Nailing that low end is tricky right?

You might be working with many different instruments and they all sound good, but for some reason you can't get that bass guitar to the same level. It's either too muddy, too thick or too weak. It's hard to find that perfect middle ground.

There are a variety of fixes when it comes to dealing with low end, as every situation is always a little different. However, there is one crucial processor that is instrumental in getting your bass sounding good.

The Equalizer.

By using the equalizer you can sculpt the low-end until it's just the right amount of tight bass. But knowing where to look, and knowing what to steer clear of is important to getting your low end right. Let's look at a few quick fixes for the bass guitar.

Subtle Filtering

It's always a good idea to filter out any unnecessary frequency information. However, be careful when you use that high-pass filter on a low end instrument. Since that's where most of the character of the instrument lies, filtering it out can lead to a thin sounding bass that has lost all of its power.

For instance, a bass guitar filtered up to 100 Hz can make it sound pretty thin and lifeless.

If you are dealing with similar problems, make sure you aren't filtering out important information. In this case, instead of filtering everything out at 100 Hz, cut it back down to 40-50 Hz or so. Much of the juice is between 50 and 100 Hz so I've thrown out all the extraneous low end and retained the actual character of the instrument.

Subtle EQ Fixes

Now, I think the guitar can lose some of its muddiness, but I also think it can be a little beefier. Since muddiness is usually found somewhere in the 200 Hz, I've done a small cut around 192 Hz.

Additionally, the thickness of the bass guitar is somewhere from 80 - 100 Hz so I've done a subtle boost at 87 Hz. By cutting the muddiness I've allowed myself to boost the actual bass sound of the bass guitar a little more.

Obviously, every situation might be slightly different. You might need boosts in the mids around 600-800 to get the bass to cut out through small speakers. 

This also might just not be the sound you are looking for but to recap, the main process and checklist goes like this:

• Make sure the subsonics are filtered out below about 40-50 Hz
• Add thickness from 80-100 depending on where it doesn't fight with the kick drum
• Cut muddiness around 200 if needed
• Add mids at 700ish to cut through the mix

Where Do You Go From Here?

Dealing with low end is just one of the many topics I tackle in my ebook EQ Strategies - The Ultimate Guide to EQ. 

If you want a broader perspective on EQ'ing then I encourage you to check it out.

www.EQStrategies.net