Multi Mic a Bass Cab

[Nickweissmusic]

I was taught how to record a bass from an old school engineer who showed me first how to multi mic a cab and how to combine that w/a di signal to get a good rounded bass tone on my recordings. Multiple mics include a "dark" mic (ex: Beyer 380, EV RE20 etc..) and a brighter mic (ex: Audio-Technica Pro 37R, AKG 451, Altec 165/175 etc..).
Though he was literally the only guy I've ever seen multi mic a bass cab. It is common practice for recording six string guitar but from my experience not for bass...or is it? I certainly don't see it discussed much unless I'm just missing something.

If it worked and you like the sound, try it. I’ve never gotten fussy enough to characterize mics by color, but if you hear and buy into those profiles, knock yourself out. I do like to multi mic acoustic guitars, but at a certain point, it all turns into an effect, different techniques render different results, and the more channels you devote to each instrument, the more headaches you’re inviting. But if multi miking bass cabs ends up being your signature sound, so be it.

Other peoples techniques are a great place to start, but as stated directly above, you have to use your ears to make the final call. The older I get, the fewer channels I tend to use. I was “told” for recording bass you’re supposed to mic a cab and use the direct signal and blend it, yet I have found in many cases, one of the signals often sounds better than blending them just because I’m “supposed” to. I’ll bet you a lot of the ultra clean bass guitar playing you hear in pop recently (ala Bruno Mars, Cee Lo) is direct, into an IR cab emulator on the computer after the fact. At least, that’s how I get those clean tones. I just pick through different IR files until one clicks in the mix. No different than turning an EQ knob, just my preferred workflow.

 

[HolmeBass]

A band I am in recorded 11 originals last fall, in a live-in-studio format. I ran DI from my head, post, from a Streamliner 900 with nearly flat EQ settings, and he double miked my fEAFul 15/6, I cant remember what he used, but one on the 15 and one mic on the 6. In mix down he favored the DI and the 6 for OD, fuzz, and chorus effects. We all really love the mix, for which he used no EQ (!!) at all, just panning and level. He used some fancy reverbs on the vocals but everything else was what our rigs produced.

Sounds amazing. He says he lets the Flickinger console and his vintage tube compressors and limiters do their magic and that’s all he needs. The most amazing thing is the worse of a system we listen to the mix on, the better it sounds, relatively speaking. It’s beautifully detailed on good speakers, you can hear vocalists inhaling before they sing, cool “live” stuff like that, but still sounds really good on the crummiest boom boxes we could scrounge up. Sounds great on all of our car stereos. The effects on my bass sound really good, especially my overdrive tone, which is very subtley different from my clean tone.

 

[amphlett7]

I've recorded bass a lot and have used anywhere from 0 to 3 microphones on an amp.

A cool trick you can try is to place your first microphone (I usually use a EV RE320 Dynamic) pointed directly at the spot where the cone meets the cap.
Then, use a brighter microphone like a condenser (I use a Josephson C42 SDC or a Rode K2 LDC) as your second mic.
The trick is to have the bass player play (or if you're like me, reamp the DI recording) while listening to both mics through headphones with the polarity flipped on the second microphone.

Place the microphone in the spot where you only hear the thinnest, grossest sound.

Then, flip the polarity and listen again. You'll have both mics in phase and they'll be cancelling out the frequencies you didn't like.

Works on guitar cabs too!

 

[trevcda]

In the days of virtually unlimited virtual tracks, throwing the DI of the day on the bass and saying they'll fix it in the mix is the sign of a lazy engineer who doesn't give a poopie about the bass, or thinks that all basses should sound a certain way. Sure it will get you a bass track, but why not throw a couple mics up, lay down a track and give it a listen? There's nothing wrong with having options.

 

[amphlett7]

In the days of virtually unlimited virtual tracks, throwing the DI of the day on the bass and saying they'll fix it in the mix is the sign of a lazy engineer who doesn't give a poopie about the bass, or thinks that all basses should sound a certain way. Sure it will get you a bass track, but why not throw a couple mics up, lay down a track and give it a listen? There's nothing wrong with having options.

100 times this.

For drums I always err on the side of caution.
I don't always need the bottom snare, or the hi-hat or a dedicated ride mic, etc, but the day that I haven't set one up is the day I need it.

If you have the gear, use it and experiment!

 

[lz4005]

As far as I know I only had my cab "multi miced" once.

A buddy of mine had a ported cab get multi miced when he stored it in his basement over a winter once. The little vermin built a nest inside and filled it full of little black pellets. It was gross.

 

[DanAdams]

I record DI. reamp and futz around with mic(s) afterward if it's called for, or something unconventional is desired, or gear lust has clouded your vision.
If recording live, the bleed from a bass cab can screw up lots of stuff, waste everyone's time, and create phase issues that can't be easily sorted out later.
REAMP!

 

[bombpop14]

Time is usually money, but spending a few minutes to try anything you think might get you the sound in your head is part of the thrill of recording when it works.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I generally use DI+one mic (often a Beyerdynamic M88). More mics = too much hassle with phase/comb filtering.

I always use a phase-alignment tool on the DI signal when I record bass. That makes it possible to place the mic where it actually sounds best instead of moving it around until it's in phase with with the DI. There are several different phase alignment tools available but for bass my favourite is without doubt the Radial Phazer.

Another popular one is the Little Labs IBP but I never really liked that one for bass. I always get much better results with the Radial Phazer. The IBP is excellent for multi-miked guitars though!

Of course you could also align the waveforms within a DAW but it's not the same and I'm getting FAR better results with the Phazer. The built in low-pass filter is great for dialing out unwanted string noises from the DI-signal too.

EDIT: Just make sure you don't actually hear the bass in the room or leaking through walls when phase-aligning DI+mic or you risk aligning it to the room sound, which will most likely sound horrible. If leakage can't be avoided while recording it's probably best to leave phase alignment to the mixing stage.

 

[jj.833]

I was mostly recorded by DI in studio, and - with my old passive Jazzbass - always was surprised how different the sound in the mix room is from what I was hearing. The mix guy starts to creatively enhance the dry sound then, usually using some digital valve amp plugin. Trying at home studio later, I found that the mic, even not very good one, takes the character of my bass much closer, and incorporates many problems with overhearing from one microphone to other (bass must be loud enough, so the drum mics take it too, messing up phases, and so on). It's absolutely logical of course. I think that DIing the bass is done because it's simple and clear. If there's time, using mics would probably result in more authentic sound. This is what we want, isn't it?

 

[Deleted member 271037]

I was mostly recorded by DI in studio, and - with my old passive Jazzbass - always was surprised how different the sound in the mix room is from what I was hearing. The mix guy starts to creatively enhance the dry sound then, usually using some digital valve amp plugin. Trying at home studio later, I found that the mic, even not very good one, takes the character of my bass much closer, and incorporates many problems with overhearing from one microphone to other (bass must be loud enough, so the drum mics take it too, messing up phases, and so on). It's absolutely logical of course. I think that DIing the bass is done because it's simple and clear. If there's time, using mics would probably result in more authentic sound. This is what we want, isn't it?

Yeah, amp is definitely more true to the sound in the room. DI can be severely lacking in upper midrange character. And DI can sound pretty nasty if dirt pedals are used so in some situations I might keep the DI clean to keep thing under control and keep the lows solid.

DI can often be better than a mic'ed amp for TIGHT deep lows. So a blend is ideal in my world: DI for the lows, amp for the mids/high. I often use quite extreme hi-pass (on mic) and low-pass (on DI). Or not... It all depends on the song/genre and what kind of sound I'm going for. Sometimes I may even use only DI, or only mic, but most often I use both.

 

[aledeville]

I go DI and then the IR route. Less trouble, better results.

 

[Medicine Man]

I highly prefer direct blended with a reamped signal, but I'm strictly amateur, so do what works for you.

 

[Ric5]

 

[NKBassman]

Any time I've ever tried to mic a bass cab has ended up lack-luster at best and wasn't worth the time or effort it took to get a usable sound, and that's just messing with a single mic. I ended up buying a Radial JDX speaker-sim DI which is super simple to set up and sounds better than "good enough" to capture a cabinet sounding track. Combined with a clean pre-effects DI track this has worked for me on more than one occasion.

Before my last recording session I picked up an Audio-Technica kick mic with two capsules in one body, one dynamic and one SDC, which then splits to two separate XLR cables. That sounded alright placed a few feet back from the cab. Quick and easy way to "dual mic" any source.

 

[Blaze Barlow]

sometimes multiple mics are set up to see which one sounds better..a direct line is always best..it depends if there is some type of sonic interpretation you are trying to achieve with multiple mics..more mics..more problems..phasing is generally the issue with multiple mics..proximity needs to remain the same..again..depends what you want the end result to be..speaker cone sound vs room sound..some are comparing the direct sound against a mic sound..some are blending the two..generally..go with what your ears tell you on the playback..

 

[spaz21387]

I prefer di...

 

[Ulf_Hansson]

A buddy of mine had a ported cab get multi miced when he stored it in his basement over a winter once. The little vermin built a nest inside and filled it full of little black pellets. It was gross.

Well, I didn't see that one coming...

 

[grimjim]

I'm getting ready to record some bass tracks. I'm going to use three channels. One d-112 about ten inches from the cab, my effected channel from a darkglass alpha/omega and the pass through from the same pedal, which is just the bass with no effect.

I did purchase a plug in to deal with phasing as I was told it could be an issue with the setup I'm going to use.

 

[NKBassman]

I'm getting ready to record some bass tracks. I'm going to use three channels. One d-112 about ten inches from the cab, my effected channel from a darkglass alpha/omega and the pass through from the same pedal, which is just the bass with no effect.

I did purchase a plug in to deal with phasing as I was told it could be an issue with the setup I'm going to use.

That should get you enough to work with.
The mic signal will be delayed from the DI feeds (ie. sound takes longer to reach the mic than it does to go the DI route), so yes you may need to compensate for phasing. If you're recording in a DAW, you can often set up a delay time on the track so that everything lines up nicely.

Once you're all set up and everything is tracking the way you want it to, just snap your strings a couple of times so you get a couple of sharp spikes in the wave form. then you should be able to see how things are lining up, and what adjustments you need to make.

On the other hand, there's always the chance that everything could sound good as is... you never know.