This Will Change How You Mix Kick And Bass FOREVER

FREE Guide - Learn how to finish at least one great-sounding song per month: pickyourself.com/framework
In this video, you'll discover how to get perfect low-end by using my tried and tested techniques for mixing kick and bass in electronic music. My name is Philip from Pick Yourself, and I've created this channel to help electronic music producers like you make meaningful progress with their music.
Most producers, and yes, I've been there too, struggle with mixing kick and bass. These two elements are like the power duo of your track, but they can also cause you sleepless nights. Why? Because they tend to eat up most of the precious headroom in any production.
But guess what? It doesn't have to be that hard. You just have to stop following outdated, flawed mixing advice you've probably heard in most of the tutorials out there. You know, those magical shortcuts and promises of instant success that we've all fallen for at some point.
In this video, I'm here to set the record straight. I'll share my tried and tested techniques for mixing kick and bass, and here's the kicker - I won't be relying on fancy plugins or expensive hardware gear. In fact, I'll primarily use Ableton's stock devices for this tutorial. Why, you ask? The tools don't matter as much as you think. It's all about the knowledge and techniques that you apply.
We'll dive deep into the nitty-gritty of Mixing kick and bass, right here in Ableton Live. These principles apply to all your favorite DAWs - FL Studio, Cubase, Logic Pro, you name it.
1-on-1 Coaching: pickyourself.com/coaching
Online course: pickyourself.com/prolific-pro...
Mixing & Mastering: [copilco-productions.com](copilco-productions.com/)

[@pickyourselfofficial]

FREE guide - The Finisher Framework: pickyourself.com/framework

[@h3rtz]

These tutorials work way better for me than any others. Very well structured and explained, deep enough to teach me things I didn’t know and something that’s very rare these days: a modest attitude paired with a high level of professionalism. Keep up the great work!

[@mattjaekel1106]

this really was a mind blowing tutorial, ive been mixing for a while now (amateur) and have always had chains of processing that i was never satisfied with. Watching your logic and preservation of the sound you chose originally was what i needed to witness, thanks Phillip!! instant sub!

[@Q-T3K]

I've just discovered your channel and I'm so glad I did! This is top notch, no-nonsense mxing advice here. Looking forward to binge-watching your back-catalogue!

[@sirromadne07]

Great video Philip. I'm just getting into production, and I will be following you a lot. Really well-explained techniques. Can't wait to see your other videos. Keep up the good work!!

[@tristangieler]

Great job Phillip. Your videos really show the nuances of mixing without using hyped up tricks. You really illustrate how subtle, deliberate techniques make for the best sounding mixes. I'm learning a lot from you

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That really means a lot, thank you for this honest feedback. I think it comes from true experience in the field. After mixing and mastering thousands of songs and THEN going on KZbin to share what I've learned, I simply don't have the need to "show off" with crazy effects chains or hyped up tricks that no real pro would use.

[@tristangieler]

@@pickyourselfofficial it shows! it's valuable knowledge, thank you for sharing it

[@mrfeelthemusic1]

one of the most analytical course on mixing techniques, thanks so much

[@auedpo]

I've really been trying to focus on finishing the ideas that I have and allowing my creations to be 'done' - this is exactly the kind of video/advice I was looking for! Too many tutorials are these 'gotcha' techniques or rough generalizations, you present definite information with logical and empirical reasoning. Awesome video and I'm looking forward to watching more of your channel! The point that you make at 13:19 - Think in terms of solutions rather than in errors. Just great! 🎼

[@pickyourselfofficial]

I really appreciate your thoughtful, in-depth comment. This makes it worthwhile to continue putting it in the work to make these videos. Thank you!

[@rachelslack4421]

Thanks so much for this video. I love how simple you make everything, with no gatekeeping. I'm so happy to have found you!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

I’ve experienced enough of the gatekeeping bs throughout my career so I’m very happy to offer an alternative way for the next generation of producers! Thanks for the great feedback.

[@djbigpump]

Thanks for taking the time for this video. Very valuable info.

[@era-ashix]

When you mentioned that it's okay to mix in solo, I'm very glad you made sure to remind people to double check if it works in context. It's a topic I've had many a discussion about and I was very happy to hear a supporting voice on the topic. Very good video with a LOT of valuable information!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much! Yes, it’s a tricky subject for sure. When I’m in flow state while mixing, I go back and forth very quickly between solo and context. Both are important.

[@taviimihaimsc]

incredible top quality video and tutorial , definitely subscribed and gonna devour any other tutorials you got, some of the cleanest and best explained tutorials I've ever encountered huge job

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Wow, that really means a lot to me. I'll do my best to keep overdelivering. I appreciate your feedback a lot!

[@gokhan9395]

Great tutorial, great and clear explanation again. It is really helpful to see your techniques. Thanks for your effort and sharing. At the end it’s the artist’s creative process to shape the sound. With this kind of tutorials we get a great starting point. 🙏🏼 see you on your next video take care

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thank you, this comment means a lot to me!

[@raveqontroll]

Great Tutorials mate thanks for making them

[@metronics2887]

Excellent results, good advice!

[@Rzn8958]

some of the best mixing advice I've seen and heard. don't overthink it sums it up well. thanks dude. most helpful thing was the chain and how to think about using each tool the right way. that has always been such a mystifying area to me once I learned that the order of plugins matters, then I immediately wanted to know what should go first in a chain? this video helped clear it up a lot and now I can focus on making good music instead of how to make good music sound good.

[@TDiamond777]

Keep it up g, You're doing a great job! Amazing and informative video

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much, this means a lot!

[@rubenrfc5560]

Amazing tutorial 🔊🔊🔥🔥

[@norrys6768]

love the way you explain bro, keep up the great work

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That means a lot, thank you! 💯🙌🏻

[@JimJuno]

This is good stuff and perfectly within my skill level. Glad to have discovered your channel. Well done man! 🤜🤛

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much, this means a lot. I’m happy you got value out of this!

[@JimJuno]

@pickyourselfofficial Tried it on my daily 4-hour producing session and I got these Ahaa moments. Well done man, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That's great to hear @@JimJuno! Happy you got some results from it.

[@leehasty.]

this was a really informative video, you're incredibly concise and clear with how you word things and you answer questions before I have even thought them :) subscribed mate thank you so much!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thank you so much for that thoughtful comment. I really appreciate it! 💯🙌🏻

[@Sing_ItSlo]

Great work. All of your EQ moves make sense. I'm going to start following you ASAP!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much! 🙌🏻💯

[@royvogt5238]

Great video, I have been struggling with this. So this is very welcome and well explained. Thanks!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That means a lot, thank you!

[@madman10mj]

I really appreciate how you break down this topic. Why this needs to be that and such. I’m new to music and I tend to learn things better when thoroughly explained to. Will definitely go back to some of my older songs and fix them up with your tips!

[@theman9168]

This is such great information, No BS just good honest tutorial, you have a new subscriber 👍 keep the content coming

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much, this means a lot to me!

[@MaxRiddimz]

I liked this, you've touched upon some relevant and sometimes overlooked smaller things and concepts. Ty

[@jordans1029]

This is the no bs video I needed, thank you

[@pickyourselfofficial]

You’re very welcome! 💯🙌🏻

[@rogervincenttari2545]

Greetings Phillip, Your teaching skills are 100% amazing! Its a fantastic huge welcome that you walk through everything with such precision and then demonstrating the results. So many others fail here. Please keep up the great enthusiasm and thank you for sharing your wisdom. Sincerely, Vince Tari

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thank you Vince, that means a lot!

[@midnightidol866]

I also mix in solo in the early stages and get great results. Glad to have finally found someone who agrees. Will definitely be checking out more of your stuff 🙏🏼

[@devillosaurus]

really helpful across the board thanks. and nice delivery. great to aim to use stock tools too and still highlighting where alternatives are warranted. thanks

[@SimRacingCol]

THANKS A LOT. Been watching YT tutorials for 3 years and it´s interesting to watch someone who not only brings forward different approaches but also prooves them using actual data like SPAN... it was realy suprissing to me to see how little of a difference that low cut actualy makes to the lower frequencies in the kick, when visualized in SPAN. Same with percussions and rolling bass, i developed as a rule of thumb to just harshly cut anything below 80hz or so, resulting in thin mixes which has been a struggle for me since day 1. Cant wait to get back to work. Really exposes how all of this videos have been using this as the easy way to kind of teach and gain views but it has to be approached in a very broad way, just as you did. LIKED AND SUBBED. 🙌🙏

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Niiiice, so happy that this resonates with you! Thanks for the great feedback :)

[@KoenZyxYssel]

Small comment on the low cut experiment: I'm not sure how SPAN handles this issue (because they probably do some smart stuff) but FFT (the algorithm used by SPAN) can't detect super-low frequencies without very large "chunks" of waveform to analyze. This may mean that a HP filter does work that you can't see in SPAN. To be sure you would need to sample the full wave/track and fourier that instead. (Makes me wonder if there are songs which have a tiny wave the length of the entire song... weird stuff)

[@Elecdon]

Very clear and good presentation. Great Work - thank you!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

You’re welcome 🚀💯

[@DJe1957]

Indeed. Very helpful, clear demonstration. Thanks a lot.

[@georgthormann4362]

This was really helpful! Thank you so much

[@pickyourselfofficial]

This means a lot; thank you!

[@lifesavapor]

Philip I am so thankful for your channel, your wisdom is blowing my mind at how much there is to learn in my passion. KZbin university is tough to learn, so thank you for delivering this rich knowledge for free, you truly are the man!

[@djanishanand]

Incredibly explained. Well done. Got learn more. THanks for this

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it! 💯🙌🏻

[@BahadirTubay]

Finally, a great tutorial without all the stereotypical operations. I really liked you using kick & bassline but at the same time SUB! Please make more video about those triple combinations like how to achieve groove by using both bassline and sub like PROs! Thank you.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Nice one, I noted it instantly ;) just to be sure, have you already seen this video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3KaopKwhryBqsksi=c87rNKGSTz4qQLjq

[@SemsFm]

keep going you are great!

[@user-fk3ku3hz6c]

Really great vid - thank you. I like your philosophy.

[@AmirZukerman-lj5hn]

Great tutorial thank you

[@cyberinstinction]

one of the best videos I've seen in the last few days. you can tell that you understand what you're doing. you have good arguments. THX 4 help. #MuchLove

[@lifeofrileyofficial24-7]

Im a beginner on fl studio and i found this helpful thankyou.. will help me make my kick and bass poke out better hopefully and help me understand abit more of what the pluggins do .

[@iLoudwing]

this video is incredible

[@095Mrchiller]

well done mate, thank you =)

[@joelywii]

Your explanations are on point 💯😇

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much, that means a lot!

[@jaraluca]

man , you are just amazing ! love this video !

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thank you, that’s great to hear. Hope you’re gonna benefit from it in your productions!

[@N3Aex]

I wish you posted this when I was trying to figure this out. I debunked a lot of the kick and base tutorials by trying and failing. I ended up doing a lot of the things you do here to make my kick punch, still learned a lot, great vid :)

[@pickyourselfofficial]

This means a lot, thank you so much for the great feedback. I'm happy you still found it helpful :)

[@N3Aex]

Yeah very much so, there are so many different ways to do things, and we learn something new every day right. Had to laugh when you said "Sometimes you don't have to do anything and that's ok" best advice of 2023 lol @@pickyourselfofficial

[@tomschlaiss5735]

Well explained video, cheers from Germany

[@hisroyalillness]

great and very well structured overview.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks a million, this means a lot!

[@briancase6180]

You should adjust the speed (the average time and the block size) of SPAN to see the low end accurately. Without a faster response, you cannot see what's actually happening below, say, 100Hz. You should notice the difference between the display on the Live EQ8 and the SPAN instance. Otherwise, this is a good video. Thanks. Also, the airwindows totape6 is an excellent low-end saturator and it's free. ☺️

[@goste1919]

best tutorials iv ever seen a proper learning session

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That means a lot, thank you!

[@tarrys2]

Very good information thanks. hard to find tutorials of this quality

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That means a lot, thank you!

[@DJazium]

Amazing video - great style, opinionated with great opinions!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Glad it resonates with you, thank you!

[@marquezvanroeschen5340]

Thanks for sharing your skills with us :)

[@pickyourselfofficial]

My pleasure! 🙌🏻💯

[@Sasha_Sasha018]

Cool .. this will be useful to many people. Thank you 🖤

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thank you, this means a lot! :)

[@markyazzigreen8082]

Yes got massive value 😊 1st time watching one of your vids after 2+ year's on YT for music production stuff (mostly psytrance 🤷‍♂️) Colour me impressed. Off to check you're older vids!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Really appreciate it, thank you 💯🙌🏻

[@vicneve1169]

Great Video!

[@Schallkoma_Rockenberg]

sehr interessant. vieles war mir schon bekannt, aber das eine oder andere wurde noch einmal aufgefrischt. tolles video. thx :)

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Freut mich, danke! :)

[@JochemToolenaar]

This video is gold!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks. That really means a lot to me!

[@friedrichvanzandt]

I love it! Try using a multi band compressor on your bass and side chain your kick to the lowest band. Around 40hz (depending on the sounds of kick and bass of course) should do it. In that way you can leave the kick and bass as loud as you want them to be cause everytime they are played together one will make room for the other in the clashing frequency area. Another thing I would recoomend is making sure the transients in the drums stay in tact. Especially for kicks in that type of music. If you route your kicks to a kick buss and do the processing there, you could send your raw kick(from the track before it hits the kick buss) to an aux that feeds back into an overall drum buss after the kick buss but before the mix buss. Now you got tons of great oportunites. On the kick buss you process the kicks however you like and actually clip them at the end of the chain, so you get a great sound without a lot of the transients left. NOW on the Aux (that you're sending the raw kick to) low cut all the lows and most of the mids and just keep the highs OR the frequencies around the transient, emphasize the transients with a transient designer if needed and use a bit of saturation to make it less pokey and then add it back to the kick sound AFTER the clipper(in a later buss like described before). You can add it back in just a tiny bit above the clipped kick, now you have a kick that apears to be loud as hell but hasnt lost the original transients at all plus you probably wont clip your master buss compressor. This way of mixing with transients in mind is kinda hard to understand at first but will really take your mixes to a completely different level. Combine it with the sidechain thing I mentioned before and theres the best kick/bass balance possible right now.

[@darkcharmrecords]

Gonna try this thank you. Sonnox transmod will be great for this transient work

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Interesting workflow, thanks for sharing! 💯❤️

[@designzonebeats]

I'll come back in 2 years when I understand that.

[@kudzy11]

​@@designzonebeatscan i copy your homework?!😢

[@TheFlowerfist]

Where did you learned this? It sounds great!

[@stevenstavropoulos8858]

excellent video

[@user-tt4pp6bz9s]

Very good and sound advice. Thx!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Glad it was helpful!

[@vinisasso]

Great video! I am not a fan of electronic music, but I thought there would be something useful for me here as I produce music with an electric bass, and drums, and there are many fundamentals I can apply indeed. I'd love to see someone making an awesome video like this one but with electric bass. It still looks tricky to me, and most videos don't quite cut it, or use commercial plugins I wouldn't commit to purchase without justification. Keep doing the good work.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! If you’re into band music you have to check out this channel by my friend Benedikt Hain: youtube.com/@theselfrecordingband All I can say is that they’re about to release some insanely good tutorials over the next few months. 💯🚀

[@JohnDoe2024-br2rf]

Interesting approach....

[@k0nstixx104]

awesome vid

[@user-jm9kv7fn7r]

Hi man, great information. What DAW you prefer to use? The console you using looks super clean!

[@DJOZER5]

Perfect!🎶👀🥁💯👍🏾

[@dja.d]

Nice video, I work slightly different given I make D&B by grouping drums/bass/synths etc. and then also using parallel processing can really bring tracks to life.

[@allyouracid]

My first reaction when hearing "this is all you will have to learn... no more issues, ever again" was something like: "yeah, I've heard that a couple of times already, even (or especially) the bad tutorials tend to promise that, too". But dang, that's really good. So far, this looks like a really good execution of the "more is less" idea. Intuitively, I was never a fan of taking away more and more by eqing like there is no tomorrow. It always felt wrong to blindly chop away the low frequencies because "you don't hear them, anyway", and still, it reduced the quality of the result. Especially when working dawless, I think it's a good idea to learn to work with what you have and better try to get the source material right.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That feedback means a lot! Thank you. The less is more approach comes from years of doing this for clients in the studio and it just sounds better in the end. I’ve certainly been through my phase of overcomplex effects chains, haha.

[@SevenyZ]

Great tutorial! I definitely agree with the less is more approach. One idea, adding an expander before the compressor should help to get rid of the tail of the kick. I think that’s potentially adding problems in the mid-low you had to cut afterwards. Feels like it bounces. It might also mean you don’t need the compressor. What do you think?

[@eliosix]

Great tutorial! I use the Ableton Shaper and map it to the gain on a Utility to mimic the LFOTool.

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Great tip!

[@Lumaport]

You are my Sensei! *bow* thank you 🙏

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That means a lot, thanks so much! 🙌🏻💯

[@user-xk7ce3yr4q]

excellent vid! You touched on head room for a moment. I'm embarrassed to say, that's something I haven't fully wrapped my head around yet. It would be interesting to hear your opinions on what's important to know about head room, what kind of mistakes you see people make, maybe what your methodology is for managing head room from production thru master

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Excellent question! I think most of the answers are in this video: The Only Gain Staging Tutorial You Ever Need To Watch kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2TRZ2uOl95pbMU If you need more, just let me know. I might make a follow-up video on it :)

[@user-xk7ce3yr4q]

@@pickyourselfofficial 🙌

[@limerot]

Don't like this music, but if I did - this channel is all I would need. You earned my subscription today. Great general advices, keep em comming. Peace from Northern Norway..

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That comment really made my day, haha! Cheers from Berlin and thanks for the positive vibes!

[@myriaddsystems]

Subbass overwhelms everything. Curious hollowed feeling from this track

[@noizebusters]

finally someone shows that mixing is not going crazy with stuff, instead of massage the sounds to their right place ;).... well done

[@pickyourselfofficial]

This is the way ;)

[@jfcomposition]

after 20 years of composing my heartbeat pumps like allways with the bpm, i needed to stop your video and i will never produce that fast kick drums, that was a bad trip omg

[@rone4165]

Absorption is my technique. Like, soaking in the nuances of not over thinking.

[@SageOldMan111]

I really love your channel. Just discovered it. I would love for you to do something like this with 3rd party plugins just to show what you would use if you were going to release it professionally. I am just curious as I have spent wayyyyyy too much money on 3rd party plugins so it would be nice to see that someday. Thanks for all you do!!!!!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Noted ;) thanks for the great feedback, I really appreciate it a lot!

[@Savukala]

Thank you sir ❤

[@pickyourselfofficial]

My pleasure! 🙌🏻💯

[@cacauceluque]

Hi! Thx for the tutorial! Did you use all the basses in Mono or Stereo or both?

[@felipepais1]

A lot of thanks to you my friend, my sound it`s really punch rightnow!!!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Glad to hear that! I’m happy you’re getting direct results :)

[@BrooklynRagtag]

Low shelf instead of a high pass is such a good move here. Way less destructive.

[@sampyannotti]

Hey Phillip- I’m a huge fan of the channel, and was wondering if maybe I could request a topic for a video. I’m a huge fan of the Detroit techno scene; and was wondering if you could do a tutorial on mixing your 909s to mimic those of Jeff Mills and Claude Young. I know it is very niche, but I thought I’d ask- thank you so much, and please continue the wonderful work!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Great suggestion! I’ll add it to my list. Can’t promise when it’s gonna happen though ;) Any specific tracks you’d like me to take a listen to? Some that make you go “wow, exactly those drums!”

[@sampyannotti]

@@pickyourselfofficial sorry for taking forever man! The drum on 'Late Night' and 'Gamma Player' are some of my favorites! Appreciate you taking the time to read this man!

[@DjSimplyNice]

@pickyourself New subscriber here. Great video with some very helpful tips. Thank you for sharing your knowledge ✌️

[@user-su5iy2lk4b]

Super helpfull tips

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Glad you got something out of this!

[@TheColdHarshTruth]

Excellent video, I’m 45 years old, I’ve dedicated my life to music more than most have. I started drums when I was 3 years old, I also play guitar, bass and keys. I’ve always played in multiple bands across multiple genres. I also produce and DJ, again across multiple genres. I also produce and compose for moving image, ie game audio, film, tv, jingles, brands, earcons, art installations etc. I have diplomas, degrees and masters in music performance and production. I’ve been a drum tech, sound engineer, recording engineer, mix and master engineer, MD, tutor, I’ve own and ran studios, events, I’ve worked with hundreds of the biggest names in the industry across all genres, at the most well known venues, studios, festivals etc etc. And this is the watered down short version. I do way more stuff than I’ve mentioned. I say all this to illustrate the point that I know what I’m talking about, not to show off. I still feel like I’ve got loads to learn and feel like a noob compared to the people I know! All the advice in this video was decent, there’s nothing to pick on or criticise here. Of course there’s a lot more that could have been said on the subject, but that video would take years! And it’s clearly obvious that Philip here knows all the other knowledge that would take years to discuss! However this video was very thorough and concise and to the point for it’s purpose. For those of you who are serious about music and have years of production experience and more importantly experience around other advanced and experienced producers you’ll have picked up by the way Philip speaks, his word choice, how he explains and expresses, his manner and subtle pearls of wisdom that he’s a professional that has years of experience. We should be supporting and encouraging our fellow musicians and producers when they start a channel to help them grow, especially when the content is quality and it’s free! There’s clearly a few unhappy people in the comments section here (shock horror!) to all the haters, get off the computer, get out into nature and fresh air, do some exercise, raise your heart heart and sweat lots! You can thank me later! 😂 liked, subbed and I’ll no doubt share! Greetings from Aberdeen Scotland! Cheers! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤍🌀🥃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@pickyourselfofficial]

That was a true “mic drop moment” in the comments! I truly appreciate your thorough and nuanced contribution. Hit me up via email if you want to tell me more about what you’re up to now, I’d love to know!

[@TheColdHarshTruth]

@@pickyourselfofficial - You’re welcome! Yes maybe I’ll get in touch at some point, life is pretty hectic at the moment, I’m trying to pursue my creative career and build my own business whilst also being a a full time Dad to two very small Children! It’s an amazing but also very challenging experience! Keep up the good work!

[@pickyourselfofficial]

@@TheColdHarshTruth then we’re in the same boat. Two small kids as well here ;) virtual dad high-five!

[@nathanspark4876]

So nobody can make a critic because automatically is a hater? I'd have many things to criticize in this video...

[@TheColdHarshTruth]

@@pickyourselfofficial - Apologies for the delayed response! You know how it is with Kids! 😅 Virtual high five indeed! I’ll definitely hit you up properly sometime! Keep up the great work! 😎🤍🌀🙏🏽

[@djnickhodgkins]

Very interesting and helpful vid - thank you! One thing - the processing you do at the end on the master channel: do you consider that part of mixing, or self-mastering? And not 'call it what you want': would you do master channel tweaks before sending to a mastering engineer (though, I think you are one; this is my confusion). Thanks again; respect 😉

[@pickyourselfofficial]

The more experienced you get, the more you want to use mixbus processing (IF it’s part of your mixing style). Most professional mix engineers have some sort of mixbus processing. In an ideal world, the mastering engineer only has to do quality control and minimal tweaks. In the real world, as a mastering engineer, I prefer no mixbus processing over bad mixbus processing ;) But that’s exactly why I’m sharing these tips, it might help someone out there find their way of doing things.

[@PeteNeone]

Hi Phillip. Great video! Very helpful and informative. I have a question though... Can you apply these techniques in synthwave production as well? I feel that the kick/bass relation there is a bit different compared to EDM or Techno. Especially the kick in sythwave is a lot less punchy and a bit more soft/sluggish I guess. Any tips for synthwave genre, or are your videos oriented solely on Techno and EDM?

[@pickyourselfofficial]

I’d say you just don’t want to push the kick as hard in synthwave. And it would be a gerne where I think grouping the whole drum set together can make sense. You don’t need as much precise control over the kick individually.

[@PeteNeone]

@@pickyourselfofficial Thanks for the reply, very much appreciated. I will try it out. Keep up the great contet!

[@djcolinturnbull]

To be honest it sounded better before the processing. Here’s why. Your using samples that most likely already have some form of processing by someone else. Usually the processing is done poorly. Once in a while you get lucky with a sample.. that is actually ok. Second all the mixing tips you gave are not actually mixing tips… they are mending tips. Tips to correct the problems with the sounds you have. The result is more distortion, less clean sound, and everything you are doing is to compensate for the last thing you did. So you compensate again by adding more. Hope that helps. Good luck on your journey!

[@eithafol7742]

I was listening to this and came here to say the same thing - just choose a different kick, don't waste your time with trying to fix a kick you don't like

[@djcolinturnbull]

@@eithafol7742 yes! Exactly. 😀👍🏻

[@spiral-m]

Very precise, can see your perfectionism ;) a great video and you have a lot of expertise but you should have adjusted the gain for the final comparison. Without that it's obviously not a level playing field.

[@Failess1]

This was super helpful - love your approach on principles and concepts compared to many other teachings. Working thru the rest of your lessons now

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Glad it was helpful! Yeah, I put a lot of emphasis on first principles when explaining things. It's great to see that you're resonating with it :)

[@ElectricEddieDaus]

Re: When you did the comparison of the "Before" & "After" at Timestamp 36:18 I would have liked to have heard the "Before Audio" without the Plugins, volume matched to the volume level of the "After Audio" with the Plugins, to hear the true difference of the changes. Of course, anything will be perceived better if a few .db of Volume is added. So to hear the "Before Audio" at the start with the same volume level as the "After Audio" may have better shown the cohesion achieved by adding the specific Plugins. Also sometimes minor changes get lost over KZbin since they Squash the sound a bit.... Otherwise, very cool.... Thx ElectricEddie... 😎

[@hshx1n]

Love when someone has that older brother knowledge

[@pickyourselfofficial]

My pleasure! :)

[@paleblack8021]

20:10 instead of using lfo (if we are talking about native ableton plugins) u can use shaper, which is kind of lfo, but u have more control over the shape of the curve... just fyi :)

[@timurnugumanov8164]

It would be great to listen to "before and after" comparison on the same LUFS levels.

[@user-ls7xf4lk6t]

Thanks, mate! Please may I ask, why would you not want to use abletons limiter for mastering?

[@jateurlings]

Completely off-topic, but the bass you use in this tutorial totally makes me think of Yello's Bostich.

[@GANG-gf2hr]

u made me subscribe :D

[@fluctura]

Demis Hellen (Trance producer and sound designer) does group Kick and Bass in one group in the mix, in one of his tutorials (making Uplifting Trance). I think he intentionally wants to have them influence each other. I think it makes sense to separate them (as by the logical reasons you provided), but it would be really interesting to hear more about the "very few cases" when you actually want to group them (in electronic music).

[@pickyourselfofficial]

Thanks so much for that great question! I’m happy to elaborate :) I’d say as long as you’re intentional about it (which this artist seems to be), there’s nothing wrong with it. If he wants them to cross-influence, more power to him! In my case, I prefer maximum control over both elements and I want the groove to be as precise as possible without that cross-influence (apart from maybe some sidechain compression or lfo ducking the bass against the kick). Moreover, the grouping can make more sense in cases where you want it be whole “groove section” (aka bass and drums) to feel like one thing. So in some electronica or downtempo projects, it might be just right.

[@fluctura]

@@pickyourselfofficial Thank you so much for your detailed elaboration on the topic. I ungrouped the kick and put in in my DR bus (where there are no bass heavy elements in the same group). Now the kick punches much better and melts into the other drum/percussive sounds. Slate Drum strip sits on top and does some compression, EQ and transient magic. Both BS and DR busses are sent to PreMaster bus now. A compressor doing a very slight bit there and so I get a punchy, coherent and "one thing" sound. Best is that I can use one compressor on the BS bus to sidechain against the kick which saves me lots of CPU. Thanks again for your video 🤩 Do you offer song feedback services by chance? I'd be happy to maybe get a second opinion from a pro once the mix of my new single is done (EBM with many trance elements)