Lessons

Lesson Info

Cognizance Mix: Bass and Kick Drum

Let's talk about base real quick hey remember the bass sound on the previous song we worked on I was just nasty and distorted that would not work for this that would just turn this into noise like total total noise for this kind of music this mix again you do need something very consistent still told things down but you wanna have a little bit less low end a little bit less distortion and uh and you need to watch it so promise and sand samples you notice the drive is not that high at all you guys hear what the guy sounds like too because everyone always wants to know I think this is the same base by the way so as compared to the reflections track uh bass sounds a lot better when it's in a tuning that it's meant for however with what we were going for on reflections with the processing it sounded just fine but you guys look at this chain uh so again because of the speed of the music and because of the busy nous of everything else we can't have basis just like low end central distortion ...

central or whatever needs to be a lot more chilled out so got the drive pretty low and uh I chose ah I did you sixty for the base um as far as the low and goes I mean let me see where the where the kick boost wass just for comparison again where did I put that seventy so boosted it in two different spots but what I did here um is a little bit different because we have this the multi band compressor on the kick and it's coming from bus twenty one no, I just uh yeah, you know what? We're gonna talk about this later because it's a different topic so we've got the we've got the multi band compressor on the bait on the kick controlling that s o I didn't have to quote really carve around so much between the kick and the bass guitar on this and plus also the fact that this is tuned in a normal tuning you don't have to do that as much uh things just seem to work better when the tunings makes sense so I'll let you hear the kicking the base together and we'll keep talking with the base change all right? There is something that's exactly the same though between that and reflections can you guys guess what it is? What what about to say? What are the similarities and what had just played you uh between that and when I would so love the kick and the base in the reflections mix anyone and have any ideas, I'll let you hear it again and then I'm gonna put you guys on the spot so listen any thoughts erin, anybody I'm not exactly sure what what the similarity is that you're trying to get at I mean I'm sure there is one but are tight ok, they're in tune gotcha yeah yeah here that that's uh I can't emphasize that enough um and the basis played hard like it's both of them but totally different approaches totally different sounds but the low end on both of these mixes is worked out and it starts with it starts or thing is being tight alone being tightened learned being in tune and have to program this base because the low end is in tune and the loan is tight, you know, just like in reflections when they're stopped and patterns and everything the basin, the kicker right there with each other working together something I think a lot of the time and when dudes have problems with this sort of thing, they need to go and check of just the most fundamental thing is intact is this in tune and is it tight? Because if it's not, you're not going to get to a really good mix that kind of goes back to what we're saying yesterday you can't mix things they're unmik civil and if the low end is not type of lohan's at a tune that's pretty much going to make something on mixing bowl and that's why people do have to resort to things like programming the low and in all that so it's hardly in the trick, but one little thing that I do sometimes when a mixing to make sure that the kick drum is bringing enough low end to actually like punch and have it you know you wanted to kind of feel like it's in you in the chest a little bit is once you have your mix pretty far along, just just play the song for a little bit and then mute the kick drum and listen to it without any kick it all kind of soak in like the low environment like, ok, I kind of feel I kind of feel out how that's feeling and when you bring the kickback if you feel like there's more low end, you know you can tell that it's kind of above and beyond what the base was bringing by itself and that's good, but if you if you turn the kick on and it doesn't seem like the low and changed very much, you probably need to figure out how to get a little bit more separation between those two things. Definitely this just sounds like you unm you did the kick and and all you got to keep taking attacks sounds it's like, I don't know your pick probably need some more balls totally even in this kind of music yeah, definitely yeah, even though in this kind of music, the low end does need to be tamed. It's you still need some balls coming from that. Um, so I was like, for all your internet people let you guys here there's just a little bit more, I think it's just important that you guys get this in your heads that kick drums and bass are supposed to be friends, and, uh, the friendship begins at the tracking level, and that means that kick drums need to be in time and then the bases that he played in time to the kick drums and then they it needs to be in tune, and I know that this sounds elementary, but you will ruin a mix without the base being into and also one other thing that both these tracks have in common both of the bases or played really hard, that base is meant to be played hard. One of the main reasons that I have to replace bassists and do it myself is because they play like six year old girl's um ah, and lots of times you'll have guitar players and playing bass, and that doesn't solve the problem either because they don't play that hard, they don't play hard enough, base needs to be played super hard now the problem with that is that can go sharp, so yet to be to be a ninja, about getting that stuff in tune always track guitars first and then based after that, so get in the ballpark with tuning the bass plugged into an actual tuner, you know? But otherwise I I rely on my ears a lot part department and think how hard guys digging in on a part, you know, if you said exactly what the tuner says, it should be when than when the notes just sustained it's, probably in a sound office in is they start double picking there's? Definitely, I find a good method is program the base first, then track guitars to that so you know your guitars or perfectly in tune, and then lay base the natural base because I just noticed that if you don't have a reference, if you don't have ah ah pitch foundation for guitars, sometimes it'll be hard to realize that they're just a little sharply, like sound like chugs in the first threat or something guitar player starts hitting them a little too hard, but does all that all of the tracks the same way, and they're just all a little bit sharp, but they're all of the sharp the same way. Uh, sometimes that's hard to hear when you're just tracking guitars, but if you had a seance basin there, you would know immediately. Because the one question and so when you're talking about programming in base to do that with if you had a whole album's worth of material in the band, is paying you to mix it like it would take a long time, too, to go through each song and, like, especially like, busy riffing and stuff, too cliquey. Oh, I'm telling a production level free pre pro, basically, right? Yeah, yeah, so so you want the band to bring you many of the base that doesn't even need to be pre pro could be right after you get your drums edited, but so that's some point in time take the time to go through and program the notes. So matt was showing me the other day and logic there's a way you can, like spit out midi notes from an audio file and it becomes pro tools. Added that feature maybe knows from how you felt that's pretty cool. Yeah, it'll it'll you know, some little transitional parts, it'll catch a little note, so you basically have to go through and still clean it up a little bit, because it's not one hundred percent flawless, but it's pretty pretty on its anything in a logic ten nice, like many notes is in peaches, yeah, okay. Yeah, I don't know how deep it gets with it with all the parameters but it'll show like you know, you know, audio way file whatever and then it will put the midi right on top of it like, well, that's pretty pretty neat I mean also a lot of bands use guitar pro, so the quick ways to just import that and import the base from guitar pro and the median than just fix it up a little bit either way if once you've done it a few times it doesn't take that long so whether you use your method and clean it up or guitar pro method or whatever it shouldn't take too long we did that on this we programmed a synth based um then track guitars then tracked the rial base and uh and that's why the real base is I mean that's not the only reason with real bases and in perfect tune, but uh I said that that has really helped because there's nothing there's no bigger bummer we're tracking when you think that your guitars aaron tune and then you go toe at other things on them and they're not, um yeah and I don't mean from like things that are obviously attitude I'm talking about like pick a little too hard and then everything is just a little bit sharp and then suddenly a won't blend with the sense or the base it will work with the base but the base is in tune or send that throws off vocals clean vocals or something so yeah the synth based will help help cut that all up cut that all out at the past um so yeah so like us here just a little bit more for internet ville it was that time that in tune already the low end is going to be easier to get dialed in because it's working together again if you would but then just bring the kick in and out a couple times shirt and then I mean just have everybody ah you know, pay attention specifically to the low in that the kick is actually bringing you know it's not just attack your hearing when you bring that in there's actually some more more body and and even on that that's death metal where it's not going to be like not going to be like listening to him you're it's still adding some low and I wonder what you guys here over there but either way um so any questions about base from the uh the land of the nets? What program j b wants to know what program you would recommend to use to program the bass notes before tracking guitar? Anything anything expand you don't spend any money just use it just use any sense that comes with your d a w that's got a bass guitar setting that's it you know you don't worry about it don't use any that have weird intonation problems because the point is that you wanna have your guitars in tune so just use something that's got a simple sign wave like expand that's a great one um but just make sure this got like you know bass guitar option for ram it in go for have fun do you don't need to buy anything using melody line if any of the baseness hit sharp in some places somebody wants to know if you would ever mela dine the bass track I think it's better to just use the pitch pitch if function right in pro tools and pitch it down a few cents or up a few cents that's quick, quick and easy on less artifacts I mean look melody line works but it doesn't come without a price like any time you melody in something you're going to add artifacts and you're gonna mess with the high end and so okay sure there's a weird nobody's perfect if you miss a note here they're tuning wise okay fix it if you get in something they get to mix and there's a weird tone here there I mean it something's out of tune just fix it that's fine but it's easier to just use the the pit shift and pro tools the melody line it's faster and it's going toe leave less less garbage so it'll mess up your track less maybe say otherwise on that as if it's like a long sustained note and it's like sharp just are that drifts down into pace lynn then you've got a sort of you know you have to you have to use something a little deeper than a pit shift but otherwise I have beautiful you're so I'd say retract it yes if that's an option yeah I mean yeah you can't gets tricky too because if you want to hit to be really aggressive it's going to get cold sharp to start you know so you could say well, pluck that note a lot softer so the pitch doesn't get yanked out but but then it doesn't sound the way you want it too so it's kind of two sides to that one there's you can do it without any pitch correction you just have to find you said to find it requires not tuning the base exactly on the tuner you said to find the exact right amount of tuning it just a little flat and how hard you're going to hit it and just it just takes it just takes time sometimes is very frustrating it just takes time there are ways to do it there without any correction official correction just it takes time I think that a lot of people rely on tuners too much uh they don't realize that these instruments e string instruments they're really badly designed they're not meant to stand I mean, maybe someone thought they were supposed to stay in tune but they did ah horrible job like they don't hold to him very well and even if it says it's in tune with the tuner the minute you start playing a little harder they go sharp so you really just have to experiment a lot with how hard you're hitting and uh where you know how far sharper, flat destroying action needs to be, but I've been able to do it without without that but yeah, if you're getting a base from somebody else that's already jacked yeah melody line is probably the way to go unless if you can get away with just retracting I mean usually if usually it's not just one thing that's wrong but when you get stuff from other people usually if stuff comes in out of tune uh you just it's kind of like when there's termites in a house or something in a minute yeah for every for every cockroach you see there's ten thousand you don't like that's how that's how it tends to be with base is like you find the first sustaining note in the song that's a little out and then you keep keep going for more and you realize that you're just better off doing it yourself whatever, but but yeah, let's do a little bit of q and a and then we'll come back from the prey, get into guitars, do a couple, you know, go and then we'll go to another song and, uh, you know, we'll have father, do you have any questions in the room? Here? We have a few, we have a few online, somebody wants tio random facebook user wants to know what place from random face it just is user and then has this big number. So, people, if you put your names and then I can call you out and shout out tio in internet land, what empty jeez for the guitars in this song or what? Hampson? Because I I'm guessing they like it. It was a, uh, fifty one, fifty three I don't yeah, I like that half, um and I don't know if you own one of those anyone here on one of those I've used them a bunch there, there, sweetie. Yeah, I don't think I've met a single person who doesn't love it there. Yeah, great it's a great answers fifty one fifty three.