Bass drum too boomy

[costasaint]

I’ve recorded some songs on Cubase , 2 vocal tracks,1 bass track, 4 guitar tracks, 1 midi track (Metal Foundry).
My friend has mixed them using Pro Tools but for some reason the bass drum is always too loud/boomy and drowns everything out.I used the default mix so don’t know why this is.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

Topic

[Whitten]

If you want to perform a proper mix you need to adjust the levels in Superior. The default is just so the product sounds good out of the box.
Better still, break out the individual channels from Superior into several Pro Tools channels.
That way you can adjust all levels and eq, compress whatever you want.

[costasaint]

Some of the combined presets sound really good.They have had eq/compression etc already applied right?
And shouldn’t have the boomy sound?

[Whitten]

It all depends. Every mix is different, subjective.
But if you are mixing a song and the bass drum sounds too loud, you should just go into the Superior mixer and turn it down.

[Juicy]

Maybe your friend is in a room that is more bass challenged to your room and speakers,whos is right whos is wrong ?
we cant say from here,
If your trusting them to mix perhaps you can check,talk and sort out the differences first on some other material.
Do you really trust them,have you got a 3rd place to play before after mixes.

Can you ask your friend if he added serious bottom end to the drum track.
I dont find any MF kick Drums too boomy except the fabulous 26 Vistalite (Ludwig ?) .

[dthgtr]

I do not have MF,but shouldn’t there be a channel preset that would subdue the kick drum,or use the channel effects to dial it in.

Just a thought.

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[Dave Modisette]

ORIGINAL: dthgtr

I do not have MF,but shouldn’t there be a channel preset that would subdue the kick drum,or use the channel effects to dial it in.

Just a thought.

If you are sitting in a room that has standing wave issues it could be masking the real problem.  I don’t recall any MF preset that I would consider kick drum heavy.

Maybe just add a high pass filter in the kick drum tracks and filter out some of the low end.

Dave Modisette www.gatortraks.com www.plasticsamerica.com http://www.gatortraks.com/forum

[Scott]

When I first built my studio I had a major problem with the low end. I would finish a mix and think it sounded balanced and when I took the mix to my car, it had waaayyyy to much bass!

I had no acoustic treatment in the studio and after much research, I found that the bass waves were bouncing off the back wall of the studio and as the trough/crest of the wave from the back reached my ears, the opposite crest/trough from the speaker was also reaching my ears and some cancellation was occurring.

I did some renovations to the studio about 5 years ago and did some bass traps in the back of the room as well as some corner bass traps and basic Auralex sound absorption around the mix area. This greatly improved the balance of low end of my mixes when listening in the studio as well as other venues.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Juicy]

He could be another sicko for kick drum,
I guess we have all been there.Im trying to help with the cause of the problem as we all know its easy to adjust the mix or even change the kick drum for a different result,there may be as little 2db difference (probably more)in relation to bass response and speakers from your room to his but it can make massive differences.

It makes you wonder if the mixer dude is good then maybe your system/room must be borderline bass heavy.
The other end of the stick is he could be mixing in a room with a dip of bass right in the mix position(very common problem) .It may be a culmination of both.
Any how best for is to get a old Album you really know and love and listen in your room and then have a quick listen in his,that would be great if possible,other than that you could post a snippet of the track we can sure give you an answer.

[costasaint]

Thanks for all the advice!
I always listen to the mixes on 4 or 5 different systems from ipods to car stereos and compare them against cds of bands I like.
The next plan is to try some of the combined presets (which I’ve only just got due to updating SD) and see how they sound.I’ll pass on the advice as well!

[jzzarda]

Also something to keep in mind . You should know your monitors well. Just compare them after the mixout in elsewhere and see what is more or less then you can me more careful with those it helps if you cannot change your room..

www.myspace.com/ardabaykurt

[deonnn]

keep in mind too that the med amb mic can really make things boomy if its too loud.

i like to use a filter on the inside kick mic to get rid of alot of the low end and keep the outside mic for body. having said that though i get a fair bit of kick from my OH’s.
seems to work good.

[Author]

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