Thanks.

I generally do that on all but the bass and drums (as per an article I once read titled ‘the one simple thing you can do to make your mixes sound better’). I noticed a little while ago you suggested that to Martijn for just his bass and I thought but isn’t that a lot of where the bass is supposed to live? Seems like a pretty big part of the spectrum to do away with completely. Like taking indigo out of the rainbow. But in the spirit of trying to understand people you don’t agree with - what’s your reasoning there?

Quote: SpeckThanks.

I generally do that on all but the bass and drums (as per an article I once read titled ‘the one simple thing you can do to make your mixes sound better’). I noticed a little while ago you suggested that to Martijn for just his bass and I thought but isn’t that a lot of where the bass is supposed to live? Seems like a pretty big part of the spectrum to do away with completely. Like taking indigo out of the rainbow. But in the spirit of trying to understand people you don’t agree with - what’s your reasoning there?

I think of cleaning up the low end as mo’ akin to taking smog out of the air to see the rainbow mo’ better rather than removing pretty colors out of the rainbow. I trim the low end unless there is deliberate well defined frequency content at the low hertz range that is provided for a reason like subbass or very low kicks or synths. You can see faint and well defined low end content using a spectrum analyzer.

Your ear should guide what frequency you cut. In general cleaning the low end below 300 hertz for mid range instruments and cleaning up below 40 hertz for low end instruments.

If you look at the individual tracks using an EQ with a spectrum analyzer, you can usually see the demarcation between solid frequencies emitted by the instrument/voice and low end noise that bangs up against other low end noise or up against the kick and bass or other instruments trying to groove in the low end.

Wrt kick and bass tracks, cleaning up the low end is way to tighten up the sound and get rid of flabbiness. I notice a lot ccmixters embrace flabbiness and mud as a “color of their rainbow” so I sometimes speak up.

Wrt trimming low end for specific tracks or the entire mix, it’s a matter of taste. We do both. Since we usually master with mid-side EQ in the master channel, we sometimes trim the low end on the side and not in the middle.

A common mastering eq pattern used is the “scoop” pattern which brings up the high and lows ignoring the mids. In this case trimming track frequencies under 300, 200, 100, 40 hertzs, depending on the instrument, helps.

Many commodity speakers provide no signal or provide a flabby signal below 40Hz or 25Hz if good monitors. Good headphones may hold up down to 20Hz or so. Trimming the bottom on individual tracks and the master track enables a broader range of commodity speaker to well play your music.

Cleaning up the mud below 300Hz, depending on the instruments or voice, can makes a lot of difference and cure a lot of muddiness.

In general, we look at each track using a EQ with a spectrum analyzer. if there is faint content at either end the spectrum, we trim the faint content as we listen to solo and mix playback.

Q factor controls the bandwidth of frequencies that will be cut or boosted by the equaliser. Many EQs feature an adjustable Q. The amount of frequency real estate lost by trimming below 40Hz depends on the slope. I tend to use a steep slope when cutting below 40Hz but the slope for a shelving preset is usually more shallow. No accounting for taste!

Wrt kick and bass frequency relationship there are different techniques ranging from side channel compressor/limiter links to let the kick or bass transient trigger a gain reduction (maybe within a frequency range) of the other’s track. I love this technique but usually too lazy to use it often. Some folks EQ the bass and/or kick creating one or more narrow frequency range boosts or cuts to allow the kick or bass punch through over the other. Sometimes, ya just let the bass and kick battle it out.

Some samples sources don’t offer individual tracks to EQ so you do what you can with a premixed track or in the master channel.

Hey thanks for taking the time for such a detailed response. Very informative. Looks like I should learn to use a spectrum analyzer (and I’ve always wondered what the Q was). But will I? I’m strictly an amateur and I have to admit that if the technical part of mixing detracts from the creative part I lose interest. Could be my aging brain or just plain laziness. Plus I’m a bit of a rebel in that I’d rather listen to a poorly produced piece that elicits a feeling than a well produced piece of pap. Although ideally a well produced piece with substance is an attractive prospect. So maybe I will. So thanks again. I very much appreciate you sharing your knowledge. (Maybe you should copy and paste it as a DIY topic in the forums. Not that the forums are that well read but it’s good information and that’s always a good thing to share.)