jamies_ice
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EQing a bass guitar
Anyone know of any good articles for EQing a bass guitar?
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ohhey
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 02, 04 4:44 PM
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ORIGINAL: jamies_ice Anyone know of any good articles for EQing a bass guitar? Wouldn't be much help, a bass track can have all kinds of tones depending on what bass, player, and recording method was used. With digital recording what happens most is that you get too much low end and because of that you can't get the volume up in the mix without swamping out the entire mix and causing the master compressor to kick in to limit too often. If you like the sound of the track but just can't fit it into the mix try rolling the lows off with any EQ plugin and if you still have dynamics problems insert a limiter after that. I also use the clip gain envelope to get the bad peaks under control to help the compressor limiter do a smoother job. If you compressed too much while tracking that can make the mix have boom or rumble and kill the groove. In that case you can use the clip gain to fade off the ends of the notes a little quicker and fix it. It's a lot of work but worth it if re-recording the track is not an option. That is my two cents.
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jamies_ice
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 02, 04 4:49 PM
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Yeah... Bass is tough to mix. Basically I rolled off everything under 150HZ, boosted a little around 500HZ with a broa Q, then boosted alot with a narrow Q at around 800. And I have a mild compression working on the track {Sonitus} before the EQ, in the FX bin. That is a good idea about using clip gain to taim those pesky highs. I was contemplating modifyint the compression to really go after it... that would have robbed the track of life, though. So no articles, eh?
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sammyp
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 02, 04 5:34 PM
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http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/tm.asp?m=102911 all kinds of good stuff here re: eq/comp on all instruments. thanks to chaz - check out the misc. link for a rundown of cutting/boosting freq's for all major small group instruments.
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kawika
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 02, 04 6:30 PM
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I usually don't eq the bass track. I choose to use a pick or not and toy with my attack. I also track from my P-bass into my Presonus MP-20 and play w/the IDSS. Also, I have an old dbx 160x inserted in my preamp which I use for everything... but for bass, have it often set minimally at around 2:1. Lastly, I find I usually have to roll off the bottom from 60 down at mastering using the shelf on the Voxengo Glisseq. Kawika
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river
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 02, 04 6:49 PM
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Rolling off below 150 is a little extreme.....the fundamental frequency on the E string is around 110. Use a very tight Q on a parametric for finding the meat in the lows (and consider cutting any really hot areas down there) and boosting a medium bandwidth around 2-3k will add some definition. Also, there's usually some muddy crap in the mid lows that need dialing out. I'm a bassplayer, and I find myself tracking with no EQ or compression, because once it's there, ya can't lose it. You're also adding tons of phase content with EQ that will contribute to things getting lost when mixing. Try using new strings, practice playing while watching a meter so you're hitting with consistant attack, and use a bass friendly preamp (I have a vintage Trace Elliot bass rig with a direct out from the pre, it kills some Avalons I've tracked through). Also, be sure to define different fundamental frequencies between the kick drum and bass when mixing. Good luck with it.
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chaz
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 02, 04 7:54 PM
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ORIGINAL: river ...the fundamental frequency on the E string is around 110. I have to disagree with you there. The fundamental of an open E string for bass is around 41Hz and the first harmonic around 81-82Hz.
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river
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 03, 04 10:03 AM
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All the more reason not to do a nosedive below 150. I usually wind up defining the bass track anywhere between 70-95Hz, depending on the instrument's personality. I certainly do agree with doing a high pass curve starting around 30 or 40Hz, the subharmonic potential with digital bandwidth will mush things out in a hurry.
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wogg
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 03, 04 2:46 PM
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The trick to the high pass is to use a very low Q, so the slope is slow. That way the responce is only down say from 6-10dB at 40Hz but keeps cutting off into the subsonic range. Here's a couple of reasons to do so: Depending on the playing style, there can be a whole lot of subsonic information from resting hands or fingers on the strings. Have you ever just shaken an E string while pluggen into an amp with responce well below 20Hz? You can basically move the woofer cone significantly just by grabbing the string and wiggling it. Recording direct will put that subsonic info into your mix. Have you ever directly measured the frequency responce of a bass amp? I tested a very common stack, a Hartke single 15", and a 4x10". The 15" was down 3dB at 80Hz and rolled off quickly. The 410 began it's decent at 60Hz and had a slightly slower slope than the 15. Note that Hartke rates their single 15" to 30Hz (yeah, when it's down 20dB!) Frequency responce ratings mean nothing without tolerances. If you're micing an amp, you're using a high pass filter. My opinion on bass EQ: *Below 100Hz: flat or low Q high passed... let the kick drum drive the beat down there with support, not dominance... but this depends on the bass of course, most have plenty of output down there to not need any help *200-400Hz: the warmth zone... feeling weak? add a bit, too much and you'll turn it to mud *400-2kHz: definition zone... can help when you want to bring the bass more forward in the mix, heavily dependant on the song *above 2kHz... attack and clarity zone... playing slap? boost the crap out of the highs from 4-8kHz and hear that percussive slapping come out Personally, I give myself a whole lot of gain in the highs, typically 15dB+ near 10kHz. This lets every little string noise be heard and the slaps or any hard attacks come straight to the top of the mix to share the beat with the snare as another percussion instrument. The sound of the bass changes that setting drastically. My passive mexican p-bass needs that amount of gain, but it varies depending on the age of the strings. I plugged an active musicman stingray in and was nearly deafened with highs. Playing with that kind of responce in the high range makes tone more dependant on the bass player. When you add compression, you can control a wide range of tone by how hard you hit the string or if you put fingernail into it etc.
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sammyp
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 03, 04 2:57 PM
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*Below 100Hz: flat or low Q high passed... let the kick drum drive the beat down there with support, not dominance... but this depends on the bass of course, most have plenty of output down there to not need any help *200-400Hz: the warmth zone... feeling weak? add a bit, too much and you'll turn it to mud *400-2kHz: definition zone... can help when you want to bring the bass more forward in the mix, heavily dependant on the song *above 2kHz... attack and clarity zone... playing slap? boost the crap out of the highs from 4-8kHz and hear that percussive slapping come out i think he knows his stuff!
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semieval665
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 04, 04 2:17 AM
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That is a good way, comrehensive and to the point. It's a matter of taste also. My bass sound "ll knock your socks off Jazz american bass...........no not vintage. EMGS with exb replacing the tone......roll the exb back a bit.........go direct into a fw410. It needs nothing else. Pick, fingerstyle, slap..........it doesn't matter. I have found a great comp setting however, the sonitus with vintage and then dbx 165. Seems to add punch without the pumping thang.
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sammyp
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 04, 04 2:23 AM
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EMGS are you sure you can knock my socks off with emg's - i could have bought $300 worth of socks with the cash i spent on sterile emg tele pickups!  please forgive the sarcasm but i don't dig 'em.
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sammyp
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RE: EQing a bass guitar
July 04, 04 2:24 AM
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Jazz american bass i'm down with that!
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