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Does anyone do this? I like the sound of those kicks, but they're so bassy it's hard to use another bass sound. How do you go about using both?

Hipass your basses

claudedefaren wrote:Hipass your basses

^Werd.

Your sub shouldn't clash, that's it. People make a pretty big deal out of mixing bass/kicks/sub but it's one of the easiest things to get right. Just don't overthink!

Hipass one of them.
Use them at different times.
Sidechain compress to duck one.
Turn the volume of them down to levels where it doesn't overpower the mix.


One of the above.

A point to make is that you should process them through the same bus to bring glueing so they don't feel so irregular

legend4ry wrote:A point to make is that you should process them through the same bus to bring glueing so they don't feel so irregular

^ this is a great tip. But still, do be safe, you should probably have either one or the other. Especially if your 808 isn't tuned to your song.

Tune the 808 and some EQing can sort this easily. Just think of it as a standard sub bass and how you'd layed a bass on top of it.

Also some creative use of sidechaining can do some nice things.

You could also alternate using non-808 drums during parts where you have other basses that want to shine.

ITs been said but i agree, tune the 808s, side chain the bass bus around your kick helps too. Hipass the midrange stuff to keep it out of the bottom end and sites above your kicks.