Acoustic Bass Sound

H

HD4ME

New member
Hi, this is my first post so be gentle.
For years I dragged around a beat up old bass that was in about 20 pieces after exploding one day. My best pal talked me into bringing it over so he could fix it and he did.
I am curious what you guys think about it. I carved some 100 Hz and compressed a bit. Buddy's bedroom is the studio and you hear trucks on the street and my squeaky chair along with 15-20 guitars and things resonating with every clack of the slide. We have a lot of fun and don't get that serious about things, but at the same time I would like to know if things are in the ball park. Thanks!
 

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There is an emphasis on bass in your post and in the mix of the song. I am not big on this style so I can't tell if the song is original or a cover. If it is original it is pretty good, and the singing is also good and has a nice rasping quality, but is lacking in presence because of the bass emphasis in the mix.

A common mistake of home studio's is to cover everything in carpet and other soft material, which kills the presence, but doesn't "control' the bass, which tends to move through things.

I would love to hear a nice crisp version of this.
 
Nice song!
The first thing that hit me was the balance with a lot of the weight being on the left- and pepole getting in and out of the pocket. The balance thing is mostly from the congas, but the ear' got used to that soon enough.
There's a lot of nice interplay between the instruments you have in there. But for the pocket problems :) I'd say go in with automation and cheery pick and flesh out that interplay, including the keys!
 
Its rare to hear someone mix with more bass than I do. The bass is out of control in this mix, very boomy and makes everything else sound distant.

Cool song, like the playing.

Pete
 
Thanks a bunch you guys that is the kind of feedback I was hoping for. What I am mixing on / in is not very accurate, but the biggest reason its so loud I think is that it was a new toy and I wanted to hear it sort of isolated just to live with it a bit in the car. We were moving the sound post around and I came to find that where it was the loudest sounded good in the room but didn't translate to the recording. The big bottom that was cool to jam with just turned into boom. I thought we got it a lot flatter, but I still took out a pile of 100 Hz. So much so that I was worried there was nothing left.
 
I hear you on the pocket stuff. Truth is I love my brother but he is ADD as shit and I'm lucky to get more than 2 passes on anything lol. I would love to work on 'real' tracks, but thats just not gonna happen till I set up at my own place. Til then it's a barrel of monkeys!
 
Messed with it a bit tonight.
 

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Well.. I like the first one better. I'm sorry I even mentioned that shit about panning'. :D #1's wider, more fun.
A little side trip about the bass. I listened to #1 the first time on AKG 240's, this time each on speakers and the 240's. Interesting thing about those phones (least on my head- they're a little lite in the bottom few octaves, but they also do a sort of bump where they bring out 'throat tones- I wan'na say like the 400-800 range', but I've not been able to duplicate it with eq.
The point of all that, is on the mains the bass down in the verses is pretty 'round and heavy.
Only when he(?) goes into the upper registers on the four and five, do the string tones come out.
The 240's.. for what it's worth, were like a natural fix' for the bass in the mix.
Not saying dumping some 50-100 is the fix, I've found sometimes chasing 'articulation tones on bass down there is a dead end, and 'full ends up better.
I really like the song though. Strikes me as a song that would be fun to do. But I ain't got that smoky' vocal thing you have there. Song's sort of like a 'Robbie Robertson meets ..I don't know who :D
 
Thanks lots mixsit, it's really nice when someone other than your wife or your best friend tells you ya did something cool!

I soloed the inst.group last night trying to automate interplay between the dobro, mando and wha. When I turned the bass back on the amount of bottom was just stupid. When I turned it down most of the boom disappeared. Who would have thought? I wish there was a way to record what is in my head while I'm recording it! That sounds great! There is a huge bump either in the room or the instrument around 100. I pulled way more than I comfortable with, and it still booms.
The first mix sounded muddy compared to other things. I called it swampy, but I pulled some mids on the dobro trying to make it sound like everything else and may have sucked the charm out. You're right about the panning. I never had a concept for it that I felt good about.
~edit~ That my buddy singing. He would be thrilled with the Robertson thing. He is the singer cause he sucks the least between us, lol. Thank you Les Paul!
Scott
 
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