I worked on tracking a new bass part to a song last night.  I eventually found a really nice bass line that I liked a lot and I felt like I played and tracked it pretty well after a coupld of takes.  Late in the evening I did some rough mixing of this track.  Rolled off the lows below 60hz, rolled off some of the unneccessary highs.  Place a compressor on the track and dialed it in until everything seemd to be pretty smooth sounding.  I thought I had things sitting pretty well in the mix.
 
This morning I got up and gave it a listen and I noticed that I had several bass notes that just kind of dissappear durning the mix.  So my question is, how is the best way to tackle those specific notes or trouble areas that seem to dissappear.  Do you locate the frequency of that specific note and boost that frequency a little bit?  Do you put a volume envelope on the bass line and boost or cut the volume of the specific notes?
 
Or.... gasp....I have never used one.... is a Multiband Compressor the answer to fixing bass notes that just dissappear in a mix.  If so, whats the vest way to us the MC? 
 
 

Is the note the same that goes low in volume or several notes are doing this. How close are they to each other? Bob Katz has talked about how some bass notes can stick out in a mastering situation. His approach was to get the exact frequency using a chart and dial in a steep notch to bring the offending note down to the same level as all the others.

You could use this technique the other way around too and boost instead of notch. 

I would be inclined to open up the bass part in an editing program such as Adobe Audition and see if you can track the quieter notes down and gain them up to match the rest. Then put them back into your DAW. Others here may tell you to do some detailed automation which would be just as effective.

MakeShift


I worked on tracking a new bass part to a song last night.  I eventually found a really nice bass line that I liked a lot and I felt like I played and tracked it pretty well after a coupld of takes.  Late in the evening I did some rough mixing of this track.  Rolled off the lows below 60hz, rolled off some of the unneccessary highs.  Place a compressor on the track and dialed it in until everything seemd to be pretty smooth sounding.  I thought I had things sitting pretty well in the mix.
 
This morning I got up and gave it a listen and I noticed that I had several bass notes that just kind of dissappear durning the mix.  So my question is, how is the best way to tackle those specific notes or trouble areas that seem to dissappear.  Do you locate the frequency of that specific note and boost that frequency a little bit?  Do you put a volume envelope on the bass line and boost or cut the volume of the specific notes?
 
Or.... gasp....I have never used one.... is a Multiband Compressor the answer to fixing bass notes that just dissappear in a mix.  If so, whats the vest way to us the MC? 
 
 

Hi Mike,
 
I'd have to hear the bass in question to really tell you how to go about it. Disappearing bass notes come from a few things...some you can fix, other times it's better to just retrack the section.
 
1. Improperly set up basses: This is a huge one. Some guys have their bass strings high in sections, low in others. This is always going to get you because some notes will ring out louder than others and really be inconsistent. Try looking at your action to see what the deal is. You'd be surprised at how much this can change especially if you've changed string gauges or made intonation adjustments. It can mess the action up pretty bad.
 
2. Pup height: Sometimes the strings that are low also sport higher pups...meaning the closer the pup is to the string, the more that string is going to ring out. Try to balance your pick-up height as it is as important as string action in my opinion. Especially if you have good pups.
 
3. Improper finger pull: If you are not using a pick, you may be pulling inconsistently with your fingers. Listen closely to this. If some notes ring out more than others, it can be a combination of the two things I've mentioned above as well as inconsistent pull if you're using fingers instead of a pick. The fix is to just replay the part and compensate. You may not have to replay the entire bass line...just the parts that seem to be missing.
 
The fixes to all this can be simple or more complex depending on where the problem stems as well as what you try to remedy it.
 
1. Check to see if you can just replay the sections that may be missing. Check all the other stuff I mentioned above.
 
2. You may not be compressing enough via threshold and you may not be using a large enough ratio. Most of us guitar players have this problem because we simply don't play bass the way a bassist would. We use picks, we don't make love to the bass, we pull too hard on the strings when using fingers or don't pull hard enough, we pick too hard, we get too percussive, we don't use enough attack on the compressor....the list goes on and on. You can try compressing a little more and then automating the channel volume. That will fix most instance. Sometimes simple channel volume automation will fix it.
 
3. You could multi-band comp it, but you have to determine if this drop in bass notes is due to frequencies or actual note values. If the problem is inconsistent pull, I'd not use a MC. If you're using a 5 string bass and that low B seems to ring out more than others or you have notes that disappear due to frequency, this is where an MC could be helpful.
 
4. If you're really good and if you recorded at 24/48 or something, you could always zoom in and normalize or raise the gain of select notes via trial and error. I don't condone this unless you really are careful and keep notes via note pad as to what you do and make a copy of the track before you try this in case you totally hose it.
 
Hope some of this helps...but that's what I'd look into. :)
 
-Danny

Jeff/ Danny,

That was fast...thanks for jumping right in with some of your thoughts.  I am at work, so I can't post an example at the moment.  I am playing a Ric 4003 with my thumb actually on this one.  Not in a slap bass type of way, just a real gentle pluck.  Sometimes it seems like I get a mellower tone in this fashion than plucking with the fingers.  I thought I did a pretty good job of playing it fairly evenly, but will definately anaylise the track when I get home. 

What I did notice was that all of the notes that I played off the second string (or A string) have a nice clear piano like ring, like a traditional Ric sound, and are louder than the notes played from the first (or low E) string.  The low E string notes are the ones that seem to be lower in volume and the main notes dissapearing.

usually this kind of thing occurs right at the bass.

setup
playing style
ability to play evenly on all notes at all times

in that order.

then, it's mix issues.

MakeShift


Jeff/ Danny,

That was fast...thanks for jumping right in with some of your thoughts.  I am at work, so I can't post an example at the moment.  I am playing a Ric 4003 with my thumb actually on this one.  Not in a slap bass type of way, just a real gentle pluck.  Sometimes it seems like I get a mellower tone in this fashion than plucking with the fingers.  I thought I did a pretty good job of playing it fairly evenly, but will definately anaylise the track when I get home. 

What I did notice was that all of the notes that I played off the second string (or A string) have a nice clear piano like ring, like a traditional Ric sound, and are louder than the notes played from the first (or low E) string.  The low E string notes are the ones that seem to be lower in volume and the main notes dissapearing.

In most pieces Mike, we tend to use the low E a bit more which makes it go dead a little faster than the others. How old are the strings? You can try wiping the E down with a little alcohol pad or something. Just be careful not to touch the wood. I use those little Webcol alcohol pads for all my strings. It's amazing how much crud they remove and how they can help bring dead strings back to life a bit. You'll also notice better tone with open notes than you will fretted notes. This is where proper set-up can really make a difference. The right amount of truss rod heat can bring in a bit of a percussive tone to strings that are fretted.
 
This all walks hand in hand with what I said about good set-up etc in my first post. Sometimes (especially if you've never adjusted it) a truss rod adjustment can add just the right of tonality. For example, if your bass has more of a smiley face to the neck, it could probably use a little more heat (tightening) on the truss rod to give the notes a bit more restriction.
 
Basses and guitars with light heat on the truss rod produce open sounds that may actually be a bit too open. A little heat on the truss can give you a little bass "clack" in a good way. For example, all my guitars buzz just a little bit purposely. It's not a "fretting out" sound that you can hear when using an amp or an amp sim...but if I just play the guitar without anything, it has a little buzz to it. This gives me a bit more of a percussive sizzle to my tone. Without it, it's a bit too open. The little bit of extra heat on my truss rod literally sculpts my tone a bit and tightens it up. Action can contribute to this too which is why I suggested taking a look at your bass action as well as the pup height. You'll get to the bottom of this eventually. But whenever possible...try to use new bass strings or at least keep the ones you have as clean as possible. Those little pads I mentioned are pretty cheap and come by the box. I can't tell you how many times they've helped me out. :)
 
-Danny

I have to ask.. You have checked this is also apparent on headphones and other sound systems, yes? Don't just assume because you hear your bass doing something that it is ACTUALLY doing that. Check that your listening environment doesn't have any nulls around those frequencies. I think maybe that's one reason many of us have issues with bass - we don't either know our room/setup well enough or we don't have a suitable room/setup to trust our bass monitoring. Check it out on a few different systems to be sure.

I remember many years ago I was mixing a song in my uni dorm room (you know, brick walls, size of a shoebox etc). I heard one particular note on my bass line was WAY louder than all the others. So I automated it so they all sounded very even. I was very happy. Played it on other sound systems and couldn't work out why my bass kept dropping out. If I understood the limitations of the room I was working in, I could have avoided that.

Hey Matt,

You are correct that you need to make sure you understand your sound system.  Not the case here though, checked the bass on my monitors, in the cans and in the car this morning on the way to work.  I kind of noticed it last night after tracking as well, but I knew my ears were tired and I was just plain worn out from a long day at work and 3 hours of tracking. 

Just got home this evening, so I am going to take a look at the wave lengths and see if they visably look different.  Play around a little.

I think the problem may be your EQ.  You said you rolled off the bottom at 60 Hz.  The low E string sounds at around 40 Hz and the A above is around 55 HZ, so you have EQ'd out your E string.  I would roll off below 30 HZ and that should make a big difference.

Hey Butch,

Thanks for the imput.  I am actually playing a B and C# on the 1st string.  Roll off is right around 60, maybe a little lower, it was by ear. 

Actually, I worked with this last night and I think I have most of the issues figured out.  I started with basics.  Step one, visually inspect the wave form to see if it looks different, or appears louder or softer in wave form.  All of the waves looked VERY consistant.  So this lead me to think, lets completely back up to step one then; which was the direct signal into the DAW.  I took all effects, all EQ and compression off the track and even turned off GR4 which was the simulator on the bass.  Then I listened to the soloed track.  Everything seemed to be much more even in tone.

So, if this was the case, was something in the signal chain of effects causing my issues?  I was using GR4, but I use a Line 6 Pod Farm bass on my songs a lot and I am pretty familar with this simulator, so I decided to throw up a bass tone from PF and turn off GR4.  Low and behold, the bass sounded pretty good with out doing much compression or EQ at all.  Flipped back to the GR4 really fast to listen to the difference and wow, the same bass notes were again really low in the mix.  So......  something was going on with the bass amp simulator and my set up in GR4.  I finished up by tweaking some compression; rolling off some lows and then when everything seemed pretty even, getting my volume to sit decently in the mix.  Sounded good this morning on 3 sources.   If I get a chance, I will try to post the song, but I am at work again this morning.  The song is also in its very early stages; with only acoustic, drums, bass and vocals tracked.