New Recording Technique?

[PolkaHero]

One of my bandmates has his own home recording studio. Lately, he has been recording a rock group and says he has found the ultimate way to record bass. He says to take a direct out from the bass and then combine that with another direct out and then compress "the hell of of it". He says this yields a great punchy tone. I haven't heard the results yet; anybody out there try this technique?

[JMX]

What exactly do you mean with "combine that with another DI out"?

Most people use direct DI recording for bass since it's faster, easier and more true to the bass' sound.
Using compression is also standard procedure. Just don't overdo it. Too much compression can cause "pumping" or make the bass sound unnatural.
A good rackmount compressor with soft-knee mode is very, very nice though. I use a Behringer Autocom which gives great results.

[PolkaHero]

[quote]Originally posted by JMX
[b]What exactly do you mean with "combine that with another DI out"?


I think he's taking the line out from the bass and then overdubbing another track on top of that using heavy compression. That's about all I know right now.

Yeah, I've done that. Only the way I do it, I record the raw bass digitally, then copy the file, compress that and mix the two together.

Try doing this also with fuzz or overdrive instead of compression. Pan it slightly left or right and you can get some real cool stuff!