bass recording?!?

[bruiser86]

i'm new to any kind of recording and i'm looking for some help with recording bass. i have a firestudio project interface with cubase LE4 software. in other DIY studios they've mic'd my bass amp and ran a DI from the head to the interface. seeing as its a power amp could it hurt the interface? if so what is the best way to record bass?

 

[KineticSound]

Bruiser,
As long as you're taking the signal from either the "headphone" or "direct out" jacks on the bass head, you won't harm the interface. The only thing carrying serious power is the speaker output. You may find that the line connection sounds fine to you - there's no rule that says you have to mic the cabinet, too.

 

[bruiser86]

thanks a lot man i just didn't want to tear anything up. and yeah my bands just toying around with different techniques to find the best sound. any other suggestions?

 

[Dogbreath]

Blending a DI and a mic'd amp is pretty common. Another thing to try would be to track your DI, then copy/paste it to another track. Then EQ them differently. Compress em differently too. Play with the panning. See if you can find where it sits best with the kick and the rest of the mix.

Sometimes I've found it works pretty well. Other times, not so good.

Peace.........Kel

 

[bruiser86]

i apologise for my ignorance on the subject but compression... i use a lot on my amp should i not do that when i record; if i mic the amp

 

[greyharmonix]

i apologise for my ignorance on the subject but compression... i use a lot on my amp should i not do that when i record; if i mic the amp

just record it and hear if it sounds good.

 

[Rokket]

DI and mic the cab. But don't use the outs on the head, get an A/B splitter and put one signal directly into the interface.

Any effects you put on the track will be permanent. You won't be able to do much with it in the full mix. If you need to use compression on the bass at all while recording, you should examine your playing techniques. Bass is really wild as far as sound range goes anyhow, and even the most even player will be all over the place attack-wise. Especially if you are playing a chugging bassline. Compress during mixing. Play better while tracking.

 

[Marcadiablo]

I compress a little going in, then, at mixing, I squash the hell out of it with a Waves L2 Ultramaximixer. Sounds really, really good.

 

[noisedude]

I use a Hartke VXL Bass Attack DI - plug into that, send the balanced output to the mic preamp (running the DI off +48v phantom) and can then send the parallel output to my amp and mic that up if desired.

I always like to play with a little compression, it's part of my sound and I like the one on my head so I leave it on there. If you're going to do tonnes of compression later, make sure you've done everything in your power to keep the hiss down on the way in, which means standing away from your amp unless you play a Stingray or similar with humbuckers.