Questions about recording bass....

[13bass]

So when any of you are recording bass, especially in a band setting, how much, if any, effects, such as compression, etc do you use on the recorded signal vs doing all of that after recording?
I read and see a lot on on videos about many folks thinking getting as close to the tone/sound you want when recording as you can so only minor tweaking and level adjusting is needed after is the way to go, while others want a plain dry bass tone to shape after recording?
FYI, we are all running into a Focusrite 18i20 (electronic drums, bass, tele, acoustic guitar, one vocal) then into a computer, not sure which DAW is being used. I run bass>sansamp>18i20

I'm wondering is I should add compression, or any other effect for that matter, in my chain before hand, or just let the BL add this after recording?

 

[TheArchitect]

Back in the day when tracks and effects units were not plentiful, it was common to compress, etc on the way in because that compressor would be needed for vocals etc at mix down. Committing to sounds up front was how things were done and I think a lot of great things resulted from that.

As the tech improved it allowed for the idea of recording it dry/vanilla and handling it in the mix became a thing. The problem is a mixer would handle it in a similar fashion on everything they work on and things started sounding more and more alike while taking the musicians flavor out of the equation. Yes, you can argue it permits options to make things fit better. In theory perhaps, but that opens a different question. Back in the day they recorded bands live off the floor and fixed any issues at that point. They heard up front if there was an issue. It didn't become necessary to worry about needing that flexibility until they started tracking everything individually from the start and not recording it live off the floor.

With my stuff, I record the sounds as I want them and commit to that. If I am recording someone else, I have to go vanilla because with modern tech, they will want to change everything several times and its just not practical to do it the old way.

 

[Bonafide]

Player dependent. Tone dependent. Genre dependent. Dynamics dependent. Production dependent. And let's add player dependent again.

Bottom line - there are no rules. Even 'guidelines' are individual preferences and are going to change based on the criteria above.

Try both. Experiment. You need to work it out.

If you wonk it up with over-compressing, you might end up with a small or narrow bass tone. Hitting the transients only, you might end up with a tone that sounds good soloed, but not glued to the mix. Or none of the above.

In daily practice, sometimes the bass track get very little in post, sometimes they get 'rebalanced' or heavily shaped in post. The best 'initial' starting point is to choose a bass tone you already know and like within your band context. Got to start somewhere..

 

[silky smoove]

It's not a question of picking one method or the other. It comes down to two things: Experience and quantity of inputs available.

If you're experienced enough to know that what you're doing on the way into the box is going to work for the final mix, then it's usually a better choice to commit on the way in. If you're not sufficiently experienced you may paint yourself into a corner where you dialed in this tone that was very exciting to you as the player, but ultimately doesn't work for the mix. What works solo and what works in a mix are often not the same thing. If you're tracking as a group it's easier to make that call since you can run through a tune, listen back to the recording and tweak until everyone is satisfied with the overall tracking mix. If you're tracking as a series of overdubs it becomes increasingly difficult to know how much to commit on the way in depending on where you land in the series of overdubs. If drums go down first then you record your bass ahead of everyone else you'll have a harder time making that decision then if you had gone at or near the end when everything else is already recorded.

The other consideration is quantity of inputs. If you have sufficient I/O to record a clean DI ahead of everything in your signal path you can always do a wet/dry setup. Use the clean DI as a safety net in case your wet signal path ends up not working in the mix. Use the clean DI and DSP or reamping to get a working tone after the fact. Blending the two signal paths can be helpful or can turn into a phase nightmare.

 

[13bass]

Well, I should have specified, we are all playing at the same time, not one track at a time. So we can all hear the mix in headphones as we play. Although admittedly, the playback via computer through the headphones is not exactly the same.

 

[silky smoove]

Well, I should have specified, we are all playing at the same time, not one track at a time. So we can all hear the mix in headphones as we play. Although admittedly, the playback via computer through the headphones is not exactly the same.

Establishing tracking tones via headphones often introduces too many variables as each headphone can be different, each headphone amp can be different, human physiology with headphones is also inherently particular. If you're going that route I would advise that you record as a group, take off your headphones, go into the control room, use a good set of monitor speakers that are hopefully positioned properly and in an acoustically treated space, and discuss the tracking mix as a group. Don't focus on your individual tone, and instead focus on the mix. The whole thing sounds boxy in the midrange, there's too much bottom end, it's too thin, the top end is really harsh, etc. From those big picture conclusions you can address individual mix elements to resolve the concerns. If you can do that then recording with a desired tone as opposed to a vanilla blank-slate tone can be a very good way to go.

 

[RattleSnack]

Didn't record much (more of a live player), but what I have done was only dry bass guitar tone, flat onboard EQ, no comp or hi/low cut filters.
I don't see why you should commit if you are not 100% sure what you need. Making music is creative work, what works for one song may not work for next. Kudos to guys who know exactly what they want and how to get there!

 

[QweziRider]

What @Bonafide said. Totally depends. I'm open to anything the given situation needs, but my usual method is a REDDI into a compressor (just to lightly keep things level) for a single track, then experiment after the fact with copies of that track with whatever changes suit the song..

 

[jdjk7]

So when any of you are recording bass, especially in a band setting, how much, if any, effects, such as compression, etc do you use on the recorded signal vs doing all of that after recording?
I read and see a lot on on videos about many folks thinking getting as close to the tone/sound you want when recording as you can so only minor tweaking and level adjusting is needed after is the way to go, while others want a plain dry bass tone to shape after recording?
FYI, we are all running into a Focusrite 18i20 (electronic drums, bass, tele, acoustic guitar, one vocal) then into a computer, not sure which DAW is being used. I run bass>sansamp>18i20

I'm wondering is I should add compression, or any other effect for that matter, in my chain before hand, or just let the BL add this after recording?

Here's my process (which is not unique):
1) Get the sound you want with the gear you have, whether it's amps, pedals, rack units, etc.
2) Use a split recording setup. Run your bass into a DI with a DI out and a thru out. Run the DI signal to the interface and the "thru out" through your effects. This will let you record your sound as you want it, but will also save you, in essence, an identical copy of the performance with no effects applied.
3) When mixing, work ONLY with your effected signal. Yes, you could mix the clean in, but that's not the point I'm making. There can also be phase issues that arise from simply mixing the clean in.

If, for some reason, you find that your effected signal just isn't doing it for you, THEN what you do, is play back the clean track you saved into a reamp box, and send it back through the effects/rack/amp again. That way, you can just loop your part over and over and tweak knobs until the settings sound right, then hit record and save a third track.*

This will save you from needing to record a whole new track from scratch just because your amp wasn't distorting quite right, or something. There are still situations where that could be necessary, if for some reason the clean bass track isn't interacting with the signal chain in the way you want.

*It could be tricky, if you're new to audio routing, to get this to work without causing any feedback loops, just warning you. But it depends on your setup.

 

[MonetBass]

It's always straight in for me. You can always add effects, low-pass, compression, whatever, but you can't subtract those once it's recorded.

 

[matante]

In my case I have a couple of effects pedals like flangers and chorus that I like more than anything I have heard from DAWs and plugins. I put those between my bass and the interface, but I wouldn't add EQ or anything that shapes the tone irreversibly.

 

[FullumMusic]

I say this not as a bassist but as someone who's produced and engineered for decades:

Get the best tone out of your bass and sansamp without adding processing on the way into the box. When you play alone, the sound coming out of the studio monitors should sound as accurate to the sound you want to hear. If there's a problem with that tone, fix it on the bass and sansamp and your hands, not by sticking processors & fx on the signal chain. In general, don't record Processors and FX on the way in unless you absolutely must. You can't take an effect off once it's on. You can always add FX once they're recorded properly. Adding Processing (compression etc) is going to make the mix engineer's job much more difficult because they'll be applying processing to the tracks in the context of what the tracks need to make the mix as good as possible. There's no way to know what compressor settings that's gonna need while you're tracking.

That said, if you have the tone as good as you can get it and it's still missing something, and you plug it into a really good hardware compressor on the way in, and it sounds fantastic and not over-compressed, f-it. Use it. But if you're not super experienced with audio engineering, i'd advise against it most of the time.

And pro tip: Leave plenty of headroom. The VU meters in the DAW should be peaking around -16dB to -12dB for all the instruments while recording.

 

[logdrum]

My setup is almost like this

 

[Bpb]

I start as dry as possible unless I have a specific effect pedal I need and don’t trust the available post gear on board. But for things like compression and eq, I generally always apply after the fact. In my home recording environment, it isn’t cost effective to own the actual compressors the software models are based on. I record DI and re-amp the signal with modelers. When I have the opportunity to record in a big boy studio I generally will defer to the preferences of the producer and engineer. It’s their house and their gear so I try not to get in the way of a process I am not in charge of to a certain degree, unless I absolutely hate something.

 

[trevcda]

And don't forget the possibility of re-amping. With this you are recording the sound directly off of your bass and processing it through an amp, either software or hardware, later during mix down. Might be worth looking into especially if the group is not agreeing on the sound.

 

[Killing Floor]

Depends on the actual gear and settings in my opinion. There’s not 1 right way. My preference is compression in edit unless it’s a contributing factor to the sound. So for limiting its post and for sustain, definition it’s pre, in chain. Opinion only. No best.

 

[Bill Murray]

So when any of you are recording bass, especially in a band setting, how much, if any, effects, such as compression, etc do you use on the recorded signal vs doing all of that after recording?
I read and see a lot on on videos about many folks thinking getting as close to the tone/sound you want when recording as you can so only minor tweaking and level adjusting is needed after is the way to go, while others want a plain dry bass tone to shape after recording?
FYI, we are all running into a Focusrite 18i20 (electronic drums, bass, tele, acoustic guitar, one vocal) then into a computer, not sure which DAW is being used. I run bass>sansamp>18i20

I'm wondering is I should add compression, or any other effect for that matter, in my chain before hand, or just let the BL add this after recording?

Easier and more flexible to make changes post, just go strictly DI and let the producer/engineer work it from there.


Once you get more comfortable and gain some experience with the recording process you could and should record 2 tracks simultaneously, one with your desired tone dialed in and one strictly DI.

 

[vvvmmm]

Lotsa good info above.

My advice is use your usual sound to start - if you play a compressor or dirt pedal live, start with that - adjust as needed.

If you can take a dry parallel DI track, do that, as well.

 

[KidAmnesia]

If you have just one track available, I'd rather go as clean as possible. I'd avoid even the sansamp. Ime, most amp emulating softwares can sound better than a Sansamp.

But if the band leader is the acting producer/engineer ask him what he cosiders to go better with his workflow.

In the last home recording I did with my band I ended up using the clean signal just with a "vintage compressor" and some subtle eq. I tried a few amp and cab modellers but couldn't find one that made it sound better.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

So when any of you are recording bass, especially in a band setting, how much, if any, effects, such as compression, etc do you use on the recorded signal vs doing all of that after recording?
I read and see a lot on on videos about many folks thinking getting as close to the tone/sound you want when recording as you can so only minor tweaking and level adjusting is needed after is the way to go, while others want a plain dry bass tone to shape after recording?
FYI, we are all running into a Focusrite 18i20 (electronic drums, bass, tele, acoustic guitar, one vocal) then into a computer, not sure which DAW is being used. I run bass>sansamp>18i20

I'm wondering is I should add compression, or any other effect for that matter, in my chain before hand, or just let the BL add this after recording?

Who is doing the mixing? The reason I ask is I always send a pre-effect signal to the board. The guys engineering the sound EQ and compress the signal if needed. We use Cubasis (Steinberg) on our computers. We’ve released two LPs, have a third in the can and currently working on a Christmas LP which we will also release next year all using Cubasis. The results are very good.

Best wishes on you recording project. Relax, and enjoy the ride.