Listen to my bass track...

S

SKYflyer

New member
Ok I just finished recording and EQing a bass sample. I'm kind of new at recording, so I'm not sure if this is a decent sound.

My setup:
Ampeg bass amp into Presonus Firebox, with Sonar Cakewalk. The clips that have the bass amp mic'd are using an SM 57 (not the best for a bass amp, I know, but I would still think it could yield usable recordings).

Here is the raw direct out of the bass amp:


Here is the raw clip of the bass amp mic'd:


Now, I do not have the best speakers (I don't even have monitors), but on my regular computer speakers, these clips don't appear to be sounding great. They sound ok at soft volumes, but when I turn it up, the really distort the speakers and make it sound as if it were clipping, even though it is not. Is this normal behaviour for a raw bass recording to sound this way?

I managed to alleviate much of the problem by putting a bit of EQ and compression on the raw recordings above, but I am concerned that if I got a bad raw recording, I could be getting an even better sound without needing to use so much EQ and compression had I recorded it better.

Here is the direct out of the bass amp with EQ and compression:


Here is the bass amp mic'd with EQ and compression:


So, to my ears, these edited clips sound usable and decent to me. Would you guys agree? And is it normal for the raw recordings to sound so bad and to badly distort my speakers at even not very loud volume levels like they did for me?
 
To me, the raw tracks sound way better than the processed ones, I'm afraid. My guess would be that your computer speakers can't handle uncompressed low frequencies at higher volume levels very well. The raw tracks are definitely usable, though.
 
They sound fine to me. EQ and compression will probably need to be readjusted once you get them in a mix.

I turned my computer speakers up and heard no dist. Then just to be sure loaded them into Cubase to get a look at them and see if my monitors [for what theyre worth] showed me anything the logitech's didn't. Still sounded fine, the level was just a bit low.

You're going to need a new monitoring setup if your speakers get overloaded by just the bass track. Even just a line out to a stereo (shudders) might be a better option. Or maybee for now just work with a lower volume?
 
Well, despite the apparent crappyness of my speakers, my speakers are similar, I would imagine, to the speakers that countless other people use, and if my mix doesn't sound good on my speakers, I would reason that it would also not sound good on many other people's speakers. Additionally, professionally mixed songs sound fine on my computer even at higher volumes, so they must be doing something differently (well that is obvious I suppose; they are pros).
 
I agree the raw bass sounds alot better the the processed bass if it aint broke don't fix as Murphy's saids. The way I record bass is DI and mic then mix to taste try it and see.
 
twostone said:
I agree the raw bass sounds alot better the the processed bass if it aint broke don't fix as Murphy's saids. The way I record bass is DI and mic then mix to taste try it and see.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%
 
Your raw vs processed tracks can be thought of in the shape of an inverted eight, Your raw is sounding very full, good job, whereAs the processed sounds like you squared off the high and low ends, boxing the sound a bunch.
 
ughh this is perplexing... Despite that the raw tracks may sound better, they make my speakers distort at even low volumes. I mean I could get new speakers, but still, I would think the bass would still clip at low levels on other people's speakers if they tried to listen to my mixes in that case. I guess I'll just have to live with only being able to mix at lower volume levels then, hehe.
 
What speakers are you actually using? These bass tracks are NOT clipping which means it's your speakers that are overloading. I used hifi speakers once upon a time as well and they distorted on low frequencies too. If you can't trust what you're hearing then you need to get yourself some monitors asap. Even cheapie monitors will do, believe me they wont distort unless the signal is actually clipping/going above 0dB/recorded with distortion.

The other possibility is that you are going deaf and have the speakers set at a ridiculous volume. How are your ears? :p

You probably wouldn't notice the distortion on finished tracks because it blends in with all the other sounds, plus bass sounds cool when overdriven! I'm sure there's a more technical answer to do with speaker dynamics or something. :D

good luck ;)
 
Well, I checked out the DI'd recordings, raw and processed, on three monitoring systems: a pair of HR 824s, a pair of Klipsch bookshelf speakers, and a pair of Altec Lansing PC speakers. Except for some very low level hiss they are as clean as Tommy Chong's herb. Somebody's speakers are either blown or simply can't handle anything much below 70Hz if they are breaking up playing this stuff.

The main differences between the two files is that the raw one has signifigant energy between 30Hz and 70Hz and is active virtually all the way down to DC, and has virtually no content above 1kHz. The processed one, OTOH, is noticably shelved at about 85Hz and the energy drops off quickly below 50Hz, so it does not have the subharmonics that the raw file does. Additionally, the processed file has siginfigant midrange boost with a 4-5 dB advantage in the presence peaks between 750Hz and 1kHz, along with signifigant additional details in the 1kHz - 2kHz range.

Which one sounds better? Neither sounds *better*. They sound different.

The question really is, which one will fit in the mix better? If the mix needs more of a low end anchor to balance the spectral dimension, the raw one may be the better of the two. If it's a fairly dense mix with some low end content already, the processed one might sound better because it'll cut through the mud better. Also, the raw one might be more of a jazz/bluse ballad sound, whereas the processed one might be more of a funk riff or teen rock sound. Pick the right sound for the right job. But neither is "better" overall, IMHO.

G.
 
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ok, well thanks for all the input guys. I guess maybe my speakers are just messed up, so I'll try playing this stuff on some other speakers also.
 
FWIW... here's your Bass Direct Out Raw clip with compression. Both mine and yours are averaging about -22db RMS FS Hopefully you won't have to tweak the volume control to compare. The RAW clip's initial levels are low, then the run is very loud, followed by inconsistent levels. The compressed clip levels are more even. Of course this is not a finished product and may require some EQing fit the song.

Bass Direct Out Compressed

Do you hear distortion with my clip.
 
yes, keiffer I still hear distortion when I turn up my speakers, but after doing some thinking and after having been away from loud guitars and bass amps for a day or two, it makes me realize that maybe my clips are louder than I thought they were before, since I was used to everything being super loud (from the bass amp and stuff) when I was recording and listening to this track.

So I guess its a combination of me not having the best speakers and also I thought the volume level at which my speakers started to distort was not very loud, when in fact it is a somewhat acceptable level.
 
something must be set incorrectly in your gain structure. the avg RMS level for my clip was really low.

good luck

kp-
 
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