Kick vs Sub: How to Stop the Battle in Your Mix
Practical techniques to avoid low-end clashes using EQ and sidechain
Getting the low end of your mix right can be one of the hardest—and most important—parts of music production. When your kick drum and sub bass are fighting for space, the result is often a muddy, weak-sounding track. At Future Sound Academy, one of the most common questions we get from students is: “Why doesn’t my bass hit like it should?”
In this post, we’ll break down how to stop the low-end battle between your kick and sub using proven techniques like EQ carving, sidechain compression, and sound selection.
The Problem: Competing Frequencies
The kick and sub often sit in the same frequency range—typically between 40Hz and 100Hz. When both elements try to dominate this space, you get phase cancellation, masking, and loss of punch. You’ll usually hear this as a flabby low end or a kick that disappears when the bass plays.
To solve this, you need to create space for both elements to breathe.
Step 1: Choose the Right Sounds
Before you even touch EQ or sidechain, start by selecting complementary kick and bass samples.
If your kick has a deep, subby tone (e.g. 50Hz), choose a bass that sits slightly above it (e.g. 70–80Hz).
If your kick is punchy and mid-focused, you have more freedom to use a weightier sub.
Tip from Future Sound Academy: We often layer a short, punchy kick with a separate sub layer in lessons to teach frequency separation from the start.
Step 2: Use EQ Carving
EQ is a powerful tool to make space for each element in your mix.
For the Kick:
Apply a high-pass filter on everything except your kick and bass to clean up the ultra-lows.
Use a slight bell cut on the bass track around the kick’s fundamental frequency (e.g. cut at 55Hz if your kick hits there).
For the Bass:
Carve out a notch where the kick’s impact sits.
Boost where the bass adds character, often around 80–100Hz.
Pro tip: Use a spectrum analyzer like Voxengo Span to visually identify overlapping frequencies.
Step 3: Apply Sidechain Compression
Sidechain compression is essential for modern electronic and hip-hop production. It ducks the volume of the bass slightly every time the kick hits.
How to do it:
Insert a compressor on your bass track.
Set the kick as the sidechain input.
Adjust threshold and ratio until the bass ducks just enough to let the kick punch through.
Fine-tune attack and release settings for smooth transitions.
Bonus: For more control, use a volume shaper like Cableguys ShaperBox or Xfer LFO Tool instead of a compressor. These tools allow precise envelope shaping without relying on audio triggering.
Step 4: Consider Phase Alignment
Even if you carve with EQ and use sidechain, phase issues can still ruin your low end.
Use a phase alignment tool like SoundRadix Auto-Align or manually flip polarity to see if it improves punch.
Sometimes shifting your sub slightly in time (by a few milliseconds) can clean up the low end dramatically.
Real-World Example from Future Sound Academy
In one of our advanced production sessions, a student brought in a mix where the bass sounded weak. Their sub and kick were both centered at 55Hz, leading to constant cancellation. By simply shifting the bass fundamental up to 70Hz and carving a small EQ notch at 55Hz, we brought clarity back to the low end—without even touching sidechain. When sidechain was added later, the kick started punching through properly, and the bass sat deep and controlled.
Final Tips
Avoid over-processing. Too much EQ or sidechain can kill the natural energy of your low end.
Use reference tracks. A/B your mix with professionally released songs in the same genre.
Trust your ears but check your mix on different systems—what works in headphones might not translate to club speakers.
Conclusion
Balancing your kick and sub is all about making intentional choices. With EQ carving, proper sound selection, sidechain compression, and phase alignment, you can stop the low-end battle and bring professional clarity to your mix.
If you want hands-on help mastering these techniques, Future Sound Academy offers in-person and online production courses where we dive deep into mixing fundamentals using real-world projects.
Need help with your low-end mixing?
Book a session with our mentors at Future Sound Academy and learn how to bring clarity, power, and punch to your productions—whether you're making house, techno, drill, or hip-hop.
