KICK AND BASS EQING QUESTION

[Yetti]

For you guys with alot of experience in mixing and mastering....
What bass frequency's do you normally CUT, so that the low end still sounds good on cheap end user systems that offer "bass boosts"?
First one to respond with"do a search" is a pud.
Thanks Brothas.

[warhead]

Pud...awesome!

Personally I end up cutting around 350hz (roughly), and relying on 100hz (roughly) presence for good kick translation on small systems.

Hope this doesn't make me a "pud" but of course...it all depends.

War

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by Yetti

For you guys with alot of experience in mixing and mastering....
What bass frequency's do you normally CUT, so that the low end still sounds good on cheap end user systems that offer "bass boosts"?
First one to respond with"do a search" is a pud.
Thanks Brothas.

During mixing? I find that if you try to go with some kind of a formula you're going to fall flat on your face. Every bass drum and bass is different. Some have subsonics that have to be cut, some have none and would suffer from the same cut. So please don't ask that. Instead, try to get the best wide-range monitoring you can get and learn to judge it by listening. It also has to be done in context. The bass drum that sounds perfect in solo will probably sound a bit muddier in the musical context. I'm sorry if this makes me sound like a pud :-)

In mastering: I can say this with assurance that only came after years of hard work trying to get the mastering room as flat and reliable as possible. Now, if I make a judgment on a bass drum in the mastering room on the high resolution, wide-range system, I can usually predict with better than 95% assurance, how it will play on my wife's 3 piece AIWA system with the thunder bass turned up to #3 and in the Ford Explorer, which is always boomy. Plus, as far as the translation goes, if you rely on the Explorer or the AIWA to tell you and then try to go back into the mix room, then you will end up making a record that won't play well somewhere else, including clubs. That's why the flattest, most extended monitor system works the best in mastering.

If your current monitors in your mixing room or funds are not quite up to the task of judging that low end, then I would suggest that:

---you get a pair of, say, Sennheiser HD600 Headphones, which do go down low enough, check mixes on them, learn how they translate and then send those mixes to a good mastering engineer. Take notes on what he says, and after a few titles you'll get very good at getting those mixes in your room just right and you will learn what frequencies work well for the bass drums that you record with the mikes that you work with.

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by bob katz

During mixing? I find that if you try to go with some kind of a formula you're going to fall flat on your face. Every bass drum and bass is different. Some have subsonics that have to be cut, some have none and would suffer from the same cut. So please don't ask that. Instead, try to get the best wide-range monitoring you can get and learn to judge it by listening. It also has to be done in context. The bass drum that sounds perfect in solo will probably sound a bit muddier in the musical context. I'm sorry if this makes me sound like a pud :-)

In mastering: I can say this with assurance that only came after years of hard work trying to get the mastering room as flat and reliable as possible. Now, if I make a judgment on a bass drum in the mastering room on the high resolution, wide-range system, I can usually predict with better than 95% assurance, how it will play on my wife's 3 piece AIWA system with the thunder bass turned up to #3 and in the Ford Explorer, which is always boomy. Plus, as far as the translation goes, if you rely on the Explorer or the AIWA to tell you and then try to go back into the mix room, then you will end up making a record that won't play well somewhere else, including clubs. That's why the flattest, most extended monitor system works the best in mastering.

If your current monitors in your mixing room or funds are not quite up to the task of judging that low end, then I would suggest that:

---you get a pair of, say, Sennheiser HD600 Headphones, which do go down low enough, check mixes on them, learn how they translate and then send those mixes to a good mastering engineer. Take notes on what he says, and after a few titles you'll get very good at getting those mixes in your room just right and you will learn what frequencies work well for the bass drums that you record with the mikes that you work with.

Thanks for the detailed reponse Bob!
My main monitors are very good Amrita Kronos, powered by a Crown Macrotech 1500.
Many have not heard of these Amrita's...I bought them from Doug Jones, who helped design the speakers and taught sound engineering at Columbia in Chicago.
I also endure checking mixes on Yamaha NS-10's, which don't help for low end decisions.
Yes, I usually will check in the Explorer, and on the Aiwa, and on the computer speakers, and then back to the control room.
The local bands that I am currently work with on nights and weekends are on a budget, so I am providing the finished CD master for them to duplicate.
Thanks for the advice on the Sennheiser HD600 Headphones, that should help.

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by warhead

Pud...awesome!

Personally I end up cutting around 350hz (roughly), and relying on 100hz (roughly) presence for good kick translation on small systems.

Hope this doesn't make me a "pud" but of course...it all depends.

War

No Puds on this thread my friend!
Thanks for the tips..
I am getting close to mixdown with this new band, so I will experiment with this.
Thanks Brotha!