Dec 14, 2009 01:36 am I would say definitley use some compression on the bass & kick to get the parts fairly even in volume or you'll always be fighting the bottom end with parts too loud, others too soft once you start maximizing/limiting.
Dan
My battle against low freqs continues
Posted on Dec 14, 2009 12:31 am
crux
Typo Szar
Member Since: Jul 04, 2002
OK so i had an earlier post on fixing up low frequencies in the mix that helped me a ton, so first off thanx to everyone who responded to that thread
now my problem is at the mastering level however, and yes im one of those crazy master at home blokes
my problem after burning a bunch of cds of my masters seems to be somekind of lower frequency masking. In my older post i found that my bottom end was muddy, and with the help from the responses on that post i was able to clear up most of the mud so my mixes r quite clear now. however, after i sum them, harbal them, and then add the final limiting i find that when i go to other systems the kick drum or some bigger notes on the bass will hold back my higher frequencies. They arent so much pumping along with the kick but its obvious that the lower region is takign up alot of the songs energy. To be honest im not totally sure if its some kind of masking but it sounds like that to me, it just sounds like the lower region is taking up alot of energy but not the whole time, so every now and then itll come to the fore and die back down.
I tried just using an EQ to shelf the lower freqs (again this is after ive alerady harballed it) but it just makes the songs sound tinny and basslite. Tried an MBC, ever so reluctantly, but that was a whole other can of worms.
anyhow, my theory now is if i compress my lower elements, bass and kick, in the mix? before my kick was unprocessed, only EQ with no compression and just slight compression on my bass. will that help me with this problem at the mastering stage? Is there a way to do this without having to remix all my trax?
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Dec 14, 2009 01:36 am I would say definitley use some compression on the bass & kick to get the parts fairly even in volume or you'll always be fighting the bottom end with parts too loud, others too soft once you start maximizing/limiting.
Dan
Dec 14, 2009 01:53 pm When I turn my mixes to a ridiculously low level, the bass and kick almost dissapear. Just something I saw an engineer do to make sure it was not going to pump once limited.
Honestly, it sounds to me like some hits are a little harder than others and indeed the limiter is pumping them (even a little) which is hogging the space. Some compression would help with this, but making sure the kick is not too loud overall will definitely help as well. I am super duper guilty of mixing the kick too loud and not realizing until I listen in my car.
Dec 14, 2009 10:22 pm hey crux,
I would definatley look at compressing bass and kick low freq.
whether ya do it at the mastering stage or in the mix at this point i dont know.
could just be a small area that needs doing while mastering.
Not that i have the first clue about master.
i gotta be honest though, i know exactly what you mean with this issue as i get it too at times. i put it down to a crapy bass guitar that hogs everything in the lower region up to 200hz. If i cut it then it sounds like its not there. i cant find a medium but im no bass buff either.
if i was in your posi, i would save another version of this song and start doing some things to it you havent tried yet.
like things you've thought of doing but never got around to?
Maybe a 30 band eq and find the offending freq?
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