Hey guys, well i just got a new pair of shure srh840s for producing and im starting to be able to pick out alot of flaws thanks to the high quality of the headphones 
My question is this, How do you guys master your bass to get that fat, driving sound? im using ableton i usually use a mix of compression and eq and then add reverb to give it a better feel.
Ive heard using multiband dynamics can help alot but im not sure how to go about it.
my bass has pump but not what im looking for, and certainly not what im hearing in more professionally mixed songs.
thanks guys
For multi dynamics you should check out some tutorials here or on youtube.
But the main thing about a good combination between the kick and bassline is EQ, sidechaining and compression. Layering of different basslines may make it even better.
First make sure that the key of the kick is in harmony with the key(s) of the bassline.
Secondly you should sidechain the bassline channel with a dummy sidechain channel that contains the same kick as you’re using in your track.
Third, you EQ out the main freq of the kick from the bass and viceversa. And roll off a good portion of the low from the bass so it can’t clash with the low of the kick.
Now it may be a good time to apply some compression to that bassline of yours to make it a bit heavier. If this is not working, try to find another bassline sound that can be layered with the first one. Again duck some of the main frequencies of the first in the latter.
And remember to keep a/b-ing while you’re at it
My basslines arent particularly powerful but when I do want that power I pretty much do what daniaan said plus a bit of overdrive (VERY LITTLE) at the bottom and some saturation.
These are usually used for mid basses and high elements but it cant hurt to use it on the bottom if your careful with it.
Another thing you could do if you synthesized the kick is use an oscillator, drop it one octave and use a sinewave, lower the amp a bit so its not overpowering. Its kinda weird that you might just eq it out but it gives the synth some body anyway… Especially with a bit of distortion since sine waves have little harmonic content (distortion providing it that extra harmonic element).
to help bring it out in the mix overdrive or some for of saturation is a great idea, but this then affects the subs. So the best thing to do is to add a aux with a distortion unit on it and send the bass to it. This way you can now mix the level of distortion needed.
And to keep the sub clean maybe add a hp filter after the distortion
A other good way to focus your bass end is to keep it clean.
So in the mix have a look with a spectrum analyser and see what elements have bass. Really the only elements you want with any low bass is your kick and bass line
from this you can start to roll of the other elements, by cleaning up your low end you will give you bass frequencies more headroom, this with make them louder and more apparent in the mix with out having to turn up the fader.
And in saying this (think it was mentioned above) rolling of the super lo subs is a good idea. This again can allow your bassline more room.
A other point that is very important is to insure you kick is tuned to the key of your track. This will allow your bass and kick to work together in harmony.
EQ wise i think a broadband eq on the bass freq is best maybe just a 4dB boost. Make sure you centre around the root frequency.
also mix wise a good point to make is your faders in a mix do need to be anywhere near 0dBfs
keep your master fader there you don’t want to mess up the mastering summing
but take all your faders down to say -10dB and insure no plug ins of au/vsts are peaking. Doing this will insure maximum headroom. Once you have a well balance mix. It is a lot easier to get a great mix down that will give the master engineer really room to work with.
And in the end this will create a big master will lots of dynamics. and this in the end will sound louder even if it doesn’t look louder.
hope that all makes sense
Depends on the track.
Start off with an eq to take out the ultra lows, multi band compression, eq again (optional) and then a limiter
Also as already mentioned already, layer your bass… use a separate sub and mid (and for some even an additional layer)… I don’t do this technique nearly enough but once again it depends on your track.
Think about the frequencies as to where everything sits, as you may get sounds masking each other which will just muddy your mix.
[quote]michaellpenman (05/02/2012)[hr]to help bring it out in the mix overdrive or some for of saturation is a great idea, but this then affects the subs. So the best thing to do is to add a aux with a distortion unit on it and send the bass to it. This way you can now mix the level of distortion needed.
And to keep the sub clean maybe add a hp filter after the distortion
A other good way to focus your bass end is to keep it clean.
So in the mix have a look with a spectrum analyser and see what elements have bass. Really the only elements you want with any low bass is your kick and bass line
from this you can start to roll of the other elements, by cleaning up your low end you will give you bass frequencies more headroom, this with make them louder and more apparent in the mix with out having to turn up the fader.
And in saying this (think it was mentioned above) rolling of the super lo subs is a good idea. This again can allow your bassline more room.
A other point that is very important is to insure you kick is tuned to the key of your track. This will allow your bass and kick to work together in harmony.
EQ wise i think a broadband eq on the bass freq is best maybe just a 4dB boost. Make sure you centre around the root frequency.
also mix wise a good point to make is your faders in a mix do need to be anywhere near 0dBfs
keep your master fader there you don’t want to mess up the mastering summing
but take all your faders down to say -10dB and insure no plug ins of au/vsts are peaking. Doing this will insure maximum headroom. Once you have a well balance mix. It is a lot easier to get a great mix down that will give the master engineer really room to work with.
And in the end this will create a big master will lots of dynamics. and this in the end will sound louder even if it doesn’t look louder.
hope that all makes sense[/quote]
About Pro mastering when you send over a track can they make the tune sound bigger sharper and phatter ? I wanted to pay for a ‘Pro mastering’ 170 but I was told it will be worth it .
Its not really the Mastering Engineer’s job to work on your mixdown, chances are they wont touch it one bit…
However, they can to an extent improve the mix by using things like Saturation, Master Reverb, an EQ and Compressor/Limiter on the master channel to make certain areas sound better… Not to mention that these days mastering engineers are pro’s at using the mid/side features most mastering tools have to really give your track an edge.
So a good Mastering Engineer will make your mix sound cleaner by a bit but at the end of the day if the mix is weak it wont help much to go to one. Its probably better to work on your mix more if you feel the track does not sound clear and sharp…
A master engineer can only polish things, hand them a bag of crap and you’ll get nice n shiny crap… Its still crap though. The original quote (cant find it) sounded so much better but meh…