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Comp -> Eq ?
- Thread starter WarBeer
- Start date
You generally want to do as little to the signal as possible while still achieving the result you're going for. That means you add and properly adjust one effect at a time and listen to it before you add anything else. Otherwise you're likely to end up chasing your tail.
If you're adding compression to adjust your tone, then you should probably just try EQing the signal first as it will give you much more control over the tone. Then you can listen to it and see if you actually need to compress it.
If you're compressing the signal to deal with the dynamics of the player, then you still want to do it after you EQ the tone in, otherwise you won't be able to properly hear what you're doing with the compressor, and you'll end up chasing your tail back and forth from EQ to compressor.
If you're adding compression to adjust your tone, then you should probably just try EQing the signal first as it will give you much more control over the tone. Then you can listen to it and see if you actually need to compress it.
If you're compressing the signal to deal with the dynamics of the player, then you still want to do it after you EQ the tone in, otherwise you won't be able to properly hear what you're doing with the compressor, and you'll end up chasing your tail back and forth from EQ to compressor.
Here's my signal chain goal at present with regard to DI.
#1 - Balance the dynamics...as I'm very new to bass. (though I have quickly made tremendous progress) The DI
seems to be less forgiving since you don't have all the resonance/feedback from an amp.
#2 - Getting the low-end to fatten up. Again, the DI is more sterile and honest with regard to the electronics of the instrument.
#3 - Lowering the pop/noise that seems more noticeable with the DI...probably because of #1.
#1 - Balance the dynamics...as I'm very new to bass. (though I have quickly made tremendous progress) The DI
seems to be less forgiving since you don't have all the resonance/feedback from an amp.
#2 - Getting the low-end to fatten up. Again, the DI is more sterile and honest with regard to the electronics of the instrument.
#3 - Lowering the pop/noise that seems more noticeable with the DI...probably because of #1.
You might end up needing two compressors to do what you want. The settings for fattening up your tone are not always the same as the settings for evening out your dynamics.
So you want to EQ your signal (try boosting somewhere in the low mids) and listen to see if you still need to fatten it up. If you do, add the compressor and fatten it up; if not, skip to evening out the dynamics. Listen and see if fattening the tone also happened to fix your dynamics. If not add a compressor to fix the dynamics.
I'm not sure what kind of pop/noise you're talking about, but if you're talking about the noise produced by the attack of plucking the strings, this is something you can take care of with a Low Pass in your EQ. If you're talking about the fact that your playing is a little on the rough side and you're producing a lot of extraneous fretting noises, there's nothing you can do about that but practice, and compressing the signal will always make these sounds worse. But please describe the noise you're talking about and maybe we can help you.
So you want to EQ your signal (try boosting somewhere in the low mids) and listen to see if you still need to fatten it up. If you do, add the compressor and fatten it up; if not, skip to evening out the dynamics. Listen and see if fattening the tone also happened to fix your dynamics. If not add a compressor to fix the dynamics.
I'm not sure what kind of pop/noise you're talking about, but if you're talking about the noise produced by the attack of plucking the strings, this is something you can take care of with a Low Pass in your EQ. If you're talking about the fact that your playing is a little on the rough side and you're producing a lot of extraneous fretting noises, there's nothing you can do about that but practice, and compressing the signal will always make these sounds worse. But please describe the noise you're talking about and maybe we can help you.
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You nailed it...it's "attack noise". My new P-Bass seems WAY more alive than either of the Ibanez basses I had been using. It's very resonant and sounds killer...not overly bright with tone open...but definitely a lot of punch. When I'm going DI...the attack noise is far more noticeable.
I have had some descent success with adjusting the low mids...even with guitar, I've always considered that the "fat zone". I'm using a Joe Meek OneQ for my DI...the eq seems pretty nice...I'm not sure how I feel about the compressor though. Part of me feels like one of my other pres with a descent comp would be an improvement?
Now, I have had some success with plugins...I've been able to eq things and get them sounding much better. Sometimes I double my lines with MODO Bass just for fun...keeping it lower in the mix and the balance is pretty darn killer.(paired with my doctored DI...towards dark/warm/smooth) Which leads me to believe that if I can get a descent capture of my amp (warm/smooth) and get a nice DI (punchy/clarity)...I should be able to mix a pretty good sound??
So far, I've only used a Sennheiser 906 (and no really playing around with it)...it was "ok". I'll do a bit of positioning before I rule it out. But I think my ribbon might be a better choice.
