Fret Clack when recording?

[dukaruk]

I recently recorded a song and was convinced to play more aggressively resulting in fret clack.

I can't help but feel like it sounds amateurish since I can play without any clacking going on. Although it does add some rawness to the recording...

I know that you would need to hear this track to pass judgement, but it is still getting mixed so I can't.

Thoughts?

 

[rmkesler]

Is it too late to go back and rerecord the track? If not, then do so. Nothing bothers me more than listening back to something I knew I should have fixed but didn't. Also, you may decide you like the original take and leave it.

 

[jerry]

A lot of the greats have had neck noise when recording, if it sounds good in the mix, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[lowfreq33]

Sometimes that click is just what you need to cut through the mix. It really depends on context.

 

[Craig_S]

Geddy gets clacking sounds, too. EQ it out as much as possible.

 

[Mark Olson]

Personally I've always hated fret clack and always ran the tones on my first bass at minimum to eliminate it. Obviously the first thing I learned to do with my playing was to roll the tones up and just play right to eliminate the clack though.

I don't mind some string noise on some acoustic guitar or something, but to me all that clack really gets in the way of what's being attempted to get across musically, and maybe this is my own flaw, but when I hear bass players with a lot of clack my gut reaction is to regard them as inferior players, often using what I regard to be inferior gear, which is anything that enhances that clack such as active basses, sansamps, hi fi full range amps, and horned cabs.

 

[Craig_S]

when I hear bass players with a lot of clack my gut reaction is to regard them as inferior players

Really? I would regard someone with too clean a technique, on a song that calls for an aggressive attack and tone, an inferior player.

 

[David1234]

A little goes a long way .... but helps.

If the engineer is a pro, it'll probably help the mix rather than hinder it. If not, consider it a lesson learned for next time: don't play harder without first raising your action a touch.

 

[markbigtree]

Roll your treble back at least half way is start.

A consistent clack sounds tough and will cut through the mix well.

Uneven fingering makes it sound "ghosty" and disjointed.

 

[Darknut]

Really? I would regard someone with too clean a technique, on a song that calls for an aggressive attack and tone, an inferior player.

+1 .. Personally I would not want it on something easy or mello ... but it sounds great in the right kind of music.
I do it intentionally some times ... I guess I must suck at playing huh ... & Getty too .. cool I always wanted to be in the same category as Getty!

You got to love bass player snobbery ... I mean ignorance

 

[Mark Olson]

Really? I would regard someone with too clean a technique, on a song that calls for an aggressive attack and tone, an inferior player.

I use the most aggressive attack I've ever heard anyone use, but I have the skill to do it with no fret clack. There's a difference between aggressive attack and sloppy playing.

 

[Craig_S]

I use the most aggressive attack I've ever heard anyone use, but I have the skill to do it with no fret clack.

Sometimes, I use my fingers to hit the strings--like a thumbed note. There is always a click attached to the note. This is the same basic way Geddy gets his sound. The string hitting the end of the fretboard is a part of the sound.

What band are you in? I'd like to observe this super aggressive, yet quiet technique.

 

[theophilus762]

next time raise action. its for recording so you should be able to bear it, and you can get more aggressive without clack.

 

[chaosMK]

Fret noise isn't too bad (sometimes I like it, makes it sound human), fret clack isn't too great. It can make the whole recording sound a little cheap.

A good engineer (or at least one with a few technologies at his/her disposal) can work some magic and put a ceiling on the clack frequences and it'll be greatly reduced. You'll be ok.

I used to play "brutally" to cut through- almost popping the strings to bring out a piercing clack/clank attack. It sounded good for our rough sounding metal band, yet very bad. I was using a kind of low end bass, which was my partner in crime in this ill-concieved approach (I also ran all the tone controls on this bass maxed, with kind of a Fieldy tone dialed in on the amp... very sad times).

These days I do it with much more grace and better gear. I use "fret bounce" all the time (an aggressive, very fast yet light, percussive attack coupled with appropriate muting/dampening on the follow up), if I want some punch/attack or that type of expression. I also play more aggressively than ever, but without an uncontrollable clank... I am probably doing things differently than I did 10 years ago. Not sure what!

Action set right will help.

It probably sounds fine in your recording. We demand to hear your track now!

 

[TortillaChip520]

When I listen to the bass tracks on our recordings solo, there is fret clack because I record fingerstyle aggressively, but it's always in time with the bass drum so there's no way of noticing it in the mix at all.

 

[Mark Olson]

Sometimes, I use my fingers to hit the strings--like a thumbed note. There is always a click attached to the note. This is the same basic way Geddy gets his sound. The string hitting the end of the fretboard is a part of the sound.

What band are you in? I'd like to observe this super aggressive, yet quiet technique.

My basses have low action, and when I play fingerstyle I play basically oppositely the way you're "supposed to" which means I press the strings down towards the body of my guitar and I literally bounce them off the neck and sometimes even the pickups, depending on the guitar.

I have literally hundreds of soundclips of myself playing all over this forum, just search around and you'll find some, but here's a fingerstyle clip, notice the only clicking and clacking that goes on is on my mute notes when I want it there. I'm playing hard enough to drive the speaker into distortion (the amp is actually clean in these clips, despite what the clips say) but there's no nasty clack on my musical notes, only pure grunt:

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and pickstyle:

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and thumbstyle:

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all with an attack hard enough to distort the speaker, all under perfect control of exactly what I want with my notes, no processing to achieve that effect I'm just playing a passive bass into a tube amp into cab with a distorted speaker which is mic'ed with a 57, that's it.

 

[capnsandwich]

Nickel wound strings or flat wounds will help. Also, playing closer to the bridge, though may change your tone a bit, will also help with fret noise. Also, fret clacking can be mixed out or drowned out by the drums or other percussion in the mixdown process if you're nailing the notes on the beats. if you're not I'm sure he can budge you over a bit to tighten you up. Listen to the final mix and see if it's any better. It happens to the best of us and sometimes a little clack can really make a song sound meaner if used correctly. Then again, sometimes it sounds sloppy too.

 

[jerry]

When Will Lee did his sample loops he left in clack so they would sound authentic.

 

[dukaruk]

I am really liking the clack in when the entire band is playing. There is one spot where i'm solo that is really bothering me. The engineer assures me that he will probably we able to notch it to a more tolerable level.

BUT, i'm bringing my bass to the next mix session.

 

[Craig_S]

My basses have low action, and when I play fingerstyle I play basically oppositely the way you're "supposed to" which means I press the strings down towards the body of my guitar and I literally bounce them off the neck and sometimes even the pickups, depending on the guitar.

Yet you miraculously evade the nasty thwack and thud the string makes when it hits the pickup. You're AMAZING! EQ some of the highs back into your bass, and lose the notch you seem to have in the mids. You might actually get a good pick tone, then.

..all under perfect control of exactly what I want with my notes

PERFECT control. lol! I'm sorry, but THAT's funny stuff, there!

When Will Lee did his sample loops he left in clack so they would sound authentic.

But Will is one of those inferior players because of that, you know.