Bass in stereo

[Jeffrey Bryan]

Couldn't find an (old) topic about this exactly so I was wondering; how do you record basslines in stereo? And do you only record it in stereo when the song calls for it?

When producing electronic music I love to run my (unison) bass synth through a multiband compressor/EQ where I can monofy the bass under 200Hz and widen the highs. I'm sure there are 1001 ways to do it (stereo enchancer, amp simulation software with multiple mics, panning miked cabs left and direct-in right).

Would love to hear someone with experience on what works well and perhaps a few general guidelines if there are any; your opinion/experiences, your idea of using it in an entire song or some pointers of great stereo bass recordings. I think Muse does it a couple of times on the latest album? The only time I used it on a record was with a Stereo Chorus on my Zoom B3, recording Left and Right from the device:
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You often hear that the bass is mono because speakers in general have more trouble generating power for the low end, but I'm pretty fed up of being 100% mono on every song.

 

[seamonkey]

For bass, stereo as mainly an effect. But getting that soundstage 3d for whole band can really add a lot to the music, usually the bass is center or slightly panned.

doppler is fun, use it wisely just during a transition from one part of a song to another.
Doppler Effect Plugin | Waves

Gated reverbs, echo can be cool. Hit a note hard and it triggers an echo that moves from left to right.
On quite parts of songs you can pan the bass (mids,highs) heavey to one side, then bring them front and center during loud parts.

 

[silky smoove]

The simplest way to do it is to duplicate a track of bass, hard pan them in opposite directions and shift the duplicated track several milliseconds behind the original. Instant stereo bass, or stereo anything for that matter.

I hate stereo bass. I take steps to not only get it in mono, but also condense it further. There are tools like Airwindows Vinyl, Izotope's stereo imager tools, etc. that do something akin to the Haas effect, but in "reverse" for lack of a better way to explain it. A little goes a long way, but it really helps to keep the low frequencies from muddying everything up out there in stereo land.

 

[And I]

Use an aux send to send the mono bass signal to a stereo track with a stereo effect on it. Put a hi-pass filter before the stereo effect so you are not stereoing your bass frequencies. Adjust the level / saturation of the effect to taste.

 

[bearfoot]

I was just thinking of this, when noticing my Roland streetcube has stereo FX and a stereo headphone out. I'd never play bass through it live, but it can serve as a stereofied preamp. Did some searching and found this: Recording in Stereo (Part 1)

Read both parts, it's interesting and non-conventional. So, I dig. I think also of how Phil Lesh's bass during their "wall of sound" period had separate outputs for each string. Not sure about Bootsy's Star bass, but recall seeing multi jacks on it.

Another thing I've yet to try is stereo mic'ing my ABG, along with the DI.

The only instruments I typically record stereo are piano and keys, but depending on arrangement, I don't think bass has to always be mono.