Sylosis Bass Tone: The ‘Huge Bass Scoop’ & Metal Mix Clarity

Getting a bass guitar to sit right in a dense metal mix can be a real battle. You want power and low-end authority, but also clarity and definition so it doesn’t just turn into a muddy mess. We got a peek into how the killer bass tone for Sylosis was sculpted, revealing some awesome techniques you can apply to your own productions, especially a signature “huge bass scoop” EQ move. Check out the full session here. Let’s dive into how to get that powerful, yet articulate, metal bass sound.

Starting Strong: The DI and Initial Shaping

The foundation of this Sylosis bass tone begins with a great source: a Dingwall NG2 bass. These basses are pretty popular for a reason – they often sound fantastic right out of the box, providing a solid DI signal to work with.

Before hitting any amp sims or heavy distortion, some initial DI EQ can really set you up for success.
First up, a high-shelf boost was applied to bring out more string sizzle and attack. Be mindful, though, as the 1-2kHz region on this particular bass had a bit of a harsh whistle. The goal was to add top-end without accentuating that problem area too much at this stage.

Next, the low-mids felt a bit cluttered, so a gentle cut there helped clean things up. To give the bass some foundational thump, a boost around 60Hz was introduced, adding that desirable low-end pump. This pre-emptive EQ work is crucial for shaping the tone before it hits more aggressive processing.

Taming the Beast: Essential Bass Compression

With the initial EQ roughed in, it’s time for compression. An 1176-style compressor is a go-to for bass, and that’s what was used here.
The settings were dialed in for a medium attack and a fast release. The aim was to achieve around -5dB of gain reduction. This helps to even out the performance, pull the bass together, and ensure a consistent level, which is vital for a bass that needs to hold down the low end in a busy metal track.

Unleashing Parallax: Multi-Band Distortion and Control

Next in the chain is the powerful Parallax plugin by Neural DSP. This plugin is a beast for bass, allowing you to distort the midrange and high-end separately while also compressing the low end. It’s one of those tools that can get you a very usable, aggressive bass tone with just a few tweaks.

Low-End Solidity

The low-end compressor within Parallax was pushed pretty hard – potentially even maxed out, indicated by the “white light” just showing constant gain reduction. This really slams the low frequencies into place.

Mid and High Distortion

Initially, the drive on both the mid and high bands was turned down. The Dingwall bass already has an aggressive character, so it didn’t need a ton of extra drive to sound mean. While many users distort the midrange heavily with Parallax, for this particular Sylosis tone, it wasn’t felt to be entirely necessary.

Interestingly, the crossover for the high-frequency band was dragged further to the left (lower in frequency). This tweak can warm up the overall tone and sometimes make aggressive mid-range distortion less crucial, as it avoids a “scratchy, scrappy” artifact that can sometimes occur with the highs isolated too far up.

The Signature Move: “The Huge Bass Scoop” EQ

This is where a significant and defining EQ move comes into play, crucial for achieving clarity in the low end. A common problem in bass mixing, especially in metal, is a buildup around 100Hz. This can create a “sine wave” type of resonant boom that absolutely destroys mixes and fights with the kick drum.

To combat this on the Sylosis track, a two-part EQ strategy was employed post-Parallax, using a plugin like FabFilter Pro-Q:

1. Wide Low-Shelf Boost: First, a very wide low shelf was boosted by quite a lot. This brings back in a significant amount of sub-bass and lower-mid information, adding weight and fullness.
2. Surgical Cut at the Problem Frequency: Then, that problematic ~100Hz area was targeted with a sharp, deep cut. This effectively removes the uncontrolled boom while the earlier broad shelf boost ensures the bass still has plenty of foundational low-end. It’s a clever way to round out the bottom end, keeping the power without the mud.

This “scoop and boost” technique is a fantastic way to manage the common 100Hz nightmare.

Further EQ Refinements

Beyond the big scoop, other EQ adjustments helped sculpt the bass further:

• A common dip around 300Hz was carved out to reduce boxiness.
• The 600Hz to 1kHz range is where the bass often pokes out and gets its definition against guitars. While not necessarily boosted here aggressively, it was noted as an area to potentially revisit to help the bass cut through the final mix.
• The 1-2kHz harshness, identified earlier, was tackled again with a cut to smooth it out, as this area can easily clash with guitars and vocals.
• A high-shelf boost was added to bring in even more top-end sizzle and pick attack. The goal for the high frequencies (around 1-4kHz) was a more flat and controlled response, rather than an overly aggressive peak in the problematic 1-2kHz zone.

Filtering for Focus

To keep things tight:

• A high-pass filter (HPF) was engaged as a “security blanket,” set fairly low and not too aggressively, to remove any unnecessary sub-sonic rumble.
• A low-pass filter (LPF) was also used, but quite subtly. The natural roll-off of the bass tone was already pretty good, so this was more of a gentle shaping move to ensure no unwanted high-frequency noise was present.

Visual Cues & Final Polishing

While ears are always the final judge, sometimes visual aids on an EQ can help guide decisions, especially when mixing on headphones. A common visual target is to see the low-end and the high-mids (for bass) peaking at roughly the same level on a spectrum analyzer. If the low-end was looking a bit too dominant, a slight reduction could balance it out.

A further small, tight scoop was made in a specific midrange spot that seemed inherent to the DI tone, something that had been noticed peaking earlier in the chain.

Strategic Limiting: Keeping it Punchy

Limiting the bass helps to lock it in place and add a final layer of consistency. However, it’s incredibly easy to over-limit bass and suck the life out of it. If you push a limiter too hard (beyond say, -3dB or -4dB of gain reduction), you risk killing all the impactful low-end, leaving you with a thin, mid-rangey sound. Gentle limiting, around 3 to 4dB of reduction, was the sweet spot here to provide control without sacrificing the punch.

Dynamic EQ for Pesky Resonances

Even after all this processing, that tricky ~100Hz area (and potentially other notes that clashed with the guitars) was still a bit prominent. A dynamic EQ or a multi-band compressor is perfect for this. It allows you to target and attenuate specific frequencies only when they exceed a certain threshold, providing a more transparent solution than a static EQ cut for these lingering resonant spots.

Dialing in the Grit: Final Distortion Check

With the core processing in place, it’s always a good idea to revisit earlier stages. In this case, the amount of distortion from Parallax was re-evaluated. While a distorted, grimy bass is definitely the goal for Sylosis, it was considered that perhaps a little less grit might be even more effective. It’s a good reminder to A/B your settings and ensure every processing stage is truly contributing positively to the sound in the context of all the other processing.

Bringing It All Home with Nail The Mix

Sculpting a huge yet clear metal bass tone like this involves a series of thoughtful steps, from initial DI shaping and compression to multi-band distortion and, critically, that “huge bass scoop” EQ technique. Applying these methods can seriously level up your low-end game.

Want to see exactly how pros like Josh Middleton dial in tones like this for bands like Sylosis? At Nail The Mix, you get to watch world-class producers mix real songs from scratch, explaining every plugin, setting, and decision. You even get the multitracks to practice on! Check out the full Sylosis “Poison for the Lost” mix session to see these techniques in action. If you’re serious about taking your metal productions beyond presets and truly unlocking your sound, seeing how these tones are built from the ground up for a real Sylosis track is invaluable.