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johney wrote:Skrillex and proper mixdown in the same sentence...

Nobody says that you have to like Skrillex, but disparaging, of all things, his mixdowns? That'd be fucking stupid.

the tune in my sig is the one I was having this whole subbass debate over... listening back, I think it was a good idea to turn it down lol, otherwise those pads wouldnt have come out as clearly

Could use more sub in that track

nowaysj wrote:Could use more sub in that track

Jas0n wrote:

johney wrote:Skrillex and proper mixdown in the same sentence...

Nobody says that you have to like Skrillex, but disparaging, of all things, his mixdowns? That'd be fucking stupid.

Dunno if it's more mixdown or mastering, but every tune i heard from him sounded extremely flat, that is not a good mixdown for me...

Frequencies from 80hz down to 60 are the most audible, I've found. 30-50 is less audible, but properly mixed and sub bass in the lower range will have more impact, weight and feel to it. So if you want to make your sub bass sound louder, try notes around the higher frequency spectrum, and if you want the power of the low range, then try sending your sub track to a bus with some tube warmth, saturation, whatever distortion you want, highpass it to your preference and mix the two to taste. If you do this, be careful to not mix it too loud, because I've found that too much distortion masks the fundamental frequency, but this is only my observations and preferences. Still, it's an idea I haven't seen in this thread.

Hope this helps.

psychedelicatessen wrote:Frequencies from 80hz down to 60 are the most audible, I've found. 30-50 is less audible, but properly mixed and sub bass in the lower range will have more impact, weight and feel to it. So if you want to make your sub bass sound louder, try notes around the higher frequency spectrum, and if you want the power of the low range, then try sending your sub track to a bus with some tube warmth, saturation, whatever distortion you want, highpass it to your preference and mix the two to taste. If you do this, be careful to not mix it too loud, because I've found that too much distortion masks the fundamental frequency, but this is only my observations and preferences. Still, it's an idea I haven't seen in this thread.

Hope this helps.

Why would you add all the distortion to the sub? I dont see the point.

blinkesko wrote:

psychedelicatessen wrote:Frequencies from 80hz down to 60 are the most audible, I've found. 30-50 is less audible, but properly mixed and sub bass in the lower range will have more impact, weight and feel to it. So if you want to make your sub bass sound louder, try notes around the higher frequency spectrum, and if you want the power of the low range, then try sending your sub track to a bus with some tube warmth, saturation, whatever distortion you want, highpass it to your preference and mix the two to taste. If you do this, be careful to not mix it too loud, because I've found that too much distortion masks the fundamental frequency, but this is only my observations and preferences. Still, it's an idea I haven't seen in this thread.

Hope this helps.

Why would you add all the distortion to the sub? I dont see the point.

if you add a tiny bit of saturation/distortion it brings out the upper harmonics of a sound, thus making it more audible on ipods and shit; doesnt make a huge difference when you drop the tune on a system though

atleast thats what I think the reasoning behind this is

blinkesko wrote: Why would you add all the distortion to the sub? I dont see the point.

I didn't explain myself well enough. The idea isn't to distort the sub bass, but to give it light harmonics as a compromise, and to mix in the distortion just barely enough to add frequencies that are more audible while keeping the power of frequencies too low to really hear. I personally think it's a better and more flexible alternative than just lowpassing a saw/square/triangle wave. Nothing hits like a pure sine, but if you want the sub to hit hard without having it too loud, a pure sine might not cut it sometimes.

Without sounding like a knob. These are the questions you should be asking yourself and making executive decisions in the studio.


If you're struggling with a mix, let it sit for a few weeks and then have another listen.. It could just be your systems sub isn't of a good enough quality to produce or you're too fixated with sub bass and need to snap out of that mentality (too many people get stuck in it). For every piece of advice about technicality in music, there is 1,000 factors of why its wrong; you just gotta trust your gut.

if you're going to bother writing a track with more than bass and drums in it, you ought to be aiming to balance all the parts in the mix. If a sub is slamming all the other sounds out of its way, that's not a good thing just because it's sub. as much as i like sub bass, when i go out i don't want to hear a DJ drop a 50Hz test tone

if the mix turns out good but isn't sub-heavy enough for your particular taste, boost the bass on your system.

I actually have come to realize that I've been having my sub bass too loud. I now have it like 3 to 6 db below my kick. My mixes sound way clearer now.

A good way to mix stuff that you're iffy on is to have all the elements of your track playing, and then bring the volume of the thing you're iffy about all the way down. Now, as everything is still playing, gently bring that one element's volume up until you notice it's there and with everything else. You can do this backwards too, by bring the volume gently down until you can just hear it, and then that's where it should probably fit.

Today wrote:if you're going to bother writing a track with more than bass and drums in it, you ought to be aiming to balance all the parts in the mix. If a sub is slamming all the other sounds out of its way, that's not a good thing just because it's sub. as much as i like sub bass, when i go out i don't want to hear a DJ drop a 50Hz test tone

if the mix turns out good but isn't sub-heavy enough for your particular taste, boost the bass on your system.

Fuck that. Meditate on sine waves 'n all that.

legend4ry wrote:you're too fixated with sub bass and need to snap out of that mentality (too many people get stuck in it).

yep. exactly where I'm at right now, might need to listen to some scary monsters or someshit to help me snap outta this

You must not be using subs if you're missing out on SMNS' subbass. Goes down to like 45hz.