Recently I’ve made my first beat in Cubase 8!!! (yaaaaayyyy for me because i’ve always used fl studio then sent the wave files to cubase). Upon completion of the instrumental, I’ve noticed a weird rumble or what not and it only is apparent when the sub is in the mix…what does anyone suggest i do? I thought the sub mix may be just muddy so i tried gating and cutting 6 db around 375kz while neither one seemed to work…i can email the track to help come to a better conclusion for anyone who’s willing to help
I would assume that a “rumble” is way lower than 375 (hz I presume 
). Try a 12db hipass at 50 and see if it helps.
r,
j,
Maybe i worded it wrong because it definitely isn’t a rumble and with all my subs and kicks i automatically place a hipass filter around the same area you just mentioned. The sound is just awkward
get a good, lossless (wav, or aiff) reference track of a professionally mixed and mastered song you like, that’s similar to what you’re tying to produce and place in your project in a way that allows you to see and hear what is going on with it.
a/b between it and your mix and discover where you need to end up, then figure out how to get there.
a great way to do this is with the free SPAN plugin by Voxengo.
open two instances of it. one using the “mastering” preset and one using an edited version of the mastering preset that shows mid and side channels.
do you know of any tutorial video(s) of how to use span in cubase? the only one i found was in spanish on youtube…
Just search for Voxengo SPAN (any DAW is fine).
If you use the “mastering” ballistics in SPAN in Mid/Side mode to study your favorite songs, you’ll see and learn a lot.
You’ll see where they “mono” the mix (usually below 125hz), where they widen it (viewing “side” channel in SPAN), what frequencies they scoop out low mids and mud a bit (usually the 300 to 400hz range), where they boost, where they roll off the top. What the average RMS and Dynamic Range value of the song is, by how much it “crests” (RMS to Peak).
A good way to test your entire chain, is to see if you can get even the drums (kick, snare, shaker and hi-hat, etc.) to sounds like the part of a finished mix that only is playing the drums.
Start with the kick, then the snare/clap, etc.
Bass is usually about -6db RMS from where the kick is, even in bass heavy music. Much of a strong bass sound is due to:
- The lowest fundamental not having phase issues (being mono, or well crafted stereo).
- Cutting any mud around 300 - 400hz.
- Higher bass harmonics being well considered and present.
- Subsonics can be there, but roll off anything that just adds rumble.
- Sometimes a cut between 100hz and 200hz – that second bass fundamental, can make the bass sound fatter.
- Don’t neglect around 30hz.
Overall the mix should look and sound well balanced in SPAN. You’ll notice this with almost all well produced records.
In fact, a lot of well produced UK dubstep is very well balanced and has a lot less bass than you think.
The way to bass is not simply turning up bass. You need a balanced mix first.
Also realize that almost all the things you’ll be monitoring on are not accurately reproducing those low frequencies. This is where SPAN and studying reference tracks you know and trust, can help.
I see that you mentioned that it only occurs with the sub on. That should mean that the root (ha!) of the problem is in the sub region, ie. somewhere around 20-80. A trick is to use a narrow eq boost and sweep it until the problem gets worse. Then you know where to look (listen).
Just an idea: it’s not a technical problem with the sub itself? A loose screw or something?
r,
j,
Would you mind me emailing you the track so you can hear what I’m talking about? It will make understanding it a bit easier