Clear Bass

I think the key to getting a really good bass sound is to start with a really good sounding Bass. Bass frequencies seem to be the hardest to tame and it really helps to start with a Bass that has it's own nice character to help stand out. The rest of the work is chiseling out the spectrum for it to keep it from losing its character while not stepping on the other instruments.

I like to keep it really simple. I ignore the eq for starters. The get the lower end of the bass right in the mix with my volume controls only. Ignore the upper end. I'll then usually add a bit of a highpass to around 40Hz ish to clear any potential sub bass that might be going on and not showing through my monitors. I'll often then cut much of the midrange. I might cut a lot, probably keep cutting until I can hear a change in the sound that I don't like. This helps clear more room for everything else. I'll then have a bit of a sweep through the higher end of the bass and work out which part of it has the most clarity in the mix. I'll then boost it to taste, or cut, if it has too much. Aside from that, a little compression and I'm usually done, unless I'm going for a different sound, then I might add something else, but usually that's enough for most songs. In the context of the mix is the only thing I care about. If a certain aspect isn't adding anything, I'll usually cut it to give everything else more room.

As for the playing, I have one rule I am learning to live by - never play the root notes the whole way through a section. Make the bass interesting.

Philip I don't have a long track record but here's my thoughts;

I go for a full range setting on my bass for the track. Clean or distorted I try to get a balanced sounding bass.

It seems to me when I mix/eq it's much easier to "carve" out a place if the bass is full range. I've had the most trouble with bass when I recorded it just to much on the low end because I liked the sound. 
Being it is one of the first instruments I usually record it's very easy to not get it bright enough and then when I need the mid's and high's they're just not there. 
 
As a guitarist I struggle with this too and currently fully agree with SongCraft, get it right to start with...at least that's what I try for.


 

Phillip,

It's better to talk in person. Sometimes I get pushed for time online or get interrupted by something at home, and either misunderstand or don't explain everything in complete detail or not quite explain it the way I wanted.

Also, this new forum software; when in full post mode (larger space to type my posts) but I can't view posts on this thread as a reference to what's been said unless I quote you and others, or open a new window, or use the quick-post but out of habit I hit the full post mode button.

I agree, there is a lot more detail/information to discuss! I'll try to contribute the basics...

What helps is to first get other instruments happening in the project before committing to the bass sound so that way you can get a better idea, overall perspective.

Sound Source:
OK for example be it a real bass or 'virtual' sound sources , applying amp-sim is similar to a real amp but IMO virtual amps tend to be more grittier thereby adjust by starting at 'low' settings then bring the levels such as 'drive' up slightly (except for output which is default to 0).

IMO it's best to go DI (real bass), and for virtual bass (sample/VSTi) hardly not much amp-sim process or not at all (depends on the song and sound source).

You don't need much for bass! On the track keep it dry (no effects), this forces people to get the sound right at the source and that includes performance/technique.

Technique - Performances - Nuances:
Be it real or virtual bass (sample) technique is critical because for example; if you hit the strings harder (for virtual sample = velocity) you'll get a different tone (slightly brighter) and for real bass the choice of the pick (plectrum) or not using a pick at all is important too because the combination (technique explained) will influence the sound and again it depends on the song.

Also, the way the each note is played and how long each note is held will in fact either make a bass sound clear, sloppy or muddy. Again this applies to either virtual bass sample or real bass.

Testing levels using Headphone Monitoring:
What I also do is; monitor on headphones and occassionally turned the volume all the way down to almost '0' at that level if you can hear the bass n kick along with the other instruments and vocals (included the words), then you have just learned one of various tips on how to mix using headphones.

The biggest mistake people make is thinking that you cannot mix on headphones well guess what? all my mixes are done on cheap $25.00 Sony headphones and the reason why my mixes are well balanced is because I learned years ago how to do it.

OK so the bass track is dry (no effects), and all tack levels are nicely balanced, bass routed to the master bus which has for example; T-Racks or Ozone, this is where you can adjust the bottom end a little more but generally I don't use much EQ (keep it almost flat)! But if you insist a bass on blowing the roof off the house ;lol: add DensityMkII and/or Classic Limiter (both are free plugins) put directly on the bass track!

Also, if you want to use a BBE or exciter? then do whatever 'you' think works best!

I may be old-school when it comes to producing but I've picked up some new tricks along the way ;)

That's it Phillip, you know the saying; 'keep it simple' and 'less is actually more'

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I don't know if anyone else does this, but I play my bass with a very thin pick. There are a few reasons and they ultimately are there to mask the fact that I'm not a bass player by trade. Firstly, consistancy with how hard you pluck the notes. If you use a soft pick, you try and pluck really hard, and it still plays softly. If find trying to play hard with a soft pick results in notes that are always the same level. If I play with a hard pick and play hard, I'll often get a lot of buzzing as the strings vibrate against the fretboard. Playing with a soft pick also counteracts this. It does limit me in some ways, but if I'm finding that limitation in a certain part, I can just switch to a heavier pick for that solo bass section. It works very well for me, but I would only do this for recording. It's worth having a go and seeing if you get anything from it.