Blending The Low End
by Phil on Apr.04, 2009, under Blog
I was not running sound at my church last week. Instead I got to sit in the congregation in about the middle of the room. Since I’m always listening critically (I can’t really help it- it’s a curse), something really jumped out at me that I wanted to pass along to you. The kick drum and bass (guitar) weren’t fighting for the same space, which is rare.
(Bonus points if you can name this band…)
Whenever the bass played a note on the same downbeat as the kick, they both seemed to hold hands, jump out of the sound system, and annouce their presence to the room in a very well-rounded/ unobtrusive sort of way. I should mention too, that our church has a church sound system too. It’s not like a rock club with enough sub woofers to start or stop a pacemaker.
What separated these 2 inputs was not the lowest of low end. It was the higher end! Most engineers think that the “bass” drum and “bass” guitar need a lot of “bass”. Since these naturally put out a lot of bass, there isn’t a lot of reason to add more.
Instead, consider boosting the high end a little. It will add some attack to the kick drum and some clarity to the bass notes. Before throwing on compressors, gates, and enhancers, trying taking the less-is-more approach and see if some separation can be attained by tweaking the EQ. Your mix will sound much more natural and organic.
April 19th, 2009 on 11:15 pm
That photo appears to be a very young Adam Clayton holding what I would guess to be a 70s Gibson Thunderbird bass, and Larry Mullen Jr. at the drums, who comprise the rhythm section of an inimitable – despite the imitation of countless contemporary worship acts – little band called U2.
Incidentally, when I came to our church, I noticed that one of our lead techs from a few years earlier had configured our system in a way similar to what you’re talking about – the bass and kick drum were submixed to a group that was panned so that those instruments were only being fed through the subwoofers (we run in mono, w/ the center cluster mains on R and the subs on L). To me, it sounded like garbage…the bass guitar had no tone whatsoever, only low end rumble. No life, no string noise, no growl even. Absurd! Same with the kick – no snap, no attack. And all I had to do was turn the pan pot back to center! Made all the difference.