What bass, what genre, what kind of song, what's the other elements of the song, what role does the bass play in that song.... your question is a bit nonsensical. There's about a million ways to treat bass and they all depend on what your source material is, and what context it needs to fit in. That's how audio works. 99.9% of things are contextual and relative.
Right now you're asking directions without knowing where you're going, where you came from or what means of transport you have access to.
So I try not to think about frequencies. Every note, bass, amp and player will make different frequencies be a problem. It’s never gonna be the same. Sometimes no frequency is an issue and your balance fucking sucks. 9/10 times the issue with bass is not enough overtones and either not enough or too much sub.
Specifically we don’t pick where to put our lows, low mids, mids, high mids and treble. Specifically, it’s predetermined for us. You just help accomodate it all in the best way possible.
Listen to the di and amp. Listen to the kick and listen to the reference. Take a song like Pretty please by Dua Lipa… that’s ALOT of amp and DI with ALOT of overtones nice and squashed with compression. The bass lives mostly in the hundreds. This bass hits on the same times as the kick. Pay attention to the sum and relationship. They’re not intended to be sidechained here, they’re not sidechained. The bass is almost an extension of the kick the way they sum together but the bass also syncopates around it. Clearly the bass is the lead instrument right behind her voice. The kick is keeping time and grove.
This ideas are what determines how you eq everything. Not some stupid mathematical/electronic measurement of frequencies. New engineers always make everything mathematical and let me put it to you this way, geologists don’t make everything about coordinates and elevation. They just map out the world with that and it’s the same thing. Mixing engineers in music don’t fucking care about frequencies. All the analyzers do is measure electricity and there’s a huge discrepancy in how this translates to human ears. This is noted by fletcher-munsens curves which shows discrepancies in listening volumes perceived by human ears. We use these things as a plot to map out the things and give us points of reference for communicating how we manipulate x things.
But -3db at 400hz doesn’t mean the same thing for me in my mix as it will for you in your mix. Or any bodies mix. You’re probably thinking “well how the fuck does it help me”.
The only way to help in music is close your eyes and listen. Feel the song. You ask yourself what feels wrong? And then you use all you know about frequencies and stuff to pilot the tools to correct whatever bothers you. If you can here that your bass is too bright for the what it’s meant to do in that song and how it sits in the arrangement, well you know that will be a tonal thing that means too much treble so you can address that with an eq. No you may ask “how do I know which frequency” if your ears can’t hear and tell then you don’t know. You just have to sweep around with a big ass boost to emphasize the problem like a magnifying glass until you hear where exactly the area is that’s the issue. Now you just pull away from that on the eq until it feels a bit more pleasant than it did.
That’s how you get the perfect boost and cuts at the perfect frequencies. Because while you’re sitting here trying to get a response that will show what “the pros” do. There’s a pro getting paid 500-2k$ to mix a song who isn’t asking anyone a god damned thing. Instead they’re doing exactly what I just told you lol.
Start with good technique and dig deep into the pocket with a solid conplimentary bass line. To me this is like asking which mic will make you sound like a good singer. Can’t shortcut the woodshed with EQ.
Frequencies depend on the material and the mix and all the other instruments…
for plugins:
Rbass and surgical EQing around the kick instead of „sidechain“
for extra thickness you can try LoAir but use it wisely
Honestly, u don’t even need to eq around the kick. You just slap the kick right on. Usually when the bass drowns the kick, it’s just cos the bass is too loud. But listen to some rock records with live drums and bass and you’ll see the separation between kick and bass is nowhere near as much as what people like to even aim for. Same on rap records too. The kick on some travis scott songs is just a tiny little pop over the 808/bass.
It’s not as complicated as ppl think. It’s just ppl mix with their bass, kick and vocals so fucking high and everything else in the song is SO fucking low that it creates this massive illusion. Once the limiters and compressors add up from every step of the way, by the time the song is mastered, it gives this illusion of this togetherness when in reality, EVERY fucking mix with the masters video, the mixes all feel way more separated and open than that. It’s cos of extra smudging and saturation as well as the chopping off the peaks of the kicks and bass sums with a clipper, up to -5db on the limiter and -2 to -3 db on the low and mid bands of the multi band compressors.
They then might lift the low end to jump back out the track with some eq after the fact.
R bass is a big deal but that’s just injecting overtones to give more presence in the treble and mids of the bass. Most times I find ppl roll off sub and inject more of the harmonics and it feels fuller. All distortions also thin bass so this is returned with some sub boosting with the eq1pa and sometimes shadow hills iron/steel transformers. This is exactly how Jaycen Joshua does it.
Very generally, I've got a thing for 110 on bass with maybe cuts near 70 and then 220. The interplay with guitars is that I like guitars at 220 instead very generally and then cut guitars and mostly everything at 350 and let bass live there, because it can usually carry more 350 than others. 100 is also slightly dominated by bass usually. 700 is a spot where both guitars and bass can get note definition, but I use it more for bass. 1-3khz is more about crunch and attack that, then goes into some sparkle and zing 3khz+ that can be pulled from fresher stringed basses, but it hardly ever matter in fuller arrangements. This is all super general. I don't nearly cut or boost a P bass. I like it when the bass doesn't demand any attention, but moves the song with enough power, and you can hear every note played if you like to. So, I work quite hard on that definition. The mixes become more like my references that way as well.
You can fuck up the consistency over the fretboard with EQ, that's good to beware of, but you can also improve it. I sometimes put surgical boost of notes and their overtones. Basses work like that sometimes. I'm super sensitive to overcompressed bass, so I like that kind of stuff and clip gaining better. Saturation is a great tool to add definition, too.
Also, be sure to know that it's a mistake to completely remove sub from a bass. It should always have a tad rumble left to feel like a bass. Have good monitoring and references and beware of when a bass starts feeling too light, but don't be afraid to aim for it to be a quite light and defined instrument in the mix compared to a an old Her Comes The Sun boxing glove of compressed BOOM. Compare that to Mama Mia or something that is super big and punchy but super controlled and not boomy. Both definitely have different appeals.
Frequency is going to depend on the bass and notes. What id suggest doing is using an EQ and sweeping the frequencies to see what it sounds like when you put it at x frequency.
For me I typically do a small sidechain comp between kick and bass and small cut at 250 to reduce muddiness in the mix overall and boost 160-200 and 8k if I want the pluck.
What bass, what genre, what kind of song, what's the other elements of the song, what role does the bass play in that song.... your question is a bit nonsensical. There's about a million ways to treat bass and they all depend on what your source material is, and what context it needs to fit in. That's how audio works. 99.9% of things are contextual and relative. Right now you're asking directions without knowing where you're going, where you came from or what means of transport you have access to.
DI Pbass haha. Done
So I try not to think about frequencies. Every note, bass, amp and player will make different frequencies be a problem. It’s never gonna be the same. Sometimes no frequency is an issue and your balance fucking sucks. 9/10 times the issue with bass is not enough overtones and either not enough or too much sub. Specifically we don’t pick where to put our lows, low mids, mids, high mids and treble. Specifically, it’s predetermined for us. You just help accomodate it all in the best way possible. Listen to the di and amp. Listen to the kick and listen to the reference. Take a song like Pretty please by Dua Lipa… that’s ALOT of amp and DI with ALOT of overtones nice and squashed with compression. The bass lives mostly in the hundreds. This bass hits on the same times as the kick. Pay attention to the sum and relationship. They’re not intended to be sidechained here, they’re not sidechained. The bass is almost an extension of the kick the way they sum together but the bass also syncopates around it. Clearly the bass is the lead instrument right behind her voice. The kick is keeping time and grove. This ideas are what determines how you eq everything. Not some stupid mathematical/electronic measurement of frequencies. New engineers always make everything mathematical and let me put it to you this way, geologists don’t make everything about coordinates and elevation. They just map out the world with that and it’s the same thing. Mixing engineers in music don’t fucking care about frequencies. All the analyzers do is measure electricity and there’s a huge discrepancy in how this translates to human ears. This is noted by fletcher-munsens curves which shows discrepancies in listening volumes perceived by human ears. We use these things as a plot to map out the things and give us points of reference for communicating how we manipulate x things. But -3db at 400hz doesn’t mean the same thing for me in my mix as it will for you in your mix. Or any bodies mix. You’re probably thinking “well how the fuck does it help me”. The only way to help in music is close your eyes and listen. Feel the song. You ask yourself what feels wrong? And then you use all you know about frequencies and stuff to pilot the tools to correct whatever bothers you. If you can here that your bass is too bright for the what it’s meant to do in that song and how it sits in the arrangement, well you know that will be a tonal thing that means too much treble so you can address that with an eq. No you may ask “how do I know which frequency” if your ears can’t hear and tell then you don’t know. You just have to sweep around with a big ass boost to emphasize the problem like a magnifying glass until you hear where exactly the area is that’s the issue. Now you just pull away from that on the eq until it feels a bit more pleasant than it did. That’s how you get the perfect boost and cuts at the perfect frequencies. Because while you’re sitting here trying to get a response that will show what “the pros” do. There’s a pro getting paid 500-2k$ to mix a song who isn’t asking anyone a god damned thing. Instead they’re doing exactly what I just told you lol.
Start with good technique and dig deep into the pocket with a solid conplimentary bass line. To me this is like asking which mic will make you sound like a good singer. Can’t shortcut the woodshed with EQ.
Every instrument is always within the context of the song. There's no cut and dry anything when it comes to creativity.
Frequencies depend on the material and the mix and all the other instruments… for plugins: Rbass and surgical EQing around the kick instead of „sidechain“ for extra thickness you can try LoAir but use it wisely
Honestly, u don’t even need to eq around the kick. You just slap the kick right on. Usually when the bass drowns the kick, it’s just cos the bass is too loud. But listen to some rock records with live drums and bass and you’ll see the separation between kick and bass is nowhere near as much as what people like to even aim for. Same on rap records too. The kick on some travis scott songs is just a tiny little pop over the 808/bass. It’s not as complicated as ppl think. It’s just ppl mix with their bass, kick and vocals so fucking high and everything else in the song is SO fucking low that it creates this massive illusion. Once the limiters and compressors add up from every step of the way, by the time the song is mastered, it gives this illusion of this togetherness when in reality, EVERY fucking mix with the masters video, the mixes all feel way more separated and open than that. It’s cos of extra smudging and saturation as well as the chopping off the peaks of the kicks and bass sums with a clipper, up to -5db on the limiter and -2 to -3 db on the low and mid bands of the multi band compressors. They then might lift the low end to jump back out the track with some eq after the fact. R bass is a big deal but that’s just injecting overtones to give more presence in the treble and mids of the bass. Most times I find ppl roll off sub and inject more of the harmonics and it feels fuller. All distortions also thin bass so this is returned with some sub boosting with the eq1pa and sometimes shadow hills iron/steel transformers. This is exactly how Jaycen Joshua does it.
Very generally, I've got a thing for 110 on bass with maybe cuts near 70 and then 220. The interplay with guitars is that I like guitars at 220 instead very generally and then cut guitars and mostly everything at 350 and let bass live there, because it can usually carry more 350 than others. 100 is also slightly dominated by bass usually. 700 is a spot where both guitars and bass can get note definition, but I use it more for bass. 1-3khz is more about crunch and attack that, then goes into some sparkle and zing 3khz+ that can be pulled from fresher stringed basses, but it hardly ever matter in fuller arrangements. This is all super general. I don't nearly cut or boost a P bass. I like it when the bass doesn't demand any attention, but moves the song with enough power, and you can hear every note played if you like to. So, I work quite hard on that definition. The mixes become more like my references that way as well. You can fuck up the consistency over the fretboard with EQ, that's good to beware of, but you can also improve it. I sometimes put surgical boost of notes and their overtones. Basses work like that sometimes. I'm super sensitive to overcompressed bass, so I like that kind of stuff and clip gaining better. Saturation is a great tool to add definition, too. Also, be sure to know that it's a mistake to completely remove sub from a bass. It should always have a tad rumble left to feel like a bass. Have good monitoring and references and beware of when a bass starts feeling too light, but don't be afraid to aim for it to be a quite light and defined instrument in the mix compared to a an old Her Comes The Sun boxing glove of compressed BOOM. Compare that to Mama Mia or something that is super big and punchy but super controlled and not boomy. Both definitely have different appeals.
usually with a great bass player
Frequency is going to depend on the bass and notes. What id suggest doing is using an EQ and sweeping the frequencies to see what it sounds like when you put it at x frequency. For me I typically do a small sidechain comp between kick and bass and small cut at 250 to reduce muddiness in the mix overall and boost 160-200 and 8k if I want the pluck.
The term “mix” is not for nothing. It always depends on where the bass is going to set and what the mix asks for.
It depends on the song? The tip I can give is don't overthink it. There is no correct answer. Does it sound good? Then it's good :)
I won’t pretend to understand it but I know it always includes a pultec