PRODUCTION

Getting kick and bass to complement each other can be one of the hardest production tasks. Follow our guide to master your low end

Getting your kicks and bass to sit perfectly in a mix

Mixing low end is one of the most requested topics to cover: a lot of producers struggle with it, mostly because the room acoustics and speaker setup isn’t ideal. But there are ways to address overlapping frequencies, and here we’ll use our favourite, tried and tested mixing techniques to get your low end thick and powerful. We’ll start with the obvious – but often overlooked – level balancing and tuning of the bass. As always, fixing the sound at the source brings the best results. Therefore we first try to use tricks like shortening the release of the bass within the synth, before going extensively into processing. Shortening the release can make a huge difference as it tightens the bass and stops the decay conflicting with the kick drum.

If you don’t have full control over the synth parameters and are using an audio sample as a source, more traditional processes can be used to solve the problem. Sometimes a simple complementary EQ is all you need. If that doesn’t help, we can further sculpt the balance of your low end by applying a frequency dependent sidechain. This not only helps to make vital space for the kick, but also leaves the upper harmonics of the bass intact.

The low end is the foundation of dance genres and it’s worth dedicating studio hours to it. Get this key element right and everything else will fall into place a lot easier.