garageband makes it so easy but as far as recording goes i have no idea.. does everything need compression? do I eq each track a bunch. everytime i listen i think its too bassy, then i hear it elsewhere like my truck and all of the sudden the sax is too loud. its like every speaker set up you preview through sounds crazy differnt. sorry this is a roscoe thread not a recording how to.
There are actually a ton of recording tips peppered throughout this thread (and the previous 2 parts).
My quick 2 cents - don't sweat compression just yet. Unless you obviously need it, you probably don't. Your playing sounds smooth enough to my ears that compression is probably not needed at all.
Panning and EQ are the two biggest things when you're putting a bunch of bass tracks together. Kick drum and the "bass" bass track are the hardest to differentiate. You basically need to remove some content from the bass to let the kick shine through, and vice versa.
On the kick, I'll boost really tight around 90-100 Hz and around 4-5kHz. Then I cut really tight around those same frequencies on the bass track. 100Hz is the meat of the kick drum sound, and the 4-5KHz range is the click of the beater. The beater is what you usually hear on a well mixed song, avoid too much meat on the kick if you can.
On the bass track, I apply a wide boost (about 3dB, Q=1.2-1.4) around 250Hz. Then I cut 250 Hz and below (about 6dB of cut, low shelf type) on EVERYTHING else. That gets the drums, the chords, the leads, etc. all out of the way of the bassline and the meat of the kick.
Use a similar approach all down the line (boost 3K on your chords maybe, and then cut 3K anywhere that's interfering with the chords). I think of this as "complementary" EQ'ing. You move everything out of everything else's way, all while maintaining the basic tonal character of each individual track...
Hopefully that's not too confusing...
