Where do you guys cut your sub bass?

[Nephew]

Why wouldn't you add some distortion? It's a real common producer trick so you can hear the bassline if you can't reproduce it properly on listening set ups, i.e. ear buds/laptop speakers where there's no sub available.

And I'm not talking about doing whole different arrangements for your 'club' and 'radio' versions, just to approach the mixdown and mastering a bit differently and to make it so people can 'hear' the sub bass if they don't have a sub on the radio version. That's all.

[djsakebomb]

Well that's what I mean. If I'm working on the assumption that people could potentially be listening to my tracks on a variety of different equipment. Where, ideally, should the bass lie (in terms of frequency) in order to be the best for the most amount of people and situations?

From 80-50Hz. It's a pretty narrow range.

[Fatlimey]

Nononono. You're supposed to cut the midrange, then drop the bass.

[youtube]lQwnt9dMDUU[/youtube]

P.S. 35 Hz is a good place, although the 808 bassdrum is all around 80Hz.

[WhiteApple]

i cut it where the kick is

[jasonj]

30Hz - the sub sounds you feel the most exists between 35-47hz - this is that really low presence that shakes allot of dancefloors. Producers like downlink, Excision, Propa Tingz etc... all cut 30hz and below.

[Lambox]

Why wouldn't you add some distortion? It's a real common producer trick so you can hear the bassline if you can't reproduce it properly on listening set ups, i.e. ear buds/laptop speakers where there's no sub available.

And I'm not talking about doing whole different arrangements for your 'club' and 'radio' versions, just to approach the mixdown and mastering a bit differently and to make it so people can 'hear' the sub bass if they don't have a sub on the radio version. That's all.

Only because everything I've ever read about creating sub basslines has emphasized the importance of keeping the sound as clean as possible. But hey, maybe you're right. I'll do some searches later on today when I don't have class.

Thanks for the tip though.

[Nephew]

When making it for radio/ipods the challenge lies in making a bassline people can actually hear. This could be done by simply layering an organ one octave above the bassline, by adding a little distortion to and so on.

But when making it for el club-o's, by all means, keep it low and subby.

[WhiteApple]

i found it really hard to get that nice clean shaking effect w/ subbass.

[calvin01]

just to clarify nephew are you saying distortion on a sub bassline is ok?.

[Nephew]

I'm not talking about making it super distorted, just a little bit so you can actually hear it. Not something I practice often, but it has it's time and place. The idea is to make it so you can hear the bassline if you're in a listening environment where you won't be able to feel it.

If you use Ableton, just go to the audio effects>audio effect rack>Tone and Colour>Crunch-n-Munch (if your on 8 that is, one earlier version I think it's in performance & DJ). Slap that on your bass line and you'll hear what I mean. Just adds a little bit of distortion on top of it so you can hear the bassline if you can't feel it.

Obviously you'll have to adjust the settings to taste, but you'll be able to hear the bassline none the less. Hell, try making a sub bassline and listening to it through your laptop speakers/earbuds and see how much of it you can pick out, then add the crunch and munch and you'll be able to follow it with no issues.

BUT, I would only do this for a radio version if you will if you intended for it to be pure subby goodness, otherwise leave it off and rock it in the club and let the low end do it's job