Recording the bass..What technique do you use?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MISTERQCUE
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MISTERQCUE

MISTERQCUE

Not Just Anutha Brutha
Do most of you record your bass direct to the board with compression and a DI box,record by micing the cabinet thru
compression or direct into a board with neither effect.
I use the direct-in method w/o efx and sometimes find that
the bass sounds decent if I use the 75hz roll-off,however using that function negates the subharmonics or "boominess" I want to feel on the recording. I eq a lil to obtain some deep bottom to match the thump produced by the bass drum but it seems like it's just not sounding quite right. I'm recording to adats.
If I use comp, will I lose the "boominess" and upper end range when I switch on 75hz-cut.
Or would one leave the 75hz-cut,comp the bass, increase a lil bottom eq.
I'm trying to produce the bass-tone equivalent of Stanley Clarke on the slap and Will Lee's low end subharmonics at the same time. I know it sounds crazy, but I can produce this tone when I'm playing live thru an amp,but can't seem to get it right on adat.
As usual thanking every-1 in advance1
Mr.Q
 
Mr Q. I usually go thru my mixer which has some fx built in. I use a chamber type reverb, then run that signal thru my comp. I then usually apply a boost in eq around 2 to 4khz to open up the high end a little. I have gotten some great results doing this. The bass sound I get sometimes, is my vavorite part of the song. Just to let you know, I am a guitar player before a bass player. Hope this helps.

Joe
 
most guys DI the bass

As far as eq,cut 200 Hz boom with a 10db/octave rolloff below that.Small boost at 300 Hz for punch.The modern sound boosts the treble in a way I don't particularly find musical,but I guess people want to hear all that popping and snapping.Your milage may vary.
Tom
 
Hey JC, in another thread you said you use the 3630. Brutha'
I cannot fathom or find any human way to achieve the tone I want or any tone for that matter using the 3630. I,however thankyou and appreciate your response.
Mr.Q
 
Mr Q. I realy wish I knew what I am missing not having anything other that this #^#) (I mean 3630). I have used no other. I am getting my opinion about this thing from everyone here. Isn't it strange that I can get a bad opinion on something without anything else to compare to just by listening to a bunch of other people who are looking for the perfect sound. Anyway, no probs man. Just pray for me that I might somehow come across the money to buy something better.
 
yo misterQ,check out the magazine electronic musician from a few months ago ,the cover says "the outer limits"(has a picture of a hand rigged up to a midi thingie)but anyway there is a great article on achieving bass sounds,most of it ,when you read it,you might already know,but they do throw in a couple helpful things that make ya say"ohhhhhh yeah,that's right!!!hmmmm....."by the way,whaT IS YER BASS RIG?
 
Misterqcue,

You may want to look into Music Man single pickup bass. My neighbor has one, and I have a Rickenbacker, talk about two different sounding basses! Music man has a very defined bass tone. This might be a start to what you are trying to achieve.

Also try the Bass pod, got a great review in guitar mag.

I personally run my Rick throught my pod, no fx, through the one bass amp model, 59 Fender Bassman model, sounds pretty good.

The bass tones on the new Steely Dan album are awesome.

GT
 
Recording bass

Mr Q
If you are happy with the amp sound and if you have a large diaphram mic, mic your amp (find the sweet spot in the room) and take the direct as well. Compress both to taste and mix together. I would probably compress the direct fairly heavily to get a big bottom and the amp a bit lighter (to keep the dynamics and you don't want to bring up the noise of the amp). beware of phasing. You may have to time align the mic signal to the di. I work in Protools so that is easily done, I'm not sure about your setup but it's food for thought.

Hope this helps
Brenton
 
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