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The stuff I listen to have a healthy amount of bass. This is a similar track which I like the sound of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxPsNuiEvsk
Would have preferred to track this with a precision instead of a jazz. Jazz basses have this mid-range presence that I find is not as easy to mix, if the bass is meant to merely support the track.
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
Will try to sort that bass out. After listening a few more times, I agree that it can be tamed, especially during the quieter sections. Will add automation there. And also try to rein in some of the boom..
I have done a quick bit of reading about dynamic EQ and think I can get a similar outcome with a multiband compressor (which I'm familiar with and have in Ableton). Thanks @WiresDreamDisasters.
Mixing alone is really hard, so thank you all for chipping in generously.
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
How flat are your monitors and the room? If you have any problems here you will struggle to get your bass to sit right.
A solution would be to install room treatment, or you could try some room correction software such as Sonarworks or IKM ARC.
Have a listen to Hot Property by Jamiroquai.
It has the loudest bass of almost any track, but it is appropriate to the song and a really well played and strong part- it carries the tune.
The bass in this track isn't strong enough to be that loud- it needs to be more supporting of the other elements.
That isn't a criticism of the part or the playing, it is just what is appropriate in this song with all the other elements.
I maintain I'd retrack the bass with fewer long notes and a bit more movement, more staccato and/or ornamentation.
You don't need a multi band compressor, you need a good compressor- I favour an LA3a, Distressor, or 1176 or a plugin that gets into that territory. You also need some corrective EQ.
A dynamic EQ can do both of these things, but I fear it may make it too confusing- stick to the basics, work EQ and compression.
This is all IMHO by the way- feel free to disagree, part of the process is working out what works for you, but (again IMHO) there are a few principles that need to be adhered to.
I really think you are working in a room that has bass issues.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
@octatonic Your advice about retracking the bass is appreciated. but I've decided that I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. there are lots of things that could be improved by re-recording (acoustic guitar is far from ideal for example), but I decided that I'll do my best with the material in the mix and move on to my next project. Consider it a lesson for next time.
I'll try some EQ and compression.
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
Band Stuff: https://navigationofficial.bandcamp.com/album/silhouette-ep
There are no magic monitors, even with room correction you don't get 'flat'.
Even with monitors costing five figures you don't get flat (and I know this from personal experience).
'Flat' isn't even really a meaningful term.
What you want is 'translatable'.
Translatable in the sense that you can take your mix to different rooms and playback systems and not having anything crazy poking out.
That is part having decent monitors, part having a good room and mostly knowing your monitors really well and being skilful.
You don't even have to spend loads of money- Joe Baressi mixes on mostly low to mid range monitors, including M Audio Studiophiles which most people would agree are pretty average.
But he has a great room, a killer SSL console, loads of outboard and really, really good ears.
I've got a set of iLouds Micro's (as my 3rd set of monitors attached to my Eurorack) and I've heard the MTM's.
They are fine for what they are and an interesting development but there is no free lunch here.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
BTW check out the Kali Audio LP-6 if you are looking for bigger speakers.
Room correction is only a partial solution and doesn't address all the potential problems with rooms and is not superior to a well treated room.
In some cases it can make things worse.
I'm not saying room correction is not useful, it is certainly useful- I use it with my Kii Three's at the moment, but not all the time.
Have a read of this: http://www.audiosignal.co.uk/Resources/Digital_room_equalisation_A4.pdf
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Historically sure, but in recent years actually a hell of a lot of albums (even charting albums) are mixed in suboptimal rooms by people who know what they are doing.
Andrew Scheps has mixed tracks with a laptop and a set of headphones.
Properly built commercial studios have been going to the wall and most mixers now have their own space, where previously they worked from rooms with large format consoles and tape machines.
As computers have become more powerful and tape has become more difficult to manage/justify people have been mixing more and more in their own studios, which often have a moderate amount of acoustic treatment but usually not purpose built studios that have been designed by acousticians and built by experts.
They are usually brick buildings with a framed internal structure, some rockwool in the walls and some bass trapping/diffusion added into the room.
This is the environment where room correction is useful- in a non-perfect but not untreated room.
All rooms used for mixing on monitors should have some bass trapping, even with the MTM's.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
I'm actually in the market for a mixing solution, so I will be keeping an eye on the MTMs and watching for some proper reviews to see what they can do in the real world. I think they are a bit expensive for what they are, so with a price adjustment they may be just the ticket to mix my next smash hit on the kitchen table ... or maybe not
There are guys who make 50% of their income doing this.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Controlling uber lows is very difficult. But 100hz and upwards is pretty easy.
I ignored it for years myself. Trained on a pair of Tannoy reveals in a reverberated room. It's a surprise my mixes were any good back then tbh!
You don't need to spend loads of money on monitors in order to produce great sounding mixes, although I enjoy working on the Kii Three's a lot more than I did on my old Dynaudio's.
Before I had Dynaudio's I had some passive JBL's with an Alesis 100w power amp and various other things before that.
They were all broadly fine.
I'm not against DSP (obviously, owning the Kii's) but it cannot be a replacement for the usual real world stuff that needs to happen.
DSP on top isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it won't solve fundamental problems, or even mitigate them that well.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com