[linux-audio-user] "Booming" bass

[Paul Winkler]

On Fri, Oct 27, 2006 at 02:20:49AM -0400, Rob wrote:
> On Friday 27 October 2006 01:34, Chaz Kiser wrote:
> > I've recorded an upright bass track that I'm really fond of
> > but it sounds a tad too "booming".
> > What kind of tips could anybody give me into making it sound a
> > bit more "punchy" but without losing its bass quality?
> 
> Look in the spectrum for a spike at the low end and flatten it a 
> little with EQ?  That's the first thing I'd try.  You can do a 
> lot with a notch (or a band-pass, for that matter) filter.

Right. The easiest way to find the offensive frequencies is to
make the sound worse before you make it better.
I'd take a parametric EQ, set it to slightly *boost* the center
frequency and a fairly broad slope. Sweep it until you find
the frequency setting that makes the sound as bad as possible :-)
Narrow the slope a bit and adjust the frequency again.
Repeat until you think you've found exactly the most offensive
zone.  Then change the boost into a cut.

Then leave the track alone for a while and listen to something
else. You've probably got conditioned to hearing the artificially
boosted sound so *anything* will sound better.

When you come back to it, compare the EQ'd signal to the un-EQ'd signal
to verify that you actually did some good.

-- 

Paul Winkler
http://www.slinkp.com