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How do you "mix" your Bass?

AREA

AREA

Dec 13, 2005
729
655
60
Moenchengladbach, Germany
sixfold-music.de
#1
If you record your Bass, how do you mix the Sound? Do you send a ready eq-ed Signal to your Interface? Or do you go "flat" and do the Eq-ing and Compression at the Computer...

Wich Frequencies do you boost, wich do you cut?


Until now, i´m going right out of the DI-Out from my Radial Bassbone into my Tascam US-144 and record the Bass completely flat. Then I add some Eq-ing and some Compression. That´s it. In Case of EQ-ing I boost the Lows around 70Hz a little, then the Mids @400 and 800Hz a little to add Definition and for some "High End Click" a slightly Boost around 2700-3000Hz

But I´m a Beginner in Home-Recording and I´m interested to learn and get some other Expiriences..

How do you go record and mix up your Bass-Guitar?
 
#4
it's kindof a rule of thumb with my recording engineer roomies that doing as little to the sound on the computer as possible is always the best. You do give up some flexibility, but you will get the best quality with having everything sounding correctly being fed in.
 
#6
md421 on the cab. DI from the amp flat. split to a dirty guitar amp.

turn the DI off because it sucks.

cut the sub lows from the 421 track. low pass to about 500hz

bring up OD track. bandpass between 200hz and 6khz.

compress both with LA-2A style. to warm them up a bit. bus both tracks together. compress them together. use the blended track in the mix. adjust EQ as necessary.

i tend to set my amps how i want them to sit in the mix. the 421 is pretty much the exact sound i want. EQ adjustments from there are pretty small other than the sub low cut.

with my band, i have to drop a little 200hz to make room for the bottom of my drummers anemic ass firecracker snare.
 
#7
Compression is my friend for the bass. I usually run a compressor with 3:1 or 4:1 ratio with a short decay and attack.

In terms of EQ, I usually boost the 80-100hz and a narrow cut at 140hz, then boost a fair amount at 1k, and then take a hair off everything above 10k(about a half a db or so, not much).
 
#8
Music Power said:
In terms of EQ, I usually boost the 80-100hz and a narrow cut at 140hz, then boost a fair amount at 1k, and then take a hair off everything above 10k(about a half a db or so, not much).
Click to expand...

Same here with my di signal..... except always at 100hz. Much lower, and it can get a bit mixed up with the kick.

When I track, I usually run a di, and then the effects send out of my head. That gives me some options for reamping later.

I don't usually track with compression. We'll add it as needed later.

BTW, has anyone messed with the Bootsy's BootEQmkII ? That thing is a killer plugin for bass! Next time we record, I want to try reamping a signal from that.
 
#9
I almost always track bass through a compressor on the amp mic, normally hitting it quite hard but it depends on the tune. The highly compressed amp mic becomes the character of the track, the compression keeps it consistent and stable. the di wraps around this, as layer of dynamics that contains everything necessary to describe the intentions of the player in relation to to consistent sounding mic'd tone. ie when a high frequency stuff is there you hear it, when low frequency stuff is there you hear it, if its in between the amp takes the lead. Automating the volume is a big part of a great bass track too, if you are going for a modern mix.

Mix wise, it differs massively from track to track,

sometimes I'll take the DI and put it to a sansamp or some other great distortion, i'll normally leave this un compressed but eq it to settle into the track and work alongside the mic'd bass sound.

if I do any eq work its almost always in the mids. A bass' bass is normally fine, unless dong hip hop/drum and bass or any other sort of music when you need a real bass to sound like a heavily processed sample.

The mids is where it counts so I'll normally do SOMETHING there, boost or cut. That's the important range to get right. I'll sometime high pass the low lows, say 60hz, but not always. Cutting highs is necessary for some tracks, especially when there is a lot of stuff going on above, heavy guitars etc. but leaving them be can sound great in an emptier track!

generally speaking, though, you should always eq for the song, and if you find yourself eqing/compressing to make the bass sound better when solo'd then you have missed the point a bit!
 
#12
DI through Radial JDI + Ampeg 410HLF mic'd with Shure SM7B via a Great River ME1-NV or through a GAP Pre 73. I usually engage the bass roll-off switch on the SM7B to avoid boominess. Sometimes I get better results with the GAP than I do with the Great River - Go figure. Honestely, I think the GAP is just as good, if not better in some circumstances, than the GR. Go ahead and throw sharp objects at me if for saying this if you need to . . .

I use the SM7B because it's the most suitable mic I have. I'd try a Sennheirser 421 or an EV RE20 if I had them, but I don't. I get great results with the SM7B. Very warm and punchy, very little noise. Surprised more people don't use one. And everyone knows it's a proven monster on rock vocals.

Afterwards, I usually ditch the DI signal. I probably only DI because that's what I was taught to do, and I feel like I still need the 'option' for the mix. More and more, my option is to just get rid of it. I don't care what anyone says; for me, nothing beats a good amp and a cab that's properly miked. Maybe if I try the hallowed Reddi Brick, I'll change my mind . . .

Never compress going in. Always with plugins afterwards. Apply a little EQ with API 550A or VEQ3 plugin, and I'm done. Once in a while, I throw an Xotic Bass BB Preamp in the chain for dirt. Records really nice.
 
#13
AREA said:
Wich Frequencies do you boost, wich do you cut?


Until now, i´m going right out of the DI-Out from my Radial Bassbone into my Tascam US-144 and record the Bass completely flat. Then I add some Eq-ing and some Compression. That´s it. In Case of EQ-ing I boost the Lows around 70Hz a little, then the Mids @400 and 800Hz a little to add Definition and for some "High End Click" a slightly Boost around 2700-3000Hz
Click to expand...

EQing really depends on what else you have in your mix. Mix your bass to the music, not the other way around.

First off, if you have a kick, find the 'sweet spot' for that. It's usually somewhere between 55hz and maybe 75hz. Then, drop the bass at that frequency, and your kick will pop out a bit more.

Beyond that, EQing really depends on what other instruments might be doubling on top of the bass or the bass's overtones. Learning that takes more then what could be read in a few posts online.

Youtube has some videos on how to EQ during mixing, but I've yet to really find one. The guitarist picked up a DVD a while back that was pretty good, and we used that as our Bible for a while until we got the hang of it better.

Good luck!
 
#15
I like to record the "preferred" sound - so find the sound, then mic it.

Recording signal chain is: EV RE27 > "transformer" type mic pre > A/D converter > Cubase, with a limiter before A/D converter for safety... EQ and comp/limit if/when needed.
 
#16
tifftunes said:
I like to record the "preferred" sound - so find the sound, then mic it.

Recording signal chain is: EV RE27 > "transformer" type mic pre > A/D converter > Cubase, with a limiter before A/D converter for safety... EQ and comp/limit if/when needed.
Click to expand...

Is the limiter a software one, as in one in cubase? If so then it cannot be before the A/D converter :)

Lots of set procedures people seem to be going through! As other have mentioned, you need to eq to the track! I cannot possibly decide what to eq until I have heard what the drums are doing, then the guitars etc.

You should make sure you get the sound you want when tracking (though that could include a bit of eq, but it's not really part of the 'mix' process), then later on listen to the whole lot and start eq'ing it all to fit together, and there are no set rules for that!
 

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