Tutorials - Bass - Bass Compression

Compression can help to get a clearer defined, punchier bass sound. However not everybody wants that.. Depending on your style you may prefer the "original earthquake sound". Below you can find two contradictory opinions from users of this site:

"For earth shuddering basslines: Using your EQ on the desk, filter out any frequency above 600Hz, and then boost that signal to the max. The most important thing here is to make sure you DON'T USE ANY COMPRESSION!! A small amount of reverb added after helps smooth the bass out, into a big round mama for your bass bins. [...]
When you compress the bass, it lifts the floor of the bassline up to about 50Hz, thus loosing that lovely shudder.[...]
The advice about no compression came from ABA SHANTI I. He is the main man in the ABA SHANTI sound system, he gave me this advice himself - check his sound, an try tell me you have heard a bigger bassline anywhere else - you won't have."
Submitted by Stonelion

"If you don't use compression and you want your tunes get played by soundsystems it's gonna sound horrible and muddy. Compression on bass and kicks is very important. Try settings like fast attack halfway release and 6 or 7 to 1 ratio depending on the strings and or tubes used.[...]
A couple of years ago i was forced not to use a compressor because of a too small wallet. So there were some labels who were going to release my tunes but they asked for new mixes because of the bass.[...] and also i got complaints from soundsystems that played my tunes that the bass was too muddy.[...]
btw i learnt this from Russ D (The Disciples), in his early days , he was also struggling with too much bass

Added by - Looperman

Date - 2006-05-16 18:37:34

Viewed - 21763 times

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