bass sounds like poop.

A

AvoidTheClap

New member
i know it may be the bass (fender jazz type bass), thats playing with fairly aggressive rock/metal music. its just way too pingy & not enough of a thump to the mix.
i'm doing direct, because i wasn't happy with mixing the cab. should i get a DI box?
or are there any eq/vst techniques i'm unaware of?

thanks.
 
It's counter-intuitive, but a highpass filter can make the bass really jump out of a mix. Compression can help a lot, too.

By "going direct", you mean that you're plugging the bass straight into a line input? If so, yes; a direct box could help a lot. Many people (myself included!) find that the cheap ART "tube" preamps sound nicer than they ought to when used as a bass DI.
 
The reason people use DI boxes is to match impedances. An impedance mismatch, which is what you're dealing with, affects the instrument's sound in an undesirable way.
 
I would record the cab and the DI and spend some time really listening to the differences in the two sounds. I find that the mic recording has more clarity, but also losses definition more in the lo end. Where as the DI is pretty much the exact opposite. You could try using two compressors for the bass rather than just one.
Use one for the lo to mid end and one for the mid to high end.
This measn you can set different compression settings for each band and get a more constant volume which will in turn mix alot easier. Use an EQ to take the top half of the frequencies and add a compressor with a faster attack and maybe more ratio. Make a copy of the original track and add an EQ with only the lo to mid end and add a compressor with a slower attack.
 
i suppose i'll try micing it first.

dynamic mic? small condeser? large condeser? wha?
i assume large?
& are there any suggested mic placement tricks for micing bass?
it's a pevey switchable tube/solid state head with an old school hartke 4x10.

thanks.
 
Here's an old technuque I learned from a grzzly old engineer. It takes three tracks.

1) DI

2) Mic the cabinet in seperate room away from player.

3) Mic player in ISO booth with phones listening to his signal and record the string noise itself.

Once you mix the three you'll be surprised how much of an extra oomph you get. The third track with the sting noise really adds an extra attack/punch you can use to make your bass sound out. It works even better if the bass player uses a pick
 
HogansHiro said:
Here's an old technuque I learned from a grzzly old engineer. It takes three tracks.

1) DI

2) Mic the cabinet in seperate room away from player.

3) Mic player in ISO booth with phones listening to his signal and record the string noise itself.

Once you mix the three you'll be surprised how much of an extra oomph you get. The third track with the sting noise really adds an extra attack/punch you can use to make your bass sound out. It works even better if the bass player uses a pick
Click to expand...

With all respect, this seems a little over the top for someone just trying to get an acceptable tone.

Another thing, once you have the DI box or mic setup taken care of: If you want more thump, use flatwound strings and mute the strings a la Carol Kaye. Thousands of "thumpy" recordings have been done with a Jazz bass, so it shouldn't be too hard...
 
When you say you're going direct, are you putting the bass through the amp and taking the amp's line out and putting that to your computer, or are you going straight from the bass to your computer?

If you're recording from the amp, try different EQ settings. Sometimes, a change you thought wouldn't work, actually does.

There's no 'right' or 'best' way to do it. If there was, then it wouldn't be called the art or recording, would it?

EDIT: using a DI box will definately help you.
 
I miked a bass cab with a D112 and a s12e yamaha speaker the other day.... worked good. depends wot sound your after, but speaker picked up so much of the bass frequencies, could get a great sound from it.. any way..... just thought id say :)
 
AGCurry said:
With all respect, this seems a little over the top for someone just trying to get an acceptable tone.

Another thing, once you have the DI box or mic setup taken care of: If you want more thump, use flatwound strings and mute the strings a la Carol Kaye. Thousands of "thumpy" recordings have been done with a Jazz bass, so it shouldn't be too hard...
Click to expand...


Going over the top for a good sound is what seperates the amateur sounding recordings from the professional ones. Bass is probably one of the hardest instruments to get right. I've worked on projects that had six bass feeds coming from the same bass to get multiple tones for the intro/verse/chorus. It's all relative to what you're recording.

EXPERIMENT....On one industrial tune, I ran the bass signal through a noise gate/compressor and then ran that initial attack signal into an Alesis D4 drum module. The bass attack then triggered a kick drum which I EQ'd the living shit out of to get it to a muffled thump that mixed perfectly with the bass. gave it an unbeleivable solid even sound without being too percussive.

Over the top?..... maybe
Perfect for the song? .....hell ya

Here's a pretty decent article from EM.
http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=33&releaseid=5577&magazinearticleid=65436&siteid=15
 
Redshoes

I have also purchased a Yamaha S12e speaker and I love the sound.

I mainly do guitar and vocals in wine bars and busking in town centres .

I have a Phonic poweredpod 620 which is an entry level powered mixer but that going through the Yamaha S12e speaker its sounds incredible.

Lovely crisp highs and bottom end.

i was originally going to get a phonic passive loudspeaker but the guy in the PA centre told me to try this Yamaha one out, I am glad I did.


David
 
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