Recording The Bass Guitar

[Schyl Perry]

I'm a fellow bass player and would like to touch on the topic of recording and achieving the correct tone on your bass for the musical piece at hand. Even though I have been in the studio numerous times over the last 20 years I still feel how shall I say, considerable trepidation for a variety of reasons. Parallel this emotion with the unknown and a work of art ensues every time. I would like to hear from other players as to what type of contrasting dynamics occur for you before and after a session. Thank You

[SlapbassSteve]

Playing for the track in question aside, it's all about keeping it simple. I tend to just decide whether the song would sound best with a Precision, Jazz or my Westone Quantum(much grittier tone I've lately come to prefer). I did a session once with a vintage modified jazz bass going into a lovely Fender Bassman valve head through a Purple Marshall 4x12 guitar cab which sounded boss (http://www.myspace.com/dapperoverture), however since then I've tended just to DI, for me there's nothing like the pure sound of a decent bass going straight into the desk. Here's my most recent recording, this time just the Quantum straight into an old analogue desk https://soundcloud.com/uke-hunters/the-cave

[Chrismanbass]

i tend to have a tone which is as neutral as possible to record with considering the mix engineer is going to make your bass sit in the mix properly it seems silly to me dialing in a tone which is nice for me just to make the engineers job harder later on

[51m0n]

[quote name='Schyl Perry' timestamp='1361341985' post='1984724']
I'm a fellow bass player and would like to touch on the topic of recording and achieving the correct tone on your bass for the musical piece at hand. Even though I have been in the studio numerous times over the last 20 years I still feel how shall I say, considerable trepidation for a variety of reasons. Parallel this emotion with the unknown and a work of art ensues every time. I would like to hear from other players as to what type of contrasting dynamics occur for you before and after a session. Thank You
[/quote]

Mate, welcome to Basschat, that as good a first or second post as I've ever seen nice one

I firstly make sure I know the song(s), and the structure(s) inside out, I make sure I can play it faster than I need to, and that I can nail it to a click. That out the way I can stop worrying about it.

I make sure I have a new set of strings on my bass if its even a remotely serious recording. you can easily wind down the treble, its impossible to put back missing harmonic content from old strings. In every genre I have ever played in that harmonic content really helps the bass be a presence in the final mix.

I check my intonation, that the batteries are good. I check over my rig if its going to be used, and fx board if I am going to take it. In short I make sure everything is working right. Nothing kills a recording session vibe faster than busted kit.

I usually know the type of timbre I'm after, its always the Roscoe these days, its just the pickup blend, do I want neck pickup (very P bassy) the brdge pickup ( a fatter jazz bridge pup sound) or blended, which doesnt really do the jazz bass thing at all, its what it is though, great for slapping.

Other than that really the tone is what it is for me, there is not secret for recording, good kit, functioning well, played properly.

If I'm engineering the session as well then I will have a shortlist of kit available that I will probably zip through to find the best sound , set up any compression down to tape (disk) up front (I do love Joe Meek optical compressors for good musical squish on bass).

Then its show time....

[Rimskidog]

All good points above. I'm a bass player and a producer/engineer. The point that most players seem to miss is that it's all about the song. Play whatever best complements the song, not what makes you look like the most virtuoso player, use whatever tone is going to best complement the song, not 'your standard tone' (if you don't the mix engineer is just going to use an eq to shred it to make it fit into the mix anyway). Listen to the producer/engineer if he is any good at all. It's likely that he has a vision for the song and any suggestions he makes are generally an outsiders view as to what is likely to improve the song (it's outsiders that will buy it after all!). And if you have listened to the point above, sorted your rig out in advance and practised the track to death, then you might even enjoy the experience