Recording Question

DigthemLows · #1 10-10-2003, 03:26 PM

Going into the Studio in a couple of weeks. This will be the 5th time and every time I've wished the bass could have been a little more?? Seperate maybe?? You can hear it and it has the tone I'm going for, but it gets lost sometimes when I think it shouldn't. Last time I went straight into the board and liked it alot. Any suggestions for the best way to record the bass?? The band is hick rock/folk/?? there's keys, banjo/slide guitar, accoustic guitar, drums, and electric(the banjo player plays electric on some songs.....just in case you want to know what sounds are involved........

buldog5151bass · #2 10-22-2003, 04:21 PM

I have to tell you, I've tried everything, and have never been happy with my sound. Usual options are as follows: 1 go direct (may sound thin - depends upon the bass). 2. line out of your amp - I usually like this the best. 3. Mic the amp - a SM57 will do as well as any.

Good luck.

Mr-Wunderful · #3 10-23-2003, 11:49 AM

Another option is to combine a line out of the amp into one channel on the board and the mic'd sound of the cabinet into another channel. This will definitely give you a bgger fatter sound.
Also when going directly to the board you should still use some type of preamp like a SansAmp to help shape your sound. Good Luck.

DigthemLows · #4 10-23-2003, 12:27 PM

Both of these options have been tryed........I've also went direct into the board, then back out to an amp and back in to another channel durring mix down.........there are so many options.......and it would cost way to much to try them all...

It was music that gave the shove, and resolved in music we shall breathe. It was children that crafted a parent, and resolved in children we shall live.....
Daniel Higgs
of Lungfish

DigthemLows · #5 10-27-2003, 01:33 PM

I went straight into a DI box then to the board.......then went out of the board into My SWR and split it back to the board........not enough iso booths for the whole band......Sounds great though....Thanks for responding.....recording is always fun!!

buldog5151bass · #6 10-28-2003, 08:58 AM

Ya know, I just don't get it. It's easy to get a good guitar sound, relatively easy to get a decent drum sound ... but bass is a real b*tch no matter what the facilities are. My best sound came when I went to a studio where the engineer (owner as well) was a bassist.

slinkp · #7 11-03-2003, 02:31 PM

The best bass tones I've got on record have been with two different methods:

1) micing my cabinet and paying a lot of attention to the mic position. Everybody seems to stick the mic right in the middle of the speaker cone. To me, this seems to make the bass boomier and the treble more pronounced, and the midrange sucks. I get better results moving the mic closer to the edge. This tightens the sound up a lot. I've got some great tones putting the mic right at the edge. Sometimes this is too tight for the song so i move it in a bit until a bit of boom comes back. Or i want just a bit more low end so mix in a bit of direct signal. Play with it! It helps if the recording engineer is willing to experiment.

The mic choice matters of course, too. I'm not a fan of SM-57 for bass cabs, but it'll do in a pinch. MD-421's are great for bass. AKG D-112 can be good too. EV RE-20 are fantastic. Anything that gets good lows is worth a try. Ribbon mics would be GREAT if you can keep the amp level low enough to not destroy them.

2) Running my head through a cabinet emulator (I can't remember the model) and then compressing a bit. This worked pretty well too. It's also fun to try old tube guitar amps with this technique!

I've never been satisfied with any tone I got by going purely direct.