D.I. or Amp for Bass?

[nate_dennis]

I'm curious what you all are doing with bass. I hear a lot of "just D.I. it" but I wonder if that really is the "best" way of doing things. I don't have a bass amp so D.I. is really all I'm able to do, but .... what do you all think?

 

[dodgeaspen]

I'm curious what you all are doing with bass. I hear a lot of "just D.I. it" but I wonder if that really is the "best" way of doing things. I don't have a bass amp so D.I. is really all I'm able to do, but .... what do you all think?

What about an amp and DI? That's what I've done. I guess it depends on the situation. Did you sell you reel yet?

 

[nate_dennis]

no. I"m not sure I really care to either. I got a lot of "what are you talking about" messages. So....

Dumb question, but how do you D.I. and Amp? Same take or multiple takes?

 

[dodgeaspen]

No same take. Mic your amp and plug the output of the amp into the insert of your mixer. I think I made sense, I'm not sure.

 

[Seafroggys]

while micing and DI is generally consider the best, I just do DI since I don't really have a great sounding bass amp and DI really captures the bass well.

 

[suprstar]

Amp AND di, all the time. Run the mic into your interface, run the DI into your interface, hit record, play. You can always completely ignore the mic track and use 100% di signal, or vice versa. The only time I wouldn't do both is if I didn't have enough channels to record everything at once, ie record a live band with a firepod or something.

 

[ez_willis]

Amp AND di, all the time.

no. you don't need either. i get killer bass tracks running through my guitar pod using an epiphone bass all day long without even trying.

you guys are overthinking this. it's just the bass part. if you can't get a great bass sound in about 10 minutes using a piece of equipment you already have laying around you should probably just quit recording music and take up bowling or something.

 

[suprstar]

I have the channels, I like having options. I like mics, placement, playing with the DI and mic tracks, and the whole process in general. Yeah I've done 3am tracks with only di tracks out of a basspod and yeah they sound fine. Does it SOUND better? IDK, that's subject to opinion, but if nothing else it's more fun for me.

 

[Dogbreath]

I DI my bass all the time. But I blew my bass cab so it kinda limited my options.

 

[ez_willis]

Yeah I've done 3am tracks with only di tracks out of a basspod

i didn't say bass pod. i said guitar pod. the first one they came out with.

this is a song i am almost finished tracking. i need to redo the guits and it ain't mixed but it'll give you somewhat of an idea why IN MY OPINION you don't need to spend money on a bunch of stuff to get a useable bass track.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

while micing and DI is generally consider the best, I just do DI since I don't really have a great sounding bass amp and DI really captures the bass well.

That actually, paradoxically, might be a good reason to use it.

I had a hell of a time getting a bass tone I was happy with - it's what I think I've struggled with the most. I picked up a Sansamp RPM pre a couple years ago, and for a while I was recording through that but still wasn't happy with my tone. I thought the "gain" the preamp produced was, well, awful, but if I kept it really low and just used the EQ it sounded ok, but still wasn't quite what I was after. I had slightly better luck using that direct, then sending an uneffected out to my Recto and recording a slightly grittier track that way, but I still wasn't really happy.

What finally worked for me was running the uneffected out direct, and then running the effected out, with a fair amount of grit from that really unappealing distortion sound I didn't care for, and then blending the two, lowpassing the "clean" channel somewhere around 3-4khz and compressing it a fair amount, then cutting the bass a bit on the gritty channel. The "effected" distorted sound was pretty blah on its own, but with a deeper, clearer low end coming from the clean track, and then offsetting the start times ever so slightly until I liked what I heard, I got something that I really dug.

Here's the demo I was working on when I finally got a bass tone I was happy with - it's pretty rough (especially the solo), but you get the picture.

So, if you can split your signal somehow, run an uneffected DI to the board, and then capture your amp sound as well, give it a shot. It's one of those truisms of recording, but sometimes something that sounds really shitty on its own absolutely owns face in the right context, and sometimes something that sounds great in isolation just doesn't work in the mix.

EZ Willis - I've never actually heard any of your music before, man. Is that you singing? If so you've got a great voice, dude. Musically that's not the kind of thing I normally go for, but I kind of dig that track nonetheless. I'd love to hear some more of your stuff, dude.

 

[ez_willis]

EZ Willis - I've never actually heard any of your music before, man. Is that you singing? If so you've got a great voice, dude. Musically that's not the kind of thing I normally go for, but I kind of dig that track nonetheless. I'd love to hear some more of your stuff, dude.

thanks dude. that's all me except for the guitar track. i'm helping a friend out who wrote the song and wanted to get it layed down. i'll give you some links later. the song is harder than stuff that i normally write.

 

[stevesmith99]

I mic cab with my bass drum mic and a sure sm57. I also DI. In the end if I feel it needs both I use both. If not I just use one or the other. My take is to have tracks I never use as opposed to wishing I would have done one or the other.

 

[suprstar]

i didn't say bass pod. i said guitar pod. the first one they came out with.

this is a song i am almost finished tracking. i need to redo the guits and it ain't mixed but it'll give you somewhat of an idea why IN MY OPINION you don't need to spend money on a bunch of stuff to get a useable bass track.

I like your vox chain, mind if I ask what it is?

is prolly about the best bass sound I've ever got so far, that was a di + a d112 blend.

has a DI-only bass track, sounds kinda similar to yours, more middy, less low low end. It's useable, I just prefer the sound from the 1st track. Sounds fuller, richer, rounder, whatever. I spent a lot more time shaping the mic track bass sound, I could prolly develop my di tracks better, but they always get re-tracked with an amp before I get too far into the mixing process. Before too long, that recoil song will have a bass sound like the cover.

Disclaimer - bass isn't my primary instrument ...

 

[ez_willis]

I like your vox chain, mind if I ask what it is?...

sure, it's an sp b1 into logic with a little delay added. it's two tracks, one lower in volume to fatten it up a little.

 

[grimtraveller]

no. you don't need either. i get killer bass tracks running through my guitar pod using an epiphone bass all day long without even trying.

you guys are overthinking this. it's just the bass part. if you can't get a great bass sound in about 10 minutes using a piece of equipment you already have laying around you should probably just quit recording music and take up bowling or something.

An interesting view, not very salty......I think you mean this one ! I think the problem for some of us bass players isn't so much not being able to get a useable bass tone or one that others think is great as it is getting one that we like. It's silly really but there you go.
Incidentally, I read in an old-ish post that you layer your vocals with 'shitty takes' and then put them all together to get something more pleasing. Well, maybe you've changed, but I think you were being hard on yourself. Your vocal is fantastic.
As for bowling, every now and again, I get a strike.....like once every nine years.....

 

[ez_willis]

the problem for some of us bass players isn't so much not being able to get a useable bass tone or one that others think is great as it is getting one that we like. .

bass is my primary instrument. I don't pretend to think that a bass tone will make or break a tune. FOR ME, i would rather get the damn thing tracked and move on to the instruments that i barely know how to play.

and thanks for the comment on my vocals. it's appreciated.

 

[moresound]

i didn't say bass pod. i said guitar pod. the first one they came out with.

this is a song i am almost finished tracking. i need to redo the guits and it ain't mixed but it'll give you somewhat of an idea why IN MY OPINION you don't need to spend money on a bunch of stuff to get a useable bass track.

Finally got to listen to "lit it up" I believe that's what the title was under -this is a song. Not a bad piece of work there.Now it sounded kinda open (a good thing) did you use compression yet if so where and how much and what was the compressor?

 

[bozmillar]

I go DI only. Let's get real, it's a bass. Most bassists are just people who quit playing guitar and don't know how to get good tone from their amp anyways.

Bass is one of those instruments that as long as it's not awkwardly bad, nobody will really care what it sounds like unless it's an obviously bass driven song.

 

[moresound]

I go DI only. Let's get real, it's a bass. Most bassists are just people who quit playing guitar and don't know how to get good tone from their amp anyways.

Bass is one of those instruments that as long as it's not awkwardly bad, nobody will really care what it sounds like unless it's an obviously bass driven song.

I'm glad you said most bassists cause it's my first instrument, I'm classically Trained on the double bass. Then I went on to learning other instruments.

Now I think Geddy Lee/ Flea/ John Entwistle/ John Paul Jones/ Stanley Clark ... just to name a few would like to talk to you on this matter