MIXING KICK AND BASS

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KICK DRUM
• Boost 60 Hz to reinforce weight of the kick. The area around 40-60 Hz is where the weight of
you kick lives.

• Don’t be afraid to gently high pass a Rock kick around 20-30 Hz. However some genres like
Hip Hop or EDM can go down to 30 Hz and below on Programmed Drums.

• Cut Low Mids to remove Mud around 350 Hz. The area around 250-400 Hz on Drums, par-
ticular the Kick and Toms can be quite ugly and cutting this area will give more definition to the
kick and open your mix up.

• Cut the lows in the Kick lightly around 80-110 Hz to create room for the Bass Guitar. The area
between 80-100 Hz is the sweet spot for Bass guitar to live. I often cut a couple of DB there.
Plus multiple Kick mics and samples etc can create a huge build up there.

• Boosting 7 K to add click to the kick. 7 k is a very popular area to boost for Rock, however
even on other genres it helps. Boosting 2.5 k lightly to add more aggression on the kick. 1 k
adds a little ‘toughness’ and is very common practice for mixers to do to in choruses.

• You can use a Transient Designer to shape the attack and sustain of your kick.

BASS GUITAR
• With only a Bass DI, duplicate the track and add saturation.

• High Pass the distorted Bass around 200 Hz

• Use the clean DI and Low Pass around 200 HZ

• Create a Bass Sub/Aux Channel. Sum both elements together.

• Gently high pass the combined sound around 60 Hz getting it out of the way of the Kick.

• Use a Multiband Compressor and compress 250 Hz and below creating an even low end.

• With a Bass Amp as well as a DI use the saturation and High Pass Techniques.

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