Kick or Bass in the lowest low end? And how deep would you go frequencywise in stereo?

[poiuwert]

Hey!

I'm wondering what you guys prefer to keep lowest EQ wise, kick or bass?
Also do you have any preferences as to what frequency would be a good starting point to go from mono to stereo when it comes to a wide sounding bass for example? Or just a full mix in general?

Please answer with your choice musicgenre level of experience and maybe link to some productions if you've got any.

Thanks!

[Googly Smythe]

...Please answer with your choice musicgenre level of experience and maybe link to some productions if you've got any.

Thanks!

Is there a job on offer?

Like I said in my post in your other thread, it all depends. You can't arbitrarily decide what frequency the bass should be - it needs to fit in with the rest of the music, harmonically/musically speaking. You need to switch things around to keep the listener interested. And, in my experience, most listeners like surprises, the unexpected.
And besides, anything below about 70Hz won't be heard (unless you've got some bass bins lying around).

Not much good, this advice, eh?

ps

... link to some productions if you've got any....

Check my SounCloud page for what I mean about "it all depends". (Plug, plug.)

[thecontrolcentre]

It really depends on the music ...

[Mister Natural]

fwiw - I use a steep hi-pass @50hz & mono everything below 260hz on my master template

best of luck

[poiuwert]

Hey!

Thanks for all your answers. I realize it all depends on the music, it does for me aswell but I still have a somewhat the same approach in all genres I work in, then I tend to adjust it more by volume then frequencywise. And about everyone I know who do this professionally tend to use the same presets about 99% of the time, with some minor tweeks, so I'm surprised to hear that people always answer "It depends" on these kinds of questions. As I said though, I get that it does depend but it can't depend that much since we're all limited to what sounds anything from iphonespeakers to Hfi stereos will play back in the end. So I feel if you'll look at the low end and the stereofield of your mixes, even though you used the "it depends"-rule, don't they all end up looking ruffly about the same anyways?

PS. Ayorinde, love your stuff! DS.

[DJ Warmonger]

I'm wondering what you guys prefer to keep lowest EQ wise, kick or bass?

Neither? Kick and bass should be in tune. Sometimes I add sub-kick fundamental with various amplitude, but it really depends on tonic frequency. Just compare your spectrum with reference tracks and you will find out.

And about everyone I know who do this professionally tend to use the same presets about 99% of the time

Then ask them. Why do you bother us, underlings?

[poiuwert]

Thank you DJ Warmonger for your answer!

And about your question:

I do ask them, and they ask me, and I ask all kinds of people and they ask all kinds of people. Not knowing what others do wouldn't make sense since the sound of music changes, mainly in contemporary music but actually in alla music, I learn different ways of doing things all the time and mostly I learn from people who aren't working with this everyday. So, the short answer is, I do ask them, I ask everybody:)

[MogwaiBoy]

And besides, anything below about 70Hz won't be heard (unless you've got some bass bins lying around).

I disagree. I have a pair of headphones with a frequency range down to 5Hz. With NuGen's Monofilter plugin you can easily solo the low end that you are mono'ing... and you can hear everything right down to the extreme lows.

In my opinion you need to keep a lot of it to carry the weight/punch/hugeness/impact of the track.

[PurpleSunray]

And about everyone I know who do this professionally tend to use the same presets about 99% of the time

I use the same preset about 100% of the time, and then I'm going to change it so that is fits to the sound I want to make.
Like - this is same bass "preset":
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/331 ... ahahha.wav
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/331 ... ssline.wav

Just mixed / tweaked completely different.
First one has an "overcompressed" kickdrum that even got some additional extract push on the sub-end. Wanted to have a real "heavy" baseline there, so most of the 'push' goes into lower end. Kick end-frequency is at about ~30hz, bass HP is a about ~35Hz.
Second bass line is supposed to be more smooth and not hitting that hard. So kick gets less energy, instead bass side-chain releases is shorted, so that bass picks up faster and there is no "hole" in between kick-sub-decay and bass side-chain-release. Kick end-frequency is ~50Hz, bass HP at ~45Hz.
...
As various ppl said, it all depends to what you want.
There is no generic "do it like that" rule.

And besides, anything below about 70Hz won't be heard (unless you've got some bass bins lying around).

What kind of music do you make? For me (psytrance), the part of the track that need most work/attention is the ones below 70Hz^^

[poiuwert]

PurpleSunray - Thank you for your elaborate answer, much appreciated!
Your productions sound awesome, especially the low end:)

[PurpleSunray]

PurpleSunray - Thank you for your elaborate answer, much appreciated!
Your productions sound awesome, especially the low end:)

thx but as usual.. the artist is not 100% happy with it yet
Still working on getting better low-end response on my 'studio'.
btw. if you compare the mid- and high-frequency parts of the two tracks, you can hear how much difference monitor speakers make on production quality..
Second track (the smooth one) was produced on KRK Rokits.
First track (they heavy one) was produced on Focal CMS ( <3 <3 ).
Same producer, same DAW, same plugins.. just different speakers.

[legendCNCD]

fwiw - I use a steep hi-pass @50hz & mono everything below 260hz on my master template

Can you answer to: Why you use STEEP hi-pass @ 50hz?

You are cutting needed sub frequencies me thinks... (of course dependant of music style)

[Hermetech Mastering]

Depends on the track. I rock the full stereo bass down to DC on many occasions.

[Googly Smythe]

And besides, anything below about 70Hz won't be heard (unless you've got some bass bins lying around).

What kind of music do you make? For me (psytrance), the part of the track that need most work/attention is the ones below 70Hz^^

Sorry for being tardy...

I didn't say it's not possible to hear below 70hz, just that it won't be - not unless you got some serious bass reproducers to hand, which the average Joe doesn't have. It appears to me that only people into audio have any kind of quality audio reproduction equipment - most people seem to listen to music through MP3 players' earplugs/headphones or their car stereo or their tv/computer speakers. Not exactly hi-fi! For the record, my headphones' spec goes down to 8hz, my ancient B & W's only go to 45hz.
Also, the op didn't mention any particular genre, just asked a very broad question, which is why I also said in the post you quoted from that "it all depends". It's not always "all about that bass". Starting to ramble- now where did my missus put my lute...

[PurpleSunray]

I agree on listeing, but this was about production
That's also why mentioned the monitor speakers. A standard producer studio setup is not optimized for good low-end response usually. Pretty much all 2-way monitor speakers lack sub, doesn't matter how expensive they are. If they don't, they lack mid. So they only way to know what you are donig, is to go for (more expensive) full-range / 3-way speakers, or use dedicated sub speaker.
Ofc, if your music does not have anything important on the sub-end, you can just cut it. If it has, you need a setup that allows you to hear what you doing there. So having bass bins, or better, a proper studio sub, is a must have IMHO (on production, while listeing can you can use the 0.99$ headphones too ofc )