Understanding low frequencies

Be aware of typical bass trends in your chosen genre

It’s important to be aware of typical bass trends in your chosen genre. Songs destined for radio play are all about midrange elements like vocals, guitars, synths and pianos; and while pop producers often take inspiration from bass-heavy underground music in a stylistic sense, there usually won’t be a massive amount of sub frequencies in the mix – most punters are consuming music through puny speaker systems that don’t have the ability to reproduce low bass. When producing for smaller speakers, the key thing to emphasise in the mix is the impression of bass, via clever mixing of the low mids and midrange. The midrange region is probably the most important area of any mix to get right, as it’s where all the important elements sit and fight for space. Make your kick and bass cut through and coexist in the mids, by giving them the tonal and dynamic weight they deserve, and you’ll have a (seemingly) bass-heavy banger that cuts through on any system.

However, if you produce or mix any form of underground electronic music, or you’ve ever experienced dance music over a full-range sound system, you’ll know that a cohesive, characterful, balanced bottom-end is of paramount importance. Club-focused styles like house, D&B, dubstep, grime, garage and hip hop all rely on the interplay between kick drum and bassline, which is the low-end driving force of the mix. Again, your chosen subgenre will dictate which low-end part will take priority, and how these two bass elements interact.

If producing/mixing bass-heavy genres is your thing, there are several pitfalls to avoid. Amateurs often turn up all the bass sounds by default, or crank up an EQ boost on the kick/sub bass channel, for ‘maximum bass’. This can work on elements that definitely need more weight – but what about a bass with too much sub? All this will do is overload your mix with sub frequencies and steal headroom. Likewise, beginners often automatically compress sub bass to make it more powerful; but intense sub weight can trip gain reduction more easily and incorrect attack and release settings may induce distortion.

The solution to these problems is simple: make sure you can hear the sub frequencies in your mix! On a pro level, this means working in a decent studio space, with adequate bass trapping and acoustic treatment, on full-range monitor speakers that can reach low enough. We’ll look at home studio monitoring hacks later on.