Stereo image widening... Loosing kick and bass!

Discussion in 'Mixing and Mastering' started by GokhanH33, Mar 21, 2016.

  1. GokhanH33

    GokhanH33 Ultrasonic

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    When I'm using stereo enhancers, the kick and the bass are loosing the punch. The same with Waves or iZotope plugins. And M/S with Brainworx plugins, too. Should I put the imager only on an instrument bus,not the kick and bass? But then the color of the instruments are changing. Any suggestions to keep the punchy parts? Should I make this process during the mixing or mastering section?
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2016
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  3. Desantïs

    Desantïs Banned

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    The kick should be left a lone and bass only a small dose, or none.
     
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  4. tafelrunde

    tafelrunde Member

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    I would say so,too. u can try to split the frequencies from kick and bass, let's say at 200 Hz (just youtube "frequency split" or "multiband dynamics ableton split frequencies") - then only put the stereo enhancer on the upper frequency part. leave all under 200 Hz alone (of course it depends on the signal and the effect you want to have, so 200 Hz is not carved in sone).
     
  5. alboz

    alboz Ultrasonic

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    Mixing or mastering are u talking about?? Dont USE stereo image in low. Low = bass and kick... Best is to USE in highs.
    Also if u Gonna master and want to put little stereo with izotope ozone..try to put down in low and just put a little bit in high and middle..there is 4 buttons...just USE the 2 last.


    If u are mixing try to make stereo with old style..left and right. Its panning
     
  6. Sylenth.Will.Fall

    Sylenth.Will.Fall Audiosexual

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    Have a listen to the sound quality of this (Not necessarily the song) I can explain what i did if this is what you mean.

     
  7. GokhanH33

    GokhanH33 Ultrasonic

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    Yeah! Close to this. Sounds wide enough. Kick and bass is audiable. Can you explain what you did?
     
  8. Trakslasha

    Trakslasha Newbie

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    After the imager use a m/s eq and low cut the sides till about 200Hz.
     
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  9. Sylenth.Will.Fall

    Sylenth.Will.Fall Audiosexual

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    Yep.
    1st off Forget Mastering for a while. Mastering a poor mix will almost certainly sound bad, no matter HOW it is mastered.
    2) I work on EQ The Kick First (usually) Cutting around 300hz with a Wide Q, Boosting 80/100 hz with a narrow q level, then filtering out the top end by -4hz again with a wide Q (Oh and bring down 160/180 hz by about 2 hz
    3) Then the bass (the high end is the same as the kick in this case) Now with the low end I bring down the 80/100 hz and boosted the 160/180 hz as a complete opposite of the kick
    4) Now I eq and filter the other sounds to fit in their own space within the mix ( I always filter out the lows) as they interfere with bass and kick.
    5) I then pan one instrument left by a small amount, and do the opposite to another instrument to the right by same amount so it keeps balanced.
    6) Lastly I'll add a glue compressor on the master channel leaving between -6 and -3 hz of headroom to play about with when I master.

    I forgot to mention also. I separate drum tracks always, to give them their own channel. So a Kick can be worked on separately from snares/hats/;overheads/room and stereo mix buses.

    I'll add a stereo imager as a last resort if it doesn't sound wide enough, but never just for the sake of it. I will always bring the volume levels down of something that has been hard panned, and NEVER the low end EVER. So bass/kick leave well alone. At the mastering stage I will (sometimes) make everything below 70/90 hz mono

    When you get the mix right let me know and I'll go through mastering with you.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2016
  10. GokhanH33

    GokhanH33 Ultrasonic

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    Thanks buddy. This is quite clearly explained. Will try what you said...:wink:
     
  11. Sylenth.Will.Fall

    Sylenth.Will.Fall Audiosexual

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    You're welcome. Any problems give me a shout.
     
  12. Baxter

    Baxter Audiosexual

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    Of course they are "loosing punch". You are attenuating the center/mono/mids (as in M in M/S).
    This means kick, bass, snare, vocals, etc. Everything mono/centered will be reduced and everything that is in stereo will be boosted. Stereo enhancers on the master works merely as a "Mid/Side mixer". Try to avoid that, if your mix is already good.

    Try to use stereo enhancers on stereo parts only (as on a dedicated bus or on individual stereo tracks), and not apply it to the master.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2016
  13. Grandy

    Grandy Member

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    use ozone imager with 4 bands, in low band just put everything below 150hz in mono (move slider to bottom-negative velue) and other bands spread to taste, and thats it. there are more advanced ways to do this but this one is quite easy. in time you will learn other techniques, this one is just a beginning :)

    in reply to Sylenth.Will.Fall
    its pointless talking about eq-ing kickdrum if you didnt hear the kick in first place. maybe he has a perfect kick that dont need eq-ing. so gokhan, if you're losing bass and kick with widening, do what i told you to do and thats it :)
     
  14. Sylenth.Will.Fall

    Sylenth.Will.Fall Audiosexual

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    I understand that, but what I said was,I usually do that for a kick (not always). Something else to think about though. You might have a perfect kick, you might also have a perfect bass, the point is when you merge them they aren't going to be perfect any more unless you seat them in their own assigned space. The best way to do that is by EQ, boosting 1 whilst counteracting that by lowering the other in equal amount.
     
  15. Desantïs

    Desantïs Banned

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    show off :bleh::wink:
     
  16. Sylenth.Will.Fall

    Sylenth.Will.Fall Audiosexual

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    Cheers buddy :)
     
  17. Iggy

    Iggy Rock Star

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    It's primarily because bass/bass synth, kick, snare and lead vocals are supposed to be mono instruments, panned down the center. Adding any stereo widening plug or process adds a comb filter to one side or the other of a stereo track, which adds a little delay to that side. The longer the delay, the more pronounced the "stereo effect" becomes. Fine for stereo instruments and effects, not so fine for the mono-center information that gets spread out along with the stereo stuff. You're much better off never using those kinds of plugs on a whole mix (or even on all your stereo instruments), but if you must, limit yourself to things like the widening features on Ozone, which are frequency-dependent and won't affect your lower frequencies as badly. There's also other things you can try, like an unlinked stereo compressor on your master bus, which will process each side of the stereo field independently and boost the stereo effect that's already there (without messing with your bass, kick or any other center-panned information).
     
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