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Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:28 pm
by miscreant
I've put a couple of my own tunes into my serato to mix, got a couple at 135bpm and when I've got them pitched up theres a really noticeable lack in the low end. As soon as it gets pitched back to 0 the song sounds full again.

Is this something to do with frequencies changing as I'm essentially pitching the whole track up? How come it doesnt happen as much with my other mp3's?

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:31 pm
by __________
yeah, increase in pitch obviously = increase in frequencies, but it shouldn't be THAT noticeable unless you're pitching them +25% or something

sounds like a serato problem. this is one of the reasons I'd never use it live.

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:33 pm
by drokkr
£10 Bag wrote:yeah, increase in pitch obviously = increase in frequencies, but it shouldn't be THAT noticeable unless you're pitching them +25% or something
How much are you pitching stuff up?

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:31 am
by grooki
maybe they are being pitched up quite a way - if most tracks are produces at 140 or so, then your mixing bpm might be 143 or so (?) to give you some room to move, so your track might be getting pitched up by almost 10bpm. Shouldn't really make the bass disappear though, it should just make your tracka bit higher...

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 7:57 am
by kidlogic
miscreant wrote:I've put a couple of my own tunes into my serato to mix, got a couple at 135bpm and when I've got them pitched up theres a really noticeable lack in the low end. As soon as it gets pitched back to 0 the song sounds full again.

Is this something to do with frequencies changing as I'm essentially pitching the whole track up? How come it doesnt happen as much with my other mp3's?

What version of Serato are you using?

Im trying to think of other questions to ask, but honestly Ive never had that problem before in 5 years of having the program. Not even with keylock on, and through many different mixers and on multiple computers.

Maybe its a phase issue on your tune thats some how becoming more apparent as the frequency of the sub is increased? I dont know if thats even possible, Im kinda reaching to help figure it out... if its only happening with your songs, chances are its something with how they're rendered or mixed down, but not positive.

Is it potentially the speakers or "phantom bass" - you're so used to the sound of the bass at the proper tempo that when it changes it seems to dissapear?

Sorry, I cant really think of a reason why that would happen... definately post in here if you figure it out.
£10 Bag wrote:yeah, increase in pitch obviously = increase in frequencies, but it shouldn't be THAT noticeable unless you're pitching them +25% or something

sounds like a serato problem. this is one of the reasons I'd never use it live.
Not if its only with certain tunes though, then chances are its the file.

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:50 am
by Basic A
You could be hitting a wierd range of frequency your speakers dont pick up???

I like wha tkidlogic said about phase, phase is a boogieman since I cant understand it, when soemthing goes worng, first muffucka I point fingers at...

Play the song through a different program and pitch it the same distance you would in the mix, see if it still happens. If it does, its something very strange about the tune... if it does still happen outside of serato, switch too mono and see if that fixes it/makes it worse, n get back too this thread.

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:53 am
by Depone
a lot of people covered stuff here, but is that track you made, the bass might be in the higher sub reigons. therefore when you pitch it up, the bass will move higher into the lowe mids etc...

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:06 am
by vadarfone
Surely this is obvious...

Pitch up, means the pitch of the song goes up, including the bass...

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:52 pm
by grooki
vadarfone wrote:Surely this is obvious...

Pitch up, means the pitch of the song goes up, including the bass...
yes, but the whole point is on this particular track the bass pretty much disappears which does not happen with his other tracks.

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 9:53 am
by miscreant
Some really insightful stuff here thanks guys - After listening to it and testing some of the theories yous have mentioned I think its one of these "phantom bass" issues kidlogic was talking about combined with what is probably quite a poor mixdown.

Thanks for the responses anyway!

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:36 am
by pete
Have you considered that it might be your room? It's possible that your pitched up bassline hits a frequency that is cancelled out because of your room acoustics. Try listening to a slow sine sweep and see if the response is flat. If there is a frequency that seems more quit than the others, that might be the reason.

Re: Songs losing bass when they are sped up?

Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2010 4:09 am
by Basic A
If this is a track you made dude, sap a sine sub on it that just rides the root note with a bit of tube warmth on it, should fix you right up...

I still say it could be phase though...