batsbrew


i have found that all these 'tricks' to getting bigger better bass sounds, end up only washing out the bass.

historically, the best pro-produced bass tones, usually are of a real bass, with at most, a DI and a mic blended.

the real pros can put together multiple tracks and do all kinds of magic with it, but most of the home recordists that i listen to, that attempt this, end up with mushy bass tracks.

I'm trying to avoid that. The bass is DI, but I don't have an amp to remike it. That's where I'm struggling. I used to have Ampeg SVT, but my new DAW doesn't have it. GR5/GTR is okay on bass, but I think the Ampeg was better.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

it's nice to have a real amp, to move air.... it's quite a different feel and vibe than using sims.

that said, if you don't have anything else to use, try the guy's suggestions about cloning and finding the right plug-in, and the right eq scheme, to come up with a way to blend clean and dirty to get grunt.


there's nothing to lose but time, and if you trip across something that sounds really unique, it can become a 'signature' bass tone.

but ultimately, finding your tone with nothing but your bass, technique, and a good direct signal, is the ultimate.

this is the tone search.
the bass, the strings, your personal technique, the way you set your volume/tone/pickup heights, all that..... 
 
 

it's not a random thing that just occurs.

Did you try any of the ProChannel Bass Presets yet?  (I like Fingered Bass a lot.)
Do you happen to have Ozone4/5?  It can do wonders on bass also utilizing their enhancer and multiband compressor.  It does exactly what you are asking for I think...big, fat, round.

batsbrew


try the guy's suggestions about cloning and finding the right plug-in, and the right eq scheme, to come up with a way to blend clean and dirty to get grunt.

That's where I'm at right now.
 
Regards,
Dan

 

tbosco


Did you try any of the ProChannel Bass Presets yet?

Yes, and one of them came close. But I still have work to do. Fortunately, I only have to focus on the lower frequencies now as the original bass tracks are already tweaked (as of last night) and I'm happy with where they sit in the mix, except I need to lower them a tad.
Regards,
Dan
 

When I think of "smooth and round" bottom, I'm not thinking EQ so much as compression. In particular, compression for the low frequencies while allowing the high frequencies to be more dynamic. 

Traditionally that would mean a multiband compressor. Lately, though, I've been using FabFilter Saturn to achieve that. Not only can it give you punchy/aggressive/growly upper mids, it's also surprisingly adept at multiband dynamics.

bit-   that's what I was eluding to also.  There's a learning curve in using the multiband compressor (at least for me), and I really like the one in Ozone5...and coupled with their multiband enhancer in which you can ad a ms or 2 of delay to the low end-  it really tightens up, smooths out, and centers the low freqs.

I get closer to what I hear on TV low end this way... which I like.

As a bass player, when I think about wanting something "smoother" or "more punch", the last things I would think about would be eq, compression or anything like that. It starts with right hand technique, the instrument, rhythmic feel and all of that. 

Having said that:

1. 100-200Hz often adds mud more than anything else. If you boost too wide of a range you end up taking up too much room and having to lower the overall level making the bass even less punchy and audible. 

Try dividing the bass between a low frequency range for "body" and something between maybe 800-2kHz for attack/growl/punch. You want the frequency ranges to not be too wide and put them where other things ain't (and vise versa). And what something sounds like on its own vs. in the mix are two different things.

2. If you overcompress you will again end up taking up too much space and have to lower the overall level. "Punch" doesn't imply "Compress it more!" to me. It implies each note gets in and gets out of the way quickly. Use your compression (or transient shaper) accordingly.

3. If someone asked me for "more punch", I'd first try some combination of: moving my right hand closer to the bridge, playing tighter and perhaps more staccato, and play more on top of the beat. If you play lazy and behind the beat, it ain't ever gonna sound punchy.

I love the sound of an Octave pedal for a big fat sounding bass. It adds a nice growl to it as well. It adds a second harmonic an octave below. You can then highpass back to normal so as not to add too much sub bass, but the growl it adds is really cool. I use the OctaBass foot pedal for it. Haven't found a plug that does the same thing as that pedal and I liked it more than all other octaver pedals I've tried. That with some flat wound strings give a really smooth but meaty growl to your bass. It's my 'signature' sound I guess that I've been working on - flat wound with an octaver - I don't think many people do that. You might get lucky experimenting with harmonic plugs adding octave above or below. Worth a try.

Oh and the Pultec EQ works wonders on bass... I don't know what it does, but I like. I use this free boy  http://sonimus.com/site/page/downloads/