Electric bass recording '15

[roscoenyc]

the big trick w attenuators is psychological.

Most people start with their amp wide open then start clicking the attenuator down.
That is never satisfying.

Start with the attenuator clamped way down then open it up a little.

[mrpicholas]

I don't want to be pilloried here, but I am primarily a bassist (with all sorts of amps and preamps), and for the last couple years have been running through a Black Lion BLA73 and then use IK's Amplitube (generally either the Ampeg SVX plugs or Bass Player's bundle) to get an "amp in a room" sound.

I've worked out a couple useable settings for my fretless, and a handful for my fretted, and I just treat it like an amp. I've got a Kore2 MIDI controller that I'll use to tweak the virtual knobs like a real amp until it works with the track.

I've yet to mic up or run direct with an amp and get a "better" or more useable sound.

[soundsofcallado]

Sound is a disturbance in air pressure.

You don't mic the cab you don't get the sound.

DI is good to have as a backup.

[Drone]

Sound is a disturbance in air pressure.

You don't mic the cab you don't get the sound.

DI is good to have as a backup.

But sound recording is electrical impulses, stored to later agitate the air. There's no law says you can't store the impulses without agitating the air first.

[drumsound]

I also feel like (and maybe I'm wrong) that I can do more to the sound with a DI.

Ah, but maybe that's my point. I don't know if I want to do more with the sound. It takes me so long to get the DI where I want it to be sonically and then I still end up tempted to fuck with it later. If I put a mic on a bass amp that is sounding great in the room I can forget about it and move on to other decisions. DI'ing always makes me feel like I'm postponing the decision making till later.

I go for a great tone on the DI with good compression, and can often not do a lot of treatment. But, after you've added a bunch of things that weren't there during the basics, sometimes more alterations is necessary...

[soundsofcallado]

Sound is a disturbance in air pressure.

You don't mic the cab you don't get the sound.

DI is good to have as a backup.

But sound recording is electrical impulses, stored to later agitate the air. There's no law says you can't store the impulses without agitating the air first.

No disagreement here, however, I'm talking about recording a sound to be stored. You're talking about reproducing an already stored sound.

When I hear the reproduced sound of a band (the stored electrical signal), I'd like to hear the band best I could not their DI boxes. That's all I'm saying.

[Drone]

Basses are a much maligned instrument, ask any bass player

But that would be verging into how much studio magic do you want/need? If you go see a band live, it's pretty likely the bass has been DI'd there too, so the argument could be what is the 'real' bass sound?

And again, depends on the band / player / instrument / amp etc., Eg, you wouldn't record Carol Kaye the same way you'd record Les Claypool.

But more likely this all stems from my compulsive need to argue against all subjective blanket statements

[vvv]

But, it's a fact that not all blanket statements are all subjective.

[markjazzbassist]

bassist here.

69 fender jazz bass, flatwounds, vintage fender bassman head and 1x15 cab, electro voice re20

not a DI fan here, used to be until i heard how much better amp'd up sounds.

[MoreSpaceEcho]

DI always sounds clicky with way too much high end, crazy dynamic spikes and an over all gross tone.

weird. this is like the opposite of my DI impressions. maybe this is the case if you're playing with a pick? i'm using fingers 99.672% of the time.

for me, i feel like i'm usually boosting high end and/or cutting lows. if i reamp it, the amp sound is almost always brighter than the DI, which is what i like, as it helps the bass cut more.

crazy dynamic spikes is just bad playing. i've recorded really good bassists direct, and the tracks sit perfectly in the mix with no compression. most people aren't that good, i'm certainly not, but it's doable for sure.

[The Scum]

One of my old bass playing buddies liked running direct into a compressor with really obvious metering - an LA2A or 1176 being the first choice.

Even with no gain reduction, he claimed he could watch the meter, and tailor his playing to keep his dynamics in line.

Always sounded great to me...but he was an exceptional talent, as well.

[mwerden]

Just recorded bass through my Ampeg Gemini for the first time. Sounded absolutely killer. Also had a good ole countryman DI which sounded like it should. Haven't done the mixes yet, so I don't know what'll get used.

I've had situations where I favored the DI and others where I favored the amp. Usually the amp takes center stage when the bass or the player ain't so good. Just sayin...

[losthighway]

One of my old bass playing buddies liked running direct into a compressor with really obvious metering - an LA2A or 1176 being the first choice.

Even with no gain reduction, he claimed he could watch the meter, and tailor his playing to keep his dynamics in line.

Always sounded great to me...but he was an exceptional talent, as well.

I remember reading Jim O'Rourke talking about playing bass on the Beth Orton record he did. I think he had a similar approach- to try and subtract the need for compression as he played it. Most guys can't do that, but he sure could.

[Drone]

One of my old bass playing buddies liked running direct into a compressor with really obvious metering - an LA2A or 1176 being the first choice.

Even with no gain reduction, he claimed he could watch the meter, and tailor his playing to keep his dynamics in line.

Always sounded great to me...but he was an exceptional talent, as well.

If he had an Ashdown, he'd have the VU meter on his bass all the time.

[Snarl 12/8]

One of my old bass playing buddies liked running direct into a compressor with really obvious metering - an LA2A or 1176 being the first choice.

Even with no gain reduction, he claimed he could watch the meter, and tailor his playing to keep his dynamics in line.

Always sounded great to me...but he was an exceptional talent, as well.

For a while, I was practicing bass that way. Just to get the feel in my fingers. I haven't been playing bass lately, but want to get back into it, maybe I need to do that again.