How Would You Record Bass?

[AngelCrusher]

Cool, do you pan them at all or do you keep them all panned the same?

Don't pan your bass. Keep it mono. There are no rules in music, but that is a good place to start.

To answer the other question on pre's. When you have good gear, use it. Use the DI to get a nice sound with some 3d to it. Use the gain knob to get a super light touch of harmonics and then do the same going into the preamp. If you do it right, you should notice a very rich and full bass sound that is controllable. Meaning, no harshness, no clipping, but plenty of definition from top to bottom. You have all the gear needed to get an awesome bass tone that will sit perfectly in a mix.

 

[CryingBass]

If you had an RNDI, Daking Mic Pre One, and a WA76?

I also have a Neumann TLM 102, SM 57, and a Bergantino HD112 and Shuttlemax 9.2

How would you be tracking bass with this gear?

Well, you ain't lacking in kit.

But can you walk the bass?

 

[vvvmmm]

FWIW, I typically mic my Ampeg BA108 with a PV520i or SM7b, or sometimes use a VT pedal as a DI, always into a The Brick to a dbx160XT, and also split off the Brick's thru-put to a Meek VC3Q with the comp engaged (both comps set about 4@1 taking a couple dB down). This gives me two bass tracks which gives a lot of flexibility for FX, EQ, etc. Usually, tho', I use FX from my pedal board into the amp, and then hi-pass the tracks and use both, panned about 11:56 and 12:04.

Why pan? I read an interview once with Bob Rock talking about making the bass move just a bit (I think he uses chorus in parallel) - the panning and different pre/comp's do that nicely.

One common variation for me is to split the bass off direct to the Meek, instead of splitting the mic off the thru.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

If you had an RNDI, Daking Mic Pre One, and a WA76?

I also have a Neumann TLM 102, SM 57, and a Bergantino HD112 and Shuttlemax 9.2

How would you be tracking bass with this gear?

I’d arm the track and record, depends on the DAW I suppose.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Okay great! I’m getting a lot of suggestions that are reinforcing my instinct.

I’m curious as to why some people would just use the RNDI and also some people would skip the RNDI and go right into the daking pre to the 76.

The RNDI has the special sauce, by all accounts I've heard. Of course, much of the harmonic nuance the DI provides will be subject to your interface's ability to capture it, but you should try it both ways and see what you prefer. You're really playing with gain staging as much as anything, so the DI might or might not put the Daking preamp into a gain structure that makes it sound really good. Similarly, the balance between input/output gain in the Daking/WA76 will make a difference.

 

[Charlzm]

Cool, do you pan them at all or do you keep them all panned the same?

Dead center. Mono, in fact.

Also wanted to be more clear - I do not mix in the dry signal at all. This avoids phase issues.

 

[J Posega]

I don't bother miking a bass cab unless I'm in a good room... in other words, not in a typical home studio or bedroom.

I'd go DI - pre - comp. Keep it all dead center, mono.

 

[Dbassmon]

I don't bother miking a bass cab unless I'm in a good room... in other words, not in a typical home studio or bedroom.

If you have you microphone pointed right at the speaker, 1" from the cone, your are not hearing much of the room. Just sayin...

 

[J Posega]

If you have you microphone pointed right at the speaker, 1" from the cone, your are not hearing much of the room. Just sayin...

I don’t like miking any bass amp that close unless it’s a 57 or 7b to get mostly highs and mids. I have only really liked bass amps miked within one to three feet of the amp so you do get a little roominess to it and it sounds like an amp and not just a speaker. I don’t sit with my ear up against the speaker grill.

 

[Badwater]

Just Direct into the interface, unless I want to color the tone, then I'll use a MXR preamp DI for the passive bass. For the active humbucker, just straight into the interface for the most growl. All depends on the sound. Then I use various techniques to EQ, or double the one track into 2 and split up the FX and frequency enhancement with modulation or reverb. But simple is easier to EQ.