Isolated bass track shock

[Pbassmanca]

I have had my guitar player tell me my bass sounds like crap alone, but is magic in the mix.

That sounds like something a guitar player might say......

 

[DD Gunz]

That sounds like something a guitar player might say......

Haha, yes it does.

 

[Son of Wobble]

Spoiler Alert:

In the context of studio recording your personal favorite/ideal tone may not be what is best for the song/mix/context of the music being recorded.

This. Likewise, when guitarists talk about bringing "their" tone, I think, "Tone relative to what?"

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Yes and recorded in 1969

The jazz bass in the last picture hasn’t got any logo on the headstock !!!! Gawd... Warmoth already in 69????

 

[Frank Tuesday]

This. Likewise, when guitarists talk about bringing "their" tone, I think, "Tone relative to what?"

Listen to how little low end is present inthe guitar track from Welcome to the Jungle.
I don't know a single guitarist who has that little low end in "My Tone".

 

[AdamR]

Listen to how little low end is present inthe guitar track from Welcome to the Jungle.
I don't know a single guitarist who has that little low end in "My Tone".

Modern production tends to have more low-end than early recordings. But still,

 

[jaco944]

Google "christian james hand session" for more isolated tracks. Always eye opening (err, ear opening) to hear what are considered world-class bass tones isolated.

- John

Thanks for opening that rabbit hole. Awesome stuff.

 

[HotelX]

Listen to how little low end is present inthe guitar track from Welcome to the Jungle.
I don't know a single guitarist who has that little low end in "My Tone".

Duff is pretty solid on this one.

 

[Badwater]

It all depends on the recording equipment, digital is different than recording analog tape. Also, the playback device you use should match the recording era gear. If you listen to modern mixed digital music on a old Receiver or 8track or Cassette player it will not sound it's best. For modern digital recorded tracks the playback sounds best with the enhanced speaker systems and digital devices like multi-media, audiophile digital playback devices, and the like. For analog tape recording, you'll get amazing sound on a good quality old analog hifi receiver type device, one that plays turntables and tape.

As for the bass tracks. I've listened to a few bass tracks from the old classic rock days (30+) years ago. And regardless of the listening device, most sounded like sounded like sloppy playing. Perhaps the players did not do a lot of solo bass playing where the bass was the featured instrument.

Fast forward to the modern digital age. I hear and watch a lot of YouTube videos of bass players where the feature instrument is the bass, or where the bass is the melody instrument. And the sound it tight, not loose and sloppy. With the ability to do modular digital recording, players can fine tune every aspect of the sound. Tempo, note value, pitch, and volume level of every bass line or note can be manipulated with ease. Perhaps, that's the difference I hear and see in isolated bass tracks from the past and the present.

 

[Loring]

It all depends on the recording equipment, digital is different than recording analog tape. Also, the playback device you use should match the recording era gear. If you listen to modern mixed digital music on a old Receiver or 8track or Cassette player it will not sound it's best. For modern digital recorded tracks the playback sounds best with the enhanced speaker systems and digital devices like multi-media, audiophile digital playback devices, and the like. For analog tape recording, you'll get amazing sound on a good quality old analog hifi receiver type device, one that plays turntables and tape.
.

I have to disagree here. Good audio equipment is good audio equipment. If you have a good recording - it will sound better on better audio equipment regardless of the era.

You are right that you would need era compatible gear though...
Hard to play an mp3 on a cassette player...

 

[scotch]

Gonna just leave this last comment:

There is no trickery. Energetic, inspired performances in the studio will sound entirely different when solo'ed as compared to how they translate in the relevant mix.
Fret noise, sleeve noise, technique anomalies, etc.... It's all in there. At least in most popular genres, that is.

No one is trying to "fool you" with counterfeit iso-tracks. Listening on different speakers/headphones/etc is going to have only marginal differences consistent with the devices themselves. Those clicks, clacks, and whomps happened on the session.

Playing at home is not the same as playing on stage is not the same as playing in the studio.

I feel better now.

 

[denhou1974]

In the beginning yes, but as the popularity of the games grew, the actual stems were licensed to the game studios. I wouldn't know the exact percentage of reproduced tracks, but I'd say it's less than 50%.

74% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

 

[dlb1001]

Couple of years ago when our band was recording in the studio and I did my bass parts, the engineer noticed that my bass playing seemed to be a tiny bit behind the drums, but when listened in full mix it sounded just fine. So I think sometimes "bad timing" or "sloppy playing" could just be that the bass player is playing in the groove and when isolated it might not sound right.

Another thing worth mentioning is that you dont actually need so much low end as you might think, often it can just muddy up the tone. On the other hand, distorted bass track can sound bad alone but usually it sounds good and present in the mix.

I was recording some backing tracks with a drummer for a singer/songwriter. The drummer mentioned to me, as we were putting down the tracks that I was a tiny bit ahead of the beat. But, when he listened to the finished tracks, the bass line was on the beat so the drummer thought that there might be a latency in the equipment.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Case in point: sloppy a** playing, sounds great in the mix. That’s Joe Perry flogging a Bass VI

 

[JimmyM]

I hate producers and engineers who demand everything be put on a click for that reason...because music is not meant to be played perfectly to a click track. I consider click tracks the death of music. Sure, I will use them when I'm forced to, and sometimes I am due to circumstances, but I can't think of anything that sucks the life out of Music more than a click track.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Listen to how little low end is present inthe guitar track from Welcome to the Jungle.
I don't know a single guitarist who has that little low end in "My Tone".

A lot of guitarists have to much low end in their stage tone, and it just muddies up the stage sound IMHO.

 

[Roxbororob]

I hate producers and engineers who demand everything be put on a click for that reason...because music is not meant to be played perfectly to a click track. I consider click tracks the death of music. Sure, I will use them when I'm forced to, and sometimes I am due to circumstances, but I can't think of anything that sucks the life out of Music more than a click track.

Well said.

 

[ICM]

I hate producers and engineers who demand everything be put on a click for that reason...because music is not meant to be played perfectly to a click track. I consider click tracks the death of music. Sure, I will use them when I'm forced to, and sometimes I am due to circumstances, but I can't think of anything that sucks the life out of Music more than a click track.

I 100% agree. Anytime someone asks me to play to a metronome/click track, I say "no, but I'll play to an electronically generated drumbeat". It's not great, but atleast it's better from those annoying beeps that are frankly quite distracting.

For some reason I'm terrible at playing to a click track, but can play to a drumbeat "click" track perfectly. That probably says something about my rhythm abilities, but I swear it's easier and more organic. I absolutely hate/abhor/disdain click tracks. Glad to see someone with experience in the industry feels the same.

 

[scotch]

Click tracks have their place. Naturally, the music I personally gravitate towards rarely uses it, but there are genres and recording techniques that necessitate it.

These days a "click track" is often a sequenced pattern that fits the material. "Beep- boop-boop" is pretty archaic. "Tempo maps" are often one of the first steps of music production. Tempo maps can combine a variety of differing tempos, feels, and time signatures.

Still, I get it. I love an honest, organic performance most of all too!

 

[JimmyM]

Yeah Justin, I believe that click tracks and Tempo maps have their place in certain types of music. But for things like straight-up rock and roll or jazz, or even certain types of dance music that don't rely on sequencing, I'll pass.