Recorded vs Live sound

[May Cassidy]

I've been doing some demos for a project with my drummer friend, and I have noticed I gravitate towards a different bass sound recorded vs live. I find myself looking for a really clear, balanced tone that's basically letting the natural tone of whichever bass I'm using do as much work as it can. Live however, I go for a low-midrange focus that almost hides in the space between the drums and guitars and punches you right in the stomach. I'm sure this isn't a completely unique phenomenon but I wondered if others found similar things happening, or if they want to keep things as consistent as possible.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

I’ve always hoped I could get a good approximation of my live tone on recordings. That was definitely a hit and miss prospect until I started recording my own bass parts.

At this point I’m pretty much just recording so I capture whatever I want for the song. If I was to perform these tunes I’d go with my fallback, V4b, flat eq, 215 cab, and let technique carry the rest.

 

[Basslice]

Ever wonder why when you walk down the street and hear live music you can tell right away it is live and not recorded? It is not because of the quality of the speakers or amplification system.

It is the confluence of the various amplified sources and the live source. Lots of weird delays and reflections. They combine to give what you detect as a live performance vs recorded.

 

[buldog5151bass]

When you are going to hear the same thing over and over, it's generally better to be more precise.

A one time live performance can deal with a mistake when you "go for it", but on a recording, that clam is forever.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

I have kinda come around a bit on this - there is a difference between a clam and a bit of creative "looseness".

Having done very involved, gridded out, comped records where the producer wants multiple passes of every track and much quicker "live" style recording sessions I lean heavily to the later in preference. Also *** - if you can't play a 95% perfect take at will you are under-rehearsed or your technique is lacking.

And recording my own stuff I take feel and excitement over perfection, both in sounds and performance.