Recording Bass

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jeremyb
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Recording Bass

Post by jeremyb »

Was wondering what options people are using for recording bass and their experiences?

I have a few options I'm going to try, my Ampero has bass amps and I can run that direct into my interface, I also have a Darkglass preamp clone (B7K) I was going to try direct, and I have guitar rig 5 which came free with my keyboard.

With the DG B7K clone would I still need to run an amp simulation of some kind?
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by NippleWrestler »

I go direct into Reaper and use the Darkglass VST from Neural DSP. Then compression and EQ. It's basic but it does the job for basic stuff.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by Kris »

The B7K is a pre,so you'd only need some sort of speaker sim.Or not, depends on how gnarly you want the tone.Theres not much right or wrong-although these days i commit to a tone by micing or using a direct pedal/speaker sim combo so as not to endlessly tweak untill i kill the whole thing :(

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by jeremyb »

Looking forward to trying this out!
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Re: Recording Bass

Post by jeremyb »

Kris wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:50 am The B7K is a pre,so you'd only need some sort of speaker sim.Or not, depends on how gnarly you want the tone.Theres not much right or wrong-although these days i commit to a tone by micing or using a direct pedal/speaker sim combo so as not to endlessly tweak untill i kill the whole thing :(
Sweeet, I've bought an Ampeg 8x10 DynIR from Two Notes to go with Wall of Sound, should do the trick!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by Lawrence »

Bass is fascinating.

Many of the great albums we love were recorded with a just a DI. Many with just a mic.
Until the eighties there were no really good clean bass amps - well the amps and the acoustic were good but everyone read them past their limit on stage...so the live tomes were gritty. Those that used Marshalls and Quads even more so.
If you have access to good speakers go back and listen to Smoke on the Water.....

Studio recording with a DI seemed to be the holy grail for those who did not want distortion. Many great tomes recorded that way...often through great consoles of course.

By the eighties we had cleaner live gear and more recognition of the benefits of compression (the DIs in question earlier were routed typically through a 1176 often with all 4 buttons in.) This lead to micing live to get the speaker compression....

Then the dirty years came along where everything had to sound like it was dying....

I still like DIing and using careful compression and a saturation plug in parallel.

Good thing these days is there are no rules.

True story
I was mixing Canned Heat and at soundcheck I saw the bass player had a really nice head...something boutique I forget what exactly, so I plugged into the heads DI out. Sounded great. Near the end of soundcheck the bass player saw there was no mic and packed a sad. So I put a mic on his cab, ran a lead...and almost didn't plug it in, then relented thinking I could mix the two signals. As soon as left the stage he reached around and unplugged the DI.
Lucky I plugged the mic in. It was a great night and they were happy.
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Re: Recording Bass

Post by jeremyb »

LOL Classic Lawrence!!!

Whats your thoughts on compression on bass, is it a must have cause bass players are so inconsistent??? :mental:
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by Lawrence »

jeremyb wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:07 pm LOL Classic Lawrence!!!

Whats your thoughts on compression on bass, is it a must have cause bass players are so inconsistent??? :mental:
I am old school enough not to want to destroy dynamics...but a strong foundation is critical. Of course many good experienced bass players can play consistently and need only a tad, while less disciplined players need more.

If using a DI i might use two compressors...one with a very fast attack and releases to simulate the "slow" attack of a big speaker and the second to level the performance. The second one would start out with a high threshold....maybe 3dB of reduction on loud parts, then adjust to suit the song.
I have used a vocal leveler plug in on bass - worked a treat!

Another trick is to duplicate the track and crush the hell out of one of them...then mix the two. Maybe hi pass the uncompressed track and low pass the compressed one...

Im sure there are more recent techniques from our colleagues?
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Re: Recording Bass

Post by foal30 »

jeremyb wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:07 pm LOL Classic Lawrence!!!

Whats your thoughts on compression on bass, is it a must have cause bass players are so inconsistent??? :mental:
What’s the range on a Bass Guitar JB??
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Re: Recording Bass

Post by robthemac »

There's a great track from John Mayer's Continuum called 'I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You'.

I'm not an expert, but my ears day there are two bass tracks recorded. One with a HPF playing on the beat, steady, mostly root notes. The other is quite bright, not a lot of low-end, and focuses on off-beat octaves to accentuate chord changes.

Sounds bloody brilliant.
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Re: Recording Bass

Post by robthemac »

(Unrelated to OP: great use of an envelope filter on the guitar chords and riff. Please let me know if anyone is selling)
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by jeremyb »

foal30 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:29 pm
jeremyb wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:07 pm LOL Classic Lawrence!!!

Whats your thoughts on compression on bass, is it a must have cause bass players are so inconsistent??? :mental:
What’s the range on a Bass Guitar JB??
This feels like a trick question :lol:
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by foal30 »

jeremyb wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 4:33 pm
foal30 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:29 pm
jeremyb wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:07 pm LOL Classic Lawrence!!!

Whats your thoughts on compression on bass, is it a must have cause bass players are so inconsistent??? :mental:
What’s the range on a Bass Guitar JB??
This feels like a trick question :lol:
No, not at all bro

Sonically a Bass Guitar is fairly expansive. So Compression can be a tool for its range.

Tbh I use compression as a tone flavor as much as a utility or faculty tool.

If I was gigging full time on a Fretless no question I’d use some Limiter type thing.

Specific to recording every bass track ever probably has some version of Compression
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Re: Recording Bass

Post by jeremyb »

foal30 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 7:49 pm
jeremyb wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 4:33 pm
foal30 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:29 pm

What’s the range on a Bass Guitar JB??
This feels like a trick question :lol:
No, not at all bro

Sonically a Bass Guitar is fairly expansive. So Compression can be a tool for its range.

Tbh I use compression as a tone flavor as much as a utility or faculty tool.

If I was gigging full time on a Fretless no question I’d use some Limiter type thing.

Specific to recording every bass track ever probably has some version of Compression
That was a generous response to my obvious troll Reuben, thank you my friend! I have a compressor on the way and I've used them on and off over the years for guitar and I always find they just make things sound better, interested to see how it goes on my budget bass!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Recording Bass

Post by crowbgood1 »

I've been following this thread, as I have been recording plenty of bass lately so will put on my 2c worth.
Pre-amps I have tried - Sansamp Geddy Lee, Dark Glass Alpha Omega Ultra and my favourite Buzz Audio's take on API.

Various valve and ribbon mics on a Jansen 50 Bassman and Ashdown 2x12 (Made in England)

DI into desk and amp simulation software - standard issue from Cubase.

To my old wooden ears the software amp sim wins, mic on real amp is a close second and pre - amps last. I find it hard to get the pres to sit in the mix.
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