Recording advice

[BlindtheCarrier]

Hey,

I'm going into the studio for the second time (first that I really care about it). What recommendations do you have for someone inexperienced?

Also, I've started using half rounds due to my distaste for the "poppy-ness" of roundwounds. However, I've noticed that in general roundwound strings sound much warmer in recordings than live. Which strings would you use to record.

Lastly, I have a passive and active bass, which would you recommend using? The passive is a peavey grind that has through body stringing and neck through body construction. (far better natural sound) the active bass is an ibanez srx 590 that sounds great live but awful into my practice amp. For this reason I'm leaning towards using my 5 string.

I also have one tuned standard and one drop b tuned. Should I learn them all in one tuning (i can already pretty much play every song either way) or should I tune down or up depending on the song?

Old songs recorded on the ibanez can be heard here:
Link Removed
Listen to the end of "the orphan" for a good sample. Also the youtube link shows the 4 songs we are currently recording.

 

[liquid sunshine]

take both and record a little of the same song with each them a/b each one and see which fits better. it will only take a few minutes and then you won't always woner if you made the right choice. be sure to a/b them in the mix. as far as down tuning goes it will change your tone alot. loose strings are easier to bend slightly out of tune. to mee they sound a little darker and don't standout in the mix quite as much.
you might get alot of info out of people if you mention how you plan to record your bass too. a practice amp with a mic isn't the best bet for a good studio tone if you or the studio have a di or nice amp. list what it is alot of guys know little secrets to a good sound

 

[scottbass]

There are all kinds of lists of do's and don'ts for being in the studio - enough food, lots of water, enough rest, etc. IMHO the most important rule is to decide beforehand which ONE person is primarily responsible for communicating with the engineer. The worst thing an engineer has to put up with is too many cooks. Keep the engineer happy, and you will get better tracks, and you will waste less time, cost less money, etc.

Bring both basses. Tune them however YOU think they should be tuned. All you should be concerned about is providing the cleanest, purest bass sound you can so there is more for the engineer to work with when the EQ & effects are applied during mixdown. Whichever tuning allows you to play the best is the one you want - as long as you're not getting excessive fret noise or strings slapping on the fretboard!

I've always had best results recording passive basses, but as long as you keep the EQ relatively flat on an active bass (see my previous advice about clean, pure bass sounds) there should be no problem with it.

Have fun!

 

[Bardley]

There are all kinds of lists of do's and don'ts for being in the studio - enough food, lots of water, enough rest, etc. IMHO the most important rule is to decide beforehand which ONE person is primarily responsible for communicating with the engineer. The worst thing an engineer has to put up with is too many cooks. Keep the engineer happy, and you will get better tracks, and you will waste less time, cost less money, etc.

Bring both basses. Tune them however YOU think they should be tuned. All you should be concerned about is providing the cleanest, purest bass sound you can so there is more for the engineer to work with when the EQ & effects are applied during mixdown. Whichever tuning allows you to play the best is the one you want - as long as you're not getting excessive fret noise or strings slapping on the fretboard!

I've always had best results recording passive basses, but as long as you keep the EQ relatively flat on an active bass (see my previous advice about clean, pure bass sounds) there should be no problem with it.

Have fun!

+1 to all of this.

Know your stuff and relax. Enjoy it and don't stress.

 

[spigmu]

I've started using half rounds due to my distaste for the "poppy-ness" of roundwounds. However, I've noticed that in general roundwound strings sound much warmer in recordings than live. Which strings would you use to record.

Aside from how the overall sound may seem warmer, a lot of poppyness or fingernoise from strings gets sunk into the general mix of the instruments, so the inadvertent pop that you heard live, because you're A) standing next to it and B) the one playing and feeling the frets, you may barely hear in a recording and when you do it may not bother you at all. The other thing to consider is does it bother the engineer or producer, or whoever is making sonic decisions. Sometimes a solution like not using roundwounds because of finger noise ends up with throwing the baby out with the bath water, as my dad used to say, if the track isn't lively enough.

Can't really say which kind of string is best for recording. Depends on what the music is and how the engineer approaches it. I've used a Roadstar with dead strings that the engineer made sound amazing and tuff, and new strings on a Fender Jazz that we couldn't get a great sound out of.

What's important is how it fits. Don't sweat the small stuff if the big picture is falling into place nicely. You want your low end to work with the drums' low end. Sometimes, depending on the music and engineer, notching a little out of the bass keeps it from blurring with the kick, and sometimes it's the other way around. If you feel the engineer knows what he's doing keep an open mind. Don't worry if it's not what you had in mind when he solos the track but see how it sounds when everything is in. That holds for everyone's track. These days almost everything is recorded pretty flat because there are so many options when mixing that are available even in a small studio, whereas 30 years ago if the only eq was on the board you'd get lots of eq on the way in and lots on the way out. So generally if you get a sound that's 80% there and it makes you play like you can, that's enough to get to tracking. You can tell when the heart of what you're trying to get it to sound like is there. The rest of it can be arrived at when the engineer has finished dealing with the basic tracking and can concentrate on the mix.

One thing he can't do is change the attitude of the sound. I stopped recording with certain basses because I just didn't like how un-agressive they sounded, no matter how aggressively I played or how much good bass sound was dialed in, even if they didn't sound so tame live. Bring both basses and see how they go. The Ibanez might be sounding bad into the practice amp because it's too hot a signal. Might sound good at the studio.

Have fun!

 

[BlindtheCarrier]

Thanks for all the advice! I get really good vibes from the engineer (knows what sounds good while still giving us some flexibility)

I think I'll probably be going with the 5 just because the the b-c# are a lot cleaner sounding.

Edit: we are planning on recording di and then re-amping. (although my 5 sounds so good that the di could give me exactly the tone I want)