Hey guys, I can get a good sounding mix based on eq'ing different tracks. But kick and bass tracks are hurting me.

Can someone please show me an example of how you would want the equalizer to look in reason for a kick?? I know it varies but Im talking about priciples of a kick an how youd want to eq it. Lows, high, etc.

I've looked online and have found some helpful hints but apparently Im a visual learner.

Im staring at the eq rack for my kick right now and know what each frequency means but do not know how to utlilize the low cut, low shelf, param 1, param 2 and high shlef functions to get the best sounding kick.

Can't do much right now, but here's how you might do it for a house kit bass drum:

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I hear ya. thanks.

How about a more hip hop orientated kick?

Also, the other problem Im having is the song sounds great coming out of my monitors. My other computer has regular, very very crappy speakers. Other hip hop songs sound pretty decent, but when I try my stuff, it doesnt sound too great. I convinced myself it was because its professionally mixed and mastered. Any truth there?

My mixes sound great out of my monitors, like I said. But when I bring it into my car, with a system, the kicks are so heavy and great but it drowns out everything else pretty much, music wise. I figure turn the bass and kick down, but then on my monitors I cant hear them... what do i do?

i think that's overdoing it a bit. +12db at 40hz is just plain too much and really unnecessarry for a kick drum. move the boost to around 100/120 hz and leave the bass peak at around 60/70 hz and you'll notice a huge difference in sound and power.

as for the original poster's question... well there is no definite answer and no sure fire rule. a rule of thumb though is that you have to keep them both out of eachothers way. eq them so they don't both occupy the same frequencies.

a tip: try boosting your kick mildly with an eq at around 120 hz and (this is a bit more advanced: split the signal and separate the high frequencies. maybe 7kz and up and excite this frequency range with scream)

you can apply the same trick to basslines. exciteing and adding a tiny bit of distortion to the upper high range (5khz to 10khz) will do wonders

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don't know much about eq, i just know that that's exactly how i wanted it to sound for one track.

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any insight to the other problem about the mix on my monitors compared to other speakers?

p.s. you guys have helped me so much. Just want to say thanks in advance.

What's this problem? Was it posted in another thread? If so, could you link to it for me?

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I have noticed that I mix to bass heavy on my monitors, so when I playback through my hifi or car speakers the top end loses it;s clarity and the bottom end takes over. Try boosting the low end Db levels on the back of your monitors.

You just need to get used to the level of bass and kicks. Youll find most commercial tracks don't have a loud bottom end, it is just good production that allows it to stand out. My no 1 tip is to dedicate some time listening to commercial albums, on your monitors, that you think reflect your music and get a good understanding of how they have mixed it.

Make sure you are a decent distance away form your monitors. I find that the closer I am the less prominant the low end is. You should be about five foot away for near field monitors.

Also remember once you have been mixing for a while, it is the low end stuff that your ears start to filter out first. So any changes you make to this towards the end of your session is not going to be a good reflection of the sound you will hear next time you sit down. Mix for half an hour then take a rest, go for a walk and come back.

And yes hip hop relies on final production a fair bit, that's why it's so impressive and hard to emulate. You really need to know your stuff.

fair enough. but you have still ocupied some precious headroom. especially as low end frequency range can kill an otherwise good mix.

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Suppose it all depends on what he put in the EQ in the first place.

You might as well put the low cut on, unless you are mixing with a good quality pair of monitors with sub, you are wasting headroom on something you can't hear.