Recording tone?

[zeppelinfreak]

When playing gigs, I really dig my tone. Its basically big fat and warm. But I just started recording with my band in my drummers basement and I noticed that theres not a lot of definition in my notes and the bass is just generally hard to hear

Im micing my amp with a dynamic mic if that makes a difference.

Assuming that 0 is the lowest and 10 is the highest, my EQ is

Bass: 7
Low mid: 6
High Mid:4
Treble:4

Also, Im using almost all neck pick up. What should I do with my EQ to get more punch and definition in my notes?

[SpamBot]

Punch and definition lie in the high mids. Put that up a few clicks and see how it sounds.
Also, your mic could be contributing to the poor definition. What mic are you using?

[zeppelinfreak]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

Punch and definition lie in the high mids. Put that up a few clicks and see how it sounds.
Also, your mic could be contributing to the poor definition. What mic are you using?

You know, Im not 100% sure. All the mics belong to my drummers dad. All I know for sure is that its a dynamic mic. He has condenser mics available so I guess I could try that.

My amp also has a line out and a DI. I tried the DI but it was hissing too much, and thats why we just miced it. But we havent tried the line out yet

[SpamBot]

Try the line out. That could give you some good results.
Also, blending in a little bridge pup could help.

I wouldn't advise using a condenser on the cab, the large SPL of bass could damage it.

[zeppelinfreak]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

Try the line out. That could give you some good results.
Also, blending in a little bridge pup could help.

I wouldn't advise using a condenser on the cab, the large SPL of bass could damage it.

Good advice with the condenser. Ill try the line out next time we record and report back. If that gives me static as well, then I guess I have no choice but to mic it.

Luckily, we just did scratch tracks so the singer can figure out what harmonies we want to do and so the guitarist can plan out his solo. So were gonna redo everything we did today in a couple days and actually make a CD

Im glad I found this out about my tone, because any problem in the studio is only made worse live. Sometimes listen to a recording gives you insight on a lot of stuff you dont here while your playing

[pretaanluxis]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

Try the line out.

I agree.

Also mic placement will have a huge effect, some mics sound very undefined if too close or too far

[John Wentzien]

Try dialing in a little bit of mids around 800hz. It will give some definition without being too "clanky".

[Grizzly700]

You said you mostly use the neck pup, so try turning the bridge up a little bit, it will give you more definition and treble.

[sonic assassin]

Originally Posted by SpamBot

I wouldn't advise using a condenser on the cab, the large SPL of bass could damage it.

check the SPL rating of it.. so long as its over 100 dB, you should be fine. ive never heard of anyone destroying a condenser with a bass amp. my bluebird holds up just fine, and it pretty cheap.

[zeppelinfreak]

Originally Posted by Grizzly700

You said you mostly use the neck pup, so try turning the bridge up a little bit, it will give you more definition and treble.

Naw, trebles definitely not what Im looking for

[HogieWan]

try moving the mic away from the amp or finding a different spot on the speaker to mic.

[Catalin]

I say you should use a little bit more the bridge pickup.
Also try these settings:
bass 6-7
low mids 4-5
hi mids 6
highs 4-5

I had good results by using Akg D112 an Shure sm57 mics.

[JamesTaylor85]

whenever i do a just whatever recording/demo i just DI through my sansamp sounds awesome for recordings.
a lot of rock recordings have used either just sansamp or a blend of sansamp and cab. if you can get your hands on one you'll be sweet

[ljazz]

Or try running a direct line from a DI, and then blending the two tracks.

Some mic pre's don't really help matters. For instance, my Presonus pre's aren't the best for my bass tone. I recently picked up an Auteur mic pre from Black Lion Audio, and it has really cleaned up my tone. I can't wait to start our next recordings with it!

I did some experimenting with it on Saturday. One direct line from my BassBone, and a mic on the cab (it's a two channel pre). No recording.... just monitoring. It was thick, punchy, with plenty of definition..... along with a bit of grunt on the top. Everything I've heard done with the Auteur has this "punch you in the chest" character to it. Very cool value as far as mic pre's go. It actually makes a 57 sound like a killer vocal mic.

Ljazz

[phatbass]

Other instruments may be in the same frequencies, resulting in you "disappearing" from the mix. Is your Guitarist playing with heavily scooped eq with massive boost on the bottom end? Is the Kick Drum tuned or eq'd very bassy, hogging all your frequencies?

Each instrument may sound mighty on it's own, but when it's all mixed, they may be fighting for space in the certain parts of the overall frequency spectrum.

[mebusdriver]

You're really gonna want to get some of the d.i. in there. It will contribute a ton to you tone. If your line or d.i. isn't doing the trick than either try going direct or use a pedal to split your signal to the board and your amp.

I've used a ton of mics in the past. A good ole d112 always works pretty well at home. Put the mic anywhere from 6 to 12 inches from one of your cones and set your gain accordingly.

Again, blending your d.i. with your miced sound is the shizzzz. Don't forget that you're prolly gonna need some post eq come mix time anyway. So if your tone doesn't come out 100% when you put it down, you should be able to clean it up in post production. Have fun recording man, it gets addicting.

[NKBassman]

Originally Posted by JamesTaylor85

whenever i do a just whatever recording/demo i just DI through my sansamp sounds awesome for recordings.
a lot of rock recordings have used either just sansamp or a blend of sansamp and cab. if you can get your hands on one you'll be sweet

You can't beat a Sansamp for recording IMO.
I usually run two outputs, one 100% Sansamp signal and one 100% 'dry' signal, and blend them after.

[Nick Kay]

What works for practice isn't the same as what works live. What works live isn't the same as what works on tape. Hammer this idea into EVERYONE's skull and you'll come out with much better results.

It might just be my crazy ideas of bass sounding good without putzing with it, but if you do a 50/50 blend of your neck and bridge pickup, set the EQ on your head flat (ie: everything at 5, depending on your head), and do a 50/50 blend between a miked track of that sound and a DI straight from the bass, it's tough to not get a good tone. Maybe some light compression, maybe a high-pass to cut out sub-lows and a low-pass to cut string/fret noise, but it should be a damn fine tone. Elsewise, you're not playing the right bass.

[HogieWan]

Originally Posted by mebusdriver

So if your tone doesn't come out 100% when you put it down, you should be able to clean it up in post production.

This is true, but don't rely on it.

[kayakbass]

Originally Posted by zeppelinfreak

When playing gigs, I really dig my tone. Its basically big fat and warm. But I just started recording with my band in my drummers basement and I noticed that theres not a lot of definition in my notes and the bass is just generally hard to hear

Im micing my amp with a dynamic mic if that makes a difference.

Assuming that 0 is the lowest and 10 is the highest, my EQ is

Bass: 7
Low mid: 6
High Mid:4
Treble:4

Also, Im using almost all neck pick up. What should I do with my EQ to get more punch and definition in my notes?

W/o messing with your eq, try to dial in some bride pickup. You can add some definition that way. Also might want to try mic-ing AND running a direct box. You can mix the two signals to get what you want from tune to tune. I've had LOTS of success that way and strongly recomend giving it a shot.