recording bass guitar

[ned-ryarson]

when recording bass guitar is it best to use a d.i box or something?
thanks

[Stab Frenzy]

Depends really. Sometimes I go direct, somtimes I mic up the amp, sometimes I do both. Depends on what sound you're going for.

[OriginalJambo]

I suppose it depends on if you have a good amp and mic or a good DI box and also what sound you are going for.

The DI box will generally give you a pretty transparent bass sound that you can muck about with in your DAW. You can always throw it through amp simulations and EQ later if possible.

The amp and mic approach will most likely sound a lot more coloured so if you like it and it fits the track, great. If it's not working then obviously you're going to have to tweak a little and even then you may not be happy.

The best solution, if possible, would be to record both the DI'd bass and miked bass amp at the same time into your DAW. You then have the choice of both for that performance - also you can re-amp the DI'd bass many times over if you want to tweak the mic and amp sound without millions of potentially unnecessary takes.

[ned-ryarson]

but what advantage do you get when d.i ing as apposed to going directly into the desk and out into the sound card?

i dont have an amp

[redchapterjubilee]

I either record direct into the computer if I know I want something really clean, but sometimes hit my Alesis mixer first if I want chorused bass (it has built-in FX) or The Pod or Bellari tube pre if I want a more sweathog sound. Then I compress it afterwards in the DAW. It's not bad, but I prefer to get friends who are real bass players to play bass for me. They usually mic their rigs and I prefer that sound.

[ned-ryarson]

[quote="redchapterjubilee"]I either record direct into the computer if I know I want something really clean, but sometimes hit my Alesis mixer first if I want chorused bass (it has built-in FX) or The Pod or Bellari tube pre if I want a more sweathog sound. Then I compress it afterwards in the DAW. It's not bad, but I prefer to get friends who are real bass players to play bass for me. They usually mic their rigs and I prefer that sound.[/qu

cheers for advice. starlight attractions is excellent by the way

[OriginalJambo]

but what advantage do you get when d.i ing as apposed to going directly into the desk and out into the sound card?

i dont have an amp

You're still DIing, but the signal of the bass will be compromised - the high end will suffer because your bass is high Z (impedance) and your inputs on your mixing desk will most likely be low Z. The DI box is designed to drop the signal to low Z so your mixer can handle it properly.

If you don't use a DI box you'll still get results, but they'll be far from ideal.

[tallowwaters]

unless the pre/di has a hi z input...

anyhow, even those low end preamps make pretty damn good DIs. decent preamps can be had for cheap. i love DI'ed bass more than amped bass in most every instance.

another important part of bass is some nice compressing. i like just a slow enough attack to get pops in, but a nice long release so i dont sound like a slow rubber band in a rotor.

[wiss]

a few years ago EQ had thier whole issue on just different theories of bass recording.

using a DI box is the most common used method

some took the DI line from the bass head while other has the bass player just striaght plug in with no amp

while other had them use a box similar to this(see photo below) got both the sound from the cab and DI.

[redchapterjubilee]

starlight attractions is excellent by the way

Thanks! That's one of the favs from my last album.

going directly into the desk... the signal of the bass will be compromised - the high end will suffer because your bass is high Z (impedance) and your inputs on your mixing desk's inputs will most likely be low Z. The DI box is designed to drop the signal to low Z so your mixer can handle it properly.

Hmmm, I didn't think about that. I'll use one of my DI's next time to see how that works instead. The problem for me is that I have a shitty bass. It's a '70s Fender Musicmaster bass with after-market pickups salvaged from a '70s Asian Fender clone. It does that Peter Hook/Robert Smith lead bass thing really well, but trying to use it in a rock context is unsatisfying. It also has to do with my lack of bass skills too!

[OriginalJambo]

Hmmm, I didn't think about that. I'll use one of my DI's next time to see how that works instead. The problem for me is that I have a shitty bass. It's a '70s Fender Musicmaster bass with after-market pickups salvaged from a '70s Asian Fender clone. It does that Peter Hook/Robert Smith lead bass thing really well, but trying to use it in a rock context is unsatisfying. It also has to do with my lack of bass skills too!

Here, I've recorded a little ditty to highlight the differences.

First we have the bass straight to desk finger style then through DI box finger style. Secondly straight to desk, then DI box attempted slap style. Sorry about that damn hum and shite playing.

As you can hear the difference is quite big! And try to remember that my bass is also a POS (Fender Squier Precision) with strings that haven't been replaced in 2 years.

[space6oy]

studios usually take both a DI from an amp head and at least one close if not a second far on a bass cab. do as much as you can, listen to them and pick what you like or mix them together.

guitar on the other hand sounds like s**t using a DI.

[OriginalJambo]

guitar on the other hand sounds like s**t using a DI.

Not if you fire it through a good software amp simulator like Amplitube or Guitar Rig.

[Stab Frenzy]

OK, today I was recording bass overdubs for a band whose EP I'm recording, this was the chain:

Bass -> Rat distortion -> DI -> 002 mic pre
DI thru -> Amp -> Mic -> Valve pre -> Valve comp -> 002 line in

The mic I used was a modded Oktava MK-319 which is really dark sounding which gave me the bottom end, the DI gave me the crunch and top end to help it cut through the mix. The DI needs a little bit of delay on it to get it back in phase with the mic signal, or I could just nudge the audio file in Tools.

Anyway, it sounds great.

[jasedee]

Remember kids: make sure the DI and amp audio is in phase when you're mixing them together!