Hi guys,

Lately I have been recording and mixing Reggae/Reggae Rock music. Through my years of production is basically been the golden rule to keep bass and kick drums mono. I've noticed however that with the reggae music I am producing, the bass is sounding separated from my mix when it is in mono. When I throw it back in stereo it sounds fuller and brings everything together. Would you consider this to be wrong? Am I perhaps missing something in the mixing phase that would bring my mono bass out to be fuller in my mix? All opinions and thoughts are welcome! Thank you guys.

 

I would suggest a m/s separation and put everything under 100 hz or something like that in m. that way you can sculpt the bass nicely in stereo and the oompf remains mono

 

i don't understand "throw it back in stéréo" do you use a vst bass or a live audio bass? in the second case the bass is evenly mono!!!
even in the case of a vst bass(in stereo) you will get a big mono bass!!!!

 

I can give this explanation:
Imagine your bass is wide of in left or in right channel - you can hear it on stereo systems, headphones...
BUT
Imagine this on 5.1 or 7.1, subwoofer is mono...Your stereo/wide-bass won't be played on mono subwoofer (some elements of lows will be only, but not fully, very little), your stereo/wide-bass will be played on 5 or 7 surround tweeters which are about 200-20,000 Hz (it means - low mids up to highs, no lows). Think of it)))

Mono lows are very deep, powerful, it doesn't need extra stereoness/wideness. IT IS BASS!!!
But bass's harmonics like mid content, highs can be stereo and very wide....Boom/body/sub part - mono..
It should be mono-filtered up to about 150 Hz...up to 100 Hz MUST be mono-fitered

 

How about mono compatibility? They have and sounds good?
For this task the bx_digital v2 is perfect, as said before, bass do not need to be all mono, but at least the low end

 

I wouldn't say basses should be made mono, the bottom end of the mix should be. as previously mentioned use a m/s eq to roll off the sides channel.

 

Reggae is bass pretty much (and drums of course). Without mono sub bass your mix will sound very weak for a reggae track, fine for a pop song though . Ring the alarm another sound is dying!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16xsbSKYGf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPEVg74T7s0

 

Thank you all for your help. I think that I considered bass guitar being in the bass rule, but the fact is that (depending on the sound im looking for) a lot of that bass guitar frequency is >120 range. The M/S suggestion was spot on and I am now getting the sound I want. This was an extremely valuable thing to understand. I have found recently that understanding concepts are worth its weight in gold. Shame most people only seek out the technical advise without spending time towards understanding the concepts that drive them..

Before I was throwing down a bassline and switching it to Mono immediately. Not the way to go. Thanks!

 

Love those songs!

If I am not mistaken, I think slalag riddim was on that ps3 skateboard game titled skate, or was it Tony Hawk???

 

You can use a widener (like slow chorus) on your reggae bass. And still mono bass freqs under 80-120 Hz
Take a look at that (and other ppl too), it may help you like it helped me to understand different styles mix balance
There is Reggae and more.
Mixes

PS : as plugin, try that (there is a free version too). Mono compatible chorus-like
Stereoizer

 

That's a sound design issue in my opinion and I know exactly what you're talking about. Here's the thing, when you're talking "bass" you're talking about a big frequency range from about 30hz all the way to about 400Hz. the fullness of the bass is actually NOT in the extremely low frequencies but in the lower mids. That 100-300Hz range is crucial for the warmth and fullness.

And here's where's the mono/stereo part and sound designing comes in. Subs (100Hz and below) should be mono yes absolutely, that will ensure that they hit hard in the clubs and on mono systems. But you can leave the frequencies above that in stereo. Also, keep in mind that if you low cut your synths and other instruments too much, then it will leave your tracks sounding thin. So it's a balance game between your bassline(s) and your synths. So, the low-mids (200-500Hz) in your synths will most likely be stereo, and will contribute to the fullness of the track.

So play around with those ideas and take a different approach. You can even add another layer of bass and make that slightly wider and low cut it so that it does not conflict with your lower bass.

 

Possible issue: phasiness in the bass.

When you mono your bass, it may sound weaker - possibly because some frequencies are out of phase. OOP also makes things perceived to be louder because they stick out. TO make it sound 'fuller' again, you could EQ up the frequencies that sound weaker. (Or mono below x hz and you can leave above x hz spacious, as others have said).

Exception: strings

So when you have strings/cellos, best to not mono them to keep their place/space in the mix, and when dissecting with M/S.

 

...exception for live recorded jazz sessions in the same room(containing double basses) - to preserve the image field of the band. Even so, is good to filter to mono some sub lows(for modern audiospeakers and modern audio setups, or vinyl print).

 

Below a certain freq the ear can not pick out direction of signal, these freq's may as well be shared by 2 stereo speakers or any system to speakers dealing with those freq's.

 

I always find that when I cut the subs from the side, my low end has a bit more punch and sounds much cleaner.

 

addition, so to say - mini advice:
main is mid, low-mid. Warm (enough of mids/low-mids) is good/excellent, muddy (a lot of mids/low-mids) is worse, but when there is no mid is the worst at all. Think of mids too! It is the fullness of the mix. Brighter highs - less mid perceive...100 Hz and below - filter to mono.

 

For the music I make (trance) I have the sub bass mono. This is usually rolled off at about 250/300hz. Mid and top bass layers you can push them wide, depends on the mix and what you are aiming for.

However I always have brainwork control on my master and have the mono maker set to 200Hz, I think it cleans things up a bit and sounds tighter.

I also sometimes push the stereo to 110% on that as well, again can help with the mix although I prefer sonalksis stereo tool for making things wider if I use such a tool.

 

Bass frequencies aren't stereo-specifc, which is why there's only one sub-woofer in a stereo or surround speaker setup and why it doesn't matter where you place it. And while bass lines have always been mono, they haven't always been panned center -- most of the earliest stereo recordings, especially rock and pop, often panned bass guitars to one side (along with the drums, which were recorded simultaneously). Your best bet is to try an 80 Hz high-pass EQ on everything that doesn't need it, like your snares, pianos, guitars and synths. Some people also recommend doing a 200 Hz high-pass on your auxiliary reverb and delay tracks (which you can also probably do right inside of your reverb plug, if you're using reverbs or delays as inserts) Once you get rid of the unnecessary low end, your mono-panned-center bass will sound a LOT bigger and less constricted.

 

Thank you so much for this

 

Thank you for your input. My reggae mixes were sounding super thin. With the help of your input I have been really beefing my stuff up. I will most likely post a before and after of one of my mixes in this thread. You have all helped so much. Thank you again