This is the first in a series of very helpful tutorials by DJ Hero, Velcro City Records Chief Engineer:
Bassline Tutorial, by DJ Hero
Nov 19 2009
"A friend and associate asked for a couple of tips on basslines, so I figured I'd put my answer to his inquiry here as well. His question was basically, how do I get my basslines so warm and together in the mix. Here's my answer. "
- Route your synthesizer to a channel strip on your mixer, we’ll call that “Bassline, Strip 1”
- Route “Bassline, Strip 1” to two additional strip, and take it off of the master (so that it’s not routing to the master at all, but rather, the two new strips). We’ll call these two new strips “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”
- Add an EQ to both strips, “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”
- The EQ on “Bassline – L” should be set to roll off (or cut) ALL frequencies above 150hz
- Decrease the stereo width to almost mono
- Set a limiter on with the threshold set to the lowest peak registering in the signal’s output
- (Optional) Add an overdrive plug-in to add a bit of warmth to the upper end of the 19 to 150hz, about 100 to 150
- The EQ on “Bassline – H” should be set to roll off (or cut) ALL frequencies below 150hz
- Increase the stereo width so that the sound ride between your widest high hats.
- Add a compressor to the channel set as follow
- Attack: 10ms
- Release: 150 to 200ms
- Ratio: 2:1
- Threshold: set the threshold to equal the lowest point of the signal’s output
- Post Gain: take notice of the actual number of db’s being affected by the setting, if for example the compressor is reading 6db, turn the post gain up 3db, that will bring the output level back up to what it was before the compressor was put in place (hence the 2:1 ratio setting, for every 2 db’s affected by the threshold the volume reduced by 1db)
- Add a limiter after the compressor in the chain (this is called serial compression), set the threshold and ceiling equal to one-another. The actual setting should be on the upper end of the average output of the signal. For example, after the compressor has done its thing, and your output is on average -3db, with the occasional peak greater than -3db, and the occasional dip below -3db, then set the threshold and the out ceiling to -3db. You’re basically just grabbing hold of the peaks.
- Add a little bit of reverb (to your liking o course), and a little bit of distortion (again to your liking, but keep in mind if you’ve opted to add over drive to the “bassline – L” strip, you may want to pay attention to the frequency range the distortion is actually distorting (too much in one range is bad)
- Route both “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H” to a new mixer channel, call it “Bass Bus” (Make sure they are no longer routing out through the master, only the “Bass Bus” strip.
- Add a compressor to the channel set identically to the compressor on “Bassline – H”. The only difference is that you’ll have to adjust the threshold and post gain to compensate for the fact that there are actually two signals coming into the compressor (“Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”
- Add a limiter to the channel set identically to the limiter on “Bassline – H”, again you’ll have to adjust the threshold and ceiling to match the fact that there are two signals feeding the strip.
The end result is as follows.
- 1. You now have a far better control, via the volume of the individual channel strip volumes of both “Bassline – L” and “Bassline – H”. I recommend turn “Bassline – L” off while you set the volume of “Bassline – H” in your mix. Once you’ve got “Bassline – H” set in the mix to your liking, slowly increase the volume of “Bassline – L” to best fill out the low end in your mix. Then adjust the compressor and limiter on the “Bass Bus” strip to fit your levels
- 2. Because the low end frequencies of “Bassline – L” are set to match the width of your kick, you’ll gain much more control over your low end in the overall mix. AS well, because you’ve got the high end frequencies of separated from the low end, you’ll be able to place them in the overall mix much more effectively, to fill out the stereo spectrum as efficiently as possible. All of the effects placed on the two strips will carry the harmonics of the bassline from “center” to the extent of your stereo width.
If needs be, you can also side chain the “Bassline – L” strip around your kick to free up even more overhead, but careful with the amount of side chaining you use, you don’t want the warmth to disappear and reappear in the mix as a whole.
If needs be, you can also side chain the “Bassline – L” strip around your kick to free up even more overhead, but careful with the amount of side chaining you use, you don’t want the warmth to disappear and reappear in the mix as a whole.
John Mundt aka DJ Hero
Velcro City Records Chief Engineer :
www.velcrocityrecords.com 
