Struggling to use EQ to make your bass tracks
sound clear and balanced?
If so, you're in the right place.
Hey, this Jason from Behind The Speakers,
and today you're gonna learn five simple tips
you need to know to easily EQ your bass like
a pro.
Now before we dive in, I also put together
a bass EQ cheatsheet that summarizes everything
we will be covering today, and also includes
some additional tips and tricks that will
take the sound of your bass tracks even further.
So if you want to download this, it's completely
free.
Just click the link in the description below,
or up there in the video, and you'll get instant
access.
Tip number one is to boost higher.
Now, when most mixers try to add clarity to
the bass, the first thing that they do is
reach for the low end, so they'll grab an
EQ, boost 60 Hz, or 80 or 100 Hz, because
they feel like that's what the bass needs
to make it cut through the mix.
In reality, oftentimes this can cause a mushy,
muddy mess of low end, competition between
the kick—it just isn't a great sound a lot
of the time.
So a better approach is boosting higher up
the frequency spectrum, either in the midrange,
or the top end.
And what happens when you do this, is you
can actually trick the ear into hearing more
low end than is actually there.
So by having a lot of that top-end information
boosted, we’ll actually feel like there's
more low end in the track, when the low end
is still pretty lean and clean.
So, next I want to jump into my DAW, and show
you exactly the impact this type of effect
can have on a bass track in a mix.
Okay, so I have a song here by Megan Cavallari,
and I want to take a look at the impact that
a top-end boost had on the clarity of the
bass in this mix.
So let's take a listen to the whole mix first,
and then we'll dive into the processing that
I added to the bass.
So you can hear there's a lot of stuff going
on.
We've got guitars, cymbals, all sorts of stuff,
and so trying to get the bass to cut through
this mix was a particular challenge.
And rather than adding low end again like
most people do, what I did was I added an
EQ to this track, and boosted a whopping 14
dB at 852 Hz all the way up the frequency
spectrum, so this is a shelf.
And you might be thinking, man, that looks
like it's way too much, and the truth is it
does look like it's too much, but in context
with the mix, it sounds great.
So this is exactly what this track needed.
So, let's solo the bass real quick, and I'm
gonna turn it up a little bit, so we can hear
it better.
And I want to play you this first dry.
So this is without the top-end boost.
And this is with the boost engaged.
So you might be thinking, I'm not sure if
I prefer that, right?
It's really bright and edgy, and kind of harsh-sounding.
And that's true, in solo, it actually maybe
sounds worse.
But all that matters is how this track fits
in with the rest of the mix.
So rather than making this decision in solo,
in soloing the vocal and adding EQ, I was
listening to all these tracks in context,
and in context, I found that I needed that
much top end to make the bass cut through.
So let's take a listen to this bass in context
with the rest of the mix, first, without this
top-end boost.
And now with the top-end boost.
So, suddenly it doesn't sound so bright, right?
You can just hear the top of the bass cutting
through the mix, but it sounds balanced, it
doesn't sound like it's too bright and aggressive.
And this is really important, right?
We're making these decisions in context, because
all that matters is how the bass sounds with
everything else.
Tip number two is to go broad.
Now when you're EQing the bass—specifically
when you're boosting the low end—it's usually
best to have broader curves—so wider Q’s—instead
of getting super-surgical.
And the reason for this is because, especially
in the low end of the frequency spectrum,
when you get too narrow, you start to affect
the volume of individual notes in the bass
part.
So if you boost something with a really narrow
Q, you end up just bringing out one note in
the bass performance, and usually this isn't
what you're looking for.
So instead of just isolating out one note,
you want to bring up the overall character
or tonality of the bass in the frequency spot
that we're trying to boost.
And the way that you do this is going much
broader.
So instead of going with tight Q's, try opening
things up, going wider, broader Q's, and this
is usually gonna lead to a more natural sound,
especially when you're EQing bass.
Number three is to EQ in context.
This is so important, not just when you're
EQing bass, but also when you're EQing any
track in the mix.
The goal of the mixing process is not to make
tracks sound good on their own.
It's to make them fit together and work in
harmony with each other.
So, it doesn't matter what the bass in your
mix sounds like in solo.
What matters is how it's working with all
the other tracks in your mix.
So when you apply EQ to the bass, instead
of soloing it and making those changes in
solo, listen to the way the bass is working
with everything else.
Listen to everything together, and then make
decisions that help that bass fit in with
the rest of the tracks in your mix.
So, next I want to jump into my DAW, and show
you just how big an impact that context can
have on the decisions that we make when we're
working on the bass, and how important it
is that you consider this context when you're
working on the bass in your mixes.
Okay, so I have a session here pulled up,
from a track called “Joshua” by artist
Leah Capelle, and I want to use it to show
you how context can help you make the right
decisions in the mixing process.
So this track was recorded in a real studio,
very traditionally, and we have a couple of
different mics on a lot of these tracks, so
I had a lot of options to choose from in the
mixing process.
So you can see here, like on the kick, we
have a kick-in mic, and a kick-out mic, and
if you scroll over to the bass, we have bass
DI, and Bass Motown, which I'm assuming is
some kind of amp, and then we have Bass Amp,
which I'm guessing is another type of amp.
So the point being, we had a lot of different
options to choose from in the mixing process.
So, let's go ahead and take a look at the
bass here.
So again, you can see we have a couple different
tracks on the bass—bass DI, Motown, and
amp, and then I have all of these routed out
bus three, and going into an aux track here,
labeled bass, so I can control all of these
with one fader.
So, I'm gonna solo the bass track, and let's
take a listen to these mics, one at a time.
So first let's start with this bass amp track.
Cool.
So that sounds great to me.
It's got a really thick low end.
It really sounds nice and balanced.
Okay, let's take a listen to the bass Motown.
Okay, so that one had a woodsier tone.
It doesn't have the same kind of body and
thickness on the bottom.
It's got more of a midrange, kind of upper-midrange
presence.
And now let's take a listen to this bass DI
track.
Cool.
So that sounds, it's got a little bit more
bottom than maybe the Motown track, but it
sounds very similar.
It's got a similar tonality.
Now, listening to these three tracks on their
own, my favorite is the bass amp track.
It feels like it just has a lot of power and
low end.
It sounds really thick and full, but if you
notice, the balance that I used in the mix,
I actually favored the Motown mic, and I have
the bass amp turned down a little bit.
So let's listen to these all together.
So you can hear that the bass doesn't actually
have that much low end, right?
It feels a little bit more midrangey.
It has more of that tonality than that kind
of low power that we heard from the bass-amp
track.
And so you might be asking, why did I make
this choice in the mix?
Why not favor the mic that sounded the best?
Normally, if we were listening to this in
solo, we would favor the bass amp track, because
it sounded best.
But the reason why I favored the Motown track
was because when I was making this balance
decision, I listened to this track in context
with the rest of the mix.
So, what I was really listening for was—how
does this bass fit in with the kick?
And so let's go ahead and take a listen to
this kick track over here.
And first of all, let's un-solo the bass,
and I just want to listen to this kick track
by itself.
Cool.
So you can hear there's a lot of low end on
that kick.
I really wanted the kick to dominate the low
end of the frequency spectrum.
I wanted to give it that power, so we could
really hear that punch on the bottom of the
mix.
But I knew that if I did that, there wouldn't
be a lot of room for the bass to sit down
there too.
So going back to my decision to favor the
Motown mic on the bass—the one that had
a little bit more midrange—I was really
thinking about context, and I was trying to
make these two fit together.
And so when I was listening to everything
together, without soloing the bass, I found
that with the bass Motown mic favored, the
bass and the kick just fit together much better.
So let's take a listen to these two together,
with the final balance that I chose, and you
can take a listen to how they sound.
So you can hear, there's not a lot of competition
between them, they're actually fitting together
pretty well.
And we don't miss the low end on the bass,
because we have it on the kick.
So we defined separate spots in the frequency
spectrum for these two tracks to sit.
Now, the important thing that I want to communicate
here is that if I were to solo the bass track
and decide which mic I like the best, I would
have never made this choice.
I would have favored the bass amp track, because
that sounded the best on its own.
But in context, I had to choose the one that
fit better with the kick.
And so, by avoiding the solo button and making
these decisions in context, you're gonna be
led towards decisions that help tracks fit
together.
And that's what mixing is all about.
So, by avoiding the solo button and listening
to tracks in context with the rest of the
mix playing, you're gonna be led towards better
mixing decisions.
Number four is to make space.
So if you feel like the bass isn't cutting
through your mix, rather than going directly
to the bass track and trying to add something
with EQ to make it cut through, instead, listen
to the other tracks in your mix, and try to
figure what you can take away to make more
room for the bass to live in the frequency
spectrum.
So oftentimes, you can cut some of the low
end, for example, on other tracks in your
mix—maybe a guitar track that's getting
in the way of the bass—and that'll free
up more room for the bass to be heard.
So this is more of a subtractive mindset than
an additive mindset.
In my experience, it's a much better way to
work, and if you can think more in line with
this kind of workflow when you're going through
the mixing process—instead of thinking what
can I add, think about what can I take away?—oftentimes,
it's gonna result in a much better-sounding
mix.
Number five is to use distortion.
Now in tip number one, we talked about the
idea of adding top end to a bass to make it
cut through.
And this is great, but a lot of the times
you'll find that if you boost top end on a
bass that doesn't really have any top end
to begin with, you're not gonna get very far.
So, EQ won't allow you to bring out something
that didn't exist in the track to begin with.
Now when you're dealing with a track like
this, oftentimes a great approach is to add
some distortion.
And what distortion will do is actually create
some harmonics higher up the frequency spectrum.
So it'll create information up there that
can be used to add clarity and intelligibility
to the bass.
In my experience, this is one of the best
ways to make the bass cut through the mix.
I use this all the time, and it can really
have a massive impact.
So next, I want to jump into my DAW and show
you exactly how I used this technique on a
recent mix.
Okay, so I have a song here called “Docs”
by Leah Capelle, and I want to show you the
impact that distortion is making on the clarity
of the bass in this mix.
So let's take a listen first.
Now, this is with the distortion on the bass,
and then we'll dive into the processing that
I used in more detail.
♪ Going through my closet ♪
♪ Trying on my clothes ♪
♪ Thinking if I can find something stylish
♪
♪ I'll feel better ♪
♪ I think I'll get a haircut ♪
♪ And find a fresh new look ♪
Cool.
So let's take a look at this bass.
So you can see, there are three tracks that
basically make up this bass part.
We have just bass, which is basically just
the original bass track.
Then we have the distortion track.
Now this is actually an aux track, so I'm
sending out the original track, and routing
that into this track, and that's where I'm
having my distortion.
And then we have this subgroup track, and
that's actually another aux track, where both
of these tracks are being sent into.
And that way, I can basically control the
level of both of these in the mix, with one
fader.
So let's take a listen first to the original
bass track.
I'm gonna bump it up a little bit, so you
can hear it.
So you can hear, it's pretty plain-jane.
Nothing too exciting about it.
And we don't have a ton going on here, other
than a little bit of harmonic distortion.
We just have a little bit of compression going
on—just a couple of dB to level things out.
So again, then we have a piece of this being
sent into this aux track—this bass distortion
track.
And then this is really where the magic is
happening.
So let's take a listen to this distortion
track.
I love the sound of that.
It just sounds so awesome.
So, let's take a listen to them both together.
So the distortion just adds so much character
to the bass.
It just makes it sound amazing, I love it.
So there's really only two plugins on this
distortion track.
The first is actually a gate.
And you might be wondering—why are we using
a gate?
Well, when you add a lot of distortion to
a bass, oftentimes it can bring up a lot of
the junk in between the notes.
So noise, and the fingers sliding across the
fretboard, and a lot of that stuff just muddies
up your track and makes it sound kind of messy.
So I like having a gate just close in between
the bass notes, that we can get rid of that
information.
So, to demonstrate this, let me solo this.
I'm gonna turn up this distortion track.
And let's take a listen first with the gate
bypassed.
So, see how between the notes, the bass isn't
really clean?
It doesn't cut off.
It kind of blurs into the next note or phrase.
Now listen with the gate engaged.
So we're getting a much cleaner separation
between the notes.
And in this case, it just makes the bass part
sound cleaner and just gives it a little bit
more structure.
And so, that's what I'm looking for in this
case.
And the next plugin we have is Decapitator,
and I have it on the A setting, which I find
just sounds great on bass.
It's got the punish mode on, so we're adding
quite a bit of distortion.
And other than that, I just kind of added
distortion to taste.
So, I don't really have any rules for this
process.
You're just kind of tweaking knobs until it
sounds good for the most part.
So let's take a listen to what this doing
in context with the rest of the mix.
So first, I want to play you this track without
our distortion.
So take a listen to the bass in context with
the mix, with no distortion.
♪ Going through my closet ♪
♪ Trying on my clothes ♪
♪ Thinking if can find something stylish
♪
♪ I'll feel better ♪
So we don't really hear the bass.
It sounds fine, the track's okay, but, I don't
know, it just lacks that kind of low-end oomph
and excitement.
So take a listen with the distortion now added.
♪ Going through my closet ♪
♪ Trying on my clothes ♪
♪ Thinking if can find something stylish
♪
♪ I'll feel better ♪
So that distortion adds those upper harmonics,
right?
And it allows our ear to find the bass much
more easily in the mix.
It's similar to adding a top-end boost, but
oftentimes with that top-end boost, if there
isn't the frequency content there to begin
with, you can't really bring it out with EQ.
And so a better approach often is using distortion
to actually create those harmonics and add
information to the bass that isn't actually
there in the first place.
So the distortion is making the bass sound
so much richer, it's just adding clarity and
intelligibility to the part, and in this case,
it makes it cut through and just sound a whole
lot thicker and better in the mix.
So take a listen one more time—first without
the distortion, and then I'll flip it in and
out.
So just watch this mute button right here,
and you'll see whether it's in or an out.
♪ Going through my closet ♪
♪ Trying on my clothes ♪
♪ Thinking if I can find something stylish
♪
♪ I'll feel better ♪
♪ I think I'll get a haircut ♪
♪ And find a fresh new look ♪
♪ Maybe if I just chop all my hair off ♪
♪ I'll feel better ♪
So we're getting a little bit of a level increase,
certainly the bass sounds louder, but it's
more than that, it just sounds thicker, and
certainly more intelligible, so we can hear
it a lot more clearly.
So I hope you enjoyed that, and if you're
looking to dive deeper, I also put together
that free bass EQ cheatsheet that summarizes
everything we covered today, and also includes
some additional tips and tricks that will
take the sound of your bass tracks to the
next level.
So, if you want to download this, just click
the link in the description below, or up there
in the video.
Again, it's completely free.
And if you click that link, you'll get instant
access right now.
Now, before you go, leave a comment below
and let me know—do you prefer the sound
of synth bass, or electric bass played by
a musician?
I read every comment, and reply to as many
as I can, so I would love to hear from you.
Thanks so much for watching.
You can check out more mixing tips like these
on my YouTube channel, or at BehindTheSpeakers.com.
Take care.
