my Sub Bass is swallowing my Drums whole! advice please

nafe1

nafe1

sea turtles mate
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hey guys,

ive been encountering this same problem and don't really know how to get around it,

when any of my tracks drop, the sub bass just swallows my drums making the actual drop sound a bit naff and powerless, is this something that gets sorted during mastering? or can I fix it in the mix?

can you advise some techniques to get around this?

Cheers :)
 
It's probably too loud and is operating in the same frequency as your kick. Turn on down and hi pass your kick. Maybe apply a notch to the frequency that your kick sits at one the sub as well.
 
sam the dnb man said:
It's probably too loud and is operating in the same frequency as your kick. Turn on down and hi pass your kick. Maybe apply a notch to the frequency that your kick sits at one the sub as well.
Click to expand...

Hi mate,

thanks a lot il look into that.

one of my friends just recommended a plugin that Break uses to address this issue called Trackspacer that I might look at too
 
nafe1 said:
Hi mate,

thanks a lot il look into that.

one of my friends just recommended a plugin that Break uses to address this issue called Trackspacer that I might look at too
Click to expand...

EQ and mix levels, EQ notches should do the trick, do it to your taste. Avoid just sidechaining your kick to your bassline and assuming that that will work!
 
WhoSayReload? said:
EQ and mix levels, EQ notches should do the trick, do it to your taste. Avoid just sidechaining your kick to your bassline and assuming that that will work!
Click to expand...


HAHAHAHA thank you, that would have been my first thought too!!! hahaha
 
FYI if anyone is interested, TackShaper worked an absolute treat to give my kick some space in the mix. Great Plugin and very affordable
 
Derelicts Of Tomorrow said:
LP eq cut off the sub at about 68, HP eq cut off kick around 70... done
Click to expand...

This is dependant on the nite of the sub and pitch of the kick, but this works.
A good thing to do if you have multiple notes with your sub is to split each note over different channels, so that you can sidechain any notes that hit the same or surrounding frequencies of the kick
 
sam the dnb man said:
This is dependant on the nite of the sub and pitch of the kick, but this works.
A good thing to do if you have multiple notes with your sub is to split each note over different channels, so that you can sidechain any notes that hit the same or surrounding frequencies of the kick
Click to expand...

that is a very interesting idea! I will take a look at that as that is exactly how my bassline is working, cheers mate!

though I'm fairly new to production, I have to say I absolutely love doing it, chatting about and seeking advice from seasoned heads

big up the DnB fam
 
sam the dnb man said:
This is dependant on the nite of the sub and pitch of the kick, but this works.
A good thing to do if you have multiple notes with your sub is to split each note over different channels, so that you can sidechain any notes that hit the same or surrounding frequencies of the kick
Click to expand...
not really as it's how i approach the sub in every single tune I put out bro o_O splitting each note over dif channels is crazy and tedious imho. you could simply sidechain the frequencies as in Fanu's tutorial and save yourself a massive headache
 
if you had a clip of the tune that would be best. I'll add to the pile of advice that says EQ first, side-chain only if necessary, and lightly if you have to.
That being said, i almost always have a bit of side chaining going on, usually only 2-5db of reduction, 2.0 - 3.0 ratio with near-0 attack and release.. I'll add it at the very end of my mixdown process to make sure its enhancing the punch of the kick, rather than being the reason it punches in the first place. Making sure it punches, that comes down to sample selection/kick creation and the EQ process imho.

"Punch" for a kick drum is usually around 80-120 hz, depending on the key of your track. Try notching your bass down a bit (2-4db) there to make some room for the kick to punch thru, and boosting your kick there.
Also. And this may just be me, when I mix-down, I find my sub channel peak usually sounds best 2-4db lower than my kick's peak. anymore than that and i feel like i'm losing my whole track to the sub... sub bass loves to eat headroom up.
Glad you're enjoying production man.
 
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xiris said:
if you had a clip of the tune that would be best. I'll add to the pile of advice that says EQ first, side-chain only if necessary, and lightly if you have to.
That being said, i almost always have a bit of side chaining going on, usually only 2-5db of reduction, 2.0 - 3.0 ratio with near-0 attack and release.. I'll add it at the very end of my mixdown process to make sure its enhancing the punch of the kick, rather than being the reason it punches in the first place. Making sure it punches, that comes down to sample selection/kick creation and the EQ process imho.

"Punch" for a kick drum is usually around 80-120 hz, depending on the key of your track. Try notching your bass down a bit (2-4db) there to make some room for the kick to punch thru, and boosting your kick there.
Also. And this may just be me, when I mix-down, I find my sub channel peak usually sounds best 2-4db lower than my kick's peak. anymore than that and i feel like i'm losing my whole track to the sub... sub bass loves to eat headroom up.
Glad you're enjoying production man.
Click to expand...


hey mate,

thanks for your comments very interesting read actually and I will certainly look into your advice, here is a dropbox link for the tune in question, currently I have TrackSpacer linked to the sub bass dipping out @ 60-80 hz whenever the kick hits

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aav7hp2f66l7azy/Nafe_Roller.mp3?dl=0

Cheers
 
OP, has your question been answered? Because I thought you were asking specifically about the drums being overwhelmed by the sub in the drop. Which I'd tell you to highpass it until coming back with full force after the drop. That's how it's done in every electronic music gente out there. But taking out lower frequencies you make the song feel "light" just to hit with heavy bass again.

If that wasn't only it, then all of the above are good hints on how to make your sub feel more equal to the rest of the instruments.
 
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