Welcome to Sage Audio. Today let’s cover How to Mix Bass. But first,
If you have a mix that you need mastered,
send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it with the link in the description.
Understand Bass Fundamentals
For this video I made a demo in which we have a lot of competing signals in
the low-frequency range - so let’s see how we’d go about cleaning everything
up and creating distinct spaces for each track.
With analyzers, we can see each bass track’s fundamental - in this example the root note is
either E1 at 41Hz. like with the kick drum, or E2 at 82Hz like with the Bass synth. Examining
the response first gives you a better understanding of what will need to be separated.
Before we start adding processing, let’s listen to the full before and after to
hear how the track sounds originally, and what’ll sound like when we’re done.
Attenuate Overlapping Bass
Now that we understand where the powerful frequencies lie for each track,
we can prioritize some tracks over others and begin attenuating where needed. For example,
I attenuated some of 41Hz and 164Hz on the bass guitar since it competed with the kick,
upright bass, and the low piano.
Or on the upright bass, I attenuated some of G1
at 49Hz and E2 at 82Hz since it overpowered higher frequencies in my bass and bass synth.
Let’s listen to these EQs being enabled,
and notice how attenuating strong overlap gets it closer to a balanced sound.
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Shape Bass Tone with Compression
After I’ve attenuated strong overlapping frequencies, I’ll use compression to
create unique timbres and even stereo placements for my tracks. For example,
on the kick drum, I used an 1176 compressor to distort the kick’s transients and give
it a punchier sound - emphasizing higher frequencies over the lower competing ones.
On my bass synth, I used this lifeline Console plugin by Excite Audio to compress
the mid image more than the side - resulting in both dynamic control and stereo expansion
for the synth. I also lowered the attack and release to add some slight distortion.
Let’s take a listen to compression being introduced,
and keep in mind how it can do a lot more to a sound than simply control dynamics.
Vary Bass Harmonics
By using distinct saturator plugins and saturation types,
we can create unique harmonics or overtones for each track - this will help further
separate our instruments. For example, I used this PSP saturator on my bass synth
to introduce hard clipping - but then used modern tape saturation on the bass guitar.
You’ll notice that I also emphasized saturation on differing low frequencies for each.
Let’s introduce saturation to our tracks,
and notice how their unique harmonics help differentiate each signal.
Kick Bass
Side-Chain Compression
Most of you have probably heard of side-chain compression - so let’s use this ShaperBox plugin
by Cableguys to accomplish it. I used it on my upright bass, and then side-chained the
kick. Now what’s cool about this processor is that it lets me compress only the lows.
So whenever the kick hit, the competing frequencies were attenuated, but the highs
that helped separate the 2 stayed intact - resulting in a brighter, more defined sound.
Now, this is slightly unrelated, but I also used this plugin to
create a sweeping filter for every bar - you’ll notice when we play the demo
how this frequency cut gives other instruments a moment to cut through.
Let’s take a listen to this plugin being enabled.
Amplify
Distinct Frequencies
Next, I’m going to insert an EQ on my bass synth and bass guitar to amplify
higher frequency ranges and help set to 2 apart. You’ll notice on the synth I
amplified some of E5 and G6, while on the bass guitar I amplified G5, E7, and G7.
By amplifying varying in-key frequencies, I give each instrument some room while
clarifying some musical aspects of each performance. Let’s take a listen.
Placing Bass in the Stereo Field
We touched on stereo placement earlier when I used m/s compression to widen my bass synth,
but now I’ll use some subtle sample delay to widen my low piano. You might have also noticed
that I panned my kick very slightly to the left and my bass guitar to the right.
Lastly, on my upright bass, I used an M/S EQ to make the lows slightly more mono,
and then expanded the width of my E5 note.
Let’s listen to these changes, and notice how although we typically want to keep the
bass centered, a little variation can help differentiate instruments.
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Subtle Reverb on Bass
Next, I’m going to use this SparkVerb by UVI to create
some unique reverb for my bass guitar - I’ll keep everything super short and the mix low,
but use a larger size and some pre-delay to help the bass’s transient cut through.
The real reason I used this plugin though is for the diffusion section.
By controlling the start time of my diffusion, and its amount,
I can create a cool reverb slap-back effect that augments the snap of the bass guitar.
Let’s listen to how this effect gives the guitar a unique identity in the mix.
Sidechain
Resonance Reduction
With this resonance reducer, I can side-chain any instrument to dynamically
reduce overlapping frequencies on any other instrument. For example,
I inserted it on the bass synth and side-chained the bass guitar,
before focusing the attenuation on the mids to reduce overlap in this frequency range.
Whereas on the upright bass, I side-chained the bass synth and attenuated lows and high mids.
This really comes in handy as the last insert to clean up the signal
and to ensure there’s a balance between competing signals. Let’s take a listen.
Remove Noise from Bass Guitar
So, this is something I’ve been doing throughout the entire video,
but it’s somewhat specific so I thought I’d cover it later. In short, my bass guitar was noisy,
so I used a multi-band processor to cause downward expansion or gating, but only on the highs.
Let’s listen to how this makes high-pitch noise much less noticeable on a DI bass.
Bass
Bus Processing
Last up, I changed the outputs of each track to a collective bus,
on which I inserted the plugin Fresh Air to subtly brighten everything. Then with a M/S EQ,
I made the lows more mono with a HP filter on the side image, before boosting some highs.
Routing the tracks like this made it easier to collectively shape
the sound of my bass tracks. Let’s take a listen.
If you have a mix that you need mastered, send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it
with the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching.