How to get bass to blend in?

[AndrewB]

One of my favorite things about my favorite productions (including a lot of Joey's work) is that the bass blends in with the guitars so well. So that I can't really pick out the bass as an instrument, but I can tell that if it was muted, I would really miss it.

Obviously it's an EQ thing, so besides compressing it to hell, what should I be doing EQ-wise?

 

[timislegend]

multi band compression (like c4), frequency enhancement (like maxxbass) and lots of limiting (like some good ol' L1).


depending on how aggressive you want the bass to sound you can also add some overdrive ...just mind the fizz.

 

[oroinvictus]

Tim pretty much nailed it. It also depends on the production, some call for a smooth, non-distorted finger picking sound, while another may call for a hugely grindy, powerful sansamp tone. I don't compress bass, only limit, as sometimes compression can make the bass pop out or stick out through the guitars at times. Leveling is also important, I personally like to be able to hear just a bit of bass grind behind my guitars.

 

[Joshandhisguitar]

and lots of limiting (like some good ol' L1).

I thought L1 was a maximizer?

 

[AndrewB]

I thought L1 was a maximizer?

Maximizer = loudness maximizer = limiter

 

[GearMan2point0]

Play with multi-band foremost. I usually compress the hell out of the low end, to stop it from jumping all over the place. To me is makes the mix warm.

 

[RedDog]

Joey doesn't like a lot of bass in his subs, as it sounds to my ears, which would make sense as to why the bass seems to blend a lot more. A lot of the time, I feel like the bass has to have it's own hole in the frequency spectrum right below the guitars. Beef, you know?

 

[ModernEnd]

I don't compress bass, only limit, as sometimes compression can make the bass pop out or stick out through the guitars at times. Leveling is also important, I personally like to be able to hear just a bit of bass grind behind my guitars.

For rock/metal I a little dirt just ties everything together. Multi-band compression is great encase you have an odd frequency range with a large degree of level fluctuation. I know that on my band's most recent record, We used a mark bass little mark 800, and it was blended with a Peavey 6505 <-- for picking dynamics, among other things, im assuming. Multiple adjustment points, with completely different dynamic ranges, cant beat it. It sounds fucking sick. But again, it all depends on the style of the bass player and music.

 

[OneDaySky]

I feel like the bass has to have it's own hole in the frequency spectrum right below the guitars. Beef, you know?

Me to!

 

[oroinvictus]

For rock/metal I a little dirt just ties everything together. Multi-band compression is great encase you have an odd frequency range with a large degree of level fluctuation. I know that on my band's most recent record, We used a mark bass little mark 800, and it was blended with a Peavey 6505 <-- for picking dynamics, among other things, im assuming. Multiple adjustment points, with completely different dynamic ranges, cant beat it. It sounds fucking sick. But again, it all depends on the style of the bass player and music.

How do you like the little mark 800? I've heard some awesome tones come out of them, or them in conjunction with another amp or other processing.