Record Bass Guitar with good sound

[FLM]

Hi all,

First off, apologies, I am sure my question will appear a bit stupid

I have been recording my bass with Live. However, the sound is rarely satisfactory.

So far, the chain has been: my bass (active) - the sound card - laptop.

Could you please tell me if there is something missing here?
Should I be using a DI?
Should I use a preamp/DI (such as Aguilar Tone Hammer) and pedals, plugged into the sound card and laptop?

Thanks in advance for your kind advice!

[Gundrax]

You are right with your signail chain I use the same one to record my bass.

What I usually do first it's think of what kind sound do I want to have: Super low end like pop music to just support the song , more punch like iron maiden, etc... And I set the bass knobs to be closer to that sound.

Next step, super important: Adjusting the gain knob on your interface properly so your daw receives the right amount of signal (Green, yellow on peak sometimes but never reach the red level, that means your signal is broken)

And from here you can work with different plug-ins/hardware to get what you want: Compression is super important almost always to tighten your bass sound. Try to mess with eq to get rid of unwanted frequencies or enhance the ones that you want. You have bass aural exciters like the r-bass from waves to give more body to your bass, idk...

There are plenty tutrials on youtube that show you how to use or demo some plugins that you can use.

Hope you fin this useful!!

[FLM]

You are right with your signail chain I use the same one to record my bass.

What I usually do first it's think of what kind sound do I want to have: Super low end like pop music to just support the song , more punch like iron maiden, etc... And I set the bass knobs to be closer to that sound.

Next step, super important: Adjusting the gain knob on your interface properly so your daw receives the right amount of signal (Green, yellow on peak sometimes but never reach the red level, that means your signal is broken)

And from here you can work with different plug-ins/hardware to get what you want: Compression is super important almost always to tighten your bass sound. Try to mess with eq to get rid of unwanted frequencies or enhance the ones that you want. You have bass aural exciters like the r-bass from waves to give more body to your bass, idk...

There are plenty tutrials on youtube that show you how to use or demo some plugins that you can use.

Hope you fin this useful!!

Thanks a lot! Super useful insight!

Take care

[jonljacobi]

I was never satisfied with the sound direct, though I never have used an interface with a real Hi-Z input. I finally settled on using the analog out from a practice amp. First a Johnson J-Amp, now a Yamaha THR10. Sits much better than anything I did direct.

That said, Live’s Amp has a decent bass sim when used in conjunction with the speaker emulator.

[FLM]

I was never satisfied with the sound direct, though I never have used an interface with a real Hi-Z input. I finally settled on using the analog out from a practice amp. First a Johnson J-Amp, now a Yamaha THR10. Sits much better than anything I did direct.

That said, Live’s Amp has a decent bass sim when used in conjunction with the speaker emulator.

Awesome, many thanks!

[Tone Deft]

just researched this a bit myself as a guitar player with a bass. I found that lots of bass players just plug straight into the PA or computer and EQ later. I ended up getting a SansAmp YYZ for a bass pre-amp. I also have an EH MicroSynth on the front end. still, I have to spend some time getting my tone setup.

given that though, again, a lot of bass players just go straight into Live. I asked a bass player that very question here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=237544 (check his video, it's crazy.)

reading up on how to get rid of muddiness in your mixes helps, not that I've heard anything it's just that basses can put out a lot of energy in the 100-300 Hz range, causing muddiness.

[jonljacobi]

Generally to clean the bass and kick up, you notch filter them at slightly different frequencies so they can live happily with each other. Also, roll off the super lows with a high pass filter.

[evon]

Also, roll off the super lows with a high pass filter.

Which leads to the question.......how do you get sub bass in your production?
But to add directly to the topic, I also have been experimenting with some waves bass plugs, with pretty good results. Of course, linear eqs and a good compressor like DMG Compassion, will definitely help.

[jonljacobi]

Can’t help you with sub-bass. YouTube.

[miyaru]

Or I use a Bassdriver DI-Pedal from Sansamp or the Stagebug DI from Radial, depending on what I want. Raw tones: Bassdriver - clean tones : Stagebug. Roll off under 80HZ for four string though.

[jlgrimes]

Hi all,

First off, apologies, I am sure my question will appear a bit stupid

I have been recording my bass with Live. However, the sound is rarely satisfactory.

So far, the chain has been: my bass (active) - the sound card - laptop.

Could you please tell me if there is something missing here?
Should I be using a DI?
Should I use a preamp/DI (such as Aguilar Tone Hammer) and pedals, plugged into the sound card and laptop?

Thanks in advance for your kind advice!

What style do you play?

For R&B/Gospel, many people just record direct.

For Rock, you might want to use an Amp or Amp simulator plug in.

As long as your interface have an hiz input for a passive bass you should be fine.

[FLM]

Hi all,

First off, apologies, I am sure my question will appear a bit stupid

I have been recording my bass with Live. However, the sound is rarely satisfactory.

So far, the chain has been: my bass (active) - the sound card - laptop.

Could you please tell me if there is something missing here?
Should I be using a DI?
Should I use a preamp/DI (such as Aguilar Tone Hammer) and pedals, plugged into the sound card and laptop?

Thanks in advance for your kind advice!

What style do you play?

For R&B/Gospel, many people just record direct.

For Rock, you might want to use an Amp or Amp simulator plug in.

As long as your interface have an hiz input for a passive bass you should be fine.

First of, Thanks to you all for the feedback!

Regarding the style, it's pretty diverse. From R&B, to Rock, sometimes more electro/synth.

I have a good list of advice so far, so I'll experiment!

Thanks again