- Trying to make a live bass sound consistant (in the low end)

[Jon Yeager]

Trying to record a live (picked) bass for a heavy/rock song, and I'm going
mad trying to get it to sound consistant EQ-wise even for 5 straight
seconds - nevermind the whole song.

Using Sonar 2.2 and a POD in a home studio setup.

The wav itself, once recorded, doesn't APPEAR to be too "wavy"... looks like
a vocal track pre-compression. However, the amount of low end coming through
from note to note is incredibly inconsistent.

I thought that compression might be the answer, so I tried a few default DX
plugin settings post-recording... not much of an improvement there.But then
again, I'm not sure what settings I should be using.

Is the bass player the problem? Is he playing too dynamically? I'd rather
not fall back on the MIDI bass. Just need the bass to sound consistent in
its output of low end.

Is CRUSHING the wav the answer? And if so, what settings would you recommend
(threshold, ratio, etc)?

I have most standard Sonic Foundry and Waves dx plugins. Which of them do
you recommend I use, and how?

Many thanks!

[Scott Dorsey]

Jon Yeager > wrote:
>Trying to record a live (picked) bass for a heavy/rock song, and I'm going
>mad trying to get it to sound consistant EQ-wise even for 5 straight
>seconds - nevermind the whole song.

It's either the room or the player.

>The wav itself, once recorded, doesn't APPEAR to be too "wavy"... looks like
>a vocal track pre-compression. However, the amount of low end coming through
>from note to note is incredibly inconsistent.

If you move to another part of the room, does everything change? If so,
it's the room. If not, it's probably the player. Is it a matter of one
particular note always being louder or softer than others? That can be
fudged around with a parametric. Or is it a matter of inconsistent levels
even when the same note is played repeatedly? That's a player issue.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Roach]

"Jon Yeager" > wrote in message
...
> Trying to record a live (picked) bass for a heavy/rock song, and I'm going
> mad trying to get it to sound consistant EQ-wise even for 5 straight
> seconds - nevermind the whole song.

Either not a very good bass (dead spots and hot spots on the neck), not a
very good player, not a quality amp... and combination could be problem.

> Using Sonar 2.2 and a POD in a home studio setup.

I just finished recording a bass which falls into what you describe. He was
a good (not pro, but very good) player, mid-line Ibanez bass, going through
a great Trace Elliot head and direct into the system. I didn't have to do a
thing to it. I ran my own bass through an SVT-Classic (all tube) with a very
good bass, and didn't have to do anything to it. The problem i believe is in
the source somewhere and i'm always quick to point the finger at the POD.
Call me biased. If you're recording electric bass regularly, do yourself a
favour and buy a quality tube bass amplifier or tube preamp. It will set you
back around 700 bucks (or less) and remove a lot of headaches from recording
bass.

> The wav itself, once recorded, doesn't APPEAR to be too "wavy"... looks
like
> a vocal track pre-compression. However, the amount of low end coming
through
> from note to note is incredibly inconsistent.

Again, just rent a quality bass tube preamp, try an Ampeg SVP (preamp), or
even an Ampeg SVT-3PRO (preamp and amplifier).

> Is CRUSHING the wav the answer? And if so, what settings would you
recommend
> (threshold, ratio, etc)?

Hell no. Don't crush. A decent player playing through good tube gear that's
set properly (my SVT-Classic has 6 knobs and no compression circuit or
anything, but tubes, naturally saturate the sound and give you a naturally
compressed tone.

You shouldn't need to do much at all to a bass going through a quality
preamp that's set appropriately according to the bass player style and bass
guitar itself. Rent a highend Ampeg and experiment. You'll soon find what i
mean.

Good luck

Roach

[Raymond]

From: "Jon Yeager"
Date: 7/16/04 11:23 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: >

Trying to record a live (picked) bass for a heavy/rock song, and I'm going
mad trying to get it to sound consistant EQ-wise even for 5 straight
seconds - nevermind the whole song.

Using Sonar 2.2 and a POD in a home studio setup.

The wav itself, once recorded, doesn't APPEAR to be too "wavy"... looks like
a vocal track pre-compression. However, the amount of low end coming through
from note to note is incredibly inconsistent.

I thought that compression might be the answer, so I tried a few default DX
plugin settings post-recording... not much of an improvement there.But then
again, I'm not sure what settings I should be using.

Is the bass player the problem? Is he playing too dynamically? I'd rather
not fall back on the MIDI bass. Just need the bass to sound consistent in
its output of low end.

Is CRUSHING the wav the answer? And if so, what settings would you recommend
(threshold, ratio, etc)?

I have most standard Sonic Foundry and Waves dx plugins. Which of them do
you recommend I use, and how?


You said "live", do you mean a bands gig your recording? Did you use a mic or a
DI? I'm thinking that your doing a studio thing here but are you using any
processing before you git it to the hard disk? You use a POD, did you try a
strait DI or even plugging direct to your pre?

[knud]

>It's either the room or the player.

It could also be the bass cabinet. Some of them have horrible frequency
peaks and dips. It could also be a faulty pickup or pickup positioning, which
could make the output uneven across the strings.


"I'm beginning to suspect that your problem is the gap between
what you say and what you think you have said."
-george (paraphrased)

[knud]

PS... forget the POS. Just run the bass right in.


"I'm beginning to suspect that your problem is the gap between
what you say and what you think you have said."
-george (paraphrased)

[Farview Recording]

If you can find a multi-band compressor, use that. Or you can accentuate the
midrange (300 and 1khz) so the deep stuff isn't what catches your ear (or
the compressor)
rectech

"knud" > wrote in message
...
> >It's either the room or the player.
>
> It could also be the bass cabinet. Some of them have horrible
frequency
> peaks and dips. It could also be a faulty pickup or pickup positioning,
which
> could make the output uneven across the strings.
>
>
> "I'm beginning to suspect that your problem is the gap between
> what you say and what you think you have said."
> -george (paraphrased)