+1 to Diginut, also a lot comes from the quality of the bass... Kinda thought I'd never say this myself, but when palm said "analog", it does hold its value kinda.
Last project I did I had the pleasure of working with a moog voyager, and the bass made there just insanely struck out better than any VST can dream of achieving, required very little post-processing, and sounds like winning the lottery.
Just sayin'

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quote:

Originally posted by Tarpex Last project I did I had the pleasure of working with a moog voyager, and the bass made there just insanely struck out better than any VST can dream of achieving, required very little post-processing, and sounds like winning the lottery. Just sayin'

Yes it is actually that good.

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Sidechain helps, but the most important aspect is the original sound.

Try working at extremely low volumes, in mono, and go through some bass patches/presets, and you'll notice some come through a lot better than others at that low volume. It's a good habit to get into, checking your bass at very low volume before you spend a lot more time on the rest of the mix.

Some bass patches have way too much low end. Sometimes I'll apply quite a bit of high pass filtering to get the low end under control. You could see if this is part of the problem - the sub frequencies will make it sound like there's plenty of bass when you're listening at decent volumes, but the bass will disappear at lower volumes.

Fletcher–Munson curves

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a well mixed track will have less bass at low volumes. The reduced response to bass is a physiological component of our hearing system and adjusting your mix to have a prominent bass level at low volumes will make the bass overly loud at normal volumes.



As far as your description of "pro" tracks, i think you aren't properly disseminating the real reason yours is different. I can't really tell you without some examples but it probably isn't the overall bass level that is the culprit. Your mix probably sounds bad at normal levels too.

quote:

Originally posted by RichieV As far as your description of "pro" tracks, i think you aren't properly disseminating the real reason yours is different. I can't really tell you without some examples but it probably isn't the overall bass level that is the culprit. Your mix probably sounds bad at normal levels too.

That's right - if it sounds wrong/ different to the "pro" songs at low volume, it's not going to magically become correct just by turning up the volume.

With most "pro" songs though, you can hear the bass at very low levels, even bearing in mind the fletcher munson curves. And they sound fine when you turn the volume up. In my experience, if the bass is inaudible at low volumes, the issue is most likely too much sub-bass content, not enough mid content.

+1 fletcher-munson related

"pro" tracks likely have had a 3rd party mastering, which through subjective technical listening, applies uniform loudness as long as the mix is an A- or better. as far as mixing the bass right, i agree on balancing the sub-range 40-120 with the range up to 600-800hz, and centralizing always. most other harmonics in this area should be weak or panned, aside from perhaps the lead but thats decided by content..

im killing mixes using mid-side eq in Live 7. bass stays in the middle, harmonies and instruments panned or low q low cut.

I am not signed, but I am geeky.

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Last edited by Kthought on Sep-21-2009 at 00:37

My method is to take a very narrow notch using EQ somewhere in the mid range of said bass, as this I find helps it to stay audible on low playback volumes.
Sound choice is critical.

I now focus everything on teh bass end before going to far in a track as I find this the most challenging area. Mid rolling bass in particular is my nemesis.

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