Recording and Mixing Bass Guitar?

bass

is the most important sound to mix, out of all of them.

get that right, and the rest is cake.



do a quick survey....


of all your favorite pro bass players......


what gear do they use>?





do ANY of them.. use a squire bass?


problem number one.

get good gear. for good tracks.

The first question is how are you recording it and how are you monitoring it? 

It's possible that you're hitting an acoustically resonant frequency in the room either when recording or listening back (or both), and that's the first thing to make sure of. This would be my first guess as to what the problem is, as it's very common with bass.

If you're using an amp, move it to a different location in the room. Or don't use the amp at all when recording.

If it's not the room/amp, "dead spots" at particular points on the neck are very common with bass, but "live spots" enough to cause problems aren't. Does it happen when playing the bass unplugged? Does it happen everywhere that note can be played?

It is quite easy to tame one note actually. I (and Bob Katz) have done this in mastering but on a track it would be effective too. Look up on a chart and see excatly what frequency we are talking about. (if it's the C above the bottom E on a normal 4 string bass then the frequency is 65.4Hz. (I assume it is not the C below E as per a 5 string bass which is 32.7Hz)

Simply create an EQ with a very narrow/steep notch right on that frequency. Make sure the notes either side of it are still left alone. Now not all EQ's may be able to do this, obviously you need one with a very high Q parameter. (Adobe Audition has surgical EQ's or scientific EQ's for this sort of thing) Set the gain in the minus direction for the desired amount so that note sounds about the same as the others.

It is not worth compressing a whole bass track just to tame one note. This is also another great reason for having a separete editing program like Adobe Audition etc. I would open up the bass track and just pull the offending notes down. Might take a while but well worth it.

Bob Katz calls it the one note syndrome I think and he talks about in his book on mastering. Sometimes mixes can get that way where one note seems to stand out more than others. This EQ technique works well.

@JeffEvans, Thanks alot, I used a eq to cut that frequency out, and presto it is gone, I have been overlooking it for so long. this is miracle advice. lol thanks again!! and i am not being sarcastic! it really worked

droddey


But if it was a room issue, then hat not going to be almost non-existent when anyone else listens to it in a different room. Listen to the track on headphones as a quick way to discount whether the room is the issue. If you hear the same big peak in the headphones, then it's really there in the track, not a bass frquency buildup issue. If you don't hear it in the phones, then it's clearly a room issue that needs to be taken care of.

+++111
Crucial!
If you are just hiding a room problem (as it seems) by ducking one frequency, all your mixes from that on will be defective.
 
How does that disturbing C look in an spectrum analyzer? If it does not peak out in any way, it's one more indication that you should not duck that C.
 
I can't imagine it could be the bass mics (or anything in the instrument) that could enhance one note in the way you describe.
 
Then again, if it's a room problem, the same C played with, say, a soft synth bass, should give something like the same results (not similar).

Kalle and Dean  are correct. I am assuming your room is OK and the problem note is in the track only and not in the room. I must admit I did not think of that.

But on the other hand I am not sure a room is going to emphasise one note so well and the adjacent notes that are so close are back to normal again. Anyway do as they suggest to rule out the room as the problem.

I also agree with jamesyoyo. Marcus Miller or Stanley Clark would not have any problems with a Squire bass.

bigsmoove23 

so you mean to tell me that if a band came and ask you to record them and was going to pay good money, you would refuse if the bassist used a squire bass? i ask for technique advice not please bash the equipment i used!!! i am not a bass player so therefore i cannot justify spending alot of money on a bass.

PAY GOOD MONEY....


means, yes, they would expect you to have a decent bass.


now, if that bass really sounds good, then what the hell! use it!
there are no rules.


the fact that you are asking the question, makes me believe you are not sure whether the instrument is really a great sounding instrument or not.




personally, i would never care what a musician used.......
if he can make a cat gut string on a washtub bass sound good, that's great.


you completely missed my point in your knee jerk reaction to thinking i was 'bashing the equipment" you used....


it's almost as if you didn't read any of the rest of my reply.


if you are not a bassist, and don't have the money to get a decent instrument for 'others paying good money' to use, then  why are we even having the conversation?




hey pal, i was just trying to help by putting what i think are the important aspects of this issue into play.

wasn't trying to bash.

 please dont run people down when they are asking for advice on mixing technique. batsbrew 

you will never see me 'run people down' asking for help, bigsmoove.......


i don't have the time to bother with stuff like that.


i was genuinely trying to help you see that there is a bigger picture here, than saving a few bucks on a cheap bass if you are serious about hiring yourself out to record bands, for 'good money', and offer gear for them to use.


you can spend a lot more 'good money', and TIME, chasing your tail with this one.
I was just trying to save you the grief.

now, if you are so new at this, that you cannot see that this is good advice, i apologize for wasting your time.

I believe now that even the cheapest gear is pretty well made and sounds great. Guitars, basses and drums. I used to play in a band in Canberra in the early 80's with the now incredible guitarist Frank Gambale. Frank and I came from the same city. (He was very good then!)

Anyway his brother Nunzio owned a great music shop in Canberra at the time. (Pro Audio) I worked in the shop for two years and Frank would often come in and play. Even on a $100 strat he sounded incredible, and pulled the most amazing tone through a Mesa Boogie amp (and a cheap Yamaha guitar amp) and played a killer solo of course.  Any problems with the instrument seemed to be instantly neutralised somehow and it suddenly sounded like a $5000 instrument.

I have heard amazing drummers create almost an unbelievable sound from a cheap drum kit too. (Kenny Clare from Cleo Lane was in town one day doing a masterclass) and he played a really cheap practice kit. I said are you sure you don't want to play one of Sonor kits or something! He said he was happy with the practice kit. It sounded like a really nice expensive drum sound. I could not believe it myself. People cued up after to buy the kit!

By the not so good musicians also produce a more unpredictable sound from even an expensive instrument. The opposite seems to happen and an expensive instrument can sound cheap. Not sure why one note could be louder than the others. As Herb says it could all be in the instrument too. A great player could avoid it and adjust for it.

I can see why in mastering due to the complexity of the mix, a bunch of frequencies could seem to group together and build up and cause certain notes to stick out. After all the frequencies involved in music are all predominantly linked and are all multiples of each other.

batsbrew


james:

Nonsense.   For most hobbyists, any old bass will do. Knowing what to do, how to record it, and how to mix it is another story.  

well, now see, that's about the silliest reply i've read in a long time.

the fellow states, right up front, that he intends to have bands come in and "pay good money" to record.

Really? Cuz I read the OP's two posts and he said nothing about any band coming in.  He sounds like a newb looking for advice.
 
Green Day recorded "Dookie" using a cheap Mexican Strat. Case closed.
 
BTW: I use a Squire bass. Floor model. Got it for $130. It has flaws, for sure, but I can coax a decent sound out of it. And for most folks, a solid bottom (which it does indeed provide) is all you need.

I was saying if someone came to YOU wanting to record a squire bass you would tell them no!

now you're just putting words in my mouth.


what i told you is still good information that you will, in time, come to appreciate.


carry on.

batsbrew

I was saying if someone came to YOU wanting to record a squire bass you would tell them no!

now you're just putting words in my mouth.


what i told you is still good information that you will, in time, come to appreciate.


carry on.

Nah, you just read it wrong. Carry on.

I use both high end electric guitars and basses and low end guitars and basses. Quality tracks have surprisingly little to do with the quality or cost of electric /electronic instruments. Acoustic instruments are different story if your trying by the essential acoustic nature of the instrument.

I can attest that the player counts much more than the guitar. I suck equally on both cheap and expensive basses. Adding a 5th string doesn't seem to help much, either.

It's the artist's brush strokes that make the portrait, not the brush. I love my squire jazz 5-string.