I need help on instrument separation/ready for mixing

I am not sure if Dan actually uses the term "mirror EQ" in that video, but that is the term you are interested in. Typically you do not want to boost anything more than 3dB (can be very noticeable), whereas a mirrored cut of -6dB or more is more transparent. This is why he revisited the bass at 5:32... rather than boost the bass, he cut the guitars to give the bass room.
 
If you want to delve more into this, Google "mirror EQ" but Dan hits the main points rather fast and furious in that video.

Absolutely, the concepts of what he did in that video are universal. It just "happens" to be specifically focused on a plugin, but any EQ of your choice works (more resolution and frequency spectrum analysis the better).
 
Another free plugin that is priceless is Voxengo SPAN for spectrum analysis. It does not contain EQ capability, but can be put anywhere you can place an audio VST. This is good for situations of drastic EQ with an EQ that does not have pre/post spectrum capability... can drop SPAN on either side of any effect.

One of the many (but most pertinent to my style) advice Mr. Danzi provided me many moons ago is with kick and bass make a choice.
 
Do you want fuller/bottomy bass sound...
 
OR
 
a fuller/beefier kick sound?
 
And the inverse of that question...
 
Do you want a tight bright bass sound with lots of pick attack...
 
OR
 
a tight/clicky bass drum sound?
 
 
It's the same question with the same answer posed in different ways depending on what is most important to you.
 
If your answer is either you want a full bottomy bass sound OR a tight clicky kick then you remove more low end from the kick drum (with a "hi pass" EQ and any other band adjustments needed) and focus in on the beater attack. Then you reduce the pick attack/higher freqs of the bass guitar while allowing the lower freqs to remain.
 
If your answer is you want a beefier kick OR a more defined bass guitar you do the opposite. Focus in on the pick attack and mid more mid range tone of the bass (again with a "hi pass" and any other EQ adjustments). On the kick let the low end stay audible and remove the hi freqs and beater attack as needed.
 
Essentially the low end meat of the kick and bass live in the same freq range and so do the beater click and pick attack.
 
Bass Low + Kick Beater = Good
 
Kick Low + Bass Pick = Good
 
Bass Low + Kick Low = Nope
 
Kick Beater + Bass Pick = Nopety nope.
 
Totally broad, generalized, oversimplified and n00bish interpretation of this principle but I've been playing with it for quite a while now and it works.
 
Also realize that in most cases, unless you are doing bowel churning electronica stuff, you can safely remove pretty much everything below -20hz with a hi pass filter. It just adds mud and clutter in rock/blues/pretty much everything mixes.
 
Cheers.

Hello kind sir, I kind of think that I know where you are coming from.
 
I struggled mightily with the same issues
 
There are a multitude of decisions to make.
 
I do not know you, or what your background is, but
 
The main thing you need to decide is if you want to emulate someone else, or expose your inner self.
 
Louis Pastuer said "chance favors the prepared mind," or something like that.
 
Less is always more, except when it comes to doing the grunt work, then more pays off.
 
Wish I could help you more, but that's all I've got. 
 
Jesse
 
 
 
 

Cool stuff guys! I also should gave mentioned on top of everything else, I always tell folks at church(where I play most of my bass), "you're not really supposed to hear me as much as feel me"......

mettelus
Ducking is another option for sure, and Beeps' points are good (esp. the pumping concern). I tend not to use this often because a generic compressor is "frequency dumb"  so dives the entire signal.
 
For separation, frequency (EQ), depth (volume (fader/ducking), reverb (more reverb is further away)), and panning are the three biggies. Typically panning is used more for higher frequencies and not for lowest (for a few reasons). Because of this, kick/bass are also "special" in that they are both commonly center-panned, which removes the "panning option" out of the picture as a solution, but Beeps hit upon the volume aspect.
 
SPAN will allow you to overlay up to 4 signals which is really nice but not intuitive to set up. Frequency masking is most prominent when signals are not separated by a couple dB or so, with the caveat (very important) of the most important component frequency getting priority. Using an audio microscope is helpful for this to find the material you want to keep so you have a mental record of the key frequencies to work with, then an overlaid frequency spectrum will reveal where they are ("frequency collisions").
 
I apologize for the basic presentation, but after commenting about keywords not getting dropped and making posts clearer for future folks who may find it I have been trying to adjust my own explanations accordingly.

I've been meaning to check if the Sonitus multiband has a sidechain input. If it does that could be an option so at least the multiband can be set up so compression only occurs on the band(s) where it's needed.
 
I have also considered modifying the trick of using the old Cakewalk Analyst (which outputs frequency based automation) to create an envelope that is then used to adjust an EQ's parameters. In the method I've seen (Anderton Advanced vids) a boost is applied to an EQ band then the envelope tracks the frequency envelope outputted by the Analyst. This changes the Freq setting so the boost gets applied to wherever the signal Freq was (in that case a vocal and the Freq dial follows/applies the bbost to the notes being sung).
 
For this I guess the envelope would be set to dip the Gain on an appropriate EQ band on the bass everytime the kick hits. Not sure how that would be routed and I think it would require the envelope be inverted (I think that's possible).
 
That's probably a little wackier than what Charly wants though and of course there are much better tools that do this automatically (like Melda Spectral Dynamics AFAIK).
 
You reminded me I need to learn more about SPAN as well.
 
Cheers.

I am creating a bundle for Dropbox if anyone is interested in a little online coaching. I should have a public link by 1130 PST.
 
 

One other technique you might consider when you just can't seem to find what's competing
for space in your mix that you can get rid of is to take a band with a very narrow "q" and boost it crazy high and sweep it. You will of course, hear that frequency very loudly. The point is to slowly sweep it until you hear the real ringers and howlers.Use that frequency and q to notch those frequencies out.The tighter the notch, the less it will effect the overall tone of the instrument. You can widen the notch if necessary, or leave it. Another thing to try to get past is trying to make each instrument sound perfect when soloed.Sometimes there's just too much going on to do the above method and more aggressive cuts are necessary. "Sounds like crap" when isolated often becomes"sounds perfect" in the context of a mix.
 Take snapshots of the mixes before you make any changes. You can save yourself a lot of grief if you have a before and after to go off of.
 
 
 

Soundblend
Additional info :

Common mixing mistakes and audio myths demystified: Stop the High Pass Filters Madness

I've always loved Yachov Smirnoff's accent.

You are saying arrangement, sharke?  That gives you nothing to fix in the mix. ;-)
 
Another thing that helps is to low pass all the other acoustic tracks that don't dip into the bass range.  Most tracks can excise anything below 100+ Hz.

Soundblend
Additional info :

Common mixing mistakes and audio myths demystified: Stop the High Pass Filters Madness

it sounds like he's saying the same thing i said earlier.
 

FWIW I would just as soon not see Mixbus videos in my CAKEWALK Sonar thread.....

Let me remind you about your question :

charlyg
I have heard that one could run low pass/high pass filters to make the kick drum and bass more distinct. I guess there may be a way just thru eq, so I'm looking for a general(not necessarily best) practice on separation. Or is there a video somewhere? I do have that nice frequency chart you guys told me about, but I still need to frame it........
 
I can't seem to see thru the weeds to know where to turn now that we are in the mixing stage...

Btw : frequency masking and spectral management = clearer mixes
is some keywords here....You may check that up !

And last... using a low cut bell with a small Q setting, is better than using an Hi pass filter for low end definition.

for those who may be interested in this, search youtube for :
HPF Alternative: Clean up your low end without HPF- High Pass Filters Madness follow up

But what do i know... rather than using my ears and learning...
Ill pass the question of your's, to the other forum members so nwm.