Get that tight and loud kick/bass sound

Tom Sigmond · 10th September 2005

Hello Michael,

I'm into dance (house) music. For some people an ugly word, I hope not for you.
Some people think its easy but its not. There's so much going on in such a piece of music and especially the bass/kick is a hard one.
They have to be tight, punchy, have body and loudness. And the rest of the mix still has to have enough space to be there too!

I get everything as I want it but the bass and kick still is more a lucky shot than knowledge.
In a good piece of house muziek with a tight, loud and punchy low end, it seems like the low end is very short and chops of so the mix doesn't get into blurb.
I'm curious how to achieve that becausse the low end is a slow traveler frequencie and although I use a short sound, it seems to sound a bit longer.

If I make it too short, the low end is disappearing.
If I put a compressor on it, the fatness of the low end disappears.
If I use a compressor with the low frequency switch so the low end say 100hz< doesn't triggers the compressor, I don't get this tight low end sound either. Its then more compressing the presence of the kick and bass.

I've tried multiband compression on the end mix but it didn't cut it. I mostly screwed up my mix by trying this.

You know the trick(s) for this?

I have a pair of distressors (with britisch mode) and an Alan Smart C2 if you know some settings on those to try out. (Also have a Focusrite Green 4 and Valley 610 but don't think they cut it. Have to say the Valley is something special with its very fast attack)

Thanks in advance,

grtz. Tom

Michael Brauer · 15th September 2005

I first listened to house music in London before it came to NY. It was in it's earliest form and the tempo was crazy fast. I loved it.

It is hard mixing house. I think it becomes way easier once you crack the code to getting a chest kicking punch to the kick. The few things i did that came close to it was more of a radio mix than club so I’m no authority. What i have noticed is that when I play a record that was slamming in a club and then play it in the studio, the Kick seems way smaller. It's pretty tight but loud and hard in the 200-300 hz range. It doesn't have the extreme low end. I think it's because the club system makes up the difference. So if you mix the bottom of it the way you like to hear it in a club, you're probably going to overload the house system.

I know a friend that always mults his kick to two channels. He puts one through a DBX and squeezes it senseless so it's hard and punchy and then adds in the uncompressed kick. But he's doing R&B and it's intended for home and car with the mega subs. Maybe that's an idea to try….or not.

10th September 2005	#1
Tom Sigmond Gear maniac Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 170 Thread Starter	Get that tight and loud kick/bass sound Hello Michael, I'm into dance (house) music. For some people an ugly word, I hope not for you. Some people think its easy but its not. There's so much going on in such a piece of music and especially the bass/kick is a hard one. They have to be tight, punchy, have body and loudness. And the rest of the mix still has to have enough space to be there too! I get everything as I want it but the bass and kick still is more a lucky shot than knowledge. In a good piece of house muziek with a tight, loud and punchy low end, it seems like the low end is very short and chops of so the mix doesn't get into blurb. I'm curious how to achieve that becausse the low end is a slow traveler frequencie and although I use a short sound, it seems to sound a bit longer. If I make it too short, the low end is disappearing. If I put a compressor on it, the fatness of the low end disappears. If I use a compressor with the low frequency switch so the low end say 100hz< doesn't triggers the compressor, I don't get this tight low end sound either. Its then more compressing the presence of the kick and bass. I've tried multiband compression on the end mix but it didn't cut it. I mostly screwed up my mix by trying this. You know the trick(s) for this? I have a pair of distressors (with britisch mode) and an Alan Smart C2 if you know some settings on those to try out. (Also have a Focusrite Green 4 and Valley 610 but don't think they cut it. Have to say the Valley is something special with its very fast attack) Thanks in advance, grtz. Tom __________________ gr. Tom

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15th September 2005	#2
Michael Brauer Past Guest Moderator Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: nyc Posts: 222	I first listened to house music in London before it came to NY. It was in it's earliest form and the tempo was crazy fast. I loved it. It is hard mixing house. I think it becomes way easier once you crack the code to getting a chest kicking punch to the kick. The few things i did that came close to it was more of a radio mix than club so I’m no authority. What i have noticed is that when I play a record that was slamming in a club and then play it in the studio, the Kick seems way smaller. It's pretty tight but loud and hard in the 200-300 hz range. It doesn't have the extreme low end. I think it's because the club system makes up the difference. So if you mix the bottom of it the way you like to hear it in a club, you're probably going to overload the house system. I know a friend that always mults his kick to two channels. He puts one through a DBX and squeezes it senseless so it's hard and punchy and then adds in the uncompressed kick. But he's doing R&B and it's intended for home and car with the mega subs. Maybe that's an idea to try….or not.