i need clearer bass sound! Help!!

[yoder]

greetings everyone...
I'm relatively new to digital recording, and i'm looking for suggestions on recording bass....so far i haven't had much luck getting a good overall sound. I've been recording direct out of a carvin bass head into my vs1880, and i have a hard time getting that clear, boomy bass that you hear on commercial songs. I'm just wondering if there's a better technique i should use during the actual recording, or if there's something i could do during mixdown to help. I'd appreciate any suggestions! thanks,
Mike

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

In general, bass clarity can be improved in the following areas with these settings:

-2db @ 50 hz
+4 @ 400 hz
+2 @ 2.5 khz

That being said, you don't want to "automatically" go to these settings all the time. You need to listen to the context of the tracks surrounding the bass and make adjustments accordingly as needed PER SONG.

Bruce

 

[Shailat]

There are SO many variables to this.

* what bass are you using
* Active or passive pick ups ?
* Recording direct or not
* Active or passive Di's ?
* compression/limiting
* mic placment (if used)
* Mic choice (if used)
* Combination using a DI with a amp
* The use of a preamp of various sorts
* Condition of strings ( dull ?)
* Played with pick or thumb or fingers ?
* played closer to the bridge or to neck?
* Room ambience if mic'ed
* Use of EQ

May I suggest you use the searh for these specific topics in connection to a Bass and that should get you on the way

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

Let me revise my original reply...

...and ONLY AFTER looking into everything that Shailat very correctly just pointed, you can look into the EQ areas I posted.



Bruce

 

[nyaben]

Yoder,

I've found that you have to really work a lot harder to get a good bass sound going digital versus analog. It used to be no problem at all to get the tone, etc. when I went to tape. Now it's a struggle to get it just right each time. The guys who posted above are right...try all of that and more. My bass actually has too much energy around 150 Hz and I end up notching that area a bit. The foundational energy around 40-60 Hz may need cutting a bit to allow the harmonic frequencies to come through and keep from overpowering the mix.

Good luck!