of the room. I think I've made some progress on latering it - I'll try and post a sample later.

Yes, I have had similar problems in my room, with bass traps and other unwanted stuff. A quick way to work around this (at least temporary) is to get a good pair of phones that will works as a reference. Without going into the battle of phones, I could warmly recommend AKG141 (preferably old, used ones). They have a character like "if it sounds good in them, it will probably sound fair on most systems". Therefore I find them very useful. I could send you an isolated bass line from one of our songs i you really want to, but I doubt that would help you out much as the bassline needs the rest of the tune to sound good.

Cheers

I personally don't recomend putting your basslines and kick together and compressing them all. I would think it would just squash sqush them all and make it sound flat.

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quote:

Originally posted by theartfulducker I personally don't recomend putting your basslines and kick together and compressing them all. I would think it would just squash sqush them all and make it sound flat.

thats all comes down to settings... i find it very easy to put em all togather and set up the compressor right where i want it... a sound compressed is much more easy to handle and give away so much more room for other stuff then a not compressed sound...

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Layered bass?

These guys will teach you everything you need to know:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OezymoIxZM








(ps: I use sub-bass with a high bass from time to time)

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