How to EQ Bass 

Joe - I don't know if you've heard this before but you have THE PERFECT VOICE to be a famous radio personality!!!!!

You changed my mixing life with your down to earth, easy to understand approach. I finished a mix yesterday and sent to two different Mix Engineers after watching you for some days now and they shouted wow. I have never had it this way for some times now. Thanks Joe

Someone needs to make one of those 10 hour videos of Joe wobbling his hands and saying "WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH" lmao

I love this channel because everything you're doing is in a DAW I actually use and have experience with. Thank you for such useful videos!

That finger clanking was killing me the whole time. I love mids. The highs usually pose an annoyance for me

since the bass is monophonic, one word of caution. You don't want your EQ cuts or boosts too narrow or too extreme because you begin to make individual notes, or a small range of notes, quieter or louder than other notes. A C# that JUMPS out or a D that ducks out. I have a similar approach to mixing bass, but I generally keep the EQ shape much broader and try not to cut or boost beyond a couple DB.

To add to this, keep in mind that problem frequencies in the bass may not occur consistently on every note so when you A/B your EQ edits, you may only notice a difference on some notes and nothing on others. At 10:10 you can hear when the EQ difference became much more pronounced on the higher notes in the scale. Thanks for your great videos! Your approach to teaching audio is very effective and absorbing!

Hi, Joe! Happy New Year 2019! Thanx for all your tutorials. Peace!

Very timely for me. Thanks Joe!

Happy New Year 2019! as well..... Also Thanx for all your tutorials.

amazing, i'm just starting to teach myself how to mix my tracks, thank you for sharing !

I love the clear and concise directions for this. None of that mumbo jumbo and “oh I used this super expensive preamp that’s $10k and blah blah blah”. Makes it easy for us 9-5 folks to follow and not have to worry that we don’t have a million dollar studio equipment setup 😀

Great advice! Suggestions for further videos (if not already covered): - Panning and using send effects on drums (Which type of reverb on which drum kit instrument? Same type of reverb on all drums or different ones? Using EQ on reverb? Drum panning - how wide?) - Should we automate volume changes on a track before reaching for the compressor?

Thanks for sharing this really helped will be watching more of your videos

thanks, I always struggeld with the bass EQ and this pretty much explained me the whole thing :)

Always great tips, love this channel :)

your videos are amazing!!! thank you for your work

Great tip, something I do also. I have also learned that high passing can really help clean bass up. For example, I ussually sit my kick at 60 Htz and bass at 80 Htz and so I high pass up to around 70 Htz (on the buss). When using DI's and amps I ussually let the DI provide my lows and the Amp give the cutting highs, works really well (thanks PLAP!). Also, I use really heavy compression and remove a good majority of the bass' dynamics to keep everything even and steady when coming through subs to prevent the "wobbly" or "flabby" bass sound.

This was really helpful. Thank you.

Great explanation as always Joe! I can imagine how those changes would help the bass sit in the mix (thats the only thing I was missing)... Cheers

The best advice and explanation for me yet Thank you Joe, would it be good when you have finished the E Q to add compression by creating a send, and parralell compress it ,or just use a compressor plugin ? Thank you.

No low or high pass filters to clean it up a bit? I like to EQ two bass tracks like this separately and add the filters according to the frequencies that each is dominating. Best wishes for the new year!

Joe, you’re so wowowowowowowoo. I like it. Thank you!

Joe I want to thank you so much for this. Really useful information I am very glad I found this channel. Tearing my hair out over bass this is the Gospel. Cheers and all the best mate.

Very nice! Thank you!

big thanks great info always tricky

Hello Joe, Thanks for another Great Video. I like to use a combination of Static EQ and dynamic EQ to massage the sound something like the UAD Sonnox® Oxford Dynamic EQ Plug-In . For me cutting frequencies is like cutting a string on a guitar, I prefere to do a med/large Q Cut of 1 to 3 db and then use the dynamic fonction to fix only when it become a problem keeping the full spectrum. But Going Back to the ONLY rule of music ... If it sound good then it`s Good. Have a Nice Day.

Joe.... just fantastic bro! Bass can be such a difficult instrument to get to slide right in the mix like butter.

Hey. If you are mixing a whole range of sounds that have been sent to various busses, do you eq and compress the individual sounds and the bus, or just the bus, or just the individual sounds?

great video man !!!

i never thought a cut around 100Hz and 200Hz could do so much for my mix (a Metal mix), thanks a lot!

Your one of the best teachers Joe!

This is pretty much the opposite to what I usually do to my bass in the mix. I usually make a small dip around 50-60Hz, so the kick could be better heard in the mix. Sometimes I even highpass the bass (and I would highpass this part also a bit). I also raise a little in the area 300-400Hz, so the bass could be heard in the mix on small speakers. Maybe this song asked for this, but this is not the way I'd mix the bass to begin with. The bass by itself definitely sounds better, but I think in the mix it adds more rumble, than actual low note. Anyway, I don't know this project, maybe this song asked for this approach.

Great video Thank you so much 😊

thanks for the video man!

Good video Joe - thanks a lot! But how do you do that with the lowend with bass and bass drums? Normally both shouldn't be playing in the same frequency range. Txs

hi. You mentioned phase, that the bass was in phase, what did you mean and how to do sort an out of phase track?

Question please . I have my PA set up 2 loud speakers and 2 subwoofer. Now when I play my bass I hear bass but not what I desire. My mixer board only has 80 hertz knob to adjust on my bass channel and also another EQ on the size , im guessing for the whole channels as one. My issues is that the bass in good punchy to 80 hurts but when I hear songs on my phone and play them I hear low bass sorf of like a night club bass. But my bass is note delivering low bass like that. Now do I need to add an EQ pedal so I can bring up the lows like 60 herts

I would have liked to have heard the bass within the rest of the mix. I like grit too but I was interested to know if that annoying clicky string noise, around 2 or 3 k got absorbed or became less irritating. And I might have high passed around 30 or 35 Hz... Thanks for the video.

Everytime I watch a video like this thinking I'll learn something new I find out it's the same stuff I've already been doing for years! Thnx though.

Great video 👍🏾💯

Joe, hello. When you mix a deep bass like that, how do you eq your kick drum? Brighter with more emphasis in the 90 h? I usually go deeper on my kick drums, around 60 to 80 hertz... and push the bass a little further in the 75 to 95hz area... but the bass from your video is killer.

Also, I've started to use multiband compression with different techniques (downward, upward, sidechains, expanding) on bass. One particular thing I found it low cut a bass at around 60 hz and compress every below 200hz extremely heavily often get me where I want to. On top of that upward comping anywhere between 200-800 helps the bass jump out more, but in a very consistent way. The thing about mixingg bass is consistency (at least in rock, electronic and pop), you don't want a lot of changes in volume on a bass. Jazz and classical is a different story tho.

GREAT tutorial!!...but spill...where'd ya get the desk??

I do the same thing but more drastic on the cut. It usually opens up for snare body and lower vocal tones to pop out

Really good video man

Some really useful information especially the 50Hz for the bass.

Excellent and to the point 🤘kudos from Hamburg ⚓️ ✊😎🎶

Thank you :) !!

Damn you Joe! I need to get off the toilet, stop with the great videos!

YOU THE MAN

Yoo this video helped me alotttt/// thanks

can I record bass with a sm57 ?

I'll always remember the saying of DAve Pensado in one of his episodes about bass: Dave, how to handle bass? - I would say "mute the damn thing, it's just too much trouble to deal with'!

THANK YOU

Joe ,..if you’re doing more than one bass track , and running them up the middle of the stereo spectrum,.. won’t there be some phase cancellation issues ?

does this work on any bass? I use stock instruments from my DAW.

Personally I like to mix the bass when in context then isolate it and tweek it if it needs it. OR maybe I'd like to hear your track in context to know the context.

I have kind of an usual process for bass. Bear in mind I have a very nice Trace Elliot rig with a 2x15 cabinet. I take the DI out from the head and put it into a gnarly tube pre like a Studio Projects VTB-1 that’s cranked really hard. I then put a large diagram condenser in front of the 2x15 maybe 6-8 inches away and put it into another pre like a UA LA 610. I might compress a bit in the box but I don’t EQ anything. Just blend to taste. Sounds like the sky is falling.

Don't care about stupid comments, this is the right way to cleanup the bass in the mix; this method helps also to avoid unnecessary resonance vibration of loudspeakers caused by some frequencies (between 100 and 600/800 hz) without losing power, indeed we gain clarity and a deep punch bass. Keep it up.

Happy New Year Joe. Thanks for this tutorial. Do you intentionally not use a HP filter on the bass buss because you know you're going to use it on the Master buss? Does it matter if I do both or is that not necessary?

Joe I have been following your videos since the Covid19 crises.? They are great !!! I have studio one pro. I am a drummer and I use an electronic drum. With my band we got organized and the other folks are sending me their parts which are recorded with what’s available including smartphones and I mix it all up. Did you make any videos specific to help people like me? If not it would be great if you could make one.

Hello, that's great. I know what to do now in my bass EQs. Question: Is it good to sidechain the bass to the kick drum? A little like trap Hip-Hop... Thanks!!!

luv grit on bass!

Joe that was good. My preference is to remove some of the fret buzz also.

Hey Joe I appreciate this. Kali Audio LP-6's are the best Studio monitors in their price point. The punch from them is just right (if the Mix is right.) To many Aud Eng's of famous professional Artist just don't get it right. Going from one song to the next you can hear the differences in the mixes of each song. While I hate Party in the USA by Miley I like listening to it because of the mix. The bass is just perfect. I haven't gotten to the mixing portion of my song yet' but I'm finding I fight with the levels of the mix in the source and bass is a chore. This really helps thanks

Well done! Notch out those ringing frequencies. Most of my EQ work is subtractive.

I downloads your template. And now is say that I am using Copyright material, something that does not happen with any other template that I have downloaded or create. I think that is not correct with you say something on your video, description of the video or on the download file.

Man, what city are you near? What kind of rates do you charge? I like your work.

You're an awesome Teacher... unlike the ones that promise you things they don't really give...but we never notice until we've watched hours and hours of their garbage. This what you give is more like groceries!

Another great video Joe. I was expecting to see something about balancing the bass eq with the kick drum eq. They often compete for the same eq space in the mix.

Thank you. In the whole world there is no better explanation of bass eq. I'll search bass versus kick drum now.

I would be more careful cutting bass around 200-500, that's where the mud is but that's also where the warmth and power is

Really informative but how do you keep a space for the drum kick? If you keep the 50khz uncut or boosted the kick wont be heard!

I absolut agree. I always get that headache around 100 hz on the bass. I call it the Charlie Brown frequence, wonk wonk wonk.

great !

hey joe, i know im a bit late, but is there a way you can take the strums out of the audio? for me, i feel like it would almost sound better if that were the case. do you know of any ways this would be possible without going and manually cutting each little section out?

I am assuming by "grit". You not only mean buzzy stuf but also string noise because I haven't seen you address that at all. I like string noise and boost my highend for it specifically but there is a clipping quality to this track from string noise. I mean he isn't playing slap and pop so that string chatter is a little much.

A high pass at around 40-45hz would totally tighten this sound up I feel. Small cut at 200hz and a boost at 2k hz.

I've never heard 100-200Hz as "midrange" . . . I'm used to hearing 500Hz associated with that term (as in this case): www.teachmeaudio.com/mixing/techniques/audio-spectrum

Can you show a mix with piano... Also enjoy your work.

Thanks

Question: If this scooping out the mids is such a recurring problem, why doesnt this get corrected before the recording? I mean, and no offense intended, but are you just adding what you like or trying to capture what the band actually sounds like live? I know I've heard recorded versions of my drums that were "eq'd" to the point where I didnt recognize my own playing! The drums didnt sound anything like the sounds I heard in my headphones.

Joe do you teach a class on mixing ?.. man I learn so much from your videos.

Where did you get your console?

How do you reconcile this with getting the bass to be audible on smaller speakers?

Hi Joe why no compression? or did the bass player record it with a hardware compressor on, in the beginning which I like to do.?

Joe - Don’t know if you’ll pick this up, but how do you ‘add grit’? And would this apply to live playing too?

How do you get that kick drum and bass to work so well together? I can’t seem to make them fit..

You should check out how Joe Baressi mixes bass and discusses how the phase and the DI hits the interface sooner than the amp source. Also Joe treats it different and his bass is more noticeable in the mix.

Could you make a video on what Bus means and how to use it . I still cant find anything that explains to me what it is and how to use it Please Thanks

1 question pls won't boosting the bass around 50hz fight with the kick?

thanks

You have nice setup out there...When ever I see some clip how to EQ this or that at the end I always here "yeah it is subtle" and in fact I really do not hear that much change sound wise, not only in your case, but almost every other "it is subtle"..I think that sound was really good bass sound and personally I wouldn't touch it, but it was your decision, because everything is already being done. I think you would agree that everything is on the source 90% of the job is the how it was recorded and maybe 10% the rest of it.. Just to make a point out of this, I think it would sit properly in the mix if you didn't touch it, no irritating freq ..and you didn't play whole mix just we can hear how that EQ changes apply to low freq mix as a whole, you know :)

hey joe, im not sure about it, cause sometimes depend of the track that u have! btw well done, i like your channel!

No filters?

what daw are you using?

Good video. I disagree with almost everything, but well done.

A lot of your "midrange" you say is happening around 90-120, thats not midrange, low mids is considered 250-500 , but a lot needs a tight Q pulling out headache htz around there usually between 120-150. on bass though dont dip them too much as they usually occour on just certain notes and can make them dissapeir completley. I would always Compress the Bass before any EQ, mainly with a multiband to keep the low end solid before you start cutting away at it. I normally do that on my DI and high pass the amps bass a little more than the DI keeping the DI for the lows and the amp sound for the low mid charictor and colour. a nice boost at 800 keeps it present on small devices and speakers we all know how people love to listen to new tracks on a mono phone speaker :D. yep Bass was the last thing I got my head around. taking lots of breaks helps as bass really messes up your perception withing even 10 mins of mixing it.

How to deal with that plucking sound? I am currently mixing a song where the plucking sound is so high at certain parts in a song.