One of the biggest problems with home recordings is the bass guitar. When done correctly, a bass can do so much more than thicken up a song or make the song “fuller” sounding. The bass can push music into numerous directions and have a dramatic effect on the feel of the song. In some ways, the bass is just as powerful as the high hat. This article will explain how to get all these benefits from bass and maybe point out a few reasons you are not getting this benefit out of your bass track.

Reasons You Can't Hear The Bass Guitar

The reasons you can't hear a bass guitar are exactly the same reasons you can't hear any instrument. If the frequencies that make up the bass guitar are being dominated by other tracks and instruments, the bass guitar will not be as audible as you want it. There are a couple of ways to reduce this “dominance” of other tracks.

#1) You can simply turn the bass up.

Obviously, the bass has to be at the “right” level. Of course, this depends on the song, the desired tone, the band/artist, the guy mixing, the weather, etc. We are going to assume the bass is at about the right level already in the mix and the notes being played are getting lost. Simply turning up the bass guitar's volume is not always the best move because it may fix the problem with the bass cutting through, but then the bass guitar may be dominating other instruments. The biggest problem with just turning the bass guitar up is the muddy mess than get out of hand in the 120-200Hz region.

#2) You can turn down other instruments

Of course, you can always turn down other instruments that may be fighting the bass. In rock music, this is almost always the distorted electric guitars. Assuming your guitars are about where they should be in the song, pulling them down 2-3dB is going to have a drastic effect on the feel of a rock song. Guitar level is a very tricky thing. You can get away with drastically different guitar levels depending on what you are going for. I grew up listening to loud guitars. To me, a rock song should have powerful guitars and not just guitars you can hear (depending on the rock song, of course).

Of course, great pop / rock songs with distorted electric guitars sometimes keep the guitars down (off the top of my head, I'm thinking about Eddie Money's “Take Me Home Tonight” and Belinda Carlisle's “Heaven Is A Place On Earth”). In both of these songs, the guitar is not nearly as powerful, but is still heard fairly well.

The reason I mention these two songs is to make you aware, as a mixing engineer, that the guitar doesn't necessarily have to be powerful. Keep in mind that “powerful” sounding guitars are very very close to “overpowering” guitars. So mix for the song first and add the “power” by the spoonful...not by the truckload. This alone can have a dramatic effect on how your bass sits in the mix.

So, if you are having problems with the bass guitar cutting through in a rock song, take a clear look at what is going with the instruments that are fighting it. A simply level change may completely solve your bass guitar problems. However, assuming your mix is about where it should be, a level change may not be the answer.

#3) Using EQ To Help Bass Guitar Cut Through

Here is where it gets complicated. Every bass player sounds drastically different even with the same gear. Back in the 80s, there were engineers who were hired because their ability to get amazing sounding basses. What was the secret? Hire a certain studio musician to play bass every time and plug him straight into the console.

On top of the musician, every bass sounds different. Even basses made in the same year by the same company can sound quite a bit different. The bass player's mood has a dramatic effect on tone as well. If I record 4 tracks in a row, there is always a drastic and obvious difference between the various tracks in terms of level and tone. This difference is much more obvious than swapping out a preamp unless the bass player is EXTREMELY consistent.

Because bass tones vary so wildly from player to player and bass to bass, giving specific advice as to how to EQ the bass is tough. Exponentially complicating the issue is the insanely different tones in electric guitars. Guns N Roses' distorted guitar sounds make it easier to get bass to cut through than say huge, modern Hoobastank guitars.

Active Basses

A giant reason why bass guitars don't cut through comes with the abuse of active electronics. There is this myth that active is better for bass. That's horsecrap! There is no better...just different. Just about every time I've recorded an active bass, I've asked (or violently threatened) the bass player to set all of his knobs to the flat setting. In other words, I turn all that active crap off unless the bass player REALLY knows what he is doing in a recording situation.

Fender Basses

I LOVE recording Fender basses. Both the Pbass and the Jazz Bass are great for just about everything I think of. Fender basses, in the right hands, almost always get me exactly where I want to be as far as bass tone is concern. The sound I hear on the records I buy seems to be most easily achieved using Fender basses. If you don't like Fender basses, fair enough. I hope your reasons for not liking them come from using your ears and not from some sort of bullshit marketing hype.

Low End

There are a variety of bass tones. There are those bass tones that shake the house apart but you can't hear a single note. You can't tell if you are hearing a bass or if concrete truck is driving down the road. I have never found a situation where this bass sound is useful. However, this seems to almost always be the preferred bass sound by the bands I've recorded in the past. For whatever reason, the tone that a bass player thinks he is hearing on his favorite records is almost never the bass sound actually on that record. If your bass is shaking stuff, more than likely, you've already screwed up. Does the bass guitar shake stuff on your favorite record?

Middle Midrange Definition

The reason I love Fender basses so much comes with the “dinga dinga dinga” sound I hear in the midrange when played with a pick. If you don't have any “ding” in your bass sound, this could be a HUGE problem when it comes to getting your bass to cut through. In fact, if you don't have that dinga dinga bass sound, you are probably not going to cut through anything. (See the concrete truck analogy in the paragraph above).

Another huge reason to have midrange definition in your bass sound is obvious when you start playing notes on higher strings. If you have an enormous low end in your bass, and then you hit a note on the A, D, or G strings you'll probably find that the low end is completely gone. Of course, if all you have is low end in your bass guitar tone, you have NOTHING when you go to strings with little or no low end. This is HUGE reason that bass players can't hear the notes they are playing...because no one can hear the notes they are playing! You may be able to hear this higher notes practicing in your bedroom, but when you are competing with guitar, vocals, drums and who knows what else the change is going to be so drastic that the bass guitar is simply going to be lost.

You can hear the bass on any Guns N Roses song loud and clear because they have just the right about of midrange definition in the bass (and a bunch of other reasons which I'll get into later).

EQ Tip: If you aren't getting the dinga dinga sound you want, try boosting 800Hz-1Khz..

Low Midrange Definition

If you play bass with your fingers, you are never going to get a “dinga dinga dinga” sound in your bass. At least, I've never heard a player using his fingers get this tone. If you play with your fingers, you know that your bass is not meant to have the “dinga dinga dinga” sound. This is a huge disadvantage in hard rock situations where guitars are as brutal as possible. However, if you are playing music that is a little more “tame” there is no reason why you can't get a finger played bass to cut through. Just remember that it cuts through differently than a bass played with a pick.

If Guns N Roses is a great example of a bass that cuts through amazingly with the hard rock / pick bass guitar sound, I'd check out Cindy Lauper's “Time After Time” to hear a bass that is played with the fingers really cut through.

“Cut through” is not really the best word for this, but this bass sound is perfect in that it's not too deep and flabby but you can hear every note. Listen to the little bass run right before they sing the line “Time After Time”. I'm not sure how many strings the bass player is using there. Why? Because the tone is so well balanced and even that I simply can't tell!! This is what you want if you are playing wit your fingers. If the A string is, in any way, more quiet than the E string, you have a problem. If you can hear your low E just right in the mix, by default, any notes played on the A string are going to be lower.

EQ Tip: If you can't get your finger played bass guitar to sit in the mix correctly, try boosting 400Hz.

A Few Notes On Bass EQ

As mentioned above, every bass tone is drastically different and the amount/type of tracks fighting it is different in every song. While 1Khz is where I always start if I want more dinga dinga sound and 400Hz is where I start if I want more finger definition (uh huh...uh huh) these are ONLY starting points. The problem frequency could really be anywhere between 100Hz and 3Khz. You just have to look and get a feel for what is happening in the song you are mixing.

Making Room In Other Instruments

If other instruments are really fighting your bass sound, you need to make room for the bass. This hole could exist anywhere. I'd mute the instruments fighting your bass sound and listen to just the drums and bass. The bass's main sound may be “womb womb womb womb” or it may be “ding ding ding ding”. Not put the other tracks back in the mix. If the bass's main tone lost? If it is, try cutting your other instruments a little bit in those areas. I'd start with either 1Khz or 400Hz (depending on if the bass is played with fingers or a pick).

If it's not working for you, get drastic. Cut 18dB out of the other instruments and make the cut as wide as possible so that you can hear your bass. Of course, I don't recommend a really wide cut of 18dB @ 400Hz on guitars. You'll have no guitars left. However, slowly reduce the amount of EQ you are using and try to use a little narrower EQ band until you find a place where the guitars still sound good but the bass sounds better.

Assuming you tracked properly in the beginning, you shouldn't have to do that much to this.

Take The Bass and Drums To Other Stereos

If necessary, don't be afraid to burn a mix with bass and drums (and maybe vocals) to see where you sit on other stereos. It's very common for the bass guitar to have problems cutting through even when there is nothing to cut through when you listen on other systems. Compare how your mix sounds with songs that have parts with just bass and drums.

More than likely, you'll find that you don't have nearly enough midrange growl in your bass. You probably have too much low end or mud.