[LAU] get on board the blues - D&B variant

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 2012-07-20 at 21:11 +0200, Robin Gareus wrote:
> I had a really good /round/ bass-sound on my monitors and headphones,
> then I noticed that on e.g. thinkpad speakers it was not audible at all.
> So I cut everything below 50Hz, increased 120Hz and 300Hz by around 8dB
> and added quite some compression to it. Now it sounds OKish on most
> speakers that I have access to but not really great on any on them.. Any
> hints?

For good reasons most mixers have got a 80Hz EQ, so try to increase it
there. However, IMO there's no big difference, if people say bass is
from 50 to 300 or 60 to 250Hz. What notes are played and what are their
multiples/harmonics? Remove high unwanted multiples/harmonics too, IOW
also cut the highs of the bass, not only the lows and after that test
increasing the loudness of the bass at e.g. 80Hz.

For bass recording in general there should be tons of texts about theory
how to mix it in the Internet. For this particular mix I would search
for an instruction, how to mix dub music, since stressed monitors are an
issue for dub music. Off course, dub music isn't mixed in a Bob Katz
style.

Btw. I don't take care about theory, I use my ears, but especially for
bass and especially mixed with a computer and all this in home recording
studios, video studios at universities etc. is problematic.

Comparison with different speakers is the only thing we can do and then
we need to choose the less painful mix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nucj5jvL2VQ
Not to forget Drum'n'Bass with Bill Laswell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBG-WRLwXHQ

When it comes to modern Bass sounds Bill Laswell always is a good
reference, not only old stuff with him and Herbie Hancock, Material
etc.. I suspect this is the bass sound you tried to get, as for all
YouTube videos, it has less todo with the original recording
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLlDpAAJsms

FWIW even old school dub doesn't a brute force for the bass sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBdIK5Iw5wk

Regards,
Ralf