Crafting Polyphia’s Complex Bass: A Dual-Band Mixing Guide

Polyphia’s basslines, often delivered with Clay Gober’s signature percussive flair, are a beast all their own. They’re intricate, dynamically rich, and absolutely crucial to the band’s mathy, progressive sound. Getting that kind of bass to sit perfectly in a dense mix – with all its slaps, pops, and deep fundamental tones – is no small feat. It’s not about slapping on a single preset; it’s about a methodical, layered approach.

We’re diving into the techniques producer Nick Sampson uses to tackle this challenge. The core idea? A powerful dual-band strategy that gives you surgical control over the low-end foundation and the articulate top-end attack. Let’s break down how you can achieve a similar clarity and punch for your bass tracks.

The Foundation: Splitting the Bass for Maximum Control

The first move is to duplicate your clean DI bass track. You’ll process these two identical tracks differently, creating a low band and a high band.

Why a Dual-Track Setup?

This approach gives you independent control over the distinct characteristics of the bass. The low-end needs weight and consistent power, while the high-end needs clarity for all those slaps, pops, and string details. Trying to manage both with a single effects chain can often lead to compromises. By splitting them, you can optimize processing for each frequency range without negatively impacting the other.

Setting Up Your Low and High Bands

The key is the crossover point. A good starting point is around 200Hz.

• Low Band Track: On this track, insert an EQ and filter out everything above 200Hz. This track will become your focused low-end.
• High Band Track: On the second track, do the opposite. Filter out everything below 200Hz. This will be your attack, grind, and detail track.

It’s crucial that these filters are set to “pre-fader” or “pre-insert.” This means the signal is filtered before it hits any subsequent plugins, which is exactly what we want for this technique.

Crafting the Low-End Foundation (Below 200Hz)

With your low band isolated, it’s time to build its power and character.

Initial Filtering: Making Room and Defining the Zone

Even though we’ve low-passed at 200Hz, we also need to high-pass the sub-lows. A high-pass filter around 35-40Hz will clean up unnecessary rumble and make space for the kick drum’s fundamental frequencies.

Amp Sim Magic for Weight

Now, feed this filtered low-end signal into a bass amp simulator. The Waves GTR plugin is a solid choice here.

• Amp & Cab: Experiment with different bass amp models. The video showcases a particular model with a ribbon mic emulation.
• Blend: Take all the direct (DI) sound out, so you’re only hearing the processed amp signal.
• Tone Shaping: Filter down some of the treble within the amp sim (since this is our low-end track) and boost the bass control a bit. Add a touch of drive to introduce some pleasing harmonics and warmth.

Gentle Compression for Consistency

To even out the dynamics of the low-end, a compressor like a virtual LA-3A is a great pick. Its fixed attack and release make it simple to dial in.

• Reduction: Aim for about 3dB of gain reduction on the loudest hits. This will gently tame peaks without squashing the life out of the performance.
• Noise: A pro tip: many analog emulation plugins add a bit of noise or hum. Turn this feature off, especially if you’re stacking multiple instances, as it can build up.
  For more on controlling dynamics, explore these metal compression secrets beyond just making it loud.

Saturation and Limiting for Punch

A bit of tube saturation after the compressor can add further harmonics and perceived loudness. Finally, place a limiter at the end of this low-band chain (pre-fader is good for level management). This isn’t for smashing the signal, but rather to catch any stray peaks and keep the low-end tight and controlled. Leave yourself about 3dB of headroom on the channel fader.

Integrating the Low-End: Bass and Kick Symbiosis

Now that your low-end bass track is shaped, it’s time to make it play nice with the kick drum.

Leveling with the Kick Drum

Solo your bass low-end track and your kick drum (or drum bus). Place a spectrum analyzer on your master bus or a dedicated drum/bass bus.

• The Goal: The general idea, stemming from concepts like using a pink noise guide for initial leveling, is to have the bass’s low-frequency energy sit about 3dB below the kick drum’s primary low-frequency impact. Watch the analyzer and adjust the level of your bass low-end track until you achieve this relationship.

Sidechain Compression: Carving Space for the Kick

To further enhance the clarity between the kick and bass, use sidechain compression on the low-end bass track.

• Setup: Insert a compressor on your low-end bass track and activate its sidechain input. Send the signal from your kick drum track (or kick bus) to this sidechain input.
• Settings:
  • Ratio: Start around 4:1.
  • Attack: Set it to be very fast (immediate) so the compressor reacts instantly to the kick.
  • Release: A release time of around 50 milliseconds is a good starting point. This allows the bass to duck out of the way just long enough for the kick’s transient to punch through, then quickly returns the bass to its full level.
  • Threshold: Adjust the threshold to get about 4dB of gain reduction each time the kick hits.

This ensures the kick drum cuts through cleanly without fighting the bass for precious low-frequency space.

Defining the Attack and Clarity: The High-End (Above 200Hz)

Now, let’s switch focus to the high-band bass track (everything above 200Hz).

Filtering for Amp Sim Efficiency

Remember, this track is already high-passed at 200Hz. Feeding this thinner signal into an amp sim makes the amp work less hard on processing booming lows it doesn’t need to. This results in much greater clarity and definition for the mids and highs – crucial for those Polyphia-style slaps and pops. If the full DI signal hits the amp, those articulate details can get buried.

Amp Sim for Bite and Character

Use the same amp simulator (like Waves GTR) as you did on the low-end track for consistency, but with different settings.

• Blend: This time, you’ll likely want to blend in some of the direct DI signal with the amped signal. A 50/50 blend can be a good starting point, but experiment.
• Cab: Using the same cabinet emulation as the low-end track can help maintain a cohesive overall tone.
• EQ within Amp: This is where you can sculpt the bite. Be mindful of resonant frequencies. If you hear a particularly “honky” or “ringy” note, it might be a resonance. In the video, a resonance around 1kHz was identified and notched out. These kinds of surgical EQ strategies for mixing modern metal are vital.

Compression for Slap and Pop Control

The high-frequency content, especially with slapped bass, can be very dynamic. Apply compression to this track to even out those slaps and pops, making them more consistent without losing their percussive impact. A limiter can follow to shave off any extreme peaks.

The Crucial Phase Check: Avoiding Bass Cancellation

This is super important when using multi-band or multi-track processing like this.

Why Phase Matters in Multi-Band Setups

When you split a signal and process parts of it differently, then recombine them, you can run into phase cancellation. If one of your amp sim instances (or an impulse response within it) happens to be out of phase with the other, certain frequencies can cancel out. A common symptom is noticing your low-end disappearing when you bring up the level of your high-end track.

Identifying and Fixing Phase Issues

If you suspect a phase problem, try flipping the phase (polarity) on one of your bass tracks (either the low or high band). If the low-end suddenly returns or the overall bass sound becomes fuller, you’ve found the culprit. It’s a simple fix, but absolutely critical for a solid bass tone.

Gluing It All Together: Bass Bus Processing

Route both your low-band and high-band bass tracks to a dedicated bass group bus. This allows you to apply final processing to the combined bass sound.

Adding Sub Harmonics (Strategically)

For some songs, especially those with a synth-like vibe, adding a touch of sub-harmonic content can be cool. A plugin like “Pitcher Bass” (or similar sub-harmonic synthesizers) can work.

• Placement is Key: Instead of putting this on the main bass bus, try adding it only to your low-frequency bass track. This gives you much more control and prevents the sub-harmonics from muddying up the clear attack of your high-frequency track.
• Settings: Use it sparingly. A mix setting around 10% is often plenty. Be aware that some sub-harmonic plugins can introduce latency.

Master Bus Compression for Cohesion

A touch of compression on the overall bass bus can help “glue” the two bands together and provide a final layer of dynamic control.

• Setting Makeup Gain: When setting your makeup gain, A/B the compressed signal with the bypassed signal. Aim for the compressed signal to be just slightly louder to compensate for the gain reduction and add a little perceived energy.
  Again, for deeper insights into effective bus compression, refer to these metal compression secrets.

Overall EQ Sweetening

Make any final tonal adjustments on the bass bus. This might include a slight mid-cut if the bass feels too boxy, or a gentle boost to the high frequencies (e.g., with a shelf EQ) to add a little “shimmer” or “air” to the top-end articulation.

Taming the Transients: Processing for Slapped Bass

Polyphia’s material is heavily reliant on slapped and popped bass. This style requires specific attention during mixing.

Dynamic Control for Slaps and Pops

The transient peaks from slaps can be significantly louder than the sustained notes. While the earlier compression helps, sometimes you need more targeted control.

• Dynamic EQ/Soothe: A plugin like Soothe2 can be invaluable here. It can dynamically duck overly resonant or “spiky” frequencies that jump out, particularly in the upper midrange (e.g., around 2.5kHz – 3kHz), only when they become problematic. This helps smooth out the performance without sacrificing overall brightness.

The Balancing Act of Clarity vs. Taming

Mixing, especially percussive bass, is a constant balancing act. An EQ cut that helps tame a harsh frequency might inadvertently dull the clarity of certain notes. Be prepared to revisit your settings. If high notes get lost, you might need to ease up on a previous cut or find a different way to address the issue.

Nail That Polyphia Bass Tone

Achieving a Polyphia-esque bass tone is about meticulous attention to detail, especially with filtering, dynamic control, and phase relationships. This dual-band approach gives you the granular control needed to balance that deep, powerful low-end with the articulate, percussive attack that defines their sound.

Want to see these techniques put into practice by the pros and learn how to apply them to your own mixes? At Nail The Mix, you get access to real multitracks from massive bands, including Polyphia, and watch the original producers mix them from scratch, explaining every single decision. It’s an unparalleled opportunity to Unlock Your Sound: Mixing Modern Metal Beyond Presets. Ready to dive deeper into how New Levels New Devils was mixed? Check out the full Polyphia mixing session on Nail The Mix and transform your bass mixing game.