This is for beginners, keep that in mind...
I have read a lot of questions lately on the net about people wanting to get that driving kick + bass. Well, I may tell you a few pointers that should get you on your way...
The first thing you will have to do is getting a clean bass sound that sits right in the mix without any further enhancing. Don't go equalising it if you want to hear more bass. First things first. Now search a good kick in your sample library. Kicks & Compression are the perfect marriage. Just connect one compressor directly to the kick with following settings: Ratio: 16:1 ; Treshhold: Low ; Attack: High & Release: Low. Now your kick should be kicking your arse...
Ok, so we've got the kick & bass... how do we mix those two together?
An absolute must is a decent pair of monitors, positioned correctly and with you sitting in the correct position. Without this you will be a long way from home...
Now put your kick + bass in the sequencer and loop it. Be sure that just those 2 are playing. Solo the kick and adjust the volume so that it is peaking just above 0 dB. Do the same for the bass. If you play the 2 together make sure there's no clipping. With the help of Reason's compressor we can smooth the levels out. Connect one compressor to the group (both Kick & Bass). Starting settings could be: Ratio - 6:1 and a fast attack. Twiddle with the Release knob to get the thing pumping... you may want this or you may not but do not exagerate, remember: less is more! Now comes the hard part... Equalising.
All I can say about Eq'ing is to raise the volume of your monitors real loud and just listen to your loop. Now just connect a PEQ-2 to your bass and twiddle the knobs... Keep twiddling until you "feel" your bass fits and make sure it doesn't hum. And again, good monitors are really a MUST for this
