Bass/Guitar Mixing help?

[bassdrummer2333]

I have a recording with guitar/bass that play the same thing in Drop C, I need help mixing it, the bass is distorted and the guitar is heavy and it's fast, it just sounds very mushed... i'm using Garageband by the way.

[Tristan Needler]

Cut out as much bass from the guitar as you can. It will sound shitty on it's own, but better in the mix. Maybe boost some of the higher frequencies. Try a high pass filter at 40hz, at least. Maybe even up to 100hz. Highpass filter at 32hz for the bass, maybe boost around 400, 800, or 1600. Frequencies around 200hz tend to build up and have a muddy sound, so try cutting those a little too.

Of course that's very rough, you'll have to play around with exact numbers to get it right.

It's entirely possible that doing what I said will make it sound like trash, but on lots of mixes it can be a good starting point to try. Extra bass frequencies tend to muddy up the sound.

[bassdrummer2333]

To be honest i'm not sure how to use EQ, this is what EQ looks like in garageband:
http://images.macworld.com/images/legacy/2007/08/images/content/visualeq.jpg

Now when you talk about numbers etc. i'm lost, if it wouldn't be too much trouble can you enlighten me?

[Tristan Needler]

How many bands can you set? Is there a way to adjust the settings aside from dragging the line around?

The numbers at the bottom of that image are the ones I'm talking about.

[bassdrummer2333]

I'm not sure about either of those, but I think there is more stuff in the details tab, although I can't find an image of it. How would I set high pass filter with that? And how do I know when it's at those numbers.

[alex.parent]

To be honest i'm not sure how to use EQ, this is what EQ looks like in garageband:
http://images.macworld.com/images/legacy/2007/08/images/content/visualeq.jpg

Now when you talk about numbers etc. i'm lost, if it wouldn't be too much trouble can you enlighten me?

Use the AU Graphic EQ. That will let you control specific frequencies. It's in the effects menu.

http://myweb.nmu.edu/~aparent/Picture%201.png

[alex.parent]

Also try boosting the mids in the guitar some, that's what I tend to find to cut through most (it's the most natural frequencies you hear). Basically bass should be lows/low mids and guitar should be mids and highs. Mess with them untill they sound like 1 sound.

[Tristan Needler]

If you can't select the number exactly, you'll just have to guess. Which isn't a bad thing, since you should go by sound rather than number anyway.

A high pass filter cuts all the frequencies below whatever threshold you define.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f87/tristanisneat/untitled-5.jpg

That's what Cubase's eq looks like. That's a high pass filter on the left (band 1) and a high shelf on the right (band 4). There, you just choose what kinf of ilter you want, or what you want the bandwidth to be. Hopefully you have some way to adjust that as well.

[Tristan Needler]

Use the AU Graphic EQ. That will let you control specific frequencies. It's in the effects menu.

http://myweb.nmu.edu/~aparent/Picture%201.png
That kind you won't be able to make high/low pass filters, but you can basically make them yourself.

[brandnew741]

I'd do a high pass filter for everything above 80Hz on the guitar probably. To round up the bass, adjust the EQ similar to what Tristan recommended. I'd also try adding a compressor to the bass. Start with a ratio of something like 4:1 and adjust the threshold to about -8db of gain. Use your makeup gain (or whatever garageband calls it) to bring the volume back up. Adjust the attack and release until it sounds good to you. This should tighten up the bass a little better. Sorry if that was terribly confusing.

[bassdrummer2333]

So on the AU Graphics EQ how do I boost mids on the guitar what nobs do I move? Still confused...

[Tristan Needler]

So on the AU Graphics EQ how do I boost mids on the guitar what nobs do I move? Still confused...
On the graphic eq, just slide up the faders in the middleish area. Just sort of pretend that the faders are the line that you see in the parametric eq. That's not exactly what's going on behind the scenes, but if you make you're "line" of faders smooth, it's pretty similar.

On that first eq you posted... can you edit the settings at all or are there only presets? Can you "drag" the line? It looks weird to me that there are no "points" for you to grab and play with on it. Can you right click on it? On some eqs if you right click on the display part to change the type of setting on that band, like peak, low/high pass, low/high shelf, etc.

[bassdrummer2333]

Yes, you can drag the lines and if you click on the detail tabs then it shows you 4 different sections with 4 numbers with Hz at the end and decibels underneath that change when you drag the lines in the section.

[Tristan Needler]

Yes, you can drag the lines and if you click on the detail tabs then it shows you 4 different sections with 4 numbers with Hz at the end and decibels underneath that change when you drag the lines in the section.
Could you show me a screenshot of that detail section?

[bassdrummer2333]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/1271307026_1a5f678c35.jpg

[Tristan Needler]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/1271307026_1a5f678c35.jpg
Well that looks like a high pass filter right there haha.

[Tristan Needler]

Just as an aside, EQ can't really "fix" a track. It's more for polishing it, and then tweaking it to fit the mix.

[bassdrummer2333]

Yeah, my only problem is really getting the guitar/bass to cut into the mix with drums. So what is the high pass filter there? Still confused and how would I use it?

[Tristan Needler]

Well what a high pass filter does is basically what it's called... it lets all the frequencies above it through, and cuts all the ones below out. Obviously it's not as violent as that, but it starts to curve down a little higher then where ever you set it.

It just looks like you have a high pass filter on it, by looking at the eq line, but maybe you just took a peak-style band and put it all the way at the end. Which, I think, for all intents and purposes would do the same thing. I don't see a setting there to change one of the bands to a high pass filter though.

[bassdrummer2333]

So for Guitar I wanna cut out the bass and do what else? And for Bass I want to raise the mids in the middle?