# Adding Bottom end to tracks



## jononotbono (Apr 17, 2018)

I'm in the middle of mixing some Library tracks and they need to have a "Band Esque" vibe about them so am using a Drum Kit, Bass Guitar, Guitars etc and I need to improve the Bottom end. I don't think the Bass Guitar is cutting it and not sure what to do (sadly I can't share the track here at the moment).

I have been thinking about trying to blend a Synth Bass with the Bass Guitar and trying to Low Cut the Bass Guitar so I can get the rattle and "human like" qualities but then blending with some synth low end to fatten everything up. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for this kind of thing? Also and synth basses (soft synths) that are excellent for this kind of thing? Or at least the type of Synth bass that is good for this kind of thing so I can make my own patches etc.

I've been trying to Sidechain the Bass as well with the Kick but not sure I'm doing a too good of a job so was wondering if anyone had any advice of Sidechain compression. I would like to learn about Side Chain EQ (Dynamic EQs) but I think that could be for another thread.

Thanks for your help!

Jono


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## Jeast (Apr 17, 2018)

A sine wave is a perfect option for that because it only introduces low end without any harmonics.


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## JohnG (Apr 17, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> I have been thinking about trying to blend a Synth Bass with the Bass Guitar and trying to Low Cut the Bass Guitar so I can get the rattle and "human like" qualities but then blending with some synth low end to fatten everything up.



Definitely do this if you want oomph. It takes a bit of experimentation to get what you want and be a bit careful if you don't have a sub; it's easy to add too much energy down there and blow up someone's speakers.

I use Trillian and go for something kind of sine-wave-ish. I keep altering which one, but I would think Logic, DP, Cubase, Zebra, one of the NI soft synths -- anything really can be used for this purpose.


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## germancomponist (Apr 17, 2018)

I often do this, Jono. Sometimes I mix up to 4 basses. One Bass guitar and synth sounds. You are right by cutting the low end of the bass guitar. Then adjust the attack knobs from the other sound/s and find the right volume-settings for all .... .


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## jononotbono (Apr 17, 2018)

Ok, thanks! That's brilliant! I shall have a play with Sine waves to fatten up the bass!


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## John Busby (Apr 17, 2018)

Jono - you could also try parallel compression + distortion
send your bass to an aux and compress the hell out it and blend the two together
this might work better if you're going for a more band esque feel


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## jononotbono (Apr 17, 2018)

Thanks! I shall have a look into it! I need my mixes to sound better so I'm thankful for the suggestions!


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## John Busby (Apr 17, 2018)

jononotbono said:


> I need my mixes to sound better


don't we all lol
when you find a solution let us know what worked for you!


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## Greg (Apr 17, 2018)

UAD Pultec EQP-1A is awesome for boosting bass, one of the few eqs that doesn't sound terrible at it. The soundtoys decapitator can thicken up bass really well too.


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## Scoremixer (Apr 17, 2018)

Some plugins to try that you probably own already, and might be helpful depending on context...

Soundtoys Devil-loc Deluxe - mult out your bass track, slap this on, crank up the crunch, fiddle with the mix and darkness controls till you get something pleasing, blend back in with the original to taste. Gives attitude and pulls the bass through the mix and fill in that gap between the guitars and the rhythm section.

Waves maxx bass/r bass - modern indie rock band aesthetic would generally have more low end end weight in the kick and mid bass punch in the bass guitar, so these guys can get you more poke in the 80-110Hz range that'll cut through on smaller speakers - use sparingly.

Waves lo air - if you have got lots of space to spare down there, this can fill in the sub octaves. Use sparingly, and maybe in conjunction with a spectrum analyser if your monitoring isn't pimping.

If you're doubling with a synth, then a vanilla minimoog patch is a good way to go. Have bass guitar up the middle and Moog tucked back a bit with a bit of pitch spreader on it to fill out the stereo field.


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## Arbee (Apr 17, 2018)

A couple of thoughts on this. The key can make a big difference to bottom end (e.g. synth reinforcement v synth lower octave), depending of course on the bass note range in the song. I usually end up with quite brutal valve-style compression on bass to keep it "present" in the mix (Trilian particularly). I'm not an expert on sidechain so prefer to work on the arrangement, instrument and/or EQ choices first.


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## NoamL (Apr 17, 2018)

Make sure to listen on crappy headphones too... never know how much the bass will translate. A tip I saw somewhere is to add gentle saturation to your bass so that the harmonics will still come through and define the bass's presence in the mix even if you are listening on a bad system.


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## chimuelo (Apr 17, 2018)

I’ve use BX Digital Mono Maker, even use it live.
Stereo low end lacks focus.
By making Audio @ 260 down Mono, the level can remain the same but presence is more noticeable due to well focused low end.


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## gtrwll (Apr 17, 2018)

Do you use a VST bass or record a real bass? Either way, experimenting with the amp&cab simulation, mics and such also have a tremendous effect on the sound. I just found out that the VST Bass Amp in Cubase is surprisingly good for my liking, much better than the amp sims that my VST basses have.

I also use a sine wave from Omnisphere if needed.


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## jcrosby (Apr 18, 2018)

Layering is useful, but a common technique is also parallel low-end distortion. (Waves RBass Is kind of the same idea...) Maybe try downloading a demo of Melda MBassador? Could be helpful for you to help decide if it's arrangement related, vs mix related... (Plus it's a great plugin to have on hand...)


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## pfmusic (Apr 18, 2018)

As others have mentioned...some sub bass. CH video helped me.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Apr 18, 2018)

Hi Jono, you can also use a resonant high pass filter, when it works, it works very well 

I usually don't like Steven Slate videos - Love the guy and his company, but not a fan of his mixing approach - but hopefully this one will be of some help !


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## jononotbono (Apr 18, 2018)

Ah there's so much great advice in this thread. Thank you so much everyone. I'll respond to everyone's questions a bit later. Trying to finish a deadline at the minute so stuck for time currently.


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## pfmusic (Apr 18, 2018)

Sorry Jono, just noticed your bottom end bass enquiry was for a band and not orchestral. Would also recommend Soundtoys devil loc.


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## KEM (Apr 18, 2018)

I always take a basic sine wave and layer it an octave or two lower than my basses, it's always worked very well for me and I know pretty much everyone uses the same trick, just high bass your real bass and leave a clean sine wave under it. I first learned of this method from Dan Lancaster's mix of BMTH's "Throne" in a Sound on Sound article, so it definitely works within a band setting as well.


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## Ethos (Apr 23, 2018)

I use Lowender. Great, cheap little subharmonic synthesizer plugin. I use it frequently on my double basses during loud sections. Sometimes a hi-pass filter with a high "Q" and a precisely set cutoff frequency can do the trick. It kind of approximates a proximity effect. I do this on timpani sometimes for a little extra ooomph!


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## MarcusD (Apr 23, 2018)

Little bit of distortion goes a long way. Slate Digital free plugins Monster (comp) & Revival + Soundtoys Decapitator work really good on bass.


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## DS_Joost (Apr 23, 2018)

Jono, one of my favourite tricks to do is the following (I did this to an orchestral bass drum but can be done with almost every other element). It involves some (optional) transposing and a harmonic generator. What I did in the example below is take an orchestral bass drum, and then duplicating that one. Then I transposed the duplicate down an octave, and slapped Cosmos on it (a harmonic generator/exciter plugin by Nomad Factory, one of my favourite plugins ever). Then put a good saturating compressor on it (I used Waves H-Compressor).

Then slowly mix in the duplicate track with the original until you get the exact amount of fattening you want. I overdid it quite a bit in this example for demonstrative purposes. The first four hits are the original bass drum, the second with the processing. It's very hastily slapped together but I think you'll get the idea. You'll of course get a lot better sound with some EQ'ing and playing with the dynamics and harmonics, and with the transients.


Now you know one of my secret weapons, so I expect one in return!  Just kidding, have fun.


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## Chris D (Apr 23, 2018)

Hey Jono,

Not sure if this has been mentioned re: Sidechain, but something I know works wonders is xfers LFO tool. Cheap, and it lowers the volume of the bass rather than compressing more than is needed. This really helps when moving the bass out of the way of that all important Kick drum, for that split second that the kick is around, the listener won't miss the bass, so reducing the volume won't compromise the bass in this situation. Also if you don't use the LFO tool, simply applying volume automation will do the exact same thing... It's just more time consuming. 

Eqing the low end is a good plan, but boosting somewhere around 1k to 4k (use those ears) should bring that bass through a little if you feel it's lacking. 

Compression is also extremely important, but to be honest I think that just needs to be studied by everyone.

Hope this helps!

Cheers


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## Divico (Apr 24, 2018)

What I like to do recently is setting up an Aux and send my kick and bass in there both prefader. Set up the proportion between them and than go for some heavy compression. After that you can add in some saturation aswell. Blend in this track to archive some fattening of the bottom end. This also nicely makes the kick and bass interact.

For some quick low end boost. Add this plugin http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=HeadCrusher_Free&id=2112
And turn the tone control counterclockwise. Be carefull since it can push your level through the roof.

Splitting up your bass track into a high freqency one where you bring out all the fingernoise string pluck etc and distort it to taste and a low end one which is lowpassed is also quite common.


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## Josh Richman (Jun 20, 2018)

https://www.pluginboutique.com/products/4477-bx-subsynth


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