Ableton Forum

Hi folks,
I've been making music with live for about 18 months but have never recorded any live musicians before, I have just finished a session recording some bass guitar into live, plugging directly into my tc electronic audio interface.

I just wondered what advice people have regarding eq/compression/limiting effects??

I've used a psp vintage warmer and some native instruments guitar rig fx and i think it sounds ok, but do any of you experts have any advice about eq or compression to pass on to a total beginner!


Any advice much appreciated

That is a tough one because it depends on how good your bass player is and what kind of music you are making.

But that said I usually record my bass tracks plugging straight into the computer. You want a nice hot input set on your input gain, just make sure it doesn't clip (0 db). After I get a nice hot dry track I run it through a Line 6 Pod Farm amp simulator. After the amp sim run it through a compressor to get a more consistent volume and tighter sound throughout the song. Eq to taste and you're done.

Ron

so many ways...

good bass playing is essential. if the bass player is slamming the strings, and his volume is all over the place: i rerecord the track by playing the basslines myself.

I like to use a preamp with a little bit of compression(btwn2:1-3:1) to record directly to disk , then pitch correct my basslines using Melodyne. bounce that. maybe some more compression, EQ if it needs it.

after that you could bounce again, warp it, tighten up some, add effects

try not to stress to much about what the bass sounds like solo'd. it'll sound totally different in an arrangement.

I record bass a lot. The answer is, there is no simple answer. Just like guitars, bass is only limited by your imagination.

I would put bass playing down to three broad styles. Pick, finger and slap. Each one requires a different approach but even then there are no rules. In terms of compression, I would say slap needs the most, then finger, then pick.

EQ totally depends on taste and want style you want. You want deep booming dub bass or choppy picked bass ala Tool?

Check out Guitar Rig, which works as a plug in for Ableton. It has a lot of nice presets, and mimics bass amps with effects and is great for quickly getting the sound you want. I use it on guitars and bass.

:edit: sorry I reread and realized you already have Guitar Rig. Well that's really all you need, if you have a good soundcard/box. However, I have found the MRX DI+ to be nice when recording bass. Otherwise with compression, it's all up to practice and your ear.