Message 29/35
Date: 02-Feb-01 @ 11:29 PM -
RE: Seeking TRANCE
Ville,
I think I know what your hitting on.
What your saying is how do you balance a low frequency kick drum over a low frequency sub/synth bass sound and allow the two to work together?
This all depends on what style of music you are writing. Generally for music based around break beats I would say put the kick slightly above the sub bass by tuning it up a bit and using a touch of eq.
The problem with stuff like this is there are no real rules. Another thing to be aware of is that your average listener sometimes refers to certain sounds as bass, but they arn`t actually bass.
You can put a kick in a tune and boost the lower midz and slam a really deep sub bass underneath it to fill out the bottom. Drum and Bass producers often use this approach.
Or sometimes the reverse is better. You might want to have a really muffled detuned, deep, muddy kick and a lighter bass sound (say an acoustic bass) grooving over the top. Hip hop tunes often use this technique.
At the end of the day it`s all down to the sounds you use and what effect you`re after. Sometimes if your tune is really minimal you might want to mould the kick and the bass into one and let them play off each other as each note hits the floor, as you described above. A Tribe Called Quest did this in their Find A Way track and the tune is just bass, bass, bass!! Same with a lot fo Q-Tips stuff, check Vibrant Thing.
I`ve just reread your message an noticed something else that might be causing your problem.
If sounds are jump out when other sounds are not playing then yes this is definately a mix issue. Difficult for me to answer because I don`t know what you`re monitoring on, but generally try not to boast to much bass and definately cut bass off other sounds in your tune to allow the bottom to bleed from the bass sounds and not the other instruments.
All mid range sounds will have a fundemental freqency in the bottom and you need to remove some of this with eq so the bottom end from your bass sounds are clear and not mushing up with every thing else.
Try to flatten things out nicely by cutting more than boasting and don`t over do any sounds.
If your using monitors then my rule to you is -
`Keep it flat, keep it smooth and it will transfer`.
Best regards,
Steve
p.s I actually write dance music, although I have referenced against other stuff above and maybe setting up a website soon with loads of info to try and help people through this frustrating stuff, watch this space....