Recording Bass Guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wiskyman
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Wiskyman

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I seem to have a problem recording bass.
The volumes tends to swell back and forth when I record a bass track.
I use a compressor and sometimes I dont,it does it either way.

Is there something I could try to solve this problem?
 
Is it doing it on all strings and in all registers of the neck?
 
It swells on all strings.
I dont know if its something to do with how I play but its kinda frustrating.
I try to play with alot of control and keep my right hand steady through the whole song.
I run it through a compressor and then it starts to pop here and there,even adjusting the compressor all over the place doesnt really do me much good.

Most people wouldnt really notice it,but if anyone that knows anything about recording would here it.
 
I tend to have the same problem but I have always had problems with my attack to the strings, I play heavy handed even been known to break strings while playing live. It may very well be a connection problem the way you say it pops now and then. Do you know if you have a good quality output jack on your bass? A worn jack gets loose giving you bad connections, as well as your volume pots. They will also give you bad signals if they are old or dirty. Are you using a direct box or going direct into the board?
 
I go in to a compressor then directly in the console.
Just tonight I plugged into a graffic eq to an amp then to the compressor the to the console.It sounded much better,but still I had to keep my eye on the monitoring levels.

I dont understand how bass players that do alot of slapping and all that stuff manage to keep an even level through to whole track,even with a compressor,would'nt it still be uneven?
Ive been experimenting alot and when I try to slap it really goes way over the clipping point and sounds so terrible I stay away from slapping alltogether.

Sooner or later ill figure it out!
 
Wiskyman,

If you Bass is set up well ( pickups etc...) then It sounds to me like you not setting the compressor right.
For snaps and pops, you should use a limiter.

Try this for compressing-
set ratio between 3:1 and 7:1-experiment with this.

set attack time at fast but not to fast or you will remove the attack of the bass note.

Set release time about .5 sec.

Adjust threshold for about 6db at the strongest part of your track.
_________________________________________________________

For Limiting if you are snaping or thumps try this.
Ratio - 10:1
attack time -fast
adjust the threshold so that it only affects the snaps and thumps

Good Luck !
 
Ya...it sounds like your compressor isn't doing it's job. I have the worlds worst bass, but when I go through a compressor it sounds just fine.


[This message has been edited by monty (edited 03-05-2000).]
 
Yo wiskyman...I know just what your talking about with the bass signal, we tried recording for quite a while with just bass/direct box/comp/ and never seemed to get the right signal going on until I bought a art tube mp, and then we had a very good signal to work with, really got rid of that "swelling back-n-forth" sound as you say, but dont take my word for it ask Mr. sonusman, He be the man to ask!
 
hey whiskey,

some good points have already been made, but you may have a problem in your signal path as well. your compressor (and eq) wants to see a line level signal rather than the signal coming from your bass. try going into a direct box, then from the direct box xlr to your mixing board. then use the mixing board's insert (assuming it has inserts) on whatever channel you're using for your comp. you can also insert pedal effects this way and it'll sound alot better. this is the same as using an effect loop on an amp. hope this helps.

tony
 
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