How do you record bass for Rock/heavy music?

[frank_1]

no matter what I do I can't get a good bass sound. I record direct, with a DeArmond active bass.

I tried useing the Line 6 Bass POD but I haven't gotten that right sound. I have also tried using the Art MP with out any luck.

I'm going for that Sum 41, 311, ozzy osbourne, disturbed sound. Or the sound of Korn and Flybanger.

Any suggestions? How would you record bass?

 

[RyanEmerson]

Well, as a newbie, I don't know much, but what's worked for me is compression. Mix in that and a bit of distortion, a bit of delay, and you can get a nice, full sound.

 

[distortedrumble]

those bass stylings are different i guess you want a blend of them?...also....being an active bass, it doesnt need a preamp does it? i use a fender squier P-bass through a DI that uses the mixer preamp's phantom power....the EQ on the mixer is set at 12 for the High, 11 for mids and 2 almost 3 for the bass. also i use a compressor. it gives it a nice full and still punchy sound. try copying the track twice in whatever software you use...it brings up the overall volume and dynamics.

 

[Gidge]

i either go thru a J-Station or thru a Joe Meek VC3Q with my cheapy Fender Squier bass.....considering the facts that i suck at playing bass and using bottom of the line equipment, my expectations are very low.....but even still, every now and then i get a passable tone.....

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Try splitting the signal off the bass to both your DI device and to an amp that you have mic'd with something like a EV RE20, AKG D112 or MD421 microphone. Regular tips for recording a bass amp apply--watch the volume levels and don't let them be very loud or you will rumble everything. Prop up the amp off the floor and at an angle to reduce floor reflections/rumble as well as standing waves.

Mix the two signals together, the DI should be the punchy low end and the mids/treble should be from the amp for "tone". Compress about 4:1 with maybe 50ms attack, 125ms release, threshold around -20db and makeup about 2-4db of gain on the output.

When you EQ the bass I tend to aim for something along this line: 100hz boost by 4-5 db, cut 200-300hz or so by maybe 5-6db, bit of a boost around 2db at 800hz, and maybe a 2.5khz boost for extra 'pick' attack.

Good luck!!!

 

[strmkr]

Have you tried using a different bass? I'm not familiar with what kinds of basses the players you are referencing use, but the bass and playing technique are going to be the first links in the chain to creating the tone you are looking for.

You might be better off to beg,borrow or steal(jk) the bass that is going to make the sound you are looking for right at the source rather than drive yourself nuts trying to manipulate the tone of the bass you have into something it isn't.

Good Luck!

 

[distortedrumble]

oh yeah and i forgot to add that my experience is that active basses seem to have more of a growl to them than passive basses....this may be different from other peoples experiences though

 

[chessrock]

You might be better off to beg,borrow or steal(jk) the bass that is going to make the sound you are looking for right at the source rather than drive yourself nuts trying to manipulate the tone of the bass you have into something it isn't.

As disappointing as it might sound, he's right.

From my experience . . . ultimately, the tone of the bass and how it rests in a mix is going to be almost entirely determined by the bass itself (what model, what condition it's in, the action, the strings, technique, etc.).

What preamp / DI or amplifier it's plugged in to going in is going to be relatively insignificant in the bigger picture. It might be time to ask yourself if the DeArmond is cutting it for the tone you're after (and be honest with yourself).

 

[formerlyfzfile]

Building on what Chess and Cloneboy stated....

Blend a DI and mic'd amp.

The amp rig is the 3rd most important thing.
1st is your fingers and playing technique.
2nd of course is the instrument.
3rd is the amp (if using one).

I am not extremely familair with the bands you mentioned but Korn does seem wildly different from Sum 41 in their bass tones.

But I have recently had very good results by taking the Direct output of the bass amp head and dumping most of the highs and high mids.
The DI signal alows for a great transfer of a clean low end.
I also compressed the DI signal pretty heavily 6:1 with about 8-12db of gain reduction.
I blended this with an RE20 3ft from the bass cab aimed between the horn and speaker..... I left the bass roll of on the mic engaged.
This signal I only limited slightly at the loudest peaks by 2 or 3 db.
The speaker/mic combo produces its own kind of compression.
The amp was moderately loud.
The bass was a Warwick active.
The sound achieved was a really crisp clean piano string sound that still has a lot of bottom end power.
If I wanted more bottom I could have mixed the DI in a little more and switched the roll off out on the mic.

Oh yeah ....... bottom end ...... you will not be able to get REAL bottom end without substantial amplifacation (imho).
Even direct.
Borrow or use a 300 or 400 watt bass head and record direct out of the head (even with a passive bass) and compare to the sound of your active bass recorded direct by itself.
Even with out the blended mic'd signal your the sound will be much different and more powerful.

May or may not be as clean but low end needs wattage.

Keep experimenting.


-mike