Bass Mixing + Processing

Question 1

When working with live bass its common to send the bass into the ______ that sends the signal straight to the audio interface and a split signal that goes to an _____ that records two signals at the same time

Answer 1

send the bass into the DI Box that sends the signal straight to the audio interface and a split signal that goes to an amp that records two signals at the same time

Question 2

When mixing signals directly from the bass and another source - its important to make sure the ________ line up, if not what should you do?

Answer 2

Waveforms

nudge or invert the phase of the waveforms

Question 3

How do you to take a DI live bass signal and artificially add an amp layer to it in ableton?

What should you make sure to check even if directly copying the same signal?

Answer 3

Add and amp AND cabinet plugin

Make sure the waveforms have not gone out of phase (use utility to A/B test)

Question 4

When arranging and layering electronic basslines - it is important to factor in the _________ of each sound to make sure each has its own space in the mix

Answer 4

Stereo width

*sub should be mono
*any stereo bass sounds should be evenly distributed across the field

Question 5

For live bass there is not much content below the _____ hz area so its better to do a gradual cut off

Answer 5

30-50 hz

Question 6

When EQing live bass you want to get the cleanest sound so you want to cut the muddy areas around ______hz and boost the _______ and _______ to hear the note values better

Answer 6

cut the muddy areas around 150-300 hz

boost the fundamental notes and mid range to hear the note values

Question 7

One difference between EQing for live vs electronic bass, the _______ range of the live bass will be more emphasized to hear the tone/timbre of the bass

Answer 7

mid range

Question 8

When adding saturation processing on basses/subs make sure there is _________ because there is no reason to if you are planning to cut out those frequencies

Answer 8

make sure there is a purpose

Question 9

Electronic bass is generally on the more _______ in terms of stereo wid. After getting the intended mix balance, and there is still too much in the stereo field, what can you do to attenuate the stereo frequencies?

Answer 9

Use a advanced EQ to filter out only the stereo frequencies of the bass tracks

Question 10

When adding compression to bass why should you make sure to activate the EQ parameter?

Answer 10

There is no point in the compressor reacting to frequencies that you will be cutting out anyways.

Question 11

For compressing electronic bass - generally its not to even out dynamics since you can do that in MIDI. It is more to ________

Answer 11

increase presence of the sound in the overall context of the arrangement

Question 12

When doing full track/busing compression. Make sure that it is reacting to all of the layers. If it isn’t how do you adjust?

Answer 12

Use the EQ filter in the compressor to filter out the overpowering frequencies

Question 13

A saturator is used to add _______ to help the sub feel more heard and felt

Answer 13

extra harmonics

Question 14

When saturating using Abletons “pedal” insert. Make sure _____ is switched on if you want to keep more low end in the mix

Answer 14

“sub” button

Question 15

When post EQing saturation to clean up re-introduced frequencies what is a good rule of thumb?

Answer 15

Using the same EQ to attenuate the problem areas found before the mix and adjust from there

Question 16

When EQing bass to the kick make sure to determine the ________ in the genre of the song.

Give 2 examples

Answer 16

relationship in the genre

House - kick tends to have more sub and carry the low end of the specturm

Some Future Bass - the bass line carries the low end so the top end of the kick in relation to the mix is important

Question 17

When sidechaining a kick - its good to have a ________ focused sample
so you can shape the envelope of the sidechain compression more.

Answer 17

Transient focused

Question 18

When sidechaining a kick - if the release is not affecting the compression envelope. What are two solutions?

Answer 18

Use a kick that has less of a tail

Add an EQ to the sidechain to focus on the transient frequencies

Question 19

How to set up side-chain so that you only have to use the signal from one track for all the drums?

Answer 19

Create a trigger track that plays during every instance of side-chaining

Question 20

For live bass side-chaining you want _________ compression so there is a a more natural ducking of sound.

How to set that up?

Answer 20

transparent compression

Create a sidechain to the conflicting frequencies rather than the full drum