Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

Getting the low end right is one of th hardest things about doing a good 
mix, because so many factors affect it.  You have the speaker types and 
size, the room size, what materials are in the room, etc.  Getting a good 
mix doesn't mean it sounds good at home 9though that can be part of it). 
The real key of a good mix, is that it translates well to other systems. 
Like you said, it sounds good at home, but elsewhere it sounds too bass 
heavy.  This can be fixed with a few things:

- Keep back ups of your song's project file, don't just say you're done 
and that's it.  I usually need to go back at least a couple times and make 
some small adjustment to the bassline or BD levels to get them to sit well 
in the mix.

- Learn your speakers and room.  Sounds simple, but it takes a lot of time 
to do correctly, you need to listen to your favorite CDs again and again 
and compare how they sound in there with elsewhere..  If you know your 
mixes are bass heavy everywhere but your room, then maybe you need to 
compensate by lowering the bass levels until it sounds thin in your room. 
Again, remember the point isn't to make it sound good in one place, but to 
sound good everywhere.  Compromises have to be made sometimes.

- Use multiband compression during mastering.  That way, it's very easy to 
adjust just the lowend, you can tighten it up, even use it as a simple EQ.

- Try lowering everything below 30-40Hz when you're mastering.  Even a 
fairly steep cutoff curve will leave enough frequencies here to be felt at 
the clubs, without muddying up the song when played back on other 
speakers.  Also, I like to cut out the bass on all tracks where it's not 
critical.  If you've got some strings, or leads, try cutting out 
everything below 100-200Hz.  If it sounds weird without the info there, 
then slowly start adding back more until it sounds right.  I also use the 
30-40Hz trick on myu basslines while mixing, that can bring back a lot of 
headroom and clarity.

rEalm



for me personally i have a hard time laying bass in right.  it always 
sounds good at my crib, or even in another room in the house, but when i 
burn to cd and listen to it in someones car,  the bass is usually really 
deep and drowns out everything.  sometimes cutting the resonance down on 
the sound helps, but i feel the 
bass loses its bassyness.  i thought i may need to compress but everyone 
says add eq 
and compression lightly and as a last resort.  any tips on getting deep 
bass that sits in a 
track and can stilll be heard  even at low volumes?



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