How to record a bad-ass bass tone?

[rlcramer]

So I'm having some problems getting a nice, round, heavy bass tone in my recordings. No matter what I do, my bass tracks always sounds uneven, and have no oomph. Some (most?) of it may have to do with my playing (I'm primarily a guitar player) but I was wondering if anyone had any tips, tricks or tutorials, for getting solid bass tracks? I'm really not looking for anything too fancy, or stylistic. I really just want a nice, smooth, even tone to carry the bottom end of my mixes. Right now, my tone is just a flubby mess.

I have an Ibanez SR905 bass with active pickups (Bertolini's?) as well as a Sansamp RBI and a Countryman DI.

Any help would be appreciated. Here is a sample if you want to listen to the type of problem I'm talking about - Exhibit A.

Bobby

 

[scorpio01169]

I hear nothing wrong with that bass.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I don't really hear the bass.

New strings?
Parallel compression?

I've never really been happy with my own bass sounds either.

 

[exoslime]

some time ago i have saved this tip from. i think this forum into a local library on my desktop

props to the original poster of course, i hope that helps:

Some Cool Bass Mixing Tips
Some metal guys like to mix the bass guitar over the kick, say the kick hits 60-80Hz, they'll roll off from 80Hz on the bass and smack 120Hz. This can be cool for some ultra fast stuff where you don't want to mudd up the mix too much. BUT, I personally like a lot of subsonic HUMMM from the bass.

Here are two things you guys should try and let me know if they work out good for you. Some of you may already do this kind of thing too:

Get a slightly narrow bell eq and crank 50Hz by 6db. Then crank 1-2khz. Now send the bass to some kind of compressor with a high ratio and slam it so that the thing is almost pinned, probably around 10db gain reduction. Now, put on another eq and with a narrow notch, carve out 80Hz so your kick can breathe. You'll end up with a big humm'n deep bass sound that will sound huge on guitar palm mute stuff but will still have the upper mid growl.

Now check this out: Set up an aux and put a thick and wide chorus on it. Follow it up with an eq and put a hi pass filter at 300Hz. Send some of the bass to this aux and mix in the chorused signal while monitoring with the full mix.. what you'll hear is that the bass will have a wider, more massive presence. The reason you follow the chorus with a hi pass is because it'll muck the low end up, the chorus is mainly to spread the upper mids in the stereo spectrum.

yeah the chorus thing works great... remember to keep it subtle, you don't want it to sound like "whoa there is chorus on the bass"... its all about getting a bit more presence and spread.. and yeah it works with guitars too. With guitars, try using a pitch shifter... Go 9cents up on one side, 9cents down on the other, delay the left 15ms and the right 30ms and add that in a bit.

 

[rlcramer]

Scorpio - I'm flattered! Thanks...

But I still think it needs work.

AGZ - I guess I should quantify a little. I saw this thread a few days ago - Abyssofdreams Bass!, and I almost fell off my chair. This guys is wringing some SERIOUS tone out of his bass gear, and everything just sounds so even, and full, etc.

The best that I can say for my current bass sound is that you know when it's NOT there, but I'd like it to be more of a healthy addition to the mix, as opposed to an afterthought.

Bobby

 

[Fox Mulder]

some time ago i have saved this tip from. i think this forum into a local library on my desktop

props to the original poster of course, i hope that helps:

Nah, I'd rather try hipassing the chorus aux at 450hz.

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

sansamp bassdriver + svt4 pro preamp out.

add a dash of EQ and some ballsy compression(distressor)

happiness.