How do I mix high end synths with my kick?

[itsNano]

Hey guys, I'm mixing a track right now and my kick and bass is nice and tight, but as soon as I turn on my synths, the punch of the bassdrum gets really muffled and it's hard to hear it punch through. I assume this is because my high end synths' frequency is centered around where the punch of my bassdrum is, so they are fighting for power. I tried sidechaining my synth to the bassdrum, and it helped a bit, but the punch is still fairly muffled. Any tips on EQ'ing or certain sidechain settings that would help the synth move out of the bassdrums punch area?

Thanks in advance!

[faun2500]

Whats your kicks punch area you are having problem with? Eq your synths in this area and make sure your kick is louder than your synths. Sidechain would be my first choice too.


post up a clip for more detailed replies.

[itsNano]

here is the link, though soundcloud made it sound kind of weird but listen to the kick before the synths come in and after the synth comes in

https://soundcloud.com/itsnano/synth-and-kick-mix-test

please let me know your thoughts about the mixing.

[Aiynzahev]

Actually it doesn't sound all that bad. But there are 3 things you can do:

1) Sweep a boost the EQ around your kick till you find the bright "toppy" bit. The part that makes it stick out, or better yet, apply a cut and sweep that up until you lose that bit that you are trying to retain. Once you find it you can try cutting that somewhat from the synths, you can put them on a bus maybe and just use one EQ for it.

2) Use a little side-chain compression on the synths. 2-3db and see if that helps. Aren't you doing that already though? It sounds like you might.

3) Get another kick that has a very nice toppy high end and cut out all the bass frequencies, use it as a layer on top of this kick and it will never get lost in the mix. Some experimentation is required to find a sample that really works with your original kick due to phasing. It doesn't have to be a kick either but often kicks work well.

[itsNano]

well, my kick is composed of 4 different layers, but I will try and find a hat and dwindle it down to one tiny click and try to mix it in subtly with the kick to add more click.

Thanks for the reply

[jemba87]

How did you layer this kick? Do you have a tutorial which you recommend?

[Loki Fuego]

here is the link, though soundcloud made it sound kind of weird

I think you need to spend time on learning how to make you tracks so that Soundcloud wouldn't make it sounding weird. It will significantly boost your production skills.

[dblock]

Hey guys, I'm mixing a track right now and my kick and bass is nice and tight, but as soon as I turn on my synths, the punch of the bassdrum gets really muffled and it's hard to hear it punch through. I assume this is because my high end synths' frequency is centered around where the punch of my bassdrum is, so they are fighting for power. I tried sidechaining my synth to the bassdrum, and it helped a bit, but the punch is still fairly muffled. Any tips on EQ'ing or certain sidechain settings that would help the synth move out of the bassdrums punch area?

Thanks in advance!

Very generally speaking, I roll off my synths anywhere from 100hz up until they start to lose their fullness then I back it off a bit since my kick sits below that so the kick has it's own space. Exactly where you roll off is always to taste but the idea is making sure your bass instruments have their own space is what I'm getting at. Sounds like frequency clash to me. You could just turn one thing louder but then you just have louder mud. When you're looking for clarity something has to make room for something else. jmo.

[loopdon]

You could also try phase-inversion on the synth part or just use a different kick.

[Robmobius]

As Aiynzahev said... Basically sweep around to get the 'top's and give it a tight boost (if you've got a decent EQ that is). If not, it's prolly better to cut.

Add some harmonic distortion too... Or get a transient designer on it as well. That will give the kick a decent punch.

[TheDude86]

Break out that eq and start sweeping. If you can't find the right spot you can use an analyzer on both tracks to see where they are fighting and then decide who will when the battle.