"Metal" bass

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

I dunno man, I can actually see where your going with that, because the 500-800 works with my bass, but it hasnt worked on every bass Ive mixed.

As for the string thing, I think another factor in that is string freshness. I find I actually get too much treble & snap & I end up sounding like Steve Harris unless I cut above 1000.

It depends if you want the bass to actually sound like an instrument, or just add rumble. If you cut at 1kHz, you'll take out all of the fret and string noise, which is where the attack comes from. It'll end up sounding like a fretless if you take out too much, especially if it's played with fingers.

Too much 400hz makes bass sound really boxy, like you've got a wah stuck half way up on it or something. 800Hz will make the bass cut through because guitars don't have much energy there (and a lot of people scoop out a chunk anyway), but it doesn't necessarily sound nice - it can get honky pretty quickly.

Bass has such a huge tonal range I think the best way to make it sound nice is too keep everything as flat and even as possible - then add the guitars in and make cuts to the bass on the bits that are too crowded.

Steve

 

[Ermz]

Since bass works over such a huge range, the very best thing you can do is sculpt your mix and only bring the bass into it as the very last element. That way you can shape it around the kick punch and guitars in the mids.

 

[-Loco-]

Since bass works over such a huge range, the very best thing you can do is sculpt your mix and only bring the bass into it as the very last element. That way you can shape it around the kick punch and guitars in the mids.

pwned. Couldn't have said it better!kickass:

 

[DanLights]

Mixing bass is really hard to specify, given there's so many different types of "bass sounds" in metal mixes. You could have that thin almost-above-the-guitars bass sound (for example spiral architect), a dirty and distorted picked sound of for example Bloodbath, a clean vintage-style tone of Martin Mendez of Opeth, etc. etc. etc. and spectral placing of the bass in the mix is crucial to getting those different bass tones. And as many have said, most of the time the secret behind such clean-yet-powerful guitar tones is the underestimated (many times slightly distorted on the high end to blend even better with the guitars) bass sound sitting modestly underneath. mic'ing a cab is an option if you have a really cool cab, but not neccesary, a Di'ed bass track is what most do (listen to Daylight Dies, split bass sound through two DIs (clean and driven) and such a nice little bass sound sitting beneath the huge guitars). About starting tips, many have already said:

-New strings is a huge plus (try additionaly mic'ing the neck somewhere after the 12th fret to get only the trebly sound of new strings then mix in a tiny bit of that in with the other tracks, can work wonders)
-pick or fingers is your choice but should depend on the tone, not because "real kvlt bassist use fingers" (stupid statement that bassist wannabees tend to say, a "real" bassist strives for the tone he wants)
-Compression is very common because the nature of a bass guitar tends to give the bass some "sweet spots" where some notes sound higher than the others which creates some unwanted dynamics, plus since bass is supposed to be below guitars and all other upper frequency instruments it should be tamed with compression (sometimes hard compression or even limiting, all depends on taste and situation) to keep it from unpleasantly poking above these instruments in some parts of the mix
-Reverb and Distortion/Drive is purely out of taste, I personally like some drive most of the time, but sometimes a clean but heavy bass sound can be just perfect for the song. Or in the opposite, a clean, trebly but heavily compressed pick sounding bass can work wonders given the right situation (Ashes of the Wake by Lamb of God, bass sound on that album totally owns. The album in general is one of my favorite metal productions ever). Now reverb depends totally on the feeling you want to give to the song, Im mentioning it but I don't see it is used very often on bass anyway, but you never know when it could full up a mix's low end (I used some for my band's demo, got the shitty bass recording sounding a bit more full and heavy)

Anyway, hopes these tips prove useful to you

 

[siegfried]

Since bass works over such a huge range, the very best thing you can do is sculpt your mix and only bring the bass into it as the very last element. That way you can shape it around the kick punch and guitars in the mids.

Hmm, unorthodox method! I must try this!

 

[somecallmejack]

Mixing bass is really hard to specify, given there's so many different types of "bass sounds" in metal mixes. You could have that thin almost-above-the-guitars bass sound (for example spiral architect), a dirty and distorted picked sound of for example Bloodbath, a clean vintage-style tone of Martin Mendez of Opeth, etc. etc. etc. and spectral placing of the bass in the mix is crucial to getting those different bass tones. And as many have said, most of the time the secret behind such clean-yet-powerful guitar tones is the underestimated (many times slightly distorted on the high end to blend even better with the guitars) bass sound sitting modestly underneath. mic'ing a cab is an option if you have a really cool cab, but not neccesary, a Di'ed bass track is what most do (listen to Daylight Dies, split bass sound through two DIs (clean and driven) and such a nice little bass sound sitting beneath the huge guitars). About starting tips, many have already said:

-New strings is a huge plus (try additionaly mic'ing the neck somewhere after the 12th fret to get only the trebly sound of new strings then mix in a tiny bit of that in with the other tracks, can work wonders)
-pick or fingers is your choice but should depend on the tone, not because "real kvlt bassist use fingers" (stupid statement that bassist wannabees tend to say, a "real" bassist strives for the tone he wants)
-Compression is very common because the nature of a bass guitar tends to give the bass some "sweet spots" where some notes sound higher than the others which creates some unwanted dynamics, plus since bass is supposed to be below guitars and all other upper frequency instruments it should be tamed with compression (sometimes hard compression or even limiting, all depends on taste and situation) to keep it from unpleasantly poking above these instruments in some parts of the mix
-Reverb and Distortion/Drive is purely out of taste, I personally like some drive most of the time, but sometimes a clean but heavy bass sound can be just perfect for the song. Or in the opposite, a clean, trebly but heavily compressed pick sounding bass can work wonders given the right situation (Ashes of the Wake by Lamb of God, bass sound on that album totally owns. The album in general is one of my favorite metal productions ever). Now reverb depends totally on the feeling you want to give to the song, Im mentioning it but I don't see it is used very often on bass anyway, but you never know when it could full up a mix's low end (I used some for my band's demo, got the shitty bass recording sounding a bit more full and heavy)

Anyway, hopes these tips prove useful to you

slipkyesbass wins.

 

[Student]

I've tried adding the bass last only when I discovered what happened to my whole mix after accidentally muting the bass track...big difference, but it allowed me to decide how much bass to blend in to fill out the now thin track, brought the fader all the way down and unmuted. Brought the fader up slowly and noticed where it did and did not work, then adjusted the compression I had on the track.

Knowing this, I am better able to make the bass work with the drums at the beginning of mix, but I use this to make sure my rhythm section is solid.

Bass is more low mid than the rest of your instruments, and I agree with the wooly comment.

Try notching the bass a bit where the kick will sit so they don't fight for low end prominence on occasion, and taking out some high end doesn't hurt.

Just my $0.02

 

[DanLights]

slipkyesbass wins.

 

[Nukular!]

Thanks a ton for all the tips and suggestions so far guys!
I got a new perspective on tracking and mixing bass.