Bass Recording (1 Viewer)

[ann post]

What do you folks know about getting a good bass recording?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Ahh, sure that's a good question. Tell us more! What mics/recorder/room have you got? Is it a home recording? What kind of bass/amp? Are you overdubbing or recording liveish with a drummer, or the whole band?

 

[ann post]

Originally posted by GrRrrrR
Ahh, sure that's a good question. Tell us more! What mics/recorder/room have you got? Is it a home recording? What kind of bass/amp? Are you overdubbing or recording liveish with a drummer, or the whole band?

Bog Standard mics (57, 58, one of those duck egg things).
Small room. 10 x 10 - sort of thing.
Probably overdubbing.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

One of those duck-egg things? Not sure I follow ya there.

is it one of these?

 

[egg_]

There's a lot to be said for DI-ing a bass ...

 

[Pantone247]

Originally posted by egg_
There's a lot to be said for DI-ing a bass ...

I've always DI'd me bass, theres WAY to much room for error in sticking a Mic in front of a cab.

If you realise half way through the recording process your bass is getting buried in "the mix" (as we in the "business" say...) with a mic'ed signal its hard to chage the sound you've captured.

where as a DI'd sound has way more room for playing round, with as a fuller range of freq is availiable to play with.

If you are not very sure what your looking for in your bass sound, DI as flat and full a signal as possible.

THAT SAID, I have found recently running my bass (big plunky p-bass copy, fat sound, zero sustain... think Smal Faces, Beach Boys sound) into me wee roland amp (4 x 8" speakers) with a real rockabilly slap reverb on it I can get a really nice smooth full bass sound with me mic. Sort of 50's Joe Meek style thud.

I like lots!

 

[ann post]

yes one of those duck egg things, I'm sure it has a name but it escapes me right now. I have access to a D.I. aswell - what can you tell me about mic placement, volume levels (is low or high better) and general eq type stuff? I'd welcom info from anyone who has two cents woth of bass recording experience.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

The majority of people will both mic and DI a bass when recording. Usually the two tones are blended when mixing to get the right sound for the song/mix. If it's that mic I pictured, it's called a D112 and I've gotten really good results mic'ing bass amps with those.
Once you've got the sound you want coming out of the speaker, it's just a case of moving the mic around until you find the position where it sounds best to you. A good place to start is probably more or less lined up with the speaker, about 4 inches back. After that move it 'till you love it.
As far as EQ goes, it's best to try to get the sound you want by simply moving the mic. You may well need to EQ later, but try to record it with very little. If you can record the mic and DI, and if you have a way to monitor reasonably well while moving the mic around, you should be laughing.

 

[Wicker]

I'd agree with Egg and Pantone...

I see no advantage in using a Mic setup when you already have the DI.
you are more likely to get unwanted results

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Oh, as far as volume goes - amps sound different as volume changes. Just get it to the point where you like it best. Have you heard that enough yet?
It's said that (theoretically) the low-frequency/wavelength sound that a bass amp will generate takes a long time to develop fully ( I've heard up to 12ft or so ). If you have the time/mics/energy + tracks available, a distant mic may be your friend, too.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

I'd say the advantage in using a mic is in the range of tone they can make available that a DI can't. So if you can, do both! Of course, if you don't have the time or whatever, a DI is gonna be quite a bit easier to manage.

 

[ann post]

Cheers, I have absorbed most of the above. If any one else wants to add two cents then fire away..

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by GrRrrrR
The majority of people will both mic and DI a bass when recording. Usually the two tones are blended when mixing to get the right sound for the song/mix. If it's that mic I pictured, it's called a D112 and I've gotten really good results mic'ing bass amps with those.
Once you've got the sound you want coming out of the speaker, it's just a case of moving the mic around until you find the position where it sounds best to you. A good place to start is probably more or less lined up with the speaker, about 4 inches back. After that move it 'till you love it.
As far as EQ goes, it's best to try to get the sound you want by simply moving the mic. You may well need to EQ later, but try to record it with very little. If you can record the mic and DI, and if you have a way to monitor reasonably well while moving the mic around, you should be laughing.

We got excellent results by doing what GrRrrrR said:

_ DI straight from the bass into the DI Box in channel # 1

_ Link of the DI into the amp and its balanced output into channel # 2

_ A mic like yours (AKG D112) in front of the cab in channel #3

Then I placed the cab in front of the open door of the jax and got a huge reverber

The three combined made a great sound

 

[LMD64]

what about an acoustic bass guitar w|internal pickup?
i can DI it into my laptop, but should i be miking the soundhole, and mixing with the pickup, or running it through an amp, and miking the amp? I hope not, cos i haven't got a bass amp...
I'm looking for a round smooth bass sound, but with a nice acoustic plucking attack. Generally the sound comes out all muddy-like, using the pickup on it's own

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by lmd64
what about an acoustic bass guitar w|internal pickup?
i can DI it into my laptop, but should i be miking the soundhole, and mixing with the pickup, or running it through an amp, and miking the amp? I hope not, cos i haven't got a bass amp...
I'm looking for a round smooth bass sound, but with a nice acoustic plucking attack. Generally the sound comes out all muddy-like, using the pickup on it's own

Well, the sound of the DI is always a bit dry and this is why you want to back it up with a "true" amp sound... I don't know how it could work if you mic the soundhole but that's the way for acoustic guitars.... you never know. It's definitely worth a try... actually you should try EVERYTHING

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

How do you mean you're DI 'ing straight into your laptop?

 

[kmastering]

Originally posted by lmd64
what about an acoustic bass guitar w|internal pickup?

Use a di and a mic. The DI will provide the oomph whereas the mic will get you the acoustic sound. I've used an ac bass before a few times and if you blend the two signals it should work well. It's pretty much the same principal as when you need definition on an acoustic guitar when fingerpicking.

 

[LMD64]

How do you mean you're DI 'ing straight into your laptop?

plugged into the guitar line in on the yamaha uw500, recording in mono

there's a stereo phono input at the rear of the unit, but there's also two jack inputs on the front. i could DI in thru one and mic up thru the other, recording in stereo, and using the pan control to balance between pickup and mic

cheers for the tips!




another thing, anyone ever tried recording into Abelton Live? it's sooo coool, you can arm a track, hit play, start recording into a session and when you hit play again, it ends the recording and starts playing the loop from the start.
the only thing i can't figure out is how to trigger the recording when both hands are taken up with playing the damn guitar. i'm reckoning some kind of foot pedal thing, hooking into the midi.

 

[kmastering]

Abelton live = fisherprice's my first music program!

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by lmd64
plugged into the guitar line in on the yamaha uw500, recording in mono

there's a stereo phono input at the rear of the unit, but there's also two jack inputs on the front. i could DI in thru one and mic up thru the other, recording in stereo, and using the pan control to balance between pickup and mic

cheers for the tips!




another thing, anyone ever tried recording into Abelton Live? it's sooo coool, you can arm a track, hit play, start recording into a session and when you hit play again, it ends the recording and starts playing the loop from the start.
the only thing i can't figure out is how to trigger the recording when both hands are taken up with playing the damn guitar. i'm reckoning some kind of foot pedal thing, hooking into the midi.

If you want to plug your bass straight into the input you'll need to pass it through this