How can I record a killer bass track?

babuska · #1 07-21-2006, 10:07 AM

Hi there! I´m trying to record our metal oriented bands bass tracks, in my home studio. The gear we use, basses: B- tuned Gibson Thunderbird, Ibanez SRX 400. Amp is SWR sm-400, and also I tried to record bass through my Krankenstein guitar head, with a dummy load, from Kranks line out. I think that Krank sounded quite good, but I´m not fully satisfied with the results. I suspect that I do something wrong, in the whole recording process, because I always end up with the muddy sound, with no punch and clarity in it. I use Digital Performer software, with the 2048mk3 audio interface. Is there any recording engineers, with great knowledge?

phxlbrmpf · #2 07-21-2006, 10:21 AM

I don't really have any advice to offer, but I'm surprised you thought the guitar head recorded via line out sounded decent, I'm always told guitar amps invariably sound terrible when recorded "direct", interesting.
Have you ever tried miking your amp/s?

babuska · #3 07-22-2006, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phxlbrmpf

I don't really have any advice to offer, but I'm surprised you thought the guitar head recorded via line out sounded decent, I'm always told guitar amps invariably sound terrible when recorded "direct", interesting.
Have you ever tried miking your amp/s?

Well, it´s a little bit difficult miking an amp and cab, in my home, but maybe I should try it. SWR sounds really good, though slightly hi-fi, through Avatar cab. And afterwards I can add distortion to the track, could be useful.
When I record guitar tracks, sometimes I use line out, and record a CLEAN sound. After that I add a distortion, from different kind of plug-ins or Pod. Great way to record distorted guitars.

phxlbrmpf · #4 07-22-2006, 06:07 AM

Have you tried adding more treble than you would usually use when playing with a band? Someone told me that this is supposed to take care of "muddiness". I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I like to double the bass track and add a treble boost to the "copy". Maybe also add a very slight delay between the original and the copy and move them to different stereo channels, you can make guitars huge this way and I find it helps for bass as well.

Techmonkey · #5 07-24-2006, 06:22 PM

I get a hella punchy bass sound by micing my bass amp with an SM-57.

I don't really use DIs that much. It's fine on guitar - sometimes ideal, if you're going for a really really heavy sound. Just add a touch of reverb on the mixing desk or in the rack or post recording if you're gonna use a DI. This works on bass too, but I find it's often muddy and slightly low fi...

A well placed mic (again, with a touch of studio reverb) could make all the difference in the world. Does your audio interface have a mic preamp?

Note: When micing, to get your amp set up the way you want it, it often helps to sit down with your ear right infront of the cab, where the mic will go. You'll be surprised how different it sounds down there.

babuska · #6 07-25-2006, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techmonkey

I get a hella punchy bass sound by micing my bass amp with an SM-57.

I don't really use DIs that much. It's fine on guitar - sometimes ideal, if you're going for a really really heavy sound. Just add a touch of reverb on the mixing desk or in the rack or post recording if you're gonna use a DI. This works on bass too, but I find it's often muddy and slightly low fi...

A well placed mic (again, with a touch of studio reverb) could make all the difference in the world. Does your audio interface have a mic preamp?

Note: When micing, to get your amp set up the way you want it, it often helps to sit down with your ear right infront of the cab, where the mic will go. You'll be surprised how different it sounds down there.

Well, I just bought an expensive preamp(my interface don´t has it), but because I don´t know how should I use it, I feel it´s useless for me. This is a good lesson for everyone: DON`T BUY EXPENSIVE GEAR IF YOU DON`T KNOW HOW TO USE IT!
Yes, indeed, my DI´d bass is muddy and lo-fi, exactly. So next I´m going to try miking. As I mentioned earlier, we have an excellent Avatar Neo410 cabinet.
SM-57 is good for this purpose? Can you recommend also some other mics?

vindy500 · #7 07-25-2006, 04:57 AM

57 should be good

Techmonkey · #8 07-25-2006, 05:14 AM

Yeah. As long as you place the mic a few inches back from the cabinet, and have it at a comfortable volume, the SM-57 should be fine. Some people use kickdrum mics (eg., AKG D112) because they're centred at a lower frequency... but I find using those mics often results in a bass sound too blunt for my tastes. For metal, you're definitely looking at the SM-57.

It's a good all round mic too; you can use it to mic parts of a drumkit (especially snare), it's a brilliant guitar mic, and it's not bad at horns/vocals.

vindy500 · #9 07-25-2006, 05:19 AM

or you could use a kick drum mic and a sm57 and mix em together

Techmonkey · #10 07-25-2006, 05:32 AM

mmm... if you start mixing mics tho, be sure to get the phasing right. the mics need to be positioned in a certain way so they don't cancel eachother out. There's a good article about this somewhere on HRC: http://www.homerecordingconnection.c...&id=1353&frm=1
The post by "jues" just about sums it up.

I did a recording session using a kickdrum mic and the SM mixed together for a punk band. We had the kickdrum mic on the Ashdown cab for a warmer sound, and the SM on the Hartke cab for a punchier sound. The result was pretty good, but could have been better... there was unwanted clicking and things. Of course it's all subjective; at the end of the day, the bassist was pleased with his sound and we got payed.

babuska · #11 07-25-2006, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Techmonkey

mmm... if you start mixing mics tho, be sure to get the phasing right. the mics need to be positioned in a certain way so they don't cancel eachother out. There's a good article about this somewhere on HRC: http://www.homerecordingconnection.c...&id=1353&frm=1
The post by "jues" just about sums it up.

I did a recording session using a kickdrum mic and the SM mixed together for a punk band. We had the kickdrum mic on the Ashdown cab for a warmer sound, and the SM on the Hartke cab for a punchier sound. The result was pretty good, but could have been better... there was unwanted clicking and things. Of course it's all subjective; at the end of the day, the bassist was pleased with his sound and we got payed.

Thanks a lot, for your comments. I try again, hopefully with the better results!