hello and welcome back to the channel.
for this episode i thought we would take
a look at mixing bass guitar for live
sound. let's take a listen and explain
the process. before we really start with
anything else, we need to make sure we
have set the gain properly for our
console. for the behringer, like we see
here, we want to adjust our gain to
average about minus 18 dbfs on the input
meters.
on an analog console, we'd be looking at
more like zero dbvu
once this is set let's go ahead and move
on to our eq.
first we should adjust the high pass
filter.
the filter is a slope not a hard cut off.
the lowest note on a four string bass,
standard tuning, is about 40 hertz.
if you have a drop d tuning or a five
string base, that doesn't necessarily
mean we need to adjust the filter lower
though.
the filter is a slope, not a cliff.
room acoustics and other factors like
leaving room for the kick drum to be at
the bottom of the mix come into play
here.
we might find situations where we roll
off lows even higher than 40 hertz.
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you need to listen when you adjust the
low cut and use it to take out low end
rumble and mud to get the low end to sit
where we want it in the mix.
finding the right spot will help give
the bass some definition in the mix as
well.
but don't thin the bass too much with it!
use your ears and listen to the room and
the mix.
i'm going to go with 40 hertz here
because it's a safe baseline setting and
it works for this bass guitar.
unlike low end, where the energy can
really build up with a bass guitar, a
bass lacks much upper high-end energy.
we can apply a low-pass filter, also
known as high cut. this can help to
remove or mitigate hiss, string noises,
and other unnecessary sounds from the
bass guitar.
if you're mixing on a console that
doesn't have a high cut, it's not that
important on bass, unlike the low cut.
we definitely could use the low cut to
do some sound shaping on the bass guitar,
but the high cut is more just to filter
the noises beyond the bass guitar range
and not actually shape the sound of the
bass guitar.
there's not much usable energy for a
bass guitar above 6k so we can safely
set the low pass filter at around 6k.
don't be surprised if you find these two
settings alone are sometimes enough. less
can many times be more.
let's listen to the bass guitar right
now with some drums for context.
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if you want to hear a little more attack
on the strings, that is going to come in
at around 2k to 4k.
let's try that.
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resist the urge to boost lows on the
bass guitar. even if you think it needs
to stand out more.
it has already got a lot of energy there
and we already have the kick down there
as well.
if the bass seems like it's getting lost
in the context of the mix, but the
overall volume seems, okay a bit of a trick
is to boost around 800 hertz a few
decibels.
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you can experiment with the exact point
a little, by listening and sliding that
point left and right.
this can bring in some definition,
whereas adding low end will usually just
be mud and cause the notes to get lost
more.
let's listen to the eq so far.
in.
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and out.
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and back in.
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and with drums.
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sometimes you'll find the bass guitar
sounds a bit woolly in the mix. maybe
boxy. maybe you want it to sound bigger
but not get in the way of the kick.
you can cut some low mids for this.
we can lift around 250 hertz and sweep
left and right and find the point that
sounds the most annoying and cut it a
few db...
which will usually be in the 200 to 500
range.
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or we can just cut around 250 hertz a
few db and slide it left and right and
listen for what sounds best in that
range.
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you might find when you listen to your
eq work within the context of the full
mix, or even just with the drums, that
you've done a little too much.
you want the instruments to sound good
in the context of the mix and not solely
by themselves.
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use your ears and work at a steady pace.
speed will come with experience.
and never forget many times less is more.
never think just because you haven't
made many eq moves that you haven't done
enough.
before you even touch a knob always
think about what you're trying to
achieve before you start adjusting.
have a reason to do what you're doing!
maybe the bass needs to be less present.
that can be a matter of downplaying the
attack area on the eq.
less aggressive.
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once we have the bass eq set, we can look
at the compressor.
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typically bass guitar will have a
higher ratio. from 4 to 1 up to the 10
to 1 range is not unusual. if your bassist
is really consistent then go to the
lower end of that.
if your bassist is a little too dynamic,
sometimes then look to go more to the
higher side of that.
i'm just going to go to the center range
here.
we also have attack and release on most
compressors.
you want a slower attack for the pluck
of the string to come through and leave
the bass with its definition.
if you find compression taking away the
definition of the bass, try slowing the
attack.
release can be on the quicker side.
you don't want the compression releasing
slow and losing the notes too much.
if you have a hold setting, like on the
behringer here, the same is true as well.
you don't want the compression to hold
too long before it releases the signal.
...and we have to set the threshold.
pay attention to the gain reduction
meter.
if you just want compression to knock
the peaks off then set it so that it's
just flickering the top couple of lights
mainly.
don't worry about adjusting the makeup
gain for this type of use.
if you want to limit the dynamic range
more, raising the level of the lower
volume parts, and reducing the level of
the higher volume parts, then lower the
threshold.
pay attention to your gain reduction
meters.
the amount of gain reduction that you're
averaging will tell you where to set the
makeup gain control.
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for example,
if you're averaging 6 db of gain
reduction then you need 6 db of makeup
gain.
if you're new to using compression then
you might want to use the first method
and err on the side of caution.
as you work with compression you'll see
that ratio and threshold work together, as
far as the actual gain reduction amounts
go, on your signal.
if you use too much compression you'll
hear the bass start to sound lifeless.
pay attention to your ears and your
meters!
for more on compression, i'll leave a
link to a video about compressors in the
text below.
on the behringer xr18 there's a bass
compressor preset.
if you use the base preset, notice it has
6 db of makeup gain already dialed in.
that tells us with the bass preset we
need to adjust our threshold until we're
averaging 6 db of gain reduction on the
gain reduction meter.
if you use the preset without doing that,
then it actually isn't working as
intended.
here are some other videos to check out.
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click the bell for notifications... the
patreon page and affiliate links are in
the text below... and i will see you next
time!
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