LOGIC PRO X - Bass Masking Explained

LISTEN ON A PAIR OF STUDIO MONITORS OR GOOD HEADPHONES!

This week, we're looking at the thorny issue of bass masking. Remember that speakers are physical devices whose cones vibrate in sympathy with the frequencies we send them from Logic.


Low frequencies make the speaker cone vibrate slowly, so whenever bass frequencies from different sounds compete, we can 'de-stablise' a mix by asking our vibrating speaker cone to then vibrate again to the frequencies of another low, slow waveform. When Kick Drums and Basslines play at the same time, we can hear this compromise clearly, as Jono will demonstrate. He'll then show you how you can use EQ to choose a role for each of the low sounds - prioritising the volume of certain frequencies in one sound, whilst surgincally pinching them out of another, to create the bass mix you want. He'll show you how Analysis tools can help and explain the difference between Shelf and Bell curve EQs. Remember that you might fix any Bass Masking issues only to add another new track element and need to repeat the process all over again...

00:00 Intro - what is Bass Masking?
00:51 Track playback and listening test
02:04 Why do bass frequencies compete?
03:07 Frequency analysis to identify frequency conflict
05:07 Deciding which frequencies to prioritise
06:40 Tweaking Bass EQ
08:52 Make sure you're listening on speakers!
09:17 Pushing the Bass higher up the frequency range
11:05 Setting up Multimeter and Channel EQ in Logic
12:59 Shelves v Bell Curves
14:48 Introducing new elements containing bass
15:56 Using AutoFilter to carve out frequency space
17:32 Summary