Double Bass Seeking advice for recording with upright bass

[lermgalieu]

As with most things, it's more about recording skill than gear, and someone who knows what they are doing will sound better with inexpensive gear than someone who doesn't will sound with a $20K recording rig.

Wholeheartedly agree as a general statement, but I disagree about mics. A good mic straight into an interface with no effects will sound better than a mediocre mic into an interface with no effects, every time. IMO, having one good mic is more than worth it. I have SM58s and SM57s which I use for many things, but my RE20 blows them out of the water for recording DB.

I also fully agree about Logic.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Wholeheartedly agree as a general statement, but I disagree about mics. A good mic straight into an interface with no effects will sound better than a mediocre mic into an interface with no effects, every time. IMO, having one good mic is more than worth it. I have SM58s and SM57s which I use for many things, but my RE20 blows them out of the water for recording DB.

I also fully agree about Logic.

I have an RE20 and think it's great for bass! Especially with a cloud lifter. And I agree about a good mic vs. a mediocre mic straight in with all other things being equal. But I'd still expect an experienced recording pro with a Beta 57 to be able to get a better sound than a newbie with a boutique mic ( I really like the Beta 57 - I think it's a huge step up from a regular 57). The pro will understand about placement, room acoustics, optimal levels, and basic post production stuff like HP filters and normalization.

 

[lermgalieu]

I have an RE20 and think it's great for bass! Especially with a cloud lifter. And I agree about a good mic vs. a mediocre mic straight in with all other things being equal. But I'd still expect an experienced recording pro with a Beta 57 to be able to get a better sound than a newbie with a boutique mic ( I really like the Beta 57 - I think it's a huge step up from a regular 57). The pro will understand about placement, room acoustics, optimal levels, and basic post production stuff like HP filters and normalization.

Agree

 

[Ric Vice]

Agreed,

I've recently been sending videos to Facebook for Danny Ziemann's FCB Solo class. I use the Line Audio CM3 right into a Focusrite Scarlett and on to my iPad Pro. Using that mic
makes all the difference in the world.

 

[shwashwa]

Agreed,

I've recently been sending videos to Facebook for Danny Ziemann's FCB Solo class. I use the Line Audio CM3 right into a Focusrite Scarlett and on to my iPad Pro. Using that mic
makes all the difference in the world.

what is this class you speak of?

 

[daveriedstra]

For technique, try wearing headphones and listen to the mic while you work out the placement (place it somewhere, play a bit and listen, adjust placement, play and listen...).

My go-to is a Rode NT1 large diaphragm condenser about 8 inches away from the bridge and just a little up. Today I was recording like that into my Zoom H4N, which I set up on the mic stand about a foot back from the mic for a bit of extra room sound. This gets a lot of low end, so you'd definitely want to have a high pass on it at some point.