Help regarding frequencies

[AudioMekhanik]

I've tried to read all the posts in this thread to make sure I'm not repeating, but here goes.....

Your ears (if you're healthy) are amazingly tuned speakers themselves - just in a reverse sort of way. Your skull (if you have one) is a perfect resonant chamber. Any decent pair of headphones turned up in volume is going to make your music sound thick, sweet and punchy - cause it's right there pumping in your head and there are some serious scientific things happening there. Of course when you play your song back on your speakers there are many other things affecting the sound - which I believe everyone has explained thoroughly.

That being said I believe you should dive deeper into how you are mixing, compressing and EQ'ing your low frequencies. No matter how tuned your room is or how much money you spend on speakers - your mixing skills are going to be crucial. I just watched a video on Ableton's website under tutorial videos that explains Side Chain Compression when you have low frequency problems between kick drums and bass lines. You should check it out as it might be an easy fix for what you're trying to achieve or maybe it's just one of many things you need to do in order to get acceptable results.

I hope this helps like it did for me. Oh, and if you think my blurb about our ears and skull was weird or interesting I highly recommend you read "This Is Your Brain On Music". I've read it and from a scientific stand-point it's changed the way I hear music - in a good way.

http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-M ... 0525949690

Cheers,
Benny (aka AudioMekhanik)

[eggnchips]

How about listening to some other music similar to your style through your speakers? If that sounds muddy then you know it's your room accoustics.

[Superchibisan]

How about listening to some other music similar to your style through your speakers? If that sounds muddy then you know it's your room accoustics.

[Trial and Error]

BS

[ethios4]

I would never mix on headphones personally. Stereo image is way extreme, and the bass response is nothing like a big speaker. I would guess that you are hearing better separation between kick and bass on headphones because you are hearing the mids more clearly on headphones.

Tip #1 - Cut the sub bass from everything that doesn't have to have sub bass. It should really only be the kick and bassline coming through below 100 Hz. This will help clear up muddiness in the bass.

Tip #2 - Try to EQ the kick and bass to be strong in different frequencies. For example, if your kick is strong at 110 Hz, put a little notch in the bassline at 100 Hz. If your bassline is strong from 40-60 Hz, put at cut in the kick around 40-60 Hz, and maybe a bit of boost around 70-90 Hz on the kick. Basically if the kick and bassline are both hitting the same frequencies you lose the dynamics essential to punchy bass.

Tip #3 - I usually end up cutting pretty generously from 200 -400 Hz on both the kick and bassline, especially the bassline if it's just a filtered saw or square. this cleans up a LOT of mud in the mix. It's also important to not totally gut this area, through, or your mix will sound thin. Leave some of this area in for other instruments.

Tip #4 - Use an EQ to bring out the mids of the bassline. This will help bring it to the front of the mix, and help separate it from the kick.

[ethios4]

in addition to what everyone else has said, you can also try cutting the bass a little in the 60-80Hz range and the kick in the 100-120Hz range - let the bass have more of the 100-120 and the kick handle the subby stuff

course it depends on the kick and bass sounds you're using, but as a very general point that can be a good way of making them Gel together

+1