Recording Bass (1 Viewer)

[Serpico]

To DI or not DI? Probably going to DI. So... Bass to preamp to compressor to desk? Bass to desk and do everything post? Any general EQ tips?
Any one thing you always do when recording bass? I've already told the bass player not to talk to me so that's sorted.

 

[mark]

if you have the tracks do both. without a DI box you co go:
bass -> desk-> amp -> mic -> desk
if you have a DI box it's better but the other way should work fine.

 

[Lord Damian]

if you have the tracks do both. without a DI box you co go:
bass -> desk-> amp -> mic -> desk
if you have a DI box it's better but the other way should work fine.

buhhhhh? bass to the desk, then out to an amp? never heard of it done that way.

only slightly off topic...i got this a while back: http://www.groovetubes.de/download/brick_manual.pdf
but haven't had a chance to use it yet. i reckon it looks pretty cool, can't wait to hear what it'll do.

 

[shower another shower]

Emmet Pitman is a legend. Had a GT compressor. Everything sounded great.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Do the compression after, I'd say - you can't undo hardware compression if you get it wrong.
Chances are you'll want to roll out some of the high end of the DI sound afterwards.
I'll sometimes use a gentle LPF at around 6k. Or a shelf sometimes.
Y'know yerself.

 

[Pantone247]

buhhhhh? bass to the desk, then out to an amp? never heard of it done that way.

you could send the bass into the desk, then thru an Aux channel into an amp and mic that to another channel... instead of using a splitter box to send to desk and amp like. Alternativly you could just DI in and send that to an amp at a later date if you think you need to. Lot depends on the sound you want too I suppose.

as rule shouldn't you D.I. a guitar or bass anyhow, to up the signal level/impendance or something like that?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

as rule shouldn't you D.I. a guitar or bass anyhow, to up the signal level/impendance or something like that?

Yes.

 

[Lord Damian]

you could send the bass into the desk, then thru an Aux channel into an amp and mic that to another channel... instead of using a splitter box to send to desk and amp like. Alternativly you could just DI in and send that to an amp at a later date if you think you need to. Lot depends on the sound you want too I suppose.

as rule shouldn't you D.I. a guitar or bass anyhow, to up the signal level/impendance or something like that?

for the last few recording sessions i've done it's usually a case of mic'ing the bass cab, as well as taking a direct out out of the bass head.

really looking forward to recording my 4001 - haven't been superhappy with the tone i've had in the past, but am really digging the 4001's woody/mid-dy tone...i think it will record well.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Recent bass recording 'discovery' :

An RE-20 sounds as good on bass cab as 'they' said it would.

 

[Pantone247]

for the last few recording sessions i've done it's usually a case of mic'ing the bass cab, as well as taking a direct out out of the bass head.

same thing really, just different order

I use a Behringer V-Amp, it's fine, not bad, not great, just fine...

really looking forward to recording my 4001 - haven't been superhappy with the tone i've had in the past, but am really digging the 4001's woody/mid-dy tone...i think it will record well.

I'd shitting love a 4001, I bought a Violin Bass last year hoping to cop some McCartney vibes but then realised it was the Rickenbacker that sounded awesome....

 

[Lord Damian]

I'd shitting love a 4001, I bought a Violin Bass last year hoping to cop some McCartney vibes but then realised it was the Rickenbacker that sounded awesome....

they're realtively cheap - got mine used for CDN$1,000 - you should get one, they're fantastic. plus Geddy used one back in the day...and Lemmy...and and and

edit - actually, Geddy's and Lemmy's were probably customized

 

[Umfufu]

I use my Sansamp BDDI as a DI for recording.
You get a good clean signal but you can EQ if you want & add in a lot of tubey warmth too.

 

[Serpico]

Cool. I'm going for the Paperback Writer bass sound (bass line is similar vibe) so I'm gonna DI and then fuck about after. I'm also gonna mic up the live sound off the strings cause I can and see if I do anything with it later.
I might (cause I do have the tracks) send an aux to the bass amp at the same time but that cancels out micing up the strings...or does it? Bruuhahahahahaaa...









yes it probably does.

 

[Umfufu]

Recent bass recording 'discovery' :

An RE-20 sounds as good on bass cab as 'they' said it would.

I'm assuming that's the EV mic you're talking about & not that crazy Boss Space Echo that you've been eyeing up for a while.

Whichever one it is, can I borrow it?

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Yeah, it's the mic, smartass!
Also, I was using one in a studio so, no bones on the borrow.

Why now would you need to use an aux send when nearly every DI I can think of has a 'thru' so that you can still run an amp at the same time?

Bass --> DI --> Preamp
..............¦
..............¦
..............--> Amp

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

in my experience it really depends on what song the bass is singing

 

[Serpico]

The amp was shit so I sent a speaker into the jacks and mic'd it up from about 3 feet and DI'd onto another track. And the reason I needed an aux is cause when I say DI I mean DI into the desk not a DI box. The desk has a preamp input for DIing bass and guitar.
He was also using something called an Ashbury which looks like an electric Ukelele with elastic bands for strings but I have to say I thought it sounded deadly.
Nice snap and tickle off it. Not a million miles from a double bass in tone but he had to use talc on his hands and everything. Very strange.

He was singing Old Man River.

 

[kings lead hat]

Cool. I'm going for the Paperback Writer bass sound (bass line is similar vibe) so I'm gonna DI and then fuck about after. I'm also gonna mic up the live sound off the strings cause I can and see if I do anything with it later.
I might (cause I do have the tracks) send an aux to the bass amp at the same time but that cancels out micing up the strings...or does it? Bruuhahahahahaaa...

yes it probably does.

get some foam and put it bhind the strings at the pickups for "that" sound

 

[Pantone247]

I think Paperback Writer and Rain were both recorded using a speaker to mic the bass cab too... this was discussed somewhere on the forum before so have a search, or just google it. The depth and level of the bass sound on those records was pretty out there for the time

 

[Serpico]

Yeah, they used the one of the EMI "white elephants" (giant white speaker) as the mic on Paperback Writer and Rain but apparently had to stop using it cause it also picked up every other sound in the building.
I got a savage sound from the speaker mic'd up in the jacks combined with the odd bass that he played and I've got that now to mess with.
I might even try using one of my own massive Wharfedale 1950s hi-fi speakers as a mic and play the recorded bass line out of another speaker and see what happens.
The DI track is actually reading as louder than the jacks-bass track on the meter but theres no comparison when you listen to them in the mix, the jacks-bass sounds waaaay louder and clearer.
So there you go zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...