Bass Amp recording???

[lyman]

whenever i record a bass amp i turn the bass tone control on the amp at LEAST all the way down.

you're like the anti spinal tap. "but.....this goes to -1."

[nordberg]

hahaha. yeah. i've just never had a problem getting enough low end in there. i'm always finding people have plenty of low end but no character.

[Nick Sevilla]

Hi,

Here's what I did on a Yes record:

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index. ... msg_337985

I hope this gives you some ideas.

Cheers

[GooberNumber9]

Just another clarification on the whole "Bass frequencies take more time to develop" myth:

Most project/semi-pro/home recordists put a fairly large bass amp into a fairly small room. Because of the geometry of the situation, the bass amp will probably end up within 3-5 feet of a wall. Since the room is small enough there will be low frequency standing waves in the audible range, and probably lots of them. The room boundaries are always going to be anti-nodes, so you can guesstimate that a quarter-wavelength away from any wall is going to be a node for a standing wave.

So when you close mic a bass amp that is near a wall in a typical residential room, you are pretty much placing the mic close to several standing wave nodes of frequencies that you are interested in hearing. Putting the mic more in the center of the room makes it closer to some anti-nodes. Pointing the amp at a wall and putting the mic right against the wall might get you too much bass.

There's nothing about a low frequency sound wave that needs "more space/time to develop". It's just about the geometry of the room and the standing waves within it. Anyone who has ever found the sweet spot in their living room for a subwoofer should understand instantly what the problem is.

You could try putting the mic closer to a boundary, which could be a wall, floor, or ceiling. Having one 57 or condensor close to the cone and then a D112 or RE20 in a corner of the room might give you some interesting sounds to play with. Personally, I just like to DI.

Todd Wilcox

[EvanMidds]

One little happening bass sound I stumbled on was to mic up my little Vox amp with a large diaphragm about 5 inches off axis. I then kinda fiddled with the EQ a bit, threw some foam under the bridge and used a pick along with some palm muting. It went to tape very nice with just a little compression added in after words. So I'm in favor of the small amp when the song needs a nice sharp attack on the bass and the line is fairly melodic.