Using more than one Bass on a Record

[Felken]

Use what sounds right for the song, but don't go all gear-snob and pretend to hear differences that aren't there. For our album for example, I used two basses across the entire record; a fretted jazz bass and a fretless 6 string. (I guess you could also count the upright I used a bit but whatever)

There is a benefit to staying consistent and limiting the amount of basses you use. Think of all the well-known players, they often stay with their "number one" bass, they have an identifiable sound.
You don't want everything sounding the same too. If the songs are fairly simple, have roughly the same tempo, the album can start sounding like one long song, and changing it up sets a nice change of pace.

TLDR, Use what sounds right, I recommend not using more than 2-3 basses on a record, each one having very different characteristics.

 

[Rabidhamster]

Hello everybody,

we are going to start soon tracking our debut album. This is a self-produced album, and the keyboards player just told us that for guitars and bass we should strictly use the same gear for all the tracks, meaning if I use my Spector active bass on a track I cannot use fender precision on another as the bass and the guitars should have the same timbre all throughout. The same goes for amps. we can use different pickups configurations or EQing.

How true is that?

Oh yeah sure, is he using the same keyboard patch on every song?

 

[DigitalMan]

Hello everybody,

we are going to start soon tracking our debut album. This is a self-produced album, and the keyboards player just told us that for guitars and bass we should strictly use the same gear for all the tracks, meaning if I use my Spector active bass on a track I cannot use fender precision on another as the bass and the guitars should have the same timbre all throughout. The same goes for amps. we can use different pickups configurations or EQing.

How true is that?

What is the one patch that the keyboard player will use for the whole album?

 

[magyk8ball]

Ask to understand the 'Why' you and the guitarist cant use more than one bass/amp or guitar/amp on the whole record.
Typically speaking, the recommendation is to play to the needs of the song. This includes technique and tone used.

I'd go so far to say you should expect to record different takes using different combinations of gear, and mix to what sounds best for the goals of the project. You may not know which bass/amp combo was used in the final mixdown, just that it sounds good in context.

 

[dkelley]

Not ONE guitarist will put up with that crap.

Oh keys, he can change his sound into literally anything he wants at the touch of a button, or via softsynths.

On guitar, a strat is a strat, a tele is a tele, a LP is a LP, a HSH shredder is a HSH shredder, and so on. There is little you can do to change the tone, and they play differently, have different features and ranges, you can play certain things certain ways on certain necks and with certain pickups.

Same is true of basses.

Keyboardist is an arrogant and ignorant fool.

 

[39-Bassist]

HA HA HA....that is the funniest thing I've heard in a while...keyboard player just wants to keep it simple that is why no amp or guitar changes...
Is he gonna play different keyboards or sound settings?
But in all seriousness, each song should be dealt with according to the need.
For example I used 1 bass for 8 out of the 10 songs on my last CD. BUT
used a fretless on another and a 12 string w/4 string panned 10 & 2.
So just communicate with rest of band and find out what they are doing.
(on a side note: at this stage of your band, you really need to experiment some on what works for you and the band for recording purposes. Learn now so that when you get into a higher end studio to record you have a good idea what you are doing)
Good luck with the situation and just have fun and use it as a learning tool.

 

[dkelley]

What is the one patch that the keyboard player will use for the whole album?

EXACTLY. Tell keyboardist to use a 49 key that has an amazing organ sound, and not use anything else, such as an 88 key with great grand piano sound, or a 76 key pseudo-analog. Tell your keybaordist, ok, and you can only use a polymoog on the whole album. Or, tell him to play an acoustic piano on the whole album, or a fender rhodes with a stereo tremolo pedal. Hey... they did it in the 70s.... just like a bassist might use a precision DI whole album and guitarist a Les Paul through a marshall for the whole album. Yep, go for it. See how the keyboardist feels.

 

[dkelley]

I DO get that keeping sound the same is good for album consistency. It DOES work. But there's no reason it can't be done with multiple instruments and amps and effects.... it's the playing, song writing, and musicianship, and engineering and production techniques.... not the specific instruments.

 

[hbabels]

There’s no hard and fast rule like that. I get wanting a consistent low end throughout the album etc. but I think unless there are serious time / budget restrictions use the sound / bass you want that fits each song the best.
Most guitar sounds are usually created by layering multiple guitars & amp FX combinations etc.

So yeah I say that’s crap unless he’s only using 1 keyboard patch the entire album.

 

[grimjim]

Use one bass if you want the tone to be consistent. That's really your decision, not his. Use what you think the song needs. Play a fretless on a song that you feel needs it, play with a pick on a song that you feel needs it.....
Your artistic input is just as important as everyone else's.

 

[ClusterFlux]

At the risk of getting flamed... the keyboardist may have a point.

Keep in mind that once the track is recorded, tons of effects, amp sims, cab sims etc can be added in post. I.e. instead of futzing around with gear during the recording process, you apply all the tonal changes you need in post.

I'm not convinced that it's the best way to work, but if your time in the studio / recording phase is limited (such as, not wanting people in the same indoor room for 6 weeks during a pandemic...) then making all of the tonal adjustments in the DAW may be the fastest way to work.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

It's debatable - using the same bass/tone for all the tracks might give the tracks some continuity. Using different basses would give it some variety.

Are you getting paid? If a BL or producer was paying me and wanted the same bass for everything I wouldn't argue. If it's a collaboration and you're playing for free or even contributing out of your own pocket then do what YOU want.

At the moment, this is the only post in here that makes any real sense.

 

[smogg]

Hello everybody,

we are going to start soon tracking our debut album. This is a self-produced album, and the keyboards player just told us that for guitars and bass we should strictly use the same gear for all the tracks, meaning if I use my Spector active bass on a track I cannot use fender precision on another as the bass and the guitars should have the same timbre all throughout. The same goes for amps. we can use different pickups configurations or EQing.

How true is that?

If all the tracks sound the same on the album it's going to be a very boring album. If you use dirt on track one then all tracks must have the same exact dirt? If you use no fx on track one then no fx may be used on all tracks? How frakking stupid is that?

If you are a paid sideman you give the guy signing the checks what he wants. If you are a contributing member of the band then you should get final say what's best for your contribution. Is the keyboardist going to demand he writes your parts as well?

 

[edencab]

..well if you want to be bland, (and 1 bass for the album is fine too).... but you could use a diff bass for each and every song , hell you could use 1 or more in the same song for into, main, bridge, solo ..WHATEVER sounds good...IMHO

 

[lfmn16]

the keyboards player just told us ...

You can safely ignore everything after this statement.

 

[Pings Bass]

Devil's advocate here: it's the producer's call. Is the KB player the producer? Maybe you should have that discussion first. There's not technical reason every track has to have the same sound, but there certainly may be an aesthetic reason for the producer to establish a band sound that's consistent from track-to-track. If you're producing it by committee, hash this out before the studio clock starts running.

 

[Charlzm]

Hello everybody,

we are going to start soon tracking our debut album. This is a self-produced album, and the keyboards player just told us that for guitars and bass we should strictly use the same gear for all the tracks, meaning if I use my Spector active bass on a track I cannot use fender precision on another as the bass and the guitars should have the same timbre all throughout. The same goes for amps. we can use different pickups configurations or EQing.

How true is that?

Ridiculous. Record with whatever instrument is best for the song (or even the section of the song); good engineers and mixers can easily deal with this. It may take them more time, and their time is your money, so... there is that.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Keyboard player: I'm just gonna use the same gear on every track.....
Just these 12 keyboards....
On every track..
You should do the same...
In fact, everybody should..
Seriously....

 

[marko138]

I'll be laying down tracks for 3 new songs here next week. Last EP, 5 tracks, I used the P bass on every song. I get into the mentality of getting in and getting it done. I want to use my Jazz bass this time around, but to me the P is easier to play and always sounds good. I may end up just bringing the P and banging them out again. At the end of the day it's bass guitar. It's not lead guitar, or vocals or drums. It's bass. It doesn't need to be complicated.

 

[groooooove]

i can already guarantee that keyboard player is not a master musician...

it's simply not true.

why would it be?

granted most records i've played on i used one bass, but only because the bass worked with various settings for each recording.

such a rule has no logical explanation.