Recording low tuned bass...

[exafro]

I just wrote a song with the guitars in Geadgbe, which is really freakin low. The bass sounds like a wet fart. I had to mix it really quiet or it just added a bunch of muddy garbage. I usually write in A and don't have any problems with it, but G is a different story. How do you guys do it?

 

[Harry Hughes]

Scale Length of bass? String gauge?

 

[exafro]

34" scale. I think its a .135 on it right now. That's probably the root of my problem right there, but I doubt I could get a larger bass string locally, getting a .065 for the guitar was a huge PITA.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

Tuning down puts your bass in A0, which is around 28Hz - the G below that is like 24Hz or something. You're so close to the bottom of the human hearing range that it gets hard to actually distinguish the fundamentals, because they literally are just rumble - they're well into the sub-bass range. As soon as you EQ the bass, you'll probably cut most of that out anyway, which makes the entire exercise fairly pointless.

You'd be better off playing the bass line an octave up (the same octave as the guitars). You'll still get plenty of low-end rumble from the bass, and it'll sound like a bass (rather than a guitar) because of the p'ups, the string gauge, etc., but it'll be clear enough to hear properly. That's how Meshuggah work with the 8-strings - the guitars and bass are in the same octave. Think about it; why do you need a bass under a guitar line as low as most bass lines anyway? 9 times out of 10 it's nothing more than adding a layer of woooooompf to your track.

Steve

 

[Harry Hughes]

I was going to suggest playing an octave up too and was gonna cite the Meshuggah example, but the problem is, while Meshug are in F and he would only have to tune up one semi tone for that, tuning up 3 semi tones from standard E however is going to require a set up and definitely light gauge bass strings. Would be wise to take it to a tech to get it set up. It's doable, of course and would mean he doesn't have to resort to buying a long scale bass either.

 

[ze kink]

I've recorded bass in G and it's definately still workable. Just put a thick enough string on it and if you have a chance to use a longer scaled bass, do it, otherwise the tuning will jump when you hit the string and it will sound really messy (you could probably try autotuning it too though). Just smash the hell out of the low end (assuming you're splitting the track), otherwise it will just rumble all over the place. I think the really really low bass stuff sounds pretty cool actually. IMO you don't really need a lot of the really low lows, just enough to amaze people with how low the bass is tuned.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

A bass tuned down to G can sound good, just listen to Gorguts "Obscura" and "From Wisdom to Hate." I believe in particular "Rapturous Grief" and "The Quest for Equilibrium" are both tuned down to G.

 

[BLUElightCory]

I'd play in the higher octave. A low G is too low for most speakers to reproduce the lowest fundamental and is almost inaudible to the human ear. Your speakers will strain to reproduce a mix with so many low frequencies happening, and you'll be hearing more of the harmonics above the bass note than of the note itself.

 

[exafro]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll the octave up thing first, and then look for a really thick string if I'm not digging that.

 

[DanLights]

Tuning down puts your bass in A0, which is around 28Hz - the G below that is like 24Hz or something. You're so close to the bottom of the human hearing range that it gets hard to actually distinguish the fundamentals, because they literally are just rumble - they're well into the sub-bass range.

not to mention no regular home or car stereo will EVER reproduce that low, so you´re pretty much just eating up headroom and straining the speaker unnecessarily. You could work it out with the low tuning anyway, but in the end you´d just Eq it to only get the upper harmonics and no fundamental, which actually could still work out. Personally I prefer the meshugah approach, I think Messugah bass sounds perfect like that, totally "hear-able" and still filling up the low end nicely (of course, the awesome gear he uses helps)

 

[cobhc]

SYL seems to get away with Drop G and even Drop E, and still have the bass add something to the mix. I dunno if Byron plays an octave up from usual or not.

 

[ze kink]

SYL seems to get away with Drop G and even Drop E, and still have the bass add something to the mix. I dunno if Byron plays an octave up from usual or not.

Pretty sure it's an octave down, since I remember watching the bonus DVD that came with Alien, and in one scene Byron's complaining about the string being really loose and hard to play, because the song he was recording was tuned so low.

Ion Dissonance is one band that I think tunes the bass an octave lower, and the tunings are occasionally very low (like F# low, and apparently they've now started to use 8-strings ). Minus the Herd sounds pretty goddamn good.

 

[plague_rider]

i had a play around with my 5string B-series Ltd bass and took that down to G-standard (G-C-F-Bb-Eb) and it played quite well...

if you get it set up properly for that tuning it should work quite well... you could drop some of the "booming" frequencies a little to help tighten it...

what genre is it??

 

[Full_Tilt]

As long as the bass is set up for that tuning with the correct string gauge and none of the notes are choking which happens a lot when low tunings cause the strings to flap around then it should sound heavy as fuck .
You will have to change your playing style though for it to sound tasteful and not just low for the sake of it. You dont always have to play the lowest possible note on the bass all the time because if you do then you lose the impact when its really required .
Also Use a lighter gauge pick and just try tickling the strings + careful compression and EQ trust me it works.