Whenever I have a problem (that is genuinely my problem and not because of the instrument or player) where a bass guitar, kick drum, or other “LF” instrument is just a pile of boom or indistinct rumble, it’s often because I failed to “start from the top.”

Or, the middle at least.

You see, it’s not really all about that bass. I’ve said many times that low-frequency information IS important and part of “the fun,” and that hasn’t changed for me. In truth, though, a mix stands or falls on the absolutely critical midrange (where almost all the musical information actually sits). It’s my very strong opinion that the midrange information, then, should be what you start with whenever possible. The “impact” of a kick drum? The sound that makes that giant percussion instrument sound like it’s aggressive and smashed against your nose? That’s almost always high-mid information and up. The definition and character of a bass guitar that really gives it the ability to speak in a musical way? Low-mids and up.

So, I say to you, get those areas right first. Yank down your aux-fed-sub drive sends and roll those channel HPF filters up. Use a low-shelf EQ as a sledgehammer if necessary. Especially do this, and do it more aggressively if you’re starting from what sounds like a muddy mess. Then, start pushing that fader upwards. You may need to run your preamp or trim level a bit hotter than you’re used to, but eventually, you should find a place where what’s still passing through ends up dropping into place with the rest of the band. If you’re just listening to one channel at a time, then you can ballpark yourself by finding a satisfying blend with the wash coming off the deck.

After that’s done, THEN start letting some bass frequencies through. You may find that you need a lot less LF than you first thought, especially if you were driving the deep-down sound hard in an effort to hear the instrument in question. I find it quite trivial to create a whole maelstrom of booming slop if I’m using the subwoofers to push something like a kick drum into the right place against everything else, but I find it much harder to make a mess if I park the “click” in a handy place, and then gently move the bottom into alignment afterwards.

It’s a bit counter intuitive, I know, but I can’t remember a time where I put the mids and highs under a microscope first and ended up with a result I disliked. At the same time, I can easily remember all kinds of situations where I didn’t, and subsequently backed myself into a terrible-sounding corner by starting with a bunch of unreadable low end.

Oh, and here’s a postscript bombshell for you: I have a sneaky suspicion that, for many engineers, the subwoofers they end up saying are the punchiest are actually very similar to other offerings in the general class. My guess is that the REAL difference was how the full-range PA mated with those subs, and that’s what got their attention.