fixing that bass/pickup click in the mix?

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Harry
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fixing that bass/pickup click in the mix?

Post by Harry » Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:23 am

I'm sure a lot of people have recorded bad bass players who,no matter what they do...can't fix their shit technique.
I have one coming in next week...He's been shown how to avoid the problem(up and down...don't push the damn string into the pickup or fret)
But I don't expect him to fix it.. so I guess I'm expected to fix it.

Some steps I'll take recording are #1 good isolation on the bass cab so it can be re-recorded if we have to. #2 a good mic on the cab and a good DI.

Ideas for fixing it while mixing would be..
1: put it on the computer and take out the little spikes(fuck that:(
2:do some surgical punch in/outs with my HD24(fuck that:(
3:key a compressor to those frequencies and see if that works(this is my only idea that doesn't make me retch)

Any ideas I'm not thinking of? or is this one of those "polish a turd" things?
Thanks,
Harry

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Post by tommy » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:00 am

Raising the action on the strings (even a little bit) will help lots.

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Post by themagicmanmdt » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:32 am

eqing it down helps. it has a pretty distinct frequency, usually.

and, just say that the bass signal is hot, and have him lower his pickup.

raising the strings will mess with the guys action, which is a cardinal sin. just say 'can you drop the pickup about 1/8" please? hot signal!'
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Post by tommy » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:12 pm

Or you could commit a cardinal sin by asking him or her to raise the action a bit. This also helps tame the clankyness of not only string hitting pickups but strings hitting fretboard as well. Maybe the bass player might like the tone of this cardinal sin better. Never hurts to ask.

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Post by standup » Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:28 pm

Is the bass player happy with his setup and his playing? Is the band happy with the sound?

In some cases getting the guy to focus on fret clacks and such might hurt his ability to play the part with feelin'. I'm just saying, is that really the priority (fret noise) or is getting a good bass part the priority?

If you're wearing the producer hat, maybe you should bring in another bass player.

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Post by nlmd311 » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:09 pm

What kind of music is it that you are recording?
What role does the bass play in the song or songs you are going to be recording?
I'm pretty much with standup on this one.
There isn't anything wrong with suggesting the the player try another way of playing just for a take or two. Maybe tell him you just need to check the levels or sound in the room with him playing a different way for a few bars. ? I wouldn't harp on it though, especially if it isn't something he has been told beforehand or if he seems the least bit hesitant or turned off by it... ESPECIALLY if you are just supposed to be playing the role of Engineer and not "Producer". If you have worked with the band/group/person/whoever in the past and have a repetoir with them, suggestions won't hurt, but if this is someone new, I would be wary of a few things;
1 - getting off to a bad start (especially if this might be a long gig spread out over long days or a few weeks)
2 - Starting intra-band conflict regarding how the player may react versus how the others might react
3 - and maybe the most important, having a detrimental effect on his playing by having him change his feel at the last minute.
It surely can't hurt to talk but just be aware of the reactions and understand that, depending on the skill level of the player, it may not be so easy to change technique the day of tracking without having some practice with it.
I'd try to consider all of that as well as really openly listen to the music, and talk with the band about what kind of sound they are looking for before pre-planning some editing, correction, etc.
I'm not knocking you at all, Harry. Just sharing some thoughts.

-Darrill

*edit* I fucked up. I just reread the topic and realized we are talking about pickup click and not fret buzz. I still feel pretty much the same, but some of my comments may have been more directly related to the idea of fret buzz/grind.
slowly panning across something kind of crappy...

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Post by standup » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:27 pm

I see the original question wasn't fret noise but hitting a pickup. What, does this happen every measure? Once per song?

What about putting the bass player in the same room as the amp, amp cranked more. If the amp is louder he might play a little softer and not hit the pickup.

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Post by vibesof20hz » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:56 pm

put a piece of masking tape over the polls of the pickup, maybe 2 pieces. it keeps it simple, and keeps the two things from smacking together.

Harry
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Post by Harry » Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:05 pm

vibesof20hz wrote:put a piece of masking tape over the polls of the pickup, maybe 2 pieces. it keeps it simple, and keeps the two things from smacking together.
This is something I've never tried...does it dull the sound at all?


The thing is..like what's been said..I don't want to harp too much about it and kill the vibe.

I know it's something he is working on,but he can't seem to fix it,either with messing with the bass,or working on his technique. He's pretty good other than the click thing.
So I'm expecting that even if he really makes an effort not to do it , it's still going to pop up at least a couple of times.So I'm just trying to gather up as many ideas as I can to fix it.
Maybe it wont be an issue?? I'm sure this comes up a lot though? I'm supprised the search didn't turn much up on the subject?

Thanks,
Harry

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Post by vibesof20hz » Sat Jan 27, 2007 8:52 am

yeah, the masking tape thing works fine. A pickup generates an electro magnetic field in order to read the oscillation of the string. An electro magnetic field can pass through a strip of masking tape, or two, without any loss at all. however, if you change the action and other things with the bass, you will change the distance between the strings and the pickups as well as the playability of the playability of the bass. These things will change the sound of the bass, and more importantly, the way the bass player performs.

If the player wants some long term fix, maybe he fan find a cover that fits his pickups. If those pickups are nothing special, maybe he can just upgrade pickups, and find ones that don?t have exposed polls.

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Post by JohnDavisNYC » Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:06 pm

if you are in a DAW, most softare De Essers are fast enough to deal with those kinds of things.. the Waves DeEsser has saved my a ass a few times on wierd clicky sounds in a number of sources.

then again, it is bass, so you could just roll off everything above 1k... :twisted:
maybe play it for the bassist and ask him if he likes it.

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Post by Slider » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:13 pm

vibesof20hz wrote:put a piece of masking tape over the polls of the pickup, maybe 2 pieces. it keeps it simple, and keeps the two things from smacking together.

Never discount the logic of a guy with a Spock avatar. :)
That is a great idea!

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Post by themagicmanmdt » Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:26 pm

Slider wrote:
vibesof20hz wrote:put a piece of masking tape over the polls of the pickup, maybe 2 pieces. it keeps it simple, and keeps the two things from smacking together.

Never discount the logic of a guy with a Spock avatar. :)
That is a great idea!
i concur!

tell me how it works, if you try it!
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Post by spankenstein » Sun Jan 28, 2007 2:36 am

Just ask to lower the pickup. I had that problem recently with a band I recorded and the player was very responsive to the input. Just approach it like, "hey, your bass ousnd really good except..." and the explain it. I would bet they go along with you, and they will sound better overall from that point on.

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Post by leftofthedial » Sun Jan 28, 2007 10:48 am

I had a similar situation with a bass player a year or so ago. While I was setting up the gig, I heard him and my intern talking in the back of the room about how he is an ESP type and can read the minds of people. Of course I dismissed it as crap, but later when I tried to explain to him that his bass was making an awful popping sound (which of course he absolutely denied and blamed the problem on my microphone technique), I thought to myself, what a douchebag! He of course, ripped me a new one for thinking that about him.
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