In this spirit, here are 5 tips which should help you mix this instrument in an interesting and noticeable way.

1. Boost it

 

Let’s get started by stating the obvious : if you need more bass guitar, just take your fader and increase the volume of the track.

 

I agree, it may sound like a naive advice and you’re probably thinking “yes of course, I know that” — but on the other hand I think it is important to remember that mixing is not always a complicated, add-ten-different-effects-with-complex-settings kind of task.

 

Conversely, if you want to make a pad or a bass instrument, you’re probably going to select a sample with a stable pitch, which can be easily transposed.

 

Many people are a bit afraid to make strong mix decisions, and bringing up the bass guitar in the mix is one of them.

 

On this topic, don’t forget that if your (home) studio is not perfectly treated in terms of acoustics, your perception of the low-end of your mix will be inaccurate.

 

Which may be why you’re afraid to increase the volume of your bass guitar.

 

In this case, take your mixing headphones and boost the bass accordingly.

 

Quick tip: in some cases, it also makes sense to ride the fader depending on the part of the track : maybe a +1 dB boost during the chorus will help create a dynamic feeling while ensuring the bass guitar is clearly audible.

2. Clean the lows and the low-mids

 

You’ve probably heard about it : when mixing, it is impossible to highlight all the instruments at the same time.

 

Because of a phenomenon called frequency masking, if instruments compete too much on a given frequency range, your mixing will most likely sound bad.

 

One of the main reasons that a bass guitar track can’t be heard well enough is because the mix is cluttered in the lows and low-mids.

 

Below 500 Hz, basically.

 

And if the mix is cluttered in these frequencies, it is possibly because other tracks, other instruments, are competing on the same frequency range.

 

A common situation is that the (electric) guitars are taking way too much place in the lows.

 

When listening to the guitar tracks out of the context of the mix, indeed, they sound better when the bass frequencies are not filtered out.

 

It’s part of the tone / texture one can expect from his guitar — and it helps to give them depth.

 

But in the context of a mix, the low-end of the guitar is going to compete with the bass guitar.

 

And let’s be clear on this topic : the bass guitar is supposed to win if you want a clear mix.

 

If we put it differently : the bass guitar is responsible for the bass frequencies, not the guitars.

 

So hurry up and filter out the low-end of instruments that could be competing with your bass — maybe with a drastic high-pass filter (I believe that if you’re a beginner, it makes more sense to be more drastic, in order to hear and understand the effect of what you’re doing), or maybe with a gentler low-shelf filter.

3. Boost the high-mids

 

Boosting high frequencies may seem counterintuitive when it comes to bass guitar.

 

Obviously, we usually associate bass guitar with… (wait for it).. bass frequencies.

 

However, bass guitar recordings are somehow made of “different sounds”, meaning different aspects or textures. And each of them can be roughly associated to a frequency range.

 

 

For instance, below 100 Hz, you’re going to find the boomy bassy sound that’s vibrating through all your body.

 

Then between 100 and 250 Hz maybe, you’re going to find most of the attack of the bass guitar, which is always an area that is complicated to mix with the kick drum.

 

And eventually, in the 1 to 5 kHz, you’re going to find the attack on the strings if the player is using a pick, as well as some kind of trebly snappiness in most if not all of the bass guitar recordings.

 

So if your low-end is already well-mixed, if the bass frequencies of your bass guitar are already working nicely with the kick drum, but you’re still feeling that the instrument could be more audible — then try to boost a little bit in this 1 to 5 kHz area.

 

Usually, you don’t have to be heavy-handed with your EQ : just take a bell filter and bring it up a few dB with a wide Q, and enjoy the result.

4. Compress your bass guitar

 

Bass guitar can be quite an expressive instrument, with rather strong dynamic variations.

 

Often, the transients can be quite loud and quite snappy, in comparison to the body of the notes. It is particularly the case if we’re talking about slap bass.

 

Moreover, when notes are held during a long time, it is completely possible to encounter a situation where the attack is fast, strong and upfront while the decay is quite fast — resulting in notes that feel unstable in the mix.

 

 

That’s why compression is definitely one of the main tools to process bass guitar when trying to make it pop out in the mix. The goal being to smooth it out enough so that the notes are clearly audible.

 

I’m usually heavy-handed for this kind of task, but using 4:1 or 6:1 ratios is often completely OK.

 

Be careful with the attack of your compressor, though : if the attack is too fast, you’re going to crush the transients and remove the perceived aggressivity of the instrument.

 

As for the release, just set it by ear in order to make sure the bass guitar line flows correctly with the song without pumping.

5. Saturate your bass guitar

 

Last but not least, saturation.

 

And I said saturation, not distortion.

 

Even in songs where you expect to have a cleaner bass guitar sound, saturation can be a lifesaver.

 

Indeed, when you saturate a recording, you’re basically adding harmonics. This results in a sound which is often perceived as “better” or “more musical”.

 

It is a way of adding more life into the recording, which is especially useful when you’re working in the box.
For bass guitar, using saturation, it is very easy to add such a sparkle in the mid-range, which will help the instrument pop out in the mix.

 

Don’t hesitate to experiment with multiband saturation too : by saturating only the lows or only the mediums, you will get different textures and, depending on the mix, one may work more than the other.

As a conclusion…

 

Now, it’s time to apply these five techniques in your next song — at least as long as you need to bring up the bass in the mix.

 

Also, as you may have noticed, I did not mention any fancy tool. Simply because you don’t need unique or expensive plugins to get a great result : with EQ, compression and saturation, you can go a long way when it comes to mixing bass guitar…