Recording Electric Bass (session tomorrow) - Tips?

no room sounds on the bass.

keep it clean, and tight.

if you can, i STRONGLY RECOMMEND taking a direct signal as well.

it's much better to use a direct box, and get the signal strong and clean, but if you don't have that, and have a direct out on the amp, use it.

spend enough time to get a good signal with plenty of headroom from the direct.

use only one mic on the amp, and one direct line.

do not put anything on the individual tracks, in terms of fx. just run it straight, so that what you hear, is what you get.

if it aint right, fix it AT THE BASS.... AT THE AMP......

ideally, you'll run the mic (and the direct line) thru their own processors (mic preamp, external compressor, or limiter) and do some low end rolloff (31 hz and down isn't a bad spot to shoot for)

you'll want peaks no higher than about -12.
this assumes tracking at 24 bit/44.1khz.

this will give you plenty of headroom for mixing later, and will plenty hot enough for a good clean signal.

spend extra time with TUNING.
and make sure you have your dynamics on the bass signal under control.

compressors/limiters placed as PLUGINS, have no bearing on your PRE_CONVERTER signals, remember that. they are placed POST signal, and do no good whatsoever.

I'm with Batsbrew as well except, in the spirit of some options, I would put up a room mic about 16 feet away not 6 because your average bass note is that long. At 6 feet you will be capturing a bounce of the bass note from some nearby object and you may not like the sound, or potentially be in a null and capture nothing much usable. If the space won't allow this, just go direct with a transformer or tube based DI if you can get hold of one.  Also capture the amp as well. The low end DIs tend to capture a thin on top or woolly on the bottom tone. If his amp has a DI out, use that. If you can get hold of a compressor, even a pedal based unit, you might experiment with that as well but very lightly.

More important, if you have an impatient musician or limited time, just get it in the box and add effects later. If you get someone who is passionate about tone, try recording DI, amp and distant so you have some options. There is nothing more fun than a musician who wants to experiment a bit to get the best tone. At the end of the day you both feel better.

wicker1000


So would you suggest I use my Boss Compressor guitar stomp box to tame the signal a bit?  Also, any suggestions for sweet spot placement of the SM57 to mic the amp? 

The compressor, yes, if it sounds good. But if it is too restrictive or screws with the sound then no. I would not use the SM57 for bass unless you are going for a sound with less low end. I would opt for a Shure Beta 52 or AKG D12 or even a Yamaha SKRM-100 SubKick which is not too expensive.