Hi!
I tried Basslane and it's very nice. Does it somehow affect the audio quality?
Do you use it(or something similar to center the lows) when mastering? At the beginning or at the end/in the middle of the chain?
What about cutting the lowest(under 30hz or so) frequencies?
Do you do this first or as a last step when mastering?
Do you know of a plug-in that can make a high pass with a very steep curve? Would a steep curve be bad for some reason?
Thanks!
Centering and cutting the lows
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- KVRAF
- 6937 posts since 4 Jun, 2004 from Utrecht, Holland
I'm sure that tool can have its usage somewhere. But whenever possible I try to fix problems where they originate.
Want bass in the middle only? Then use a mono bass synth! Easy as that... Is it stereo? Then split left&right in channels and pan them in the centre.
Want to roll off low frequencies? Do that on each non-bass track (cutoff freq of 80Hz is very common) and the bass will be significantly less muddy so you have less to fix in mastering.
Steep curves have side-effects. In general they come with a big bump somewhere else in the spectrum. Better don't use a filter set too steep.
Want bass in the middle only? Then use a mono bass synth! Easy as that... Is it stereo? Then split left&right in channels and pan them in the centre.
Want to roll off low frequencies? Do that on each non-bass track (cutoff freq of 80Hz is very common) and the bass will be significantly less muddy so you have less to fix in mastering.
Steep curves have side-effects. In general they come with a big bump somewhere else in the spectrum. Better don't use a filter set too steep.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 880 posts since 22 Jan, 2005
Well, I do have the bass and kick in mono normally. But what about other sounds that also have low frequencies? (other drums, pianos...) I thought about summing all those to mono under 250-300hz.
I also learned to cutoff the freqs I don't need at each sound but somehow there is still some remaining at the very bottom, probably because the cut is not so steep/strong. That's why I was asking about that.
I also learned to cutoff the freqs I don't need at each sound but somehow there is still some remaining at the very bottom, probably because the cut is not so steep/strong. That's why I was asking about that.
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- KVRAF
- 6937 posts since 4 Jun, 2004 from Utrecht, Holland
Well, move up the cutoff freq on the offending track then. 160, maybe even 300Hz instead of 80Hz? Whatever works, it differs from track to track. And you probably don't want to cut off too much of the low end, know when to stop.
Same goes for centering the lows. You know for sure that the most of it is already dead centered, so you don't need to touch it. Leave the rest to the system you actually play it on, be it a normal stereo or 2.1 or 5.1 or whatever. It is perfectly capable itself of sending the appropriate freqs to the subwoofer.
Same goes for centering the lows. You know for sure that the most of it is already dead centered, so you don't need to touch it. Leave the rest to the system you actually play it on, be it a normal stereo or 2.1 or 5.1 or whatever. It is perfectly capable itself of sending the appropriate freqs to the subwoofer.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 880 posts since 22 Jan, 2005
Yeah, I've been trying to be to precise about remaining low freqs (of non-bass instruments), which are weak anyway.
BTW, what is supposed to be the freq below which you cannot hear the panning?
Is this also space-dependant? I mean if it depends on the place where you are listening?
BTW, what is supposed to be the freq below which you cannot hear the panning?
Is this also space-dependant? I mean if it depends on the place where you are listening?
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- KVRAF
- 1907 posts since 29 Oct, 2003
in samplitude 6 i used the stereo control quite and summed below 150hz to mono often.
i noticed that's fine if your audio gets played back on a device with some sort of *enhancer* like srs etc. or will be played *louder* and you don't have anything *explicitely* panned (bass-bin load will be more coherent). bottom will sound cleaner, but you'll have to compensate for *mono* in low-mid range or else your song will sound like it's *narrower* on the ground - so to speak.
it would be reasonable to apply low cuts near mono frequency in order to avoid any mess. regarding cut's slope - that's up to you to check out what works in your project.
don't have samp anymore and don't remember exact details from top of my head.
i noticed that's fine if your audio gets played back on a device with some sort of *enhancer* like srs etc. or will be played *louder* and you don't have anything *explicitely* panned (bass-bin load will be more coherent). bottom will sound cleaner, but you'll have to compensate for *mono* in low-mid range or else your song will sound like it's *narrower* on the ground - so to speak.
it would be reasonable to apply low cuts near mono frequency in order to avoid any mess. regarding cut's slope - that's up to you to check out what works in your project.
don't have samp anymore and don't remember exact details from top of my head.
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- KVRAF
- 6937 posts since 4 Jun, 2004 from Utrecht, Holland
Weak bass... Have you listened to it on a different system? Even if you have top notch monitor speakers it's worthwile to listen in the car, at friends, in your surroundsound DVD home cinema set, and see how it sounds there. Whats too weak on your own system can be overpowering somewhere else.ermi wrote:Yeah, I've been trying to be to precise about remaining low freqs (of non-bass instruments), which are weak anyway.
Sorry, dunno. If you really wanna know, do a test. Setup a synth with a sine tone panned hard left. Start playing low tones and move up until you can tell where it comes from. Its probably not at one freq but a big grey zone between "can't tell where from" and "definite from there".ermi wrote:BTW, what is supposed to be the freq below which you cannot hear the panning? Is this also space-dependant? I mean if it depends on the place where you are listening?
Acoustics of the room play a very big part in it. I do engineering for a pop/rock band. They mostly play in bars, pubs, relative small rooms (20x20 meters max). When checking weather the PA is hooked up correctly I send music to one channel only. I have to walk across the dancefloor to hear which one of the PA speakers it comes from. Really, you can't tell from across the room at the mixing console. All due to bad acoustics, very different of you sitting at your DAW listening to nearfield monitors.
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- KVRian
- 951 posts since 11 Jan, 2004 from Netherlands
'Wider Boy Pro' can help you out here.
- Set spatial delay to 0 m (No widening effect, unless you want it of course).
- Make sure the mode is 'Toast' (preserves original stereo field).
- Spectral pivot to set the Bass cutoff frequency.
- Even set the bass to mono if you like.
- Steer the bass using 'Bass Pan'.
- Boost the bass using 'Bass Gain'.
