Sorry for the long absence (hey don’t tell me you didn’t notice ) - I had a couple of hospital stays and loads of tests and stuff. Still I’m getting back into playing by recording little clips for Instagram - way faster and easier than doing whole songs on Youtube!
Anyway the question is this - Does anybody have any tips how to bring out the bass on a recording for mobile (cheesy little speakers / cheap earphones )? I’ve only got access to Audacity at the moment but it’s got a fair range of editing tools…
Ya wondering where you went, but, folks come and go a lot so just figured you were doing your thing. Sorry to hear about hospitals - they are never a good thing, but, part of these “golden years”.
To your question, not quite sure what you are asking and wanting to do.
Hear the bassline better?
Separate the bassline?
other?
Thanks @John_E@Barney . It’s just if there’s a lot of bottom end (like on the hofner) that it doesn’t come out very well on the speakers, even if the bass line is really jacked up. Maybe if I boost the mids ? Or buy some new strings I guess…
If you’re talking about recording then you can also double track your bass line (copy/paste your recording)?to get more volume and EQ one of the tracks to taste.
This is not at all a trivial challenge, @Ed - and something that takes a lot of experience as sound engineer to tackle in a satisfactory way.
For us not trained as sound engineers, it is a matter of trial and error. EQ’ing will be at the heart of it, but it likely starts already with the settings (on your bass etc) you use during recording. You will find that a tone that is pleasing to you might not be the best to “sit well in the mix” and, alternately, what works well in the mix, often sounds quite “bad” when heard in isolation.
I think you will need to try out different ways to affect tone for yourself and see what works best (according to your ears - listening on the device that you target (mobiles)).
But… I think you should find yourself a toolbox with a bit more surgical capabilities than Audacity!!!
Most phone speakers have shit bass. Basically no low end at all even on brand new iPhones. Only way to get the bass to cut through the mix on a phone speaker would be to crank the mids on the EQ and probably boost the high end too but then I’m sure the recording would sound real shit on regular speakers
Another thing I’ve heard are putting effects on the bass line: Synth, octaves, (very) slight distortion. That way, your typical phone speakers produce something, even if it’s still not the bass line.
The bottom line is that you need to move air to hear bass. Which you cannot fake. You can have the illusion in great in-ears, as they would drive the little air in your ear (try saying that ten times) similarly to a bass speaker, and at the same time, you wouldn’t feel it in your skull and body the same way.
following on from Ants comment…As phone speakers cut around 800hz and tablets etc maybe 400hz lots of the bass will just not come out of little speakers…
if you are mixing your own bass then EQing is the first stop for sure (targeting the mids, around 1.25k can be good)
more advanced methods would target upper harmonics…you can make a copy of your bass on a second track, go heavy with a nice harmonic distortion plugin (‘clean’ distortion here, not fuzz or anything), then cut the distorted bass at 1k or higher and just lightly blend back in the distorted track with the original bass (while referencing on crappy speakers if possible)…there are plugins that can try to do this as well see for example Precision Enhancer Hz | UAD Audio Plugins | Universal Audio
you could also play really clacky bass style and the clack will actually give the ear something to latch onto in the mids, but this doesn’t fit all styles
Hmm - sounds worth trying … Let’s give it a go @Barney
Oh yes @joergkutter - I thought it was just going to be a simple job for the eq but I rapidly learned this was pretty well above my pay grade. It’s a pain in the neck having to record a track, transfer it to a mobile and then play it but triel and error may be the only way.
Fortunately I have just invested in a new laptop so it could well be time to find some decent audio editing software
Actually @Al1885 the Rick could well be good at cutting through a mix on mobile. Maybe the T-bird as well…
This is it @Ant , although I’m only recording for a quick insta post… This does make you think about how commercial sound engineers produce the music. Do they do different mixes for mobile, hifi, headphones etc?
That could be worth a go - I heard somewhere that overdrive boosts the high frequencies and Duff McKagen used chorus to boost his sound. I’ll have a try
Wow - this guy produces Man there is some seriously in-depth information here - I’m definitely going to have to sit down and so some serious experimentation. Thanks @g13dip !
Gotcha @howard - I’ve got 2 out of three, and one of them must work
) - I had a couple of hospital stays and loads of tests and stuff. Still I’m getting back into playing by recording little clips for Instagram - way faster and easier than doing whole songs on Youtube!
