You're probably familiar with that old bass and kick problem.

When you're trying to get both the kick to punch through while keeping the bass defined and clear?

Right. Thought so.

I've been dealing with some challenges around that recently so in the next 3 days I'll be sharing some of the solutions I've found to this common problem.

1. Think of the Bass and Kick as One Instrument

We run into problems when we start soloing stuff.

You might be soloing the kick drum and trying to get it to sound good and once it sounds amazing you can't figure out why it doesn't work with the rest of the mix.

And usually the kick clashes with the bass guitar.

There's a 2-part reason for this:

1. You need to mix in the context of the instruments, not in solo.
2. You need to think of the kick and the bass and ONE instrument.

Soloing has its place of course, especially when you're troubleshooting. But when it comes to the kick and bass it's best to solo them together.

Think of them like buddies. Like Laurel and Hardy, Wayne and Garth, Batman and Robin....you get the picture.

Separately they're...fine. But together they're awesome.

Your kick might sound a bit thin on its own so if you add in a bunch of low-end to thicken it up you won't leave much room for the bass.

But if you solo them together you might find that there's plenty of weight from the bass guitar that seems to enhance the kick drum.

So just by doing that you'll add less EQ to the mix which makes your job easier in the end. 

So when you're soloing the low-end, make sure you mix the low-end together. That means both bass guitar and kick drum.

It'll help you create more definition so the kick packs a punch and bass has definition.

Tomorrow I'll go into the second part of making the kick and bass work better together and it's all got to do with sharing.

When there's a limited number of space to go around on the playground you have to share with others.

Even your mom knows that...

That's what we'll be talking about tomorrow but if you desperately need more bass and drum EQ tips I've got some simple and practical ones you can use right away as a part of EQ Strategies - The Ultimate Guide to EQ.

Check it out here:

www.EQStrategies.net