Bass Processing

[Metaltastic]

Yes, I know this topic has been done to death, but I've seen so many posts in so many threads about it, I was hoping to just get it all somewhat compiled in this one. So anyone who's pissed about having to say the same thing AGAIN, if nothing else all I ask is that you go the search function, search for threads you posted tips in, and copy/paste, that's what I always do! (or actually, I usually bookmark any thread I feel I made a good point in, for easy access )

So yeah, the philosophy that makes the most sense to me is duplicating the DI, low-passing one of 'em at like 150-200 Hz and limiting the fuck out of it; then, with the other track, apply distortion of some form (ampsim, pedal, possibly impulse), put 'em together, and voila. I just bought a ProCo Rat off of ebay for this purpose, so that and the decent collection of SVT impulses I have should make for some fun experimentation (part of this whole impulse pack a friend of mine gave me on a burned CD seriously like 4 years ago, fuck if I know where he got it from, probably Gearslutz).

Also, I've seen people (Ermz) talk about duplicating the tracks, but just eq'ing them a bit differently and running them both through an ampsim. Seeing as how I only have my TS7 and soon Rat, though, rather than a full rig sim, I doubt this would work as well for me though. But I'll give it a go when mixing my upcoming EP! (gotta get my new bass set up and strung up)

 

[Ermz]

Well in terms of bass tone, the best I probably achieved was this: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/285689/possessing-teaser.mp3 so based on whether or not you like it you can take or leave the advice.

80% of the bass tone is at the source. Seriously, I know that reads like the archetypal audio cliche but it's so damn true. You CANNOT replicate the same bass chain twice due to different playing styles, bass guitars, recording chains etc. It is crucial that the player is good, as well as having a good instrument and a high-fidelity recording chain.

Anyway, here's what I tried to recount for Dan on the thread:

I don't have the session on hand at the moment to document everything (different OS installation), but from memory I basically got the bassist's BC Rich bass and ran it directly into the Millennia, Solid State path. I EQ'd out some low-mid and added some high end with a shelf starting at like 5kHz on the EQ section, and then I used the opto compressor to shave off a few dB on the way down. This was essentially the basis of the sound. So much of the bass tone relies on a good playing approach (this guy plucked hard), good bass (this one was at least decent) and good tracking equipment. The Millennia left all the fidelity of the DI intact. There was lots of sexy fret noise to work with.

In the DAW I split the signal 2 ways, as usual. Low one was low-passed at like 300 to 500 or something. High one would've been highpassed somewhere from 500 to 700hz.

On the high track: I used Audio Damage Kombinat under saturation mode to add the grit, no idea how much I used since their GUI read-out is a bit weird. Just whatever sounded right. After that I slammed it with an L2 and used EQ to tame some problem frequencies.

On the low track: I basically did nothing from memory, apart from the low-pass. It just bussed straight to my Bass group.

On the bass group: I first ran Ampeg SVX. No idea what setting, just whatever sounded best. Lots of cutting on the virtual amp EQ all the way throughout the mids. SVX basically made the tone sound beefier and less flat, more amp-like and less DI-like. After that I slammed it with an L2 again. Some EQ, including a lowpass at around 3khz and a highpass at 45hz. After that I ran it through Stillwell's Rocket, sort of in parallel mode, slamming out the very last of the dynamics. After that I realized I couldn't hear low-end worth a shit in this room with the opals so I ran Curve EQ and matched spectrums to the Come Clarity bass. I only used a slight bit of adjustment there, so it didn't change the tone an awful lot, just enough to make things sound a bit more right.

That's about all I can recall, because there's quite a bit of processing going on, as there usually is with my stuff. So much of it is specific to this bass tone that it wouldn't matter if I told you how much GR there is, or how much cut and boost. I could use this exact same chain on the same guitar, same preamp chain, but played by a different bassist and it'd be freakin useless.

 

[~BURNY~]

...and limiting the fuck out of it...

Take this with a grain of salt.
If you wanna distort the signal and add harmonics in the mud zone, then do just that. If not, compress reasonably.

 

[colonel kurtz]

what to do with the bass, IMO, can change drastically from project to project...or even track to track. i think it's the farthest thing from "set it and forget it" as you can get

most recently i did a little bit of compressing and EQ'ing, then distorted with izotope trash and threw an ampeg cab impulse on with boogex

 

[Charles J]

Indeed, depending on what kind of limiter/compressor you use, I've found that you don't want to really SMASH the fuck out of it. I usually try to compress it reasonably and THEN limit (after all EQ'ing and processing is done).

Depending on what limiter I use, I just listen, look at my meters and try to get as consistent a level as I can while listening to the bass in the mix.

I'm with Ermz on the whole Bergstrand Kick/bass mixing thing and it really has me intrigued. I LOVE how my mixes are turning out using this 'method'.

How I usually work, I get all the drums happening and then start on the bass, to get the foundation of my low end. I've found though, after bussing my di/dist. bass tracks to their own group channel, I THEN send that bass group along with my fully processed kick to their own 'Kick/Bass" group and compress that with, my new favorite compressor, the PSP Oldtimer to glue them together a bit and add additional harmonics using the 'Valve' setting.

After THAT, I've found that slapping on PSP's MixSaturator (LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLUG, thx Plec!) really helps the low-end from the kick/bass shine through the mix, stay nice and tight and give it just a hint more analog-like 'glue'. I run this in parallel however, really driving it past the point I normally would, but only mixing in maybe 30-40% of the wet signal.

As far as the DI signal goes, I'm usually using Studio Devil's Virtual Bass Amp for my low-end (with a low-pass) then duplicating the raw DI track, adding some grit using any plethora of plugs (this can vary WILDLY) and then hi/lo passing that.

My favorite plugs for all of the eq/compression is still URS Strip Pro and Waves SSL channel. The new PSP sQuad pack of EQ's is killer as well.

 

[Sora01]

have to try these. I normally just record it once and then lowpass it too around 500hz then boost the crap out of it on the eq until it gives me the right amount of smooth rumble :/

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

I usually do this splitting the track and high-passing at 500hz or something and the other low-passed at 3khz or something like that. On the high-passed I've used BTE TS and and eq to make it extra smooth, then tons of compression and limiting. Same with the other one, except the other one ends up being just bass, almost no mids at all. works pretty well

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

I usually run one signal through a sansamp for low end rumble, and then i run one through my rat and into a tubeamp miced with whatever suits the production.

 

[Charles J]

I usually run one signal through a sansamp for low end rumble, and then i run one through my rat and into a tubeamp miced with whatever suits the production.

+1 I forgot I used to do this, as well! I'd send the reamp the bass DI out to my TS-9 > ENGL > Marshall > 57, hi/lo pass and use that as my grit, sometimes. Works a treat.

But as mentioned above, every mix really is different when it comes to bass gtr. It's all about the player/type of bass used/etc. But, I guess, when is it not? =D

 

[beyond dead]

I usually get a direct bass signal. I make sure that the clean tone is as clean as possible ( carefully set the volume of each pickup so you get an even tone that sounds clean) then I reamp the bass through a tube screamer and my sansamp bass driver di. this track is rather distorted. It is blended with the Di signal and sent to two aux tracks. the 2 aux tracks then get different impulses. usually a ampeg 1x15 cab and a 8x10 cab. then they get bussed back together, eqed and compressed (usually to fuckery)

settings vary depending on player, the bass used and the way the rest of the mix sounds.

 

[Metaltastic]

Jesus, some of you guys really do a shitload of stuff! But thanks for outlining it, I'll be sure to give it a go (though only if my far simpler initial idea doesn't pan out )

And yeah, of course, I hate the artifacts that come with too much compression, so I'll be gentle

 

[ze kink]

Hmm, I've never tried limiting my bass tracks before, might have to try that. My way has been pretty simple so far; just some grit from my Behringer BDI21, random Ampeg cab impulse, smashed with a compressor until it sounds decent and not all over the place, then shitloads of eq (often pretty drastic and surgical depending on the source). With fingerstyle stuff, I often throw in a multiband comp too, so I can mess around and still keep the dynamics. Haven't been duplicating the tracks yet, but now that I have a reamp box, I'll probably start doing that and then reamping the hipassed stuff through pedals and an amp.

 

[beyond dead]

you would be amazed at the amount of GR you can get away with on bass

 

[The-Zeronaut]

i remember reading that you should phase invert the DI...
is that true?

right now im using studio devil bass for my tone
and then waves l2 to limit

 

[beyond dead]

Ive never had a problem with phase, but if you notice that you lose energy when you combine the two tracks, then I imagine you would try reversing the phase.

 

[Plec]

Well in terms of bass tone, the best I probably achieved was this: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/285689/possessing-teaser.mp3 so based on whether or not you like it you can take or leave the advice.

80% of the bass tone is at the source. Seriously, I know that reads like the archetypal audio cliche but it's so damn true. You CANNOT replicate the same bass chain twice due to different playing styles, bass guitars, recording chains etc. It is crucial that the player is good, as well as having a good instrument and a high-fidelity recording chain.

Anyway, here's what I tried to recount for Dan on the thread:

Awesome bass tone you got going there Ermz! Shakes my room to the bedrock!

 

[Erik Monsonis]

I just use POD Farm and split the signal in two: One gets some nice crunchy grit from the Ampeg model, into an Ampeg 8x10 built-in cab; the other goes straight into the Eighties model (super clean sound) to carry all the meat.

Everything compressed with Oxford compressor to a nice attack/release settings (shaping the bass tone and to avoid the artifacts Marcus has mentioned above), and then absolutely slammed into L2.

Example:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/425433/Tema 8.mp3

(Yeah, I like basses to be LOUD )

Cheers!

 

[Full_Tilt]

So understanding that two different bass guitars can sound totally different (my two fav basses have a different tone and one other has bartolini pups which are brighter ) then there's strings and so on ...
Some people like neck through others like bolt on then there's pups and tone circuits active or passive . I have a hard time swallowing some of these definitive tracking and EQ techniques when the instrument makes so much difference .
Do they really apply so sweepingly across all kinds of basses?
how do you decide which bass to use and what do you look for in the instrument tone ?

 

[Fox Mulder]

Any bass that you think is 'decent' would work out in a decent manner, be it a bolt on or a neck through. As for metal, the bass usually hides underneath the guitars, unless you're aiming for something rock-ish like Judas Priest's 'Worth Fighting For' where the bass is the 'lead' instrument - if that makes sense to you. So for conventional metal anything works, unless the bass costs around US$100 or something.

I never limit the bass, even though I want it as consistent as shit. I'd rather compress the shit out of it, but maintaining the transients as much as possible. I want the notes to really cut through more than the sustain. Everything stays super-consistent, yet the pick attack stays on top of everything. All in all, I wouldn't want the waveform of the bass look similar to that of high-gain guitars.

I never sidechain the bass to the kick or anything as I feel that it really hampers the dynamics. I'd rather have them 'almost perfectly' peaking at different frequencies. If you feel the need to sidechain the bass to the kick in metal, you may be sure that something's wrong with the balance. Same goes for bussing both of them to a compressor.

P.S. IMO.

 

[KeithRT99]

I'm interested in hearing some rat clips. I've been thinking of getting one specifically to use on my bass. Right now i just use my bad monkey, which gets the job done, but i'd like something grindier.