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Getting "that" bass tone in studio..

lburton2

lburton2

Les Is More
May 15, 2008
675
4
Detroit, MI
#1
This is my first in a studio that isn't a "home studio" and i'm having trouble communicating exactly what i want in the bass spectrum. I'm a good player, and i know what I want.. But the engineer and the guitar player basically brush me off any time i tell them that i don't like "the bass tone" that is coming out of the mix.. Everything is coming off very low-mid heavy with no punch.. And punch is what I WANTT.. Any suggestions? :scowl:
 
#2
Show the examples of tone that you wish to achieve. Sit down and say I want to sound like that!
Don't settle, because once it goes down you'll spend the rest of your days listening to that take and not being happy with it!
Maybe change the EQ on your bass or your amp?
 
#4
2 people that should never mix a song are....Guitar Players and Lead Singers and if that who is doing it your screwed....

Seriously...the best bet is to cut some of the bass and actually boost frequencies that are cut naturally by tone stacks or by people when they listen to a bass track when its solo'd.

so boost in the 300 500 or 600hz range which will barely slip under a guitar low end area which is often boosted to much in the 400hz range..plus your guitard players or engineers are most likely boosting the guitars bass too much in the 100 to 200hz range which will stomp all over a bass track.....common mistake made by almost every engineer..even ones that claim 20 + years of experience...too much bass on the guitars.....guitars should sit in the midrange at 600hz and up and bass should sit at 600hz and down. no need to boost the bass treble to much to try and sit in a mix...the drums cymbals will eat it up

Sometimes a bass that sit well in the mix can sound rather funny when you listen to it solo....

Also when you record its a good idea to record 2 tracks..one straight to the board with a DI box and another with your cabinet with a mic. gives you more options in the end and usually to most peoples dismay the DI signal often works best.

Again your normal tone usually does not work well in a mix...it will end up being muddy and lost. same with guitars as well....everybody cuts the mids too much and boost the bass to much on all instruments....if you want to clean up a heavy distorted guitar, cutting mids will help but a standard midrange on a board is too wide...a very narrow notch filter can be used at 600hz and 2000hz to clean it up....very very narrow. and then a final 5000hz/6000hz low pass final filter, will really clean up guitars. Getting the guitars out of the way makes it much easier to get a better bass sound.
 
#5
BogeyBass said:
Sometimes a bass that sit well in the mix can sound rather funny when you listen to it solo....
Click to expand...

This!

My recording settings are far different I'd ever want if I was just sitting around on my own....but it sits well in the mix with my guitarists' tones.

And as 'I-Love-Ratm' said, give them some examples of the tone you'd like to achieve, then work to achieve it. You're likely footing a portion of the bill, so don't get railroaded because you're 'just the bass player'. Be a bit of a hard-ass about it if you have to. I've settled too many times in the past and regretted it. If it takes a heated discussion to get your point across, so be it.

That said, you'll likely not hear exactly what you wanted during the recording process. Just make sure you get an opportunity to hear it after the track gets somewhat leveled but before the final. In the end, you will have to put some faith in the engineer, but be involved in the process as much as you're able to.
 
#7
^ well kinda drummers are not too bad...depends on the person i guess.

Drummers tend to like the drums too loud...but for the most part its ok.....as long as it fits with the vocals.

I would say for the most part if bass players and drummers could do final mixes the world would be a better place.

more often than not drummers can be just as frustrated because really its the hardest instrument to record...and will take the most time to mix as well.

unless of course you have a guitar player doing 50 overdubs and all of them dont fit sonically....and then you hear them complain you cant hear all 50 of their overdubs. and end up spending a few more hundred dollars, trying to mix their garbage.
 
#9
You have all been a HUGE help.. Flatwounds?!

I ended up saying **** it and hauled my Eden 550 head and did the DI out from there as well as a Direct box (So I have some moderate EQing on one of the tracks before it hits the board). Other than that I have been vocalizing my opinion and so far i'm making progress. The engineer is a drummer by the way.. so the drums sound AMAZING.. and are surprisingly not too loud haha
 
#11
I'm honestly surprised the engineer didn't tell you to haul in your amp to begin with. Between our old bassist, myself (was only singing at that point) and the producer we had two heads, two cabs, half a dozen mics, another half dozen DIs, and four different basses to choose from. Ended up using my head, bassist's cab and the producer's bass with a DI from the head and a beta 52 on the cabinet.

Moral of the story? Don't be afraid to experiment a little to get your tone right and you're well within your rights to bare teeth and froth at anyone who says "we can fix that later". Garbage in, garbage out.
 
#12
+1 to cutting the fundamentals before raising the highs.

+1 to mixing a DI with a mic on amp

Also try a fairly aggressive compressor setting, like 20:1, slam it and get the attack/release sounding the way you want, then back it off to 4:1 or 8:1 (for rock/funk/pop, etc). Compression has alot to do with making the bass solid yet preserving "bite" in the mix. If they have it, try an LA2A or other optical compressor. The distressor on the 10:1 "opto mode" is great for bass. The attack/release on an optical comp is usually not adjustable so setting it is a no brained.

And if you really want the best bass tone you will EVER hear... let it hit tape
 
#16
What DIs have you tried? They are not all created equal and different ones will have a major impact on your sound. A Radial JDI has worked well for me for years. I'd love to try a REDDI but I don't record seriously enough to drop the $700.

+1 on compression. I'm no guru there but to my ears it can make mids a lot more present instead of trying to EQ them in.
 
#19
Rockmusician said:
Is this a recording for your band or were you hired to play? If it is your band, you have every right to get the tone you want. If your were hired, the artist, engineer and producer know what sound they are looking for and you really don't have much say.
Click to expand...

Along the same lines, you should step back and really look at the tone you want and see if it is clashing with the song as a whole. This issue is more common with guitarists (especially live), where they want that tone out of their guitar, but the tone is killing the rest of the song and clashing with frequencies with other instruments.

The same is with alot of bass players, too. The bass tone in most really well produced stuff is pretty crappy because if they did make it great, it would end up messing with other instruments or the vocals.

Talk to them and let them know that you're not happy, but also try not to let your personal biases mess with the song as a whole.
 

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