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Should bass be mono? Why wide bass disappears in the club
Yes, keep the low end in mono. In wide stereo bass, the left and right sides can push in opposite directions. When the mix is summed to mono, on a club system, a phone or a Bluetooth speaker, they cancel each other out and the bass disappears. Keep everything below about 120 Hz in mono.
How to do it
- Check your mix in mono (most DAWs have a mono button on the master).
- If the bass gets quieter or thinner, it has wide stereo content.
- Use a stereo imager or utility plugin to make everything below 100 to 150 Hz mono.
- Keep stereo effects like chorus and wideners off the sub part of the bass.
- Keep the width higher up: on the bass's harmonics, pads and synths.
Why it works
Big sound systems usually play the subs in mono, and low frequencies are hard to place anyway. Mono lows lose nothing and play the same everywhere.
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