Mixing 8-string guitar with Bass

[coreysMonster]

So I have a dilemma:

I play an 8-string guitar, and am having trouble mixing it into my mixes; because when I play, I often switch between your normal 8th string meshuggah riffing with your normal 6/7 string guitar playing, and I find that what works for the 8-string parts of the song doesn't really work with the "normal" parts of the song, and when I change around the bass and guitar sounds, it sounds to different within the same track.

Does anyone have any tips? This is really irking me.

 

[Damian B]

Automation.

 

[CatharsisStudios]

i don't think thats what he's looking for.


he's asking is because its so low. do you just tune down the the bass or what.

 

[coreysMonster]

i don't think thats what he's looking for.


he's asking is because its so low. do you just tune down the the bass or what.

wait, that's not what I'm asking. I have the bass tuned up half a step, and the guitar tuned down half a step, so basic meshuggah F#BbEb etc. tuning.
The problem is getting a full sound with playing in the different octaves without changing around the sound, because it really sounds odd.

like doing the meshuggah thing and having the bass distorted and djenty works well with the 8-string sound, but using it while playing, say, an octave higher doesn't sound right.
Should I perhaps tune to 5-string bass tuning, instead? could that eliminate this problem?

 

[muckypup1]

I don't think theres anyway to stop it sounding different, unless you play your 8 string parts on the low E bass string, and play your standard 6/7 string parts an octave up, but this won't go with Meshuggah style music...

 

[XnaySaturo]

Yeah, I think going with the lower 5th string on the bass is your only solution.

That or changing the bass parts so you actually play higher when you have 6-7 string riffs.

 

[muckypup1]

Yeah, I think going with the lower 5th string on the bass is your only solution.

That or changing the bass parts so you actually play higher when you have 6-7 string riffs.

Yeah, thats what I mentioned, but I never asked, are you using a 5 string bass? Because this could help with switched between 7 and 8 string riffs, like Meshuggah do

 

[coreysMonster]

Yeah, I think going with the lower 5th string on the bass is your only solution.

That or changing the bass parts so you actually play higher when you have 6-7 string riffs.

that I already do, but the bass parts still sound very odd.

 

[plague_rider]

I think you should look at a 5 or 6 string bass in a lower tuning, Ibanez BTB are really good for it, get a thick gauge of strings on there, tune down...

 

[FloridaRolf]

Sounds like an intonation issue or I just don't get the problem? Samples plox!

 

[ahjteam]

how about 2 bass tracks with different settings for the different parts?

 

[plague_rider]

basically guys got his bass tuned up to F# to go with his 8 string, so the notes are an octave closer than they normally are if he was using a downtuned bass...

 

[Benny H]

How even is the tension across the strings?

Is this correct: what you're comparing here is the difference between when you're playing the same octave as guitar to when you're an octave lower?

 

[muckypup1]

Detuning down to E would make it unplayable wouldn't it? Like even having really heavy strings wouldn't be able to help with tuning this low

 

[abt]

Are you tuning by ear? It sounds like your tunings are wrong. If you're tuning by ear it's easy to tune to a 5th instead of an octave when you're down that low.

 

[plague_rider]

Detuning down to E would make it unplayable wouldn't it? Like even having really heavy strings wouldn't be able to help with tuning this low

SYL - Alien - theres some E below standard E tuning on guitar and bass on that one...

plus he only needs F#

I get G on my 5 string

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

If the guitars are downtuned to F# ala Meshuggah, then tune the bass up a step to F#. If I'm thinking about this correctly, the guitars and bass will now be uniformly in the same octave. Play the lines exactly the same and it should sound fine.

Unless I'm misunderstanding the problem?

 

[Benny H]

I think the problem is, guitars go up - bass goes down. The bass is switching between playing a lower octave (accompanying "normal 6/7 string guitar playing") to playing the same octave (accompanying "8th string meshuggah riffing")

You can notice it with Meshuggahs stuff. For example the song Obzen, the opening riff is A and the bass is an octave lower (probably the lowest note actually played on the album)... sounds really heavy and stands out cause it's a rare moment where the bass is playing octave down. The 2nd verse is the same riff but different note... the guitars go down to their lowest string but the bass comes UP to meet it... cause the bass doesn't have the same range.

It's not so much the tone but the effect of playing an octave away or the same note. You'll always notice that no matter how consistent the tone appears to be.
But it will also stand out like dogs balls if the actual volume/level of the bass is inconsistent across the strings.

 

[Josh Burgess]

wait, that's not what I'm asking. I have the bass tuned up half a step, and the guitar tuned down half a step, so basic meshuggah F#BbEb etc. tuning.
The problem is getting a full sound with playing in the different octaves without changing around the sound, because it really sounds odd.

like doing the meshuggah thing and having the bass distorted and djenty works well with the 8-string sound, but using it while playing, say, an octave higher doesn't sound right.
Should I perhaps tune to 5-string bass tuning, instead? could that eliminate this problem?

After The Burial, Divine Heresy, and the new Fear Factory have the bass tuned all the way down an octave below... I'm not sure I like that though... it's really low for a bass. You could tune the bass to a drop tuning... like Bb F Bb Eb Ab... then you can play the Meshuggah-ish riffs in the same octave, but you still have extra range for playing more "normal" riffs an octave below the guitars.

Meshuggah tune to F for most stuff by the way. not F#. Their bassist tunes how I just explained (because their older songs were just in Bb and the bass played an octave below).

 

[muckypup1]

I don't see what the problem is, it doesn't bother Meshuggah having to play the bass in the same octave...