I have been involved in a recording project recently (just a little, local, amateur thing).
I was trying to get a fat P bass type tone, with a some added grit/growl (from an upper mid boost.) My collaborators are complaining that it sounds distorted. They keep telling me not to use my overdrive pedal on this, and I keep telling them that I am not. I wonder if something in the signal chain is overloading/clipping maybe? My DAW is happy with the input level, but I wonder if my compressor (Empress bass pedal) is clipping from being hit too hard? I had it set up for a different pickup configuration (blended pickups on my Kiesel PB5). Going to just the P pup (as I did for this track, again on the PB5) gives a LOT more output on this bass, and I may have neglected to adjust the input level on the compressor (don't know for sure, since I have changed the settings since...)
Anyway, here are a couple of little clips from this track. The first is a rough mix I made to demo my bass line idea. It is the one that they said was too distorted. The second clip is the actual naked bass stem (ouch... can really hear all my embarrassing fret buzzes, lack of muting, etc...)
My main question: is the bass really distorting, or is just a really gritty/growl tone? Of less importance, but I would still value input: what do you fine folks think of the tone, and my playing? Thanks!
Rough mix:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Bass stem (bass starts at about 00:14):
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I was trying to get a fat P bass type tone, with a some added grit/growl (from an upper mid boost.) My collaborators are complaining that it sounds distorted. They keep telling me not to use my overdrive pedal on this, and I keep telling them that I am not. I wonder if something in the signal chain is overloading/clipping maybe? My DAW is happy with the input level, but I wonder if my compressor (Empress bass pedal) is clipping from being hit too hard? I had it set up for a different pickup configuration (blended pickups on my Kiesel PB5). Going to just the P pup (as I did for this track, again on the PB5) gives a LOT more output on this bass, and I may have neglected to adjust the input level on the compressor (don't know for sure, since I have changed the settings since...)
Anyway, here are a couple of little clips from this track. The first is a rough mix I made to demo my bass line idea. It is the one that they said was too distorted. The second clip is the actual naked bass stem (ouch... can really hear all my embarrassing fret buzzes, lack of muting, etc...)
My main question: is the bass really distorting, or is just a really gritty/growl tone? Of less importance, but I would still value input: what do you fine folks think of the tone, and my playing? Thanks!
Rough mix:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Bass stem (bass starts at about 00:14):
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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