Blending Multiple Bass Amps

[Pat Cupo]

Hi, Justin. I recently watched your Pensado's Place episode and was wondering if you could elaborate on your approach to blending amplifiers. Is it just volume adjustment or are you also splitting the frequencies amongst the amps? And when you do blend them, do you come across any phase/polarity issues? Just looking for a good starting point and then, as you said, straight to "kid in a candy store mode."

I'd like to try this in my home studio setup using an Avalon U5 and the Bass Amp Designer in Logic Pro X. There's lots of flexibility there to mix-and-match amps/cabs/mics, do some basic volume mixing, try some frequency splitting, and fix phasing issues. Any advice you have would be appreciated.

This is my first post on TalkBass so my apologies if this thread belongs somewhere else or if you've already answered my questions before.

Thanks, Pat

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Hi,
No I never split frequencies. Phase issues most always present with multiple amp setups, I have a Radial Phazerbank for that purpose, and/or I re-align stuff ITB after tracking. I have no "approach" per se, I just throw stuff up and move/swap mics around until I get a rad sound that I like. Live, I use two to three different amp setups, and our FOH phase aligns out there.
J

 

[Pat Cupo]

Thanks for the reply! I had no idea that Radial made that tool–it'd definitely come in handy live in smaller rooms using an amp combined with the signal sent to the PA. I'll probably still make adjustments ITB when tracking, but it's nice to know there are other options. And I'll try out the trial-and-error approach with multiple amps. Thanks again. -Pat

 

[Dan Bozek]

Hi, Justin. I recently watched your Pensado's Place episode and was wondering if you could elaborate on your approach to blending amplifiers. Is it just volume adjustment or are you also splitting the frequencies amongst the amps? And when you do blend them, do you come across any phase/polarity issues? Just looking for a good starting point and then, as you said, straight to "kid in a candy store mode."

I'd like to try this in my home studio setup using an Avalon U5 and the Bass Amp Designer in Logic Pro X. There's lots of flexibility there to mix-and-match amps/cabs/mics, do some basic volume mixing, try some frequency splitting, and fix phasing issues. Any advice you have would be appreciated.

This is my first post on TalkBass so my apologies if this thread belongs somewhere else or if you've already answered my questions before.

Thanks, Pat

Waves makes a plugin that will work in Logic that does with software basically the same thing the Radial does with hardware. I'm not sure how the prices compare.

 

[Rycebag]

Hi,
No I never split frequencies. Phase issues most always present with multiple amp setups, I have a Radial Phazerbank for that purpose, and/or I re-align stuff ITB after tracking. I have no "approach" per se, I just throw stuff up and move/swap mics around until I get a rad sound that I like. Live, I use two to three different amp setups, and our FOH phase aligns out there.
J

Hey Justin! Hope all is well. Resurrecting this thread because I have a few questions that relate to this topic and I didn't want to start a new one.

When you are recording multiple bass amps and di signals, and once they are recorded, are you time aligning them in the box by moving the tracks to align the wave forms?

In the case of overdubs, if a player needs to punch in a part, do you align the "punched in" waveforms with the already aligned tracks or do you make sure all tracking is done before any time aligning begins?

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Hey Justin! Hope all is well. Resurrecting this thread because I have a few questions that relate to this topic and I didn't want to start a new one.

When you are recording multiple bass amps and di signals, and once they are recorded, are you time aligning them in the box by moving the tracks to align the wave forms?

In the case of overdubs, if a player needs to punch in a part, do you align the "punched in" waveforms with the already aligned tracks or do you make sure all tracking is done before any time aligning begins?

Good questions.

1) Yes I align in the box later as needed. Either manually by ear, with Avid Time Adjuster, or with Sound Radix Auto-Align.

2) I'll usually make sure all tracking is done first. In the event that's not possible, I keep duplicate playlists of everything (all clearly labeled) prior to doing any alignment, do the overdubs, then re-do with fresh settings. Sometimes the overdubbed area is going to have a different alignment due to mic placement or other factors, so it's important to scrutinize to see if that area needs unique settings or not.

J