A few thoughts on mixing bass...
1) I don't know if this is current mixing theory, though I have heard that everything below
100 or 150 Hz should be panned dead center. This clears up phase problems that exist in different
listening environments which might otherwise cancel out certain bass frequencies.
2) The observations about freeing up some of the bass frequencies sounds right on to me. I
have a friend in a cover band who happens to have a great sounding setup. He runs everyone
through the P.A. (vocals, keyboards, miked guitar amps) or the separate amplifiers for bass and
guitar. The P.A. is about 600 watts. Then he runs the bass guitar through a high pass filter and
cuts out everything below 200 Hz. This means that he only gets the upper harmonics of the lower
notes. Then he runs the kick drum through 2,000 watts of subwoofer. Yup, you read that
correctly, the kick drum is the only thing in the sub 200 Hz range that's getting amplified.
Therefore it doesn't get muddied up by anything else. Since the bass guitar is doing a lot of
stuff right along with the kick drum, it sounds like the bass guitar has all that punch.
3) The art of mastering is all about creating space for everything to exist. If you really
care about getting the highest quality sound (and if you have the bucks) you owe it to yourself to
send your stuff to a pro. Not only do they have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in gear
(gives me a woody just thinking about it all), they also have thousands of hours behind the wheel
so to speak. Failing that, read everything you can and keep your hands light on the controls.
Great thread here...
Stephen
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Re: Super Secret Mixing Tips
2003-05-15 by S V G