I made this track that sounds good to me on headphones but when listening to it on my phone, in some sections, intro especially, some bass sounds get lost and they're important for creating a harmony with the piano chords that are repetitive (Db-E-Ab).

Do you consider mobile devices when exporting a mix?
Is there a specific frequency "breakpoint" where you have to ensure everything fits well... and below that breakpoint, you know it's only going to be heard on bigger systems?

Thank you. This is the track for reference.

 

Everyone has their favorite tools for determining what you have asked.
For each of us it is probably right and opinions will always vary, even if they are all well informed.
Last time I looked, the default sampling frequency of iOS devices is 44100 Hz, while Android devices can operate at either 8, 16, 24, 44.1 or 48 kHz. It may have changed, I do not stay on top of it as that is not in my targeted goals.

Some speakers on phones are supposed to be better than others and some phone-headphones these days allegedly bypass that problem.
There are a lot of good mud-based reasons people do not boost the frequencies around 160 cycles to 280. It also depends on what is in any given tune too. That said, 220-250hz would probably allow the bass to be heard on a 1" speaker, but it would not be clean and I would try and ease it in rather than a massive boost with as little as possible until it is 'heard' if you do not wish to change anything else you have done in the mix. keep in mind that doing that may change it in other areas you wish to target if more than phones, so you may need to do more than one mix.

The above is only stated if you mainly wish to target the phone music and I guarantee there are more articulate articles out there than any recommendation I can make if you search under something like:
"Mixing music for phones".

 

There might be an easier solution where you do not have to change one single frequency if you are happy with it.

There are plugins out there that accommodate frequency cancellations that you can sidechain where you want something to be heard more than something else that is using the same frequency.

An example of this is "Trackspacer" - there are more out there that people can recommend that do the job just as well.
That saves you messing around with any frequencies or changing anything. If you know how to automate bypassing it on/off, then you can have it only do it when you want it to be heard, without changing any major setting at all.

Ignore the hype but it tells you what it does

 

An classic trick to make the bass more prominent in the mix is to boost its second harmonic (i.e. an octave overtone). How that's done is up to the operator, but if it's synthetic, then layering a simple sine/triangle octave up from the bass then subtly mixing that in can work. If it's an electric bass, then mixing in some saturated tones (tube style distortions usually boost the second harmonic well) do this as well (though you might want to highpass some of the distorted signal in case it gets muddy)

On the clip, the bass is just too low in the mix, and it's got a wide stereo FX slapped onto it so it fights with the keys, which are also really wide. Try monoing the bass and bringing it up a bit perhaps.

If you want to preserve the stereo effect in the bass, then mono everything below 150Hz (or thereabouts) to make it more focused.

 

Last edited: Mar 13, 2025