Mixing Bass and only Bass

[Millsy_Apache_Gunship]

Hi Guys,

1st post for me!

In a couple of months time I'm going to be recording an EP, however it will be slightly different than your standard EP. It's gonna be bass and only bass. But not just one track of bass, lots of different tracks with different effects playing different things over the top of each other (you get the idea).

I have absolutely no idea how to go about mixing all this bass without it just becoming a boomy bassy mess. Does anyone have any tips/experience of this in the past? The music is kind of doomy dark ambient type stuff.

I'll probably be recording direct using a Genz Benz shuttle 9.0 as a pre-amp with effects added post recording into Logic 9 if it matters!

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[StefTD]

I would try to treat each bass track as another instrument, if you got one track that is only a few
slaps and pops for example, simulating drums, with very percussive playing: treat it like percussion.
Everything track that doesn't go very low frequency wise: high pass like crazy

I did something like that once 2 years ago, 5 tracks on my fretless, need to find that file.

I had one track centered that just had a pretty simple groove, so I compressed it a bit, gated it
pretty hard, tried to simulate a bass drum and hihat with it.
Than there was a track with the "real" bass groove, compressed it pretty hard, put some distortion
on it, low passed it at like 500-600hz-almost sounded like a synth.
Another track with some chords panned hard right, another track with the same chords an ocatve
higher with some effects on it (chorus and some distortion), both high passed and than there was
another track that had some panning automation going on and loads of effects to make some fucked
up sounds

 

[Millsy_Apache_Gunship]

Cool sounds good, I maybe should have said in the post but the EP will have drums too. I'll be programming them myself or possibly playing them through an electric kit (If I'm good enough to do the things that are in my head!).

But your suggestions sound cool, I'll take them on board and if you can find your track stick it up somewhere, it sounds interesting!

 

[LeSedna]

Treat one or two of them as the bass of the track, and the other ones like guitars, maybe more mid oriented. It shouldn't be too hard I suppose, just hard to make it sound not weird

Songwriting is gonna be crucial in this project.

 

[Millsy_Apache_Gunship]

Treat one or two of them as the bass of the track, and the other ones like guitars, maybe more mid oriented. It shouldn't be too hard I suppose, just hard to make it sound not weird

Songwriting is gonna be crucial in this project.

Yeh it really is, I have it planned as purely instrumental stuff too so it's gonna have to be interesting yet listenable too. Although if I feel it needs vocals I may throw some in, I'm a shit singer though so maybe I'll get someone else along to do it! ha

 

[amarshism]

It all comes down to arrangement. Listen to Justin chancellor.

 

[Skinny Viking]

no guitars on this, just drums, vocals and BASS


so basically, like Steffy said ... treat some of those bass tracks as guitars, others as bass, and that'll get you started

 

[Millsy_Apache_Gunship]

no guitars on this, just drums, vocals and BASS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI3qa7Rbyz8

so basically, like Steffy said ... treat some of those bass tracks as guitars, others as bass, and that'll get you started

Cool, thanks for this. I'll have a listen today when I get home from work.

 

[grywolf627]

no guitars on this, just drums, vocals and BASS

so basically, like Steffy said ... treat some of those bass tracks as guitars, others as bass, and that'll get you started

*ahem*....



Sorry...but somebody had to post it.

 

[Skinny Viking]

 

[grywolf627]

Hahaha @ Murderface.

That Gamma Ray song is awesome. I need to listen to more of them. I never even bothered listening to them until you mentioned them in some post a while back. Good stuff.

 

[Skinny Viking]

^ "Land of the Free" is still my favorite from GR so definitely start there. That was the 1st with Kai singing again so the 3 before had Scheepers

Back on topic .... BASS BASS BASS BASS BASS BASS