HOW TO EQ: EDM Bass

Hey Ninja

In this quick tutorial I'm gonna EQ a EDM Bass for you guys and explain my reasoning behind it.

I asked you guys on snapchat: (zenworldmusic) what you guys wanted an article on.

Someone send me a snap saying I should make articles on how to eq certain elements in a song.

I thought that was a great IDEA!

Today I'm gonna teach you how to EQ a BASS while talking about theory behind it

Are you ready?

This is the Bass we will be applying EQ TOO

Before we begin however please keep in mind that 95% of the time you are applying EQ you should be reducing volume on problematic frequencies (subtractive EQ) and 5% of the time you will be boosting frequencies (additive EQ).

Step 1 Frequency Cleaning

A lot of the times when we hear a bass we can already tell what frequencies are causing some issues. If you are at this level congratulations you are an adept EQ Machine !

However if you don't know what frequencies are causing your edm bass to sound messy you can use a sweep with a high BELL Type EQ Like Below

In Ableton you can hit the audition button to hear what is going on in BELL 3 which will show you some nasty frequencies. In order to only hear the frequencies you are boosting you will need to click on the number you want to audition.

For me after boosting frequencies I find my 500 HZ Area sounds like this on my bass.

SO I reduce and now it sounds like this

The 2nd Frequency I found to be very problematic was 216hz so we remove it

Finally the last thing I do is just remove a bit of the 30hz and under bass which will provide a nice little lift to my bass.

Step 2 Adding Removed Frequency DB Back To Good Frequencies

One of the biggest mistakes I see in EDM producers adept and advanced is that when they reduce bad frequencies they don't add some of that DB that was lost back into the good frequencies .

This leads to mixes that sound TOO CLEAN and just are decent but not full of energy like the pros.

I used to do this a lot until I realized the mistake I was making so keep that in mind.

For me a good frequency I found my BASS was lacking in was the SUB Bass area of my bass.

What I decide to do is add a bit of a boost there.

NOW WITH ALL THOSE EQ boost and reducements my bass sounds like this..

Step 3 Profit and Hear If Bass Fits In The Mix

The last step is going to be hearing your bass in the mix and making sure it fits well.

Remember it's not about how amazing those leads sound or that bass.. It's about how everything sounds as a whole.

Conclusion

After hearing the bass in the mix I find out that my bass fits perfectly well in the mix and I just sit back and enjoy all my hard work.

So REMEMBER

1. You first reduce frequencies that are bad instead of boosting....

2. You transfer the lost DB back into good frequencies.

3. PROFIT and check to see if your bass fits well in your mix.

ZEN WORLD OUT

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