Short Kick & Long Bass and Vice Versa

[sisco]

I try to understand this concept in practice. But I just don't get it. Is there any videos where you can hear the difference? or if you can explain it? Why can't you just sidechain the bass?

[jancivil]

Surely you are referring to synth patches. a 'kick drum' itself is a percussive instrument without a real sustain portion to its envelope while a 'bass' can have, moreso when amplified. I have never had a particular difficulty knowing which was which.

I don't know what is 'music theory' about this issue though. It seems more a 'production techniques' sort of deal to me.

[aquar]

The choice is yours.
If the tune you are producing has a very strong bassline and can stand up in its right you may want to focus on that so sidechaining might not be the best method. You wouldn't want to lose the attack on the bass.
If however the bass sits in the background consider sidechaining otherwise your kick will be lost in the mix. You don't have to go crazy with the sidechain either unless you want that classic pumping effect.

Also don't underestimate the importance of frequency control.
Clever usage allows both the bass and the kick to be prominent in the mix (the compromise)

The main thing to remember is if both the kick and bass share the same frequency its going to make your mix muddy.
Lets say for example your kick sits at around 50khz and your bass also shares that frequency then they are going to fight. So you would then need sculpt them with a parametric equalizer.
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/pro ... equalizer/

There's plenty of youtube videos that cover equalization and its an essential thing to learn if you are into producing your own music.

[tapper mike]

A bass by nature of it's lowered range will have a slower attack because it's wave cycle is longer/wider. The lower you force it the less attack it will have. Fretted basses generally have a slightly faster attack with less duration (unless compressed) then fretless however the more you compress and elevate the bass signal the less attack it will have. Generally when you want more attack it's best to double the line on a separate instrument with a fast attack, quick decay and no sustain/release.