The Secret to Professional Low End

Getting the low end of a mix right can be one of the hardest things to achieve.

When it’s right, the mix feels powerful, rich, and balanced. When it’s wrong, the entire mix can feel bloated and dull, or thin and weak.

Here are four steps that help create professional-sounding low end:

1. You don’t need all that low end
Most instruments contribute low frequencies to our mixes — but we don’t need it all. Use a high-pass filter on pretty much everything other than the kick drum and bass guitar in most mixes to tame unnecessary low end.

2. Kick and bass need their own space
Both the kick drum and bass guitar provide low-end information, so we need to create separation between them. Otherwise, the kick can get lost beneath the bass. Don’t boost the same frequencies on each instrument. Decide which will occupy which area of the frequency spectrum. And If you need further separation, apply a cut to one instrument at the same frequency that you boosted the other.

3. Keep the low frequencies in the centre
Low frequencies tend to work best when panned centrally. Panning low end to one side can make a mix feel unbalanced and uncomfortable to listen to.

4. Watch out for reverb
Reverbs are notorious for adding low end that isn’t present in the original tracks. Always EQ your reverbs to avoid an unwanted build up of low end.

Following these four steps will go a long way in helping you create a clean, balanced low end.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.