Mixing house: kick, bass and loudness

House lives on groove. The kick and the bassline work as one rhythm section, and everything else (chords, vocals, claps, hats) moves around them. A house mix works when that groove feels steady and clear on any system. This guide covers the kick and bass, the chords and vocals that crowd the middle, and loudness.

Kick and bass as one groove

In house, the bassline usually moves more than the kick. It bounces between the kicks, slides between notes, and carries much of the melody. That's what makes the groove, and it's also where most low-end problems start.

Kick and bass carry most of their energy between about 20 and 160 Hz (iZotope). To keep them from blurring:

• Let the bassline answer the kick. Notes that start just after the kick, or between kicks, leave the kick clear. Long notes that sit under every kick tend to blur it.
• Tune the kick. Kick drums have a pitch (iZotope). If the kick's pitch fights the key of the track, the low end can sound muddy. Tune it, or pick a kick that fits.
• Fit the bass around the kick. iZotope also suggests shifting bass notes to fit around the kick's fundamental.
• Decide who owns the sub. If the bassline is deep and full, a kick with less sub and more punch often sits better, and the other way around.

Sidechain: clean-up or groove

Ableton's manual describes putting a compressor on the bass, or even on the whole mix, with the kick as the sidechain input, so the bassline makes room for the kick.

In house you have a choice:

• A light duck just clears space for the kick. You barely hear it, but the low end gets tighter.
• A deeper duck on bass, chords or pads becomes part of the groove: that breathing feel under the kick.

Set it by ear at a moderate volume, and compare with a released track you like. Watch the release time. If the bass comes back too slowly, the groove drags. Too fast and it can sound choppy.

Even out the bass notes

A melodic bassline plays many different notes, and each one puts its energy at a different frequency. Your ears' sensitivity also changes quickly across the low frequencies (HyperPhysics). The result can be uneven: some notes jump out and others fall away, even when you programmed them at the same velocity.

To fix it:

1. Loop the bassline on its own with a spectrum analyzer.
2. Find the notes that jump out, and the ones that disappear.
3. Use a narrow EQ cut on the loud ones, or gentle compression on the whole bass, until the line feels even.
4. Check on more than one system before you trust it.

Your ears pick up less low end at quiet levels (HyperPhysics), so do this at a moderate volume, not a whisper.

Keep the low end in mono

Ableton's manual notes that low frequencies can change color when they're played back in mono. Its Utility device has a Bass Mono switch with a cutoff you can set from 50 to 500 Hz.

Common practice is to keep the kick and bass centered, and put width into the hats, percussion, chords and effects instead. Check the full mix in mono at least once.

Make room for chords, organs and pianos

House often leans on warm chord parts: organs, pianos, Rhodes, stabs and pads. They're full of low mids, and they pile up on top of the bassline. iZotope calls 100 to 400 Hz a range "rife with mud".

• High-pass chord parts so they don't add extra low end under the bass.
• If two chord parts play the same notes in the same octave, move one or drop it.
• Duck pads and long chords lightly from the kick if they cloud each hit.

Vocals, claps and hats

Your ears are most sensitive between about 2,000 and 5,000 Hz (HyperPhysics). Bright parts with energy there, like hats, claps and the edge of a vocal, stand out easily and get tiring fast when they're too loud.

• Give the vocal a clear spot by cutting a little from the chords or synths where they overlap it.
• Check the claps and hats at a moderate volume. Loud monitoring makes bright parts feel exciting, so they can end up too loud.
• Watch the "s" sounds in vocals. A de-esser works on just that part.

Loudness for streaming and for DJs

Streaming. Spotify normalizes tracks to -14 LUFS by default and turns louder masters down. Apple Music's Sound Check also adjusts songs to play at the same volume. So in those apps, a louder master won't play louder. A dynamic master keeps its peaks, and Spotify notes those peaks may feel louder than a squashed master's at the same level. For house, that's a reason to protect the snap of the kick and clap rather than chase loudness.

True peak. Spotify recommends keeping true peaks below -1 dB, or below -2 dB if your master is louder than -14 LUFS integrated. A meter that follows ITU-R BS.1770 reads both.

DJ sets. In a set, the DJ sets each track's level with the channel gain. What carries in a club is a groove that still bounces, so if heavy limiting flattens the kick and clap, ease off.

Compare with a released house track

Pick a released house track in a similar style, put it in your project, and match its loudness to your mix. Then compare the low end and the groove by ear on two systems, and write down what's different before you change anything.

Slapback's Engineering Feedback does this matching for you. It measures loudness, tonal balance, stereo width, low end and dynamics against a released track it picks from a catalog of electronic music, or a reference you choose.