Please share your tips on how to record professional / studio quality bass

[Slade N]

Read up on use of high pass filters

 

[gstaats]

Honestly, if this is just for auditions for bands the best thing in my opinion is for minimal doctoring of the tracks. A well played bass (in tune, in time and with good technique) plugged straight into a daw with a flat eq is good enough for auditions. If anything, with virtual auditions that I've done, it is better to give a raw recording with zero edits. It sets expectations and shows that either one can play their instrument or not.

 

[MDBass]

Hi TalkBass Community.

I'm new to this forum and desperately trying to stay away from all the gear threads (but failing) preferring to focus on discussions that are going to help improve my playing and help me learn how to record professional / studio quality bass.

Although not a complete novice to home recording I don't feel I've really mastered it as a skill and I'm looking for any advice / guidance / tips that the TalkBass community can offer me.

I use Cubase as my DAW and have a pretty good understanding of how it works. I also have some of the required equipment at my disposal:

- DI options: Radial Pro 48 DI box or DI out of my GR Bass head.
- Audio Interface: SSL 2 channel AI
- DAW plugins (IR cab sims, Cubase's standard suit of tools (reverb, compression, eq etc.)

I'm willing to invest in other plugin's if needed and potentially a decent microphone for the cab.

Please do share your wisdom with me; any links to articles or YouTube tutorials also very welcome.

Thanks

The main thing you need for a world class bass sound, aside from an excellent recorded performance of course, is a clear vision of what kind of bass tone you’re looking to create.

Sometimes that will only require a single DI track, sometimes it will require a blend of multiple parallel tracks: it will always require some element of EQ, compression and saturation, but how much and what kind is entirely case dependent.

I’ve been a professional studio bassist and engineer for 15 years, and work full time out of Cubase: aside from the occasional client who wants me to import tracks into/out of their own recording session on another DAW like Logic or Pro Tools.

Feel free to shoot a DM my way if you have more specific questions.

 

[J33]

Here's two un-mastered and half mixed tunes O.P. straight from my DAW. It's MP3 so it's going to add a little compression and take off some definition...but you should get a picture of the clarity and "not wet cardboard beaten against a wet dock" that I'm talking about. With the exception of the drums on the Blues track..I'm playing and wrote everything you're hearing.

 

[Biggbass]

I produce an album per year with an average of 12 track per album. The music is Americana.
My routine approach to recording bass is to mic a bass amp and run a DI simultaneously. Then I blend the two in the mix or just use the one that fits best if I don't blend.
Sometimes I'll add an Ampeg plug in to the DI track. I also make good use of hi pass eq as needed to eliminate low end mud/clutter, and focus on letting the bass and the kick sit in their own frequencies and not cross over into each other's sonic space.
Just about any mic will work. I've gotten great results using an Octava MK 012, Senn 906, and a 421 on the cab. But there have been millions of good bass tracks captured with an SM57 on the cab. So use what you have and experiment.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi TalkBass Community.

I'm new to this forum and desperately trying to stay away from all the gear threads (but failing) preferring to focus on discussions that are going to help improve my playing and help me learn how to record professional / studio quality bass.

Although not a complete novice to home recording I don't feel I've really mastered it as a skill and I'm looking for any advice / guidance / tips that the TalkBass community can offer me.

I use Cubase as my DAW and have a pretty good understanding of how it works. I also have some of the required equipment at my disposal:

- DI options: Radial Pro 48 DI box or DI out of my GR Bass head.
- Audio Interface: SSL 2 channel AI
- DAW plugins (IR cab sims, Cubase's standard suit of tools (reverb, compression, eq etc.)

I'm willing to invest in other plugin's if needed and potentially a decent microphone for the cab.

Please do share your wisdom with me; any links to articles or YouTube tutorials also very welcome.

Thanks

Di in

Mic on cab

Move in phase, and level

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi TalkBass Community.

I'm new to this forum and desperately trying to stay away from all the gear threads (but failing) preferring to focus on discussions that are going to help improve my playing and help me learn how to record professional / studio quality bass.

Although not a complete novice to home recording I don't feel I've really mastered it as a skill and I'm looking for any advice / guidance / tips that the TalkBass community can offer me.

I use Cubase as my DAW and have a pretty good understanding of how it works. I also have some of the required equipment at my disposal:

- DI options: Radial Pro 48 DI box or DI out of my GR Bass head.
- Audio Interface: SSL 2 channel AI
- DAW plugins (IR cab sims, Cubase's standard suit of tools (reverb, compression, eq etc.)

I'm willing to invest in other plugin's if needed and potentially a decent microphone for the cab.

Please do share your wisdom with me; any links to articles or YouTube tutorials also very welcome.

Thanks

I use Guitar rig pro. It's a great software. I've also got amplitube, but it's not as good.

 

[Pings Bass]

These are my thoughts:

The first priority is ... your ability to play your instrument. In time and in tune.

Once you've mastered that small item , the rest is pretty straightforward:

Getting a good signal - strong enough but not too strong - into your interface. It sounds like you have the gear to do that.

Coming up with a bass part which rides well with the other parts ... AKA arrangement. To me this (after priority #1) is crucial, and it may take quite a bit of time. Keep in mind that - generally speaking - the bass part is there to make everything else sound better. Cut every note which does not accomplish that goal.

Recording your part may require many takes. Be satisfied with nothing less than the best you can do.

In terms of digital processing, keep it simple. Record without any effects. If you want some, apply them to the recorded track.

All of that!

Put you efforts into the playing and the part. Don't think you can "fix it in post" or string together sections of different takes. (I mean you can do that, but i don't think it sounds as good). Think of it as capturing a performance. That means practicing your butt off before hitting record on the first take, then recording as many takes as you need to nail it.

 

[QweziRider]

Yeah, I don't have any issues with the gear - I just feel the end product could be better produced / mixed / mastered.

From that perspective (and this is only how I do it, there are a million other ways to experiment with), I do the one DI track. From there, I make a couple/few copies to do other things with (maybe a drive plug on one, some serious compression on another, EQ to taste on them), and blend all that into what I hear in my head (besides the voices). I've learned there's definitely a lot more to getting "that finished sound" than just DI-ing or Mic'ing a single track and messing with that alone.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

You've got the pro gear, have at it.

 

[QweziRider]

I.e. in those Warren Hunt videos posted by @bass12 IIRC at one point he talks about using two recorded tracks and using a HPF to isolate just the low frequencies on one track to preserve a nice fat bottom end whilst running a bit of distortion on the other track at a higher frequency for some grit.

Exactly the source of what I was getting to in my previous reply. Start from there and experiment. Plus, it's all going to be altered further in your mix and mastering.

 

[Nephilymbass]

There’s a million things to say on this topic but I’ll stick with 4

1 have your gear ready. If you’re using rounds buy new strings, if your using flats or tapewounds and they are broken in the way you like don’t change them unless there’s something odd going on like you can get the intonation dialed in.

2 phasing problems sucks the life and especially the lows out of a lot of recordings. Especially if your using 2 or more tracks of bass, try flipping the phase and see how it impacts the sound. This is something I’ve noticed a huge difference with especially when recording both a Di track and a mic on a cab. Lot of the time they’ll be out of phase and flipping the phase on one track can be magical if there’s a phase issue. Phase issues can also be noticed if you have two tracks of bass and it actually sounds bigger/beefier with one of the tracks muted.

3 sometimes what makes the bass sound great on a record isn’t actually the bass at all. Guitars should basically always be high passed. Most guitar content below 100hz just adds mud and when EQed out it both tightens up the guitars and gives the bass some more range where it’s not fighting the guitars. Side Chaining the bass and the kick is also a useful mixing trick. Because the bass also has to coexist with the kick also.

4 don’t eq the hell out of your tone on your amp, bass, or Di. It’s better to record a relatively flat signal because it provides more to work with when it comes to mixing later. It’s better to get different tones with technique. For example if you want a warmer sound instead of cutting highs and boosting lows, just attack the strings closer to the neck. If you want brighter sound move your hand closer to the bridge, but don’t eq you your sound to death.

 

[MDBass]

All of that!

Put you efforts into the playing and the part. Don't think you can "fix it in post" or string together sections of different takes. (I mean you can do that, but i don't think it sounds as good). Think of it as capturing a performance. That means practicing your butt off before hitting record on the first take, then recording as many takes as you need to nail it.

“Fixing it in post” and punching in (ie “stringing together sections of different takes”) are entirely different things.

Any commercial recording you’ve heard in the last several decades has takes that are punched in, likely from every single instrument including vocals: it’s indecipherable from recording in one take when done correctly.

“Fixing it in post” is essentially recording something that sounds bad, either tone or performance, and hoping it can be made to sound good later.

Definitely avoid that.

One can only polish a turd so much: you may be able to make it appear shiny from a distance, but up close it’ll still stink

 

[Pings Bass]

“Fixing it in post” and punching in (ie “stringing together sections of different takes”) are entirely different things.

Any commercial recording you’ve heard in the last several decades has takes that are punched in, likely from every single instrument including vocals: it’s indecipherable from recording in one take when done correctly.

“Fixing it in post” is essentially recording something that sounds bad, either tone or performance, and hoping it can be made to sound good later.

Definitely avoid that.

One can only polish a turd so much: you may be able to make it appear shiny from a distance, but up close it’ll still stink

You're right,, especially in pop/rock where virtually every recording is some kind of composite of many performances, often in different times and places. (Not to mention sequenced tracks.)

Jazz and classical though, you're going with the best take from an ensemble moving the same air in the same room at the same time, at least in the ideal case.

I concede that my advice against punch ins and stringing together parts from different takes is a purist ideal. I've found it works best for me to avoid those techniques, but i don't play pop/rock.

Bottom line, I'm just saying the same thing a you, I think: you have to start with the best performance you can muster, then shine it up to the degree the genre you're playing warrants.

 

[bass12]

You're right,, especially in pop/rock where virtually every recording is some kind of composite of many performances, often in different times and places. (Not to mention sequenced tracks.)

Jazz and classical though, you're going with the best take from an ensemble moving the same air in the same room at the same time, at least in the ideal case.

I concede that my advice against punch ins and stringing together parts from different takes is a purist ideal. I've found it works best for me to avoid those techniques, but i don't play pop/rock.

Bottom line, I'm just saying the same thing a you, I think: you have to start with the best performance you can muster, then shine it up to the degree the genre you're playing warrants.

It’s not at all uncommon with some producers for there to be a lot of copying and pasting of bass parts in order to achieve consistency throughout a track.

 

[Pings Bass]

It’s not at all uncommon with some producers for there to be a lot of copying and pasting of bass parts in order to achieve consistency throughout a track.

Acknowledged!

I've tried to walk back my purist sentiments somewhat.

My personal, unpopular preference is to nail a part all the way through, live, with the rest of the group, and let the little hiccups live as a testament to authenticity.

 

[vvvmmm]

There's many ways to approach recording bass, mixing bass, etc. I always like to have two different signal paths for two different tracks. As mentioned above, a mic'd track and a DI is pretty common.

Me, I bring a SM7b mic into a Groove Tubes brick, which has an XLR out that goes to a dbx160XT compressor. My little trick is that the un-balanced Instrument Thru jack also passes the mic'd signal. I use that to go into a Meek VC3Q. The VC3Q is a fairly inexpensive channel strip with pretty good EQ and the Meek's sig compression.

The result is I get two tracks of differently EQ'd (if I so desire) and differently compressed (if I so desire) bass, mix to match what I want to end with.

Or, google for Bob Rock's approach where he seeks "movement" in the bass recording, often with subtle chorus on different tracks ...

FWIW, my personal aesthetic (indie rock) is to get a single-pass performance, altho' I sometimes go back and fix stuff. I almost always record bass first now days, and I like how the song morphs as it goes along, usually gaining intensity.

 

[MDBass]

You're right,, especially in pop/rock where virtually every recording is some kind of composite of many performances, often in different times and places. (Not to mention sequenced tracks.)

Jazz and classical though, you're going with the best take from an ensemble moving the same air in the same room at the same time, at least in the ideal case.

I concede that my advice against punch ins and stringing together parts from different takes is a purist ideal. I've found it works best for me to avoid those techniques, but i don't play pop/rock.

Bottom line, I'm just saying the same thing a you, I think: you have to start with the best performance you can muster, then shine it up to the degree the genre you're playing warrants.

Every genre of modern commercial music uses comped performances, not just pop and rock: at the highest level it’s not even a matter of correcting mistakes, just having alternate performance options.

Even if an A-list session drummer nails a perfect full performance on take #1, I’ll still ask for a few more just to have different fill choices I can comp to taste.

Quick funny story: I had a session with Glen Sobel, Alice Cooper’s touring drummer, a few years back.

He’s a brilliant player.

Take #1 was essentially perfect, but the song had an unusually extended outro and Glen felt it wanted to naturally end 16 bars before it finally did.

He played an absolutely epic ending fill, in the wrong place, four times in a row: I laughed so hard you could hear me from the control room

Then we hit ending two more times, got it fully nailed down, and moved on to the next tune

 

[Fernando Costa]

This SSL 2 interface is impressive, and cheap. I had the opportunity to listen to a mix made by a friend, in which Lee Sklar recorded the bass at his house with this interface, after that I bought one and I'm very impressed.

I use (no longer use) Pro Tools and Logic Pro (much better), so don't think about Cubase. The best advice many have ever given: play perfectly. The limitations of a home studio call for flawless execution. And I don't use mics, I don't have a good room for bass, I only use mics for guitars.

A good pre is needed - I use a simple Aguilar Tone Hamer DI - and a good plugin package, of course, as well as good monitors and an acoustically reasonable room. Good luck.

 

[Fat Fret]

If you're planning to use a mic'ed up cabinet, you have to have a prepared room for that. If you haven't got that, I would say you should use a D.I. only.