Secret bass guitar recording tips...

[pookadilly]

Have you checked out the Avalon U5? It's being used all over the place and works amazingly well. I go from the bass to the U5 then into a Neve CIB (channel in a box) and compressor/eq on the way in.

The only thing I've had to do in the mix itself is throw a waves Q6 to get rid of some bass players string/finger noise on the track and I always stick a Waves L1 Limiter (not the ultramaxizer or anything) below the EQ as an insert and get way down on it to give it that tight low end that you want to hear on the recordings. At that point the level should remain constant throughout the entire track (don't squash it too much or the mastering portion will be a nightmare, just enough to make all the notes the same volume while still maintaining the "feel" of the track) and you can adjust the fader as necessary.

Hope that helped!

[johnwhynot]

For me it really depends on the situation.

First of all, a Fender bass (a real one) is a real help.

I tend to use passive DI 's into class A solid-state electronics. I compress with whatever's available. Some players sound good with a good smack of compression, others are better with a gentler approach.

Check the bass on bigger speakers.

Don't EQ if you can possibly avoid it. Definitely don't add bottom end - you can really @uck it up that way.

I usually have an amp (at low volume) in the room, and of course a mike goes on it (usually something like a 421 or RE20, sometimes a FET 47) but I'm also really enamoured with the sound of the bass amp in other mikes, particularly the drum overheads.

When I'm at home I use the guitar POD straight in. Sounds great.

JW

[chris.d]

take a t.c. fireworx and start messing around with preset f044.

[Kenny Gioia]

This is nuttin' new, but I'll chime in anyway.

Good player - Good part-

Fender P Bass (prefer 2 pickup model)

Neve 1272 - Daking EQ
a bit of 100Hz - Deep
a bit of 300hz - 450hz - Growl
a bit of 1kHz - Cut or bite

Distressor Compressor 4-6:1
attack 4 release 4

Duplicate track and put Sansamp on track 2 and add just enuff to give you a little more punch.

[syra]

My chain is Gas Cooker to Massive Passive. For a rock production I find myself cutting gently below 100 Hz with a shlef and adding that to the kick (I expect some extra low end to be pushed during mastering). Usually boost from 180 to 220 with a bell for body, 1 K for bite and 3-6 k for string sound. Almost always make sure the players onbass eq to be flat (unless it is a crappy bass and that might help).

Peace, syra

[Borgbilly]

For direct, Avalon 737sp or my old favorite, the 'instrument in' on a Drawmer 1960.

The real fun is mic'ing a bass rig. Each rig is different, but there are some things that seem to work more times than not for me. A large diaphram condensor 3 or 4 feet away and very close to the floor is a first grab. Another is to use a couple of modest dynamic mics, one close to the speaker straight into the center of the cone and one about 45 degrees off axis (into the side of the cone) with the heads as close together as possible. The straight on mic will be very bright and the off-axis mic will be very dark. Mix them both to one track using the balance between the mics to adjust your 'eq'. I got this trick from an old school producer. It was his 'go to' guitar amp mic'ing technique. It works equally well on bass rigs.

Lastly, here is a technique that you might want to play with if you have lots of time. Grab a raw 15" speaker and place it in front of the bass cabinet. Wire the input leads of the speaker to a 1/4" plug and plug it into the input of an active DI, using the speaker as a HUGE diaphram mic. Combine this signal with one of the above mic techniques to add some subsonic grind to the sound. Placement of the speaker is tricky so take time to move it around.

[MidnightFlyer]

I was just shown this. I recently recorded a bass track through a Neve, and used Compressorbank. It sounded fine to me. But then a friend came over and took off Compbank, put on SansAmp (plugin) preset to 30-SVT, and Channelstrip second, just tweaking a bit. The bass suddenly jumped out there. I'll be using this combo a lot.

[PTUser NYC]

Sure. Adding harmonic distortion adds more energy in the overtones. No surprise there! Keep in mind that unless you are listening on large speakers, the low frequencies can get lost. If the Bass Guitar is recorded cleanly, without a lot of overtones, it can easily get lost too.

When you add distortion (more energy in the overtones) you make it easier to hear the Bass in situations where the fundamental is hard (or impossible) to hear. Some preamps, (like Neve) and compressors (like 1176) have transformers that add overtones too - people love them on Bass for the same reason.

Addition of more overtone energy can help for any low instrument. One good example is Kick Drum. Adding distortion, or even Room Tone with more energy at higher frequencies can make a Kick Drum speak better in more situations. For more, see Bonham, John.

[Dr. J]

On the record we're currently tracking, we are using, believe it or not, a Carvin head (touch of head's compressor), direct out into an Avalon 737sp, bypass comp, touch of eq. Sounds excallant! Bass player is also using a custom Carvin Bass (5 string), which is one of the finest sounding instruments I've ever heard. It's got completely even tones up and down the neck.