Getting a Mean Bass Sound.

[demensia]

Wow.. I can feel the flames already.

Im recording from my four track to my computer, and using Cool Edit for multitracking (ie, just using the 4 track for the input/output ) and I spent hours last night working on a bass track to lay down over some guitars and a fruity loops drum loop, only to have it sound like the back side of my ass...

No matter how I played the bass... slap... fingers... pick... the bass still sounds dull and weak, and it seems no amount of eq can bring it out in the mix right..

Any Idea's on how I can get a fat slappy sound out of it... say like the bass sound from a Korn track?

Either in the recording or in the eq stage?

Thanks for any help.
You Guys Rock,

Demensia.

[OneLouder]

Korn use a 5 string bass tuned down a whole step to A... much of the fat slappy sound to which you refer is a direct result of this as their bassist uses big fat strings that are slack and so slap about on the fretboard. Not sure about the recording side of what they do but there ya go.

[detuned6]

he's got a tiny bass sound, from slappin. boost some highs and low mids, cut back on a lil of the lows.

[detuned6]

oh yeah, ibanez basses with active pickups.

[Track Rat]

Can't stress the importance of new strings enough. If you're looking for that bright, piano bass sound, I like GHS Contact Core strings. Just my opinion.

[dabluesman]

I hated my bass recordings too until I tried running it though a SansAmp Bass DI hooked up to a J-Station. For a P-bass, I got a pretty good sound. Hear it at http://dabluesman.com/Song1remixed.mp3

[BBB]

Ditto. New strings make a huge difference.

[Gidge]

im with dabluesman on this...the preamps of a 4 track are not gonna get the sound you want......

J-Station!

[dabluesman]

The J-Station has some real good bass presets to tweak to your liking. It also has guitar and acoustic settings but I havent found them to be helpful (yet.) Also the bass tone on my recording is not just P-bass and J-station, it also has a SansAmp Bass DI thrown in there.

[demensia]

Cool.

Well I need to get my priorities straight. I need a guitar amp before I buy a pre-amp.

For the most part I am a guitar player, But I dont have a band so I have to play all the instruments myself..... Pretty depressing if you ask me.

Ill get some new strings for this thing... I have it tuned down to a D... but Ill see what happens.

Thanks.

Demensia

[slinkp]

Some good suggestions here. I'll add a few of my own... been playing bass since 1980 so I figure I know a thing or two.
The tone you're describing is not my usual tone, but I do go for it sometimes when I'm in a metal mood.

First, set up the bass with new strings (roundwound), detuned somewhat, with low action. A little fret buzz helps with the growl.

Finger technique is very important to this tone. Don't play too hard! Try playing very lightly with your fingers near the middle pickup, or maybe closer to the bridge. The motion is hard to describe, and varies a lot from player to player. Some people have more of a "pluck" and some have more of a "smack". For an aggressive nu-metal sound I'll suggest that you try to very lightly "smack" the string instead of plucking it. Your finger should be relaxed and poised above the string; don't rest on the string before playing the note, and don't pull on the string. The neutral position is with your fingers hovering, relaxed, about an inch from the strings. The thumb can rest on a pickup edge if you like. To play a note, you just flick your fingertip in (towards your thumb or palm) and let it glance off the string as it goes by. You don't want to hook on to the string and yank it, so keep the finger relaxed throughout the movement. Once you get the hang of this, you can play pretty fast without getting tired.

It takes a while to get the hang of that. To make recordings in the meantime, play lightly with a pick.

As for gear:

Pickups mattter. A J-bass or P/J combination will work. If you have 2 pickups, use both. The interaction of the pickups helps scoop out some of the midrange, which is crucial to this tone. You can sort of fake it with a P-bass but it takes some radical EQ. Active pickups can help because they tend to be brighter.

EQ. Try severely boosting the upper mids / lower treble - somewhere between 3k and 6k. If you're running direct, kill everything over about 8k - it just sounds tinny and weird to me. Boost the lows too, below about 150 Hz. Or you could start with the lows and highs flat, and cut out the midrange.
Don't be afraid to boost or cut a LOT. This tone depends on EQ, whether it comes from the bass (active EQ), the amp, the DI, whatever. I've found that the SansAmp Bass DI is ready-made for this tone.

Optional: Maybe a touch of distortion, if you have something that's subtle and doesn't kill the low end. Most guitar pedals aren't good for this. A RAT will do if you boost the lows afterward. You're not looking for a big fuzzy sound, just a little more edge, so set the overdrive very low and compensate with the output level.

Compression helps. If you have a compressor to play with, try it. Especially if your finger technique isn't quite happening yet, it'll help smooth out your dynamics. And combined with bright EQ, it'll also help bring out the growly sustain.

Hope that helps somebody!

[dabluesman]

Check out the Hartke B-90 bass amp. It's a 90 watt with a 15" speaker. I'm also a guitar player that does my own backing tracks. I use the B-90 as a practice amp, I dont use it all when recording.

[demensia]

Thanks for all the tips comming in, anyone know any eq / compression techniques for thumb slapping?.. when I record, Im normally slapping diminshed/penatonic scales to get the eerie.. evil bass from beyond the grave craziness.