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Double Bass First recording gig with DB, need some advice

#21
fingers said:
I'm not there with you guys.
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To be honest, it was the 'at a local college. I have no idea what they have in their studio'/'I am just afraid it is going to be a bunch of students who have no clue...' bit, and the talk of engineers who just want a line from the pickup that made me mention sticking a mic on the bass as a way to kind of meet in the middle. I guess I was assuming the worst! Y'know, how some guys will just use up loads of channels, not listen to what they're taping and then decide what they can use when they start to mix?

Having a guy who knows what he's doing, a decent mic (or two, frivolous as it may be!) and the time to get it, you, and the bass in the right spot is obviously great when we have the luxury. :)

+1 on the great sound, Fingers! Funnily enough I was just telling myself that all I ought to need was my fingers and some spiros!
 
#22
I've never liked the sound of a pickup direct into the board. The best results I've gotten is with a large diaphragm condenser mic about a foot in front of the f hole turned towards the bridge slightly, and a pencil condenser about two feet in front of the fingerboard around thumb position height. That way you get all the warmth from the f hole and all the clarity from the fingerboard, that way you can blend the two to your liking. Just don't put the mic too close to the f hole or it will sound boomy and uneven. This is what the very pro guys I've worked with in Nashville studios do. I even asked them if they wanted to take the pickup signal too and they said No! I've been very happy with the results. Make sure that once you have the mics positioned put some tape on the floor where the endpin is so that if you put the bass down for a minute you can get back in the same position.

I would be very wary about letting them take the pickup signal if you can get away with it. An engineer that isn't used to mixing upright can really ruin your sound with a pickup because they may not know what an upright should sound like. it is an acoustic instrument after all. If at all possible get into an isolation booth. That way there will be no bleed into the mics. Hope this helps!
 
#24
Thanks. I just want to temper that by saying that I have also done sessions with the mic'd to high heavens approach and the result was very good. It just seems to me that if you have the control or are not real comfortable with the engineer less is more is the way to go. We do a ton of work getting a tone WE like. Putting that in the hands of someone you don't really know is risky at best. In that case less info gives them less to work with. To me I want my bass to sound like my bass. I spend enough freakin' time with the thing. I hope I know how it sounds. :)
 
#26
I worked with an engineer once and I played him the first Wood record. His comment "that producer should get a ticket for using too much and many digital effects on an acoustic instrument".

Brian actually talked in an interview about how that bass didn't have that even of a sound. Compression can do wonders for that.

That said Brian really makes it work for him. Not a slam AT ALL just not my taste.
 
#28
kurt said:
If at all possible get into an isolation booth. That way there will be no bleed into the mics. Hope this helps!
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This is the best piece of advice in my opinion/experience. The upright bass isn't a very loud instrument, and if you have drums etc. nearby the microphone is more likely to pick up them more than your bass. If there isn't a booth, some isolation screens may help get a clean a mic signal as possible.
 

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