A prime example of the less is more attitude
Add effects to that list. You don't want low end in your reverbs at all.


Unless the whole room is shaking and I can barely hear the low mids of the bassline whilst the bass/kick channel's meter is going through the roof, I don't roll low end off either. Its obvious when there's some huge lump of deep low sub on the Mackies, but when I was on the Alesis, I simply high passed below 35Hz, took a good look at the meter and then by-passed it.
If the meters where not going through the roof, then there was no problem and I let Shane do his stuff listening though a massive PMC rig in a properly treated room.

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oh, don't get me wrong, i rolloff stuff that isn't supposed to be bassy (vocals, guitars, pads etc.) but re: the sub, i'm on nec's ship.

if you've got too much of a problem with real lows, then there is something more intricately wrong that needs fixing. just sticking a filter on, to me, seems to be a daft way of doing it. obviously there are going to be times when something needs to be done, but as a general rule i wouldn't roll off the low end of a sub.

best way, i've found anyway, of controlling an unruly sub is to change the balance of oscillators that are used. sure, if you've just stuck a ridiculous, perfect sine underneath then you're going to find problems, change the balance of that and maybe mix in a bit of square or something and it'll become more manageable, without the need to filter.

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"You know what you're doing with a knob" - Merka 2007

so how does that work with a reece bass which is deliberately beating and unruly by definition?

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/\ Thats to do with amplitude modulation, not spectral balance you might still want to EQ your reese. I appreciate what your saying with the reese being a madly beating beast, but you still jusdge that bass line as you would any other.

I think rolling off your bass is crazy. Just get your sample/synth how you want it before you start



piss off cheese eater!!

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"Once it has penetrated, a paralyzing saliva subdues the prey and the snail feeds at leisure, often beginning with the softest parts such as the gonads and gut."

a reece isn't the sub though is it.

the beating stays, i was on about a whopping great sine wave sitting under everything that is often used as the sub bass.

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"You know what you're doing with a knob" - Merka 2007

Thing is - if I'm using a synth as a sub then I ensure the fundemental of the lowest note is above about 60Hz anyway. That way I can make sure it will sound fat on most systems (it won't lose energy on the low notes). Then I can add a cheeky little 55 Hz blip to the kick just to make it sound super-fat on a great club system.

That's what I was talking about. Works really well.

And to Sir Shankly: Each to their own mate, I peronally think it's not just about the audiable noises, more about stopping the accumulation of bottom end frequencies, regardless of if your ear can hear them or not. We always round off the super bottom end frequencies, paying a little 'lip-service' to the 90hz mark for the bass, and we get a warm sound that doesn't hum too much on club speakers and monitors.

Having said that, everyone's set-up is a bit different and just about every club's system is a bit different as well. Not to mention the fact that most people who listen to breaks in a club are a bit spangled and never notice all this geeky stuff we bang on about!

how very 'general midi' of you



gots to say, I just love it an octave lower

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"Once it has penetrated, a paralyzing saliva subdues the prey and the snail feeds at leisure, often beginning with the softest parts such as the gonads and gut."

does this mean that you write your tunes in a certain key all the time? i play around with mine and try to find a nice balance, but some allow you to go "lower" without being as low as some other notes (if you get what i mean?!?!?) i.e. if you choose g minor, then to get the octave below you're pushing it. however, choose e minor and you get a bit more scope.

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"You know what you're doing with a knob" - Merka 2007

i'm with you on the spangled front.

i just like the bowel loosening bass that you can't hear. don't get rid of it, that's the best bit!!

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Sir Shap Shankly (esq)
Myspace here



"You know what you're doing with a knob" - Merka 2007

Not always because I don't always want a super-low sub. However if I want a really low sub that I want people to be able to hear on average "top end" hifis and not so hot club systems I will make sure that the fundamental of the lowest note is before the roll-off of these systems. Hence, yes, you're talking about a limited selection of minor and major keys if your lowest note is the root of the scale.

Given your xample: If G is the lowest note then this can sit at 98 Hz. This is a bit high really for a sub. An octave down we're at 49 Hz. A huge number of soundsystems (eg your typical club system which packs it's main "punch" much higher) will roll off before this frequency so your lowest note will be attenuated. It'll still sound fat at fabric though!

I like to keep my sub fundamental a bit higher (not much) and add a little audio "treat" down the bottom in the kick perhaps for those tasty systems.

Just read your post again.

So yes, if you choose E then we're at 85 Hz for the fundamental (or 42 ish)



Oh and for the blip in the kick I often have to make it with a sin cos it may well not be in the original drum sample.

Sounds like you're after the 'brown noise' mate!

interesting stuff

Just add some harmonics to your bassline and it will be phat and audible everywhere without limiting your note range.
Bb1 (58.27Hz) B1 (61.74Hz) seem way too high to me to have as the lowest notes of a bassline. There is loads of meat lower than those notes that will come out in clubs, and if your bassline has harmonics, the fundamental will be perceived on speakers that don't go low enough to produce the fundamental. I've made a few basslines on F1 (43.65Hz) that I can define just fine on the onboard speakers of my laptop.

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