Mixing Sub Bass (FFL!)

[@jtpinnyc]

Man, as much as I love Dave Pensado and have learned a lot from his "Into The Lair" videos, the guy really needs to sit down and watch a video like this and learn what a REALLY good tutorial should look like. J. C. is a fantastic teacher and just oozes the kind of to-the-point practical information that students soak up like a sponge. How many times have you watched or read a tutorial on mixing sub-bass that just repeated the same old cliches and canards without getting down to the nitty gritty of how the pros do it? It's like this guy knows exactly what students have trouble with and focuses on those areas. This is a true masterclass!

[@pointblankmusicschool]

jtpinnyc Wow big compliments! I'm sure JC will be delighted to hear someone prefers his videos to Dave Pensado ;-) Of course, JC oversees all the courses at Point Blank so nothing slips through without his approval. Check them out here :: online.pointblanklondon.com/courses/

[@PsychoCaki]

I totally agree with you! Its like "bed room" masterclass. Like you doing colab or talking with him and he explain you every question you have. Truthful tutorial! Really awesome channel!!! I love it a lot!

[@suryamoorthy4924]

is he all there?

[@musicprotutorials]

Much prefer this kind of video to the 'celeb' 'masterclass' sessions where often the people on show don't actually know what they are talking about. World is full of blaggers and they don't make the best teachers. JC clearly knows his subject and communicates knowledge effectively.

[@kozihoppy]

Totally agree Danny. Simply put, JC's FFL's are amongst the finest audio engineering content you can actually find on KZbin. Thank you JC just keep it coming!

[@pointblankmusicschool]

kozihoppy He also oversees all the courses at the school! :-)

[@alisajc]

hey what's a blagger? ty :)

[@elton6031]

@@alisajc maybe bragger

[@ptkk21]

This is by far the best tut on mixing sub ive come across! Grat work! :)

[@pointblankmusicschool]

+Marcin P YUS 🔥

[@ex-genaumproject8533]

One of the best tutorials I've watched so far. This guy really knows what he's talking about!

[@XinoMui-ctc]

JC is a god, literally. All the tutorials by him so far were career changing.

[@Mrfatparakeet1]

J.C. is the man, i learn so much from him

[@pointblankmusicschool]

+Mrfatparakeet1 Woo!

[@Bugera369]

great, great video. really solid advice, and most of it i'd never heard before. I especially like this guy's enthusiasm and attitude towards it all. thanks so much for this!

[@karpinskinyc]

Touching up on one of the most difficult subjects for sure. Extraordinary job explaining the various situations one might be in. Cheers!

[@mikewallace1270]

Wow the way this track got groovier and groovier with the adjustments gave me a new respect for audio engineering. Good mixing can literally add more feeling to the music!

[@fibranijevidra]

Jc Concato is such amazing teacher. You can see the passion in his eyes when he explain things. Quite opposite to the other guy who mostly seamed bored, like... I know all this stuff, let`s get over it. Very good tutorial even I couldn`t hear much of the sub bass on my 5 inch monitors. I hope I could implement some of this stuff as I am struggling with bass in my mix.

[@ryebmxguitar]

Been watching a few of these videos and I have already improved substantially. Thank you and please keep uploading

[@pointblankmusicschool]

Rye Pierre Music Nice!

[@ford986]

This is one of the best production videos I have seen so far! Thank you Point Blank & JC Concato for sharing this for the rest of us. It helped me a lot even though I'm using Ableton instead of Logic. This one really explains the relationships between sounds in your tracks so your production will definitely be better. I watched the video and made similar adjustments in my newest project and it really made it better & smoother. Thanks again guys! ;)

[@sepihorse]

PLEASE do a class, which includes mixing with only headphones. As we "bedroom producers" either cannot afford a decent monitoring system, or just simply cant rockout for some reason fe. I live in student dormitory and if i started blasting stuff out from rockits i would get pretty harsh feedback from the neighbours immediately. You could speak that what you need to emphasize on mixing when you are using just headphones or something along these lines. I'm sure im not the only one with this problem!! It would be massive help to learn a thing or two.

[@pointblankmusicschool]

sepihorse A tutorial on mixing on headphones would be tough to make as every model differs hugely, and we cannot recreate the sound of inside a pair of headphones and stream it to KZbin. There are plenty of tips though, like, take regular breaks - a lot more than you would with speakers - as your ears will tire much faster. The Fletcher Munson curve comes into affect much more harshly on headphones so read up on that and bear it in mind. We'll come up with a list for the blog and let you know when it's ready :-)

[@sepihorse]

Point Blank Music School Yeah i know that mixing with just headphones is NOT recommended. I was mainly speaking of an theoretical session, where you could generalize stuff, like where you could easily go wrong etc. I totally get it that you cannot reproduce a sound which differs pretty much on every user and gear. But there should be some points which you could generalize and sum up. You wouldn't be able to go in too deep though, as the every gears sound differs so much, and accurate theories could be a little shot in the dark... Loudness curves are really an big issue, sadly as time goes (long session) by you hardly even notice it, but it still takes place. Like my case, i dont really have a choice in this appartment. :( Will definately chek out your blog if you make one about this subject! Thanks for the response!

[@jtpinnyc]

sepihorse Have you checked out the VRM Box? You connect it to your interface and plug your cans into it, and in conjunction with the included software, it simulates lots of different monitors and rooms through your headphones. You can set it to studio, bedroom or living room, and listen to your mix through various monitor and speaker simulations including a lot of the classic studio monitors as well as laptop speakers, desktop speakers, hi-fis and television speakers. The effect is actually quite realistic. The idea is that when mixing through headphones, you continually check your mix through the different speaker/room simulations to get an idea of what areas of your mix aren't translating well. If you can get your mix sounding great through a wide variety of the VRM simulations, there's a very good chance it's going to translate to real speakers very well. It really works and I would recommend it to anyone. Just be careful when using headphones for extended periods - too loud and you can really damage your ears. It's also a good idea to take a good dose of magnesium before using headphones as this protects the hearing to some extent (although there's no substitute for just using a sensible volume and taking lots of breaks). Another thing to consider, if you do ever get to use monitors in your bedroom, is the ARC2 system. It sometimes goes on sale so watch out for it. ARC2 comes with a measurement mic which measures your room response and does some magical things with EQ and phase to fix problems in your room. Nothing is a substitute for a properly treated acoustic space, but if treating your room isn't an option then ARC2 is the closest you can get. I use it in my apartment and it's like night and day.

[@P.Gillett]

Point Blank Music School I hope to hear back about this...

[@krewcialofficial]

Waves Abbey Road Studios plugin is a no-brainer for anyone having to mix on headphones. It recreates a studio space in your headphones which makes judging the low end balance much easier and has helped me get 95% of my mixes right on headphones. You'll still need to check on various systems to be sure and have it mastered properly, but it's a day and night difference of doing mixes without this plugin. Highly recommended, with a pair of decent headphones (I use AKG 712 Pros).

[@mikeyshanley]

THANKS FOR A GREAT TUTORIAL! JC was the best part about the mixing dance music course. He was only featured the first week and then some other guy took over that was less insightful (and patient)...this guy need to do the entire mixing dance music course, he rocks.

[@francescoscala6186]

This has helped me with my mixes so much, especially as a house producer - thanks JC

[@elmono7979]

Thx for all Jc Concato. Some day i will study in Point Blank , is my dream... Thx for all again . From Argentina

[@EricAlamango]

JC Concato is a really experienced guy and you can obvious hear that from these tutorials. This is simply years and years of hard work. Great tutorial once again from the man!

[@elevadissimo]

This has helped me with my mixes so much, is by far the best tutorial on mixing sub ive watched, he is a true good professor thank you for this one

[@ARadicalCut]

thumbs up for mentioning fletcher munson and room modes shows that you guys know what you are doing!

[@synthoelectro]

This is a wealth of information about subs and mixing in general, thanks!

[@MCMeru]

This guy knows his shit. His knowledge is so admirable! :D

[@Firetrigger2110]

I NEEDED THIS.

[@DavidBoura]

Don't know what to say other that, thank you so much!

[@pointblankmusicschool]

You're welcome David!

[@lucjanchrustek7774]

I was searching for that knowledge for years and that guy just answer all my question !!!

[@pointblankmusicschool]

We're really glad to hear that.

[@Zangrieffl]

Damn, that was very interesting to watch, contrasts n stuff, good job!

[@masonminetti]

This is honestly one of the most helpful videos i have ever. Really great information guys, keep it up!

[@pointblankmusicschool]

Mason Minetti Nice one Mason!

[@masonminetti]

cant thank you guys enough, this really helped. Is there a video on mixing basses together to make one thick bass much like in more modern trance drops with the catchy high funky mid and the subby low?

[@ETN-Music]

Great video. Thanks!

[@myriaddsystems]

Superb presentation!

[@dulowceed]

Great info on subs and kicks working together.

[@jl9205]

Top notch discussion and examples, guys. I gained a lot from this. Thank you.

[@abelmartinezdj]

This is one of the best lessons that I had the oppotunity to attend. Thanks for sharing all this knowledge for free 🙏🏻

[@fantimanjouju8407]

THANKS SO MUCH ON YOUR SUB BASS MIXING TUTORIALS . IT WAS VERY EDUCATIVE

[@kenzealproductions]

this is a great information i have been longing for..thanks PBMS

[@FragalaP]

Awesome video.

[@mardesin]

great video, guys! thanks for sharing with us. really liked jc concato's teaching style, quite a well articulated, knowledgeable guy!

[@SwitchyCrystals]

Thankyou guys. Absolutely brilliantly delivered tut. Relatable. Many thanks

[@cekirdekci32]

I m so impressed by this video. Wow. Best bass kick video i ve ever seen in my entire life probably. Thank you for all this valuable information. I m gonna subscribe now.

[@dkyx]

First video of you guys I watched, found it by coincidence through MusicTech. Highly informative, subbed!

[@pointblankmusicschool]

dkyx Nice! Welcome aboard

[@caydenmowbray]

Very helpful tutorial guys, big props for sharing the knowledge.

[@EdsMusic]

thanks guys help me alot

[@claudiodeluca457]

Great insights guys. Thanks again. Wish I could start at Point Blank again! Great school!!

[@MikeSmithADSRPro]

Love these videos always a wealth of great information. All very useful and constructive. Thank You

[@FuzzFace80]

This was brilliant. So much fantastic information. Great teacher. Thank you.

[@TheProfessorWilliam]

Thanks guys, that was incredible. That man knows his shit. This helped me just watching and hearing. Thumbs up, and subscribed. Keep it up.

[@pointblankmusicschool]

+William st john Nice one William!

[@DjClimamusic]

Excellent video tutorial..thanks so much Point Blank :) thumbs up!

[@goodaswood]

Thank you guys - excellent overview.

[@DjKidKali]

got my coffee and ramen ready, time for start this tutorial lol

[@WillBlackburnMusic]

Rokits..amazing... Good one!!

[@StereogasmSounds]

***** my thoughts exactly!

[@kittytokat1383]

So..many thx... I learn so much from ya'll ...JC is an Awesome dude

[@nickkapp1736]

I think the DBX unit he's talking about is the DBX 120. Brainworx makes a plugin of it called BX Subsynth that's supposed to sound really cool.

[@Slapmybeat]

So interesting ! I just love your videos Jc and could be listening to you all day! Any work offers going on at all! :)

[@alf8068]

damn I love point blank and J.C. , I may save up for some courses because I'll be travelling to england in christmas for a few months

[@pointblankmusicschool]

Lucas Fuchs Do it!

[@zxzo1037]

thanks a lot!! Excellent masterclass.

[@Junnesejer]

Awesome vid, learned quite a bit.

[@Alberto.R.Diaz.]

This was incredibly helpful! Thank you so much!

[@maximyankov834]

What a great video! I really want to see what he has to say on side-chaining of sub to the kick though. Also, while is the best way to advertise your services, ever.

[@CheHansaa]

thank you guys for this season! great straigth on point information about this very difficult mixing topic! im am mixing bass with silk glow that's how gentle and carefull i am when mixing bass:PP

[@real.demesure]

Absolutly fantastic

[@pointblankmusicschool]

If you've got any questions about this topic, or any suggestions for future FFL subjects, comment here!

[@goundm94]

Can you do one on layering synths/other instruments?

[@bwash333]

First off, thank you for all of your great tutorials! ... I had a few questions about getting realistic sounding pianos. I know it has a lot to do with choosing samples, but its always difficult for me to get them to sit in the mix properly with vocals and still be a prominent driving sound in the track. But synth layer as mentioned above would be great to!

[@Savantrick]

It looks like he's only using 1 single krk speaker to mix. Is there any benefit to having 2 or any cons to having only 1? Or can a single speaker like that reproduce a track in stereo?

[@imafackinjunglist]

Ryan Ramon They are talking about sub bass, so it would be in mono.

[@pioneer237]

Point Blank Music School where is the side chaining for mixing sub with kick?

[@Oscarfargo]

Thanks for sharing!

[@kotmusicpiter]

thanks a lot! there is many of useful things.

[@marceloribeirosimoes8959]

Excellent!!!

[@farfymcdoogle3461]

Watching again. Super good stuff and makes more sense this time around after so much practice. My question is- great example on cutting a frequency and its harmonic to make notes even but what about when it's a melody far more than 2-4 notes. Do you have to use a million EQs to make all the notes even? By the way, this is the best sub/bass/kick tutorial I've found on KZbin. Great job. Too bad this example was such a simple bassline. I'm considering your classes but kinda broke right now.

[@amusiaproductions9464]

Great Vid!

[@kategoss1397]

Was pretty surprised sidechain compression (especially with EQ) wasn't brought up when talking about kick and bass interactions- things like where you dropped the bass out for a bar would surely work just as well with a great big sidechain comp with a healthy release?

[@thelaststan1]

Awesome info, genius

[@safeervc]

Thanks a lot.

[@nononononobody7983]

Awesome🔥🔥🔥

[@Iamcluster12]

Great video, love me some FFL viewing :)

[@BenStereomode]

very nice! Thank you

[@arillaoscarantequera]

great! that video it's cool, good job!

[@phreddaudio9080]

very good man!! thanx a lot!!

[@mu5icnerd862]

Thanks for this great tutorial! :D

[@DjMrGrimM]

That shirt is Awesome.. Freddie!!

[@reachingplanets]

Amazing thank u

[@ncshuriken]

There should be a TV show like this man... Something where proper engineers & producers come into the studio to talk about different production, mixing & mastering topics and stuff.

[@pointblankmusicschool]

+ncshuriken Isn't that what this is? ;-)

[@ncshuriken]

Point Blank Music School I guess it is!

[@mchakra8450]

thanks

[@TheOledahl]

I just love JC. I also lowed inspecteur Closeau performed by Peter Sellers. So when he says :'every peach has a frequency' i just laugh myself almost to Death. :D priceless. But don't misunderstand me. I really resepect and love JC!

[@Maestro3DD4]

nice beats JC ;)

[@DelasVC]

Lol, JC has such a passionate attitude, it's infectious 😂!

[@thelateraledge]

I have a track and my bass is in mono, I would like to keep the focus of the bass straight down the centre of my mix but I feel the bass could maybe benefit with a touch of stereo width. Can I bus some of the bass signal to an auxiliary channel with a stereo widener, to achieve this? Or would this cause some phasing/clashing of the mono and stereo bass sounds on a club sound system? Excellent video by the way, a wealth of knowledge, thanks.

[@ryanakeley6730]

mixing sub bass in mono is something i've been experimenting with the last several months & I find that it gives clarity to the bass. If you're looking for tonal value in the sub range I think it's a great choice, (check out Nugen Monofilter, it's an older plugin but lets you set a stereo crossover, very simple. filtering everything below roughly 95 htz has proved to be pretty solid for myself)

[@zsteinkamp]

Put a low-cut EQ on the bussed channel before the stereo width plugin.

[@gnuttz1972]

Sub bass cannot be made stereo as is omnidirectional. If there are higher frequencies in the bass sound you could use a stereo widening plugin to boost the higher frequencies

[@SulisHana]

love the pen and paper :) my kind of man!

[@1two3Guy]

I have question for Point Blank. He mentions at 21:42 that sub is between 20hhz-40hz but I see a lot of tutorials online of people rolling off 35 hz and below on the master. I see that you guys at 19mins are rolling off at 30hz. So does that mean you're only leaving 10hz for your sub?

[@sidneyscaccio]

Please lyrics in yours videos.

[@jeffbuckley1]

First off, THANK YOU for dropping off this knowledge!! Would love more lengthy interview/workflow videos :) I've been messing around with kick and sub-bass for months now and I can never get it to work. I'm focused in the techno genre if it matters. Anyways.. 1.so let's say I make a sub-bass in operator @ fixed frequency of 50hz with a saw3/sq3 wave for some upper harmonics. 2 .I high pass everything from around 45hz and then I go to drop in the kick. 3. I try to lowpass everything from 50hz for the kick but it sounds crap so I just high pass 30 and now I have conflicting muddyness in my mix Which is the better approach? Do I go about either shortening the decay/release time of either the kick or sub so that they fit better OR do I go about keeping the decay/release times at what makes them sound good individually and then use EQ to notch out frequency ranges?

[@pointblankmusicschool]

jeffbuckley1 It's hard to know exactly what the problem is without knowing the frequency content of the kick, but you could definitely give more space to the other sounds than cutting at 45Hz. 40Hz is considered sub bass so if your kick ONLY has sub content, it's not going to stand out. You'd be better off assigning either the bass sound OR the kick to anything sub-50/60Hz and letting them live there by themselves, supporting the frequencies that are missing in the alternate sound. You'll get much cleaner bass this way.

[@SinistaProductions]

Sidechain them...

[@Saskiequelle]

42:00 "Up to 100HZ mono"...what does that mean? How do I Mono bass to a certain frequency?

[@pointblankmusicschool]

Saskiequelle generally, your bass sound will be mono, depending on the source. make sure you don't use any stereo effects, or pan your bass sounds. If in doubt, use the Utility plugin in Logic and set it to mono, or the free plugin from Brainworx bx_solo or any Elliptical EQ will let you set a frequency below which all sounds will be mono

[@trazzerofficial565]

Point Blank Music School Cant he just use a Mono Compressor to make it mono (If it already isn't)?

[@Massivecarcrash]

Bass frequencies tend to phase easier due to the longer wavelengths. Putting your bass in mono is a way of ensuring that your bass wont phase cancel each other out when the bass from left and right speaker meet in a room, which can happen as many clubs aren't designed with acoustics in mind. I cant recomend any plugin other than what I have used myself, izotope ozone have a good stereo imager where you can easily widen or narrow certain ranges of frequencies. If you make your own synth basses I would suggest not stereo widening your bass at all, most bass presets usually have the sub bass in mono.

[@kallelaakso130]

This is how tutorials should be! And I like how he goes british accent for a few secs here n there 😄 @13:37 for example

[@stuartcrofts8860]

freddy forum live! well done on the t shirt. thank god ur not in lollipop land, this setting looks much better

[@miroslavlaho8631]

I really like that song at the end of video, that one with layered drums and bass, Jc Concato where can I find it? I like that triphop feel.

[@marceloribeirosimoes8959]

The last material coulde get the kick/bass correlation fixed by DUCKING (using a real ducking plunging, not a side-chain thur a compressor, I mean), right?

[@gigngamer]

Ah This Frequence i was looking for for so long is 40Hz... thanks u tought my bass were too low but actualy where too high

[@kspacely5729]

Thankss!!!!

[@CandymanJrMint]

35:20 introducing 808s to an existing sub bass (phase issues)

[@Chpimpas]

That guy is nice!

[@silly8395]

great tutorial :)

[@IalexandrovitchI]

Good topic ;)

[@Cantheloop]

I want to ask if I make tracks which are entirely club dancefloor oriented (where the sound system is most often mono) why should I care about the stereo image and is it a good idea to mix completely in mono?

[@AudioReplica2023]

is that a Roland Jv 1080 in the back? haha damn thats a classic. Thats 80`s keys right there.

[@EEZAL]

Great advice .... Can I ad if your room isn't ready for sub your going to have great difficulty getting it sitting right ...

[@JCConcato]

Hi EEZAL, yes absolutely, room and speakers ultimately are the 2 components that you will base your decisions on.

[@pointblankmusicschool]

Jc Concato Don't you mean BASS your decision?? #wahwahwahhhh

[@novelo013]

What's the difference between putting the EQ before or after the compressor??

[@novelo013]

Thanks bro !!!