How to EQ bass in Ableton Live
To EQ bass, high pass the rumble below 30 Hz, give the fundamental a small lift around 60 to 100 Hz if it sounds weak, and cut 2 to 4 dB of mud near 250 Hz. Add growl between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz so the notes read on phone speakers, and roll off fizz above 6 kHz.
Bass parts have 5 bands worth knowing, from sub rumble (below 35 Hz) to fizz (above 3 kHz).
The starting point on this page makes 1 cut, 2 boosts and uses 2 filters. Every band is part of the starting point.
Work through the bands in order from the bottom. Cuts come first because they clear space; boosts come last and stay small.
The 5 bass bands
| Band | Range | When it's wrong | The move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub rumble | below 35 Hz | Eats headroom you can't hear on most systems | High pass at 25 to 35 Hz |
| Weight | 40 to 100 Hz | Thin or weak on big speakers | Small boost of 1 to 2 dB, after the kick has its space |
| Mud | 200 to 300 Hz | Woolly, notes blur together | Cut of 2 to 4 dB |
| Growl | 700 Hz to 1.5 kHz | Notes vanish on phone speakers | Boost of 1 to 2 dB |
| Fizz | above 3 kHz | Clicky or fizzy string and amp noise | Low pass from about 6 kHz |
The moves, in order
Sub rumble, below 35 Hz
Eats headroom you can't hear on most systems. It lives below 35 Hz. High pass at 25 to 35 Hz. The starting point is a high pass at 30 Hz. Raise it until the part starts to thin out in solo, then back it off a little.
Weight, 40 to 100 Hz
Thin or weak on big speakers. It lives between 40 and 100 Hz. Small boost of 1 to 2 dB, after the kick has its space. The starting point is a 1.5 dB boost at 80 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Mud, 200 to 300 Hz
Woolly, notes blur together. It lives between 200 and 300 Hz. Cut of 2 to 4 dB. The starting point is a 3 dB cut at 250 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Growl, 700 Hz to 1.5 kHz
Notes vanish on phone speakers. It lives between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz. Boost of 1 to 2 dB. The starting point is a 1.5 dB boost at 900 Hz with a Q of 1.0, narrow enough to leave the rest alone.
Fizz, above 3 kHz
Clicky or fizzy string and amp noise. It lives above 3 kHz. Low pass from about 6 kHz. The starting point is a low pass at 7 kHz. Lower it until the part dulls, then open it a little.
The settings in Live 12
Channel EQLite, Intro
- Highpass On
- Off
- Mid Freq
- 250 Hz
- Mid Gain
- -3.0 dB
- High Gain
- -3.0 dB
Leave the high pass off: it sits around 80 Hz and would take the weight out of the bass. Cut the mud with the mid band and tame fizz with the high shelf.
EQ EightStandard, Suite
- 1 Filter Type A
- High Pass 48dB
- 1 Frequency A
- 30.0 Hz
- 2 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 2 Frequency A
- 80.0 Hz
- 2 Gain A
- 1.5 dB
- 2 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 3 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 3 Frequency A
- 250 Hz
- 3 Gain A
- -3.0 dB
- 3 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 4 Filter Type A
- Bell
- 4 Frequency A
- 900 Hz
- 4 Gain A
- 1.5 dB
- 4 Resonance A
- 1.00
- 5 Filter Type A
- Low Pass 12dB
- 5 Frequency A
- 7.00 kHz
The steep 48 dB high pass clears the sub without touching the notes. Solo band 4 while you sweep to find the growl.
In short: low cut at 30 Hz, 1.5 dB boost at 80 Hz, 3 dB cut at 250 Hz, 1.5 dB boost at 900 Hz and high cut at 7 kHz. Then listen in the full mix, not in solo, and undo anything you can't hear.
Bass and kick share the low end
The bass and the kick both live at the bottom of the mix, and only one of them can own any given spot at any given moment. If both are loud in the same low range at the same time, they add up into a boomy blur, and neither one sounds clear. Deciding who owns what is the most important bass EQ choice you'll make.
There are two common ways to split it. In one, the kick owns the deepest thump and the bass sits just above it, carrying the notes and the weight. In the other, the bass owns the sub and the kick sits higher, with more punch and click and less deep boom. Many trap and 808-based tracks use the second, with a long sub bass and a tight kick. Many band mixes use the first, with a round kick under a bass guitar. Neither is right. Pick one per song, then EQ both parts to match.
Whichever you choose, find the kick's main low note first, then make sure the bass isn't boosted in that exact spot. That is why the weight boost on a bass stays small, and why our guide says to add it only after the kick has its space.
EQ splits the two parts by frequency. The other tool splits them by time. Sidechain compression turns the bass down for a moment each time the kick hits, so the kick gets the low end to itself on the beat and the bass comes back between hits. In Live you do it with Compressor on the bass, with the kick as its sidechain source. It is a big topic of its own, and it works best once the EQ split is already in place.
Small speakers
Most people will hear your mix on a phone, a laptop or earbuds at some point, and none of those can play the lowest notes of a bass. On a phone speaker, a bass that is all sub and weight simply disappears, and the song loses its bottom.
The fix isn't more low end. It is making sure the bass has some energy higher up, in the growl range between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz. Those upper harmonics are what your ear uses to hear the notes when the fundamental is missing. A small boost there, 1 to 2 dB, lets the bass line read on small speakers while the big speakers still get the full weight.
Check it. Play the mix on a phone or laptop, or put a low cut around 150 Hz on the master for a moment, and listen to whether you can still follow the bass line. If it vanishes, the growl band needs work. Take the low cut off the master afterwards.
Synth bass versus bass guitar
The bands are the same for both, but the sounds start in different places.
A bass guitar usually arrives with plenty of growl and midrange from the strings and the amp, and too much low mid mud from the body and the room. Its EQ is mostly about cutting the mud and taming the clack of the strings at the top, which is where the fizz band and the low pass come in. Picked and slapped parts have more top end and attack than fingered parts, so they often need more taming up there.
A synth bass can be almost anything. A pure sine sub has no harmonics at all, so it is nearly invisible on small speakers no matter how you EQ it. You can't boost growl that isn't there. For that kind of sound, add a little saturation or layer a mid bass on top, then EQ the layer. A bright, distorted synth bass has the opposite problem, with more harmonics than the mix needs, and benefits from a firmer low pass.
Mono matters for both. Keep the bass centered and mono in the low end, because many club systems play in mono and wide low end can cancel out when the sides are summed.
Mistakes
Start with the sub, because boosting it is where many bass mixes go wrong. Deep sub energy eats headroom and makes the mix feel louder in the studio than it sounds anywhere else. On many systems you can't even hear it, but it still pushes the master into the limiter. If the bass feels weak, check the kick and bass split and the growl band before you reach for more sub.
High passing too high is the opposite mistake. A high pass at 25 to 35 Hz clears rumble without touching the notes. Push it up to 80 or 100 Hz, the way you might on a guitar, and you take the weight right out of the bass. That is why our Channel EQ settings leave its fixed high pass off on bass.
Finally, judging bass on small or untreated monitors can mislead you either way. Check on headphones and on a phone, and compare against a reference track you know well.
Questions people ask
What is the best EQ setting for bass?
The best starting point is a steep high pass at 30 Hz, a small lift of 1 to 2 dB around 80 Hz, a cut of 2 to 4 dB near 250 Hz, a small boost around 900 Hz for growl, and a low pass near 7 kHz. Adjust each one by ear against the kick.
How do you EQ a punchy bass?
Punch comes from a clean low end and a clear attack, so cut before you boost. Clear the sub rumble and the mud near 250 Hz first, then add 1 to 2 dB of growl between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz so each note starts clearly. Compression that lets the attack through helps more than extra low end.
What EQ frequency is bass guitar?
A bass guitar's notes sit mostly between about 40 and 400 Hz, with the low E string on a four string bass near 41 Hz. Its weight lives in the 40 to 100 Hz range, and the growl that makes it audible on small speakers sits higher, between 700 Hz and 1.5 kHz.
What should bass EQ look like?
A bass EQ curve usually looks like a steep wall at the very bottom, a small hump in the low end, a dip in the low mids and a second small hump in the midrange. Above a few kilohertz it rolls away. The cuts are often bigger than the boosts, and nothing moves more than about 4 dB.