Sub-bass....Compression and limiting!

[mc wayne]

what drugs are you on if you think a sinewave needs compressing..

[legend4ry]

DB's don't matter, give us a clip...

[beerz]

what drugs are you on if you think a sinewave needs compressing..

sine wave could easily need compressing depends what he's doing with it

1 osc
sine wave
mono

u have any frequencey spikes when you solo it?
u have anything goin on the master out?

[staticcast]

Don't do a mixdown according to "this instrument should be hitting x dB". It's meaningless. As macc so often points out, it's good practice to keep levels IN GENERAL around -10 or -15 or so, but track levels in dB mean absolutely nothing in terms of how loud a certain instrument should be in the mix. If your sub sounds too loud, just turn it down. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you turn it down and something still doesn't sound right, *that's* when you know you're doing something wrong.

BTW, if it really is a sub-bass, it should just be one sine wave, and you shouldn't really need to low-pass it. Compress it, sure, but low passing a sine wave will give you a sine wave. 110Hz might be a little high to HPF a kick as well, but I guess it depends on the kick...

[staticcast]

sounds like there is something wrong with your mix but the simple answer is; if its too loud, turn it down.

heres what everthing is hitting at:

Kick -12db
Snare -11db
Hi Hat -22db
Mid Range Bass -14db
Pads -34db
SubBass -30db

Actually, looking at these levels, my guess is that you've got some really attacky drums going on, that you've turned way up in order to be able to hear the body after the initial transient (which doesn't sound loud but peaks your meters). Your sub shouldn't really be peaking 20dB below your drums. Use better drum samples, and watch your attack and release settings on any drum compression you might be using.

And.... why have you got four sinewaves as your sub? Mixing multiple oscillators at low frequencies is asking for trouble. Sub bass = one sine, or a heavily filtered single square/saw/whatever.

[joekool]

i swear macc said bass should hit at -12 or so

macc is god....

but if i had mine at -12db thats all i would hear....

should i just have one oscillator as the sub?

in 3osc on FLstudio

i have 2 sines and one triangle. you need to turn something down or not use as many oscs... 2 should work fine mate

2 sines and a triangle? isn't that really sucking a lot of the power out of your sub? i've never found myself using more than 1 sine wave..

[setspeed]

And.... why have you got four sinewaves as your sub? Mixing multiple oscillators at low frequencies is asking for trouble. Sub bass = one sine, or a heavily filtered single square/saw/whatever.

extra frequencies, dude. i wanna write a tune with like, the most frequencies ever

[Recessive Trait]

there is something wrong with your mix

heres what everthing is hitting at:

Kick -12db
Snare -11db
Hi Hat -22db
Mid Range Bass -14db
Pads -34db
SubBass -30db

those are very unusual levels. why are the pads and sub so quiet in comparison to the drums and midrange? surely this can't sound good. at all.

[Recessive Trait]

extra frequencies, dude. i wanna write a tune with like, the most frequencies ever

this is not a good idea.

[tripwire22]

i swear macc said bass should hit at -12 or so

macc is god....

but if i had mine at -12db thats all i would hear....

should i just have one oscillator as the sub?

in 3osc on FLstudio

i have 2 sines and one triangle. you need to turn something down or not use as many oscs... 2 should work fine mate

2 sines and a triangle? isn't that really sucking a lot of the power out of your sub? i've never found myself using more than 1 sine wave..

hell if i know i have no way of hearing my subs with my set up. check out my sound cloud and let me kno if u think my sub sounds shit

[_boring]

extra frequencies, dude. i wanna write a tune with like, the most frequencies ever

new sig!!!!! ill thread!

[logic pro]

what filter are you using?

how steep is your filter curve?

what frequencies is your sub hitting?

if your filter cuts at 80 hz, that means it boost around 75 hz.....depends on the filter steepness, algo etc...

check yo spectrometer!!!!!

[james fox]

extra frequencies, dude. i wanna write a tune with like, the most frequencies ever

this is not a good idea.

buhuhuhuhuh

[legskeattch]

the problem lies with the amount of oscillators I'm using...

Its drowning everything... My drums arent hitting that loud... in comparison to everything else they are hitting just where i need them to.

Maybe when i sort the subbass out the drums will seem a lot louder!

I havent been following a rigid structure with where my elements are hitting on the mixer, I have been using my ears.

I use been layering MeanBeat samples so nothing wrong there

[stereotactic]

Can I suggest something? Mute the bass completely. Have a listen, see if there is anything else in there that could be clashing with it (if your ears aren't telling you, put a frequency analyser on your master out and have a look at the lower frequency range). If the rest sounds (and looks) ok, introduce the bass again, at a low level, and increase the volume via the mixer... At it's simplist, it will just be a case of balancing the volumes of the different tracks.

Are you sure it is a 'sub', and not just a low bass? A sub has no harmonic frequencies, it is a pure sine wave. That being the case, it is probably frequencies clashing in the low end, as from how you explain it, it sounds like the bass is smothering the other elements. You need to ascertain which elements it is affecting and either notch out some room using EQ or perhaps tweak those elements that are causing the issue so they gel together better.

Remember, there are rough guidelines but no set rules for what elements fit where, it's all individual depending on the track.

[staticcast]

post a sample?

[my_fickle_eye]

compare it to a track you think has similiar qualities to yours as a rough guide of how loud the sub should be, mite give you a new perspective on your mix as well if you A/B them

[macc]

extra frequencies, dude. i wanna write a tune with like, the most frequencies ever

new sig!!!!! ill thread!

LOL

Sounds to me like indisinction cos of too many oscillators doing too many things. Trying teh woblz?

If you can't hear subs then use SPAN.

Hit Edit and set the overlap to 60 - 100, to taste. Don't obsess over anything else, the shape of the curve over the whole tune or anything, just listen to a f#ckload of tunes while looking at the bottom, and close your eyes a lot. Sub's the one thing it's really worth using a spectrum analyser for if you aren't sure, IMO. If it looks huge and it sounds small, it's a fair bet it just sounds totally indistinct/confused. Everyone loves big bass but it's got to be TIGHT.

[legskeattch]

I cut the number of oscillators to 1 and then changed volume using the mixer while the track was playing so i could get it to fit better and...


It worked like a dream!

Thanks guys.

[serox]

I read the first post and was about to say, you only need 1 sine for sub!