Filtering the bass

[ecc83]

Just my two penn'oth? Low frequencies, say below 100Hz are where almost all rooms and speakers begin to give trouble. In fact unless in a really huge room there is nowhere where you can be at a pressure maximum for all frequencies say 20 to 80Hz. This being the case I would think one should be careful what sort of treatment/filters you apply?

Headphones are usually cited as an answer to 'lumpy' room/speakers but I doubt even these have a particularly flat LF response?

Dave.

 

[BTStudio]

Just my two penn'oth? Low frequencies, say below 100Hz are where almost all rooms and speakers begin to give trouble. In fact unless in a really huge room there is nowhere where you can be at a pressure maximum for all frequencies say 20 to 80Hz. This being the case I would think one should be careful what sort of treatment/filters you apply?

Headphones are usually cited as an answer to 'lumpy' room/speakers but I doubt even these have a particularly flat LF response?

Dave.

Yah not being sure if what we hear is a true representation of what effects or filters we apply complicates things considerably. Arg.

 

[Serendipity Records]

I do apply a high pass filter to bass. I tend to just play around with the settings until they sound right, but generally that ends up being just enough for it to be noticeable through my Sennheiser HD400 cans. The result sounds good on any system so far. The reason... well, just preventing interference with the kick drum (same old right?).

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Low pass or high pass?

 

[Serendipity Records]

Low pass or high pass?

That's actually one of the most confusing things for me Low cut filter is what I meant. Edited. Thx!

 

[BTStudio]

Low cut or high pass is the same??

 

[Serendipity Records]

Low cut or high pass is the same??

Yes.

 

[BTStudio]

Yes.

Thought so

 

[JamEZmusic]

Do I high pass the bass?
Only if there is a subby kick, and not always, but definitely most of the time because I am probably using bass enhancing plugins (Rbass)

 

[Serendipity Records]

It really depends what style you're doing.

Though interestingly, some of my progressive Celtic stuff I've done only slightly differs from the Jazz fusion stuff I've been doing more of lately.

 

[Pinky]

I like the idea of getting it right first. Thanks. Guy

The con to this is not leaving a lot of room to adjust if it's needed later. I generally do DI and have a raw, unaffected WAV of the performance to use with my guitar sim software. This allows for 100% control of all the tonal qualities past the pickups and strings.

Any filtering should be done in mixing, because why not then? That's the entire point of the mixing stage. Shape the sound until it fits the need. The more sound you capture tracking the more needs it can fit later. Less is more, and more can always be added.

 

[BTStudio]

Any filtering should be done in mixing, because why not then? That's the entire point of the mixing stage. Shape the sound until it fits the need. The more sound you capture tracking the more needs it can fit later. Less is more, and more can always be added.

Yah not sure if I mentioned but I am talking about filtering in the mix. So I definitely agree, I record bass DI also usually
So what would your go to filter setting be, if any?
Guy

 

[LazerBeakShiek]

Limit it. Then add effects, at the mixer and stay +4. Limit the bass then add chorus or whatever.

 

[Pinky]

Yah not sure if I mentioned but I am talking about filtering in the mix. So I definitely agree, I record bass DI also usually
So what would your go to filter setting be, if any?
Guy

I may trim the very lowest and highest off a bass track manually in the EQ of choice for a given track, but generally don't do any hi/low pass filtering. The signal is usually clean enough there's only 'information' captured I'd want.

Scooping out some space for the other instruments as previously mentioned is usually a good idea, especially on heavier tracks where rhythm guitars might share some of the same space in the frequency range as the bass.

 

[rob aylestone]

I always smile when people post Paul McCartney's isolated bass tracks on youtube - the bass is odd sounding, lumpy, noisy, misplayed, messy and clearly made many of the songs great. Sometimes a turd is a turd and no amount of EQ or processing is needed. We are becoming obsessed by EQ tweaking and stacks of plugins. When they recorded I saw her standing there, they determined this sound was ideal.

 

[spantini]

I always smile when people post Paul McCartney's isolated bass tracks on youtube - the bass is odd sounding, lumpy, noisy, misplayed, messy and clearly made many of the songs great. Sometimes a turd is a turd and no amount of EQ or processing is needed. We are becoming obsessed by EQ tweaking and stacks of plugins. When they recorded I saw her standing there, they determined this sound was ideal.
. . .

Man, dig that crazy Höfner

 

[rob aylestone]

Joking aside - has anyone tried to play that song's bass part. It's really hard work!

It might make a good video though - raw sound of the bass, then with perhaps a couple of different amounts of compression? I wonder if three versions would let people hear compression work? Most of the compression examples we've had lately are far too subtle for beginners? If the idea would be useful, I'll see if a video might work.

 

[PorterhouseMusic]

Yeah.... I typically record bass gtr through the RNDI and then roll off below about 60Hz to taste. The exact frequency and amount of roll off depends on the context.

 

[spantini]

Joking aside - has anyone tried to play that song's bass part. It's really hard work!

It might make a good video though - raw sound of the bass, then with perhaps a couple of different amounts of compression? I wonder if three versions would let people hear compression work? Most of the compression examples we've had lately are far too subtle for beginners? If the idea would be useful, I'll see if a video might work.

I really enjoyed playing that bass part, even complicated it a bit more with some added notes where Paul just thumps the same note. We had that song in regular rotation and at the end of the evening our BL would turn to us and ask which song to close it out - I always picked I Saw Her Standing There. I played it on my '65 Höfner early on, then my MIJ Precision (which was a real chore because I used my pinky).

 

[Papanate]

Hello, I’m wondering how everyone uses high or low pass filters on they’re bass recordings, and why.
Guy

High and Low Pass filters are used on everything that doesn't belong in the High or Low Frequency areas - For Example Guitar has a 125 Hz High Pass on it to keep it out of the Kick, Bass and Snyths.