Sculpting bass tones

[Another Guitar Dude]

I know this is a very broad topic and that every situation is different, but I'm just curious about how you usually shape your bass tones nowadays. Do you use two tracks (DI + grit) ? Three (DI + grit + disto)? How do you decide between using two or three tracks? I usually use three tracks.

And then, with the grit track for instance, do you reamp, use impulses or just some VSTs like BOD on top of the DI? With my current rig I use BOD and Ignite amps experimenting with different Ampeg IRs (hopefully this will change once I get a kemper).

So how do you sculpt your grinding machines ?

 

[wishtheend]

I'll track DI with an amp sim just to get it tracked, edited and comp'ed into a single final bass line. Since the main body of sound I like to go for has grit, I'll try to get as close to what I want it sound like with amp/pedals and reamp as my main. Then I'll use the DI source to fill out anything extra that is missing (clean low/subs) or if an extra part requires a more intense distortion. If the bass player changes his tone with pedals (fuzz/distortion/etc) then I'll try to capture it thru a reamp to stay close to the original sound and then bring in those layers on the needed parts. I try to limit my main bass tone to 2 tracks minimum, and then 3rd layers on those extra parts/solo sections/etc.

 

[ashgallows]

clean di track low passed + grit track high passed with an impulse on it, both into a bass master track with mautovolume and an eq. I found lately that the crossover points on the 2 tracks make all the difference. I liked the bass sound but it was just too much in the context of the mix so I backed the crossover point down from 250 to 200 hz on the di track and it instantly fell into place.

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

For a grindy kind of bass tone, I like a compressed to hell and lo passed DI track to keep a steady low end, with a ridiculous sounding grind track over the top. Usually the grind track I like TSE x50 but definitely just mess around man. Also, Ermz' book Systematic Mixing Guide has pretty much the greatest explanation of modern ITB heavy bass tones that I have come across.

Edit: Today is your lucky day. Just dug up this piece of gold. http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/bass-processing-tutorial-systematic-style.863389/

 

[Machinated]

I try and get there with one track if possible, I try and make that one sound as good as possible. if its really not happening in the low end the way I want then I'll mult it out and filter just the lows and have them clean but doing that shit regularly scares me a bit considering how hard it is to accurately hear in that region.

 

[Heabow]

^ I always work the low end on headphones. I tend to proceed the same way but generally the second track is for extra grit or disto.

 

[MrBongo]

that´s entirely different depending on the sound the band wants to have.
I like having a DI track only, that I can mess around with entirely, just as much as having DI pre-rack + DI post-Sansamp + 2 mics.

I never split a track in two (or more) though. DI for low-end, mic for the rest ... fine. But no track will be processed in two different ways

 

[FrankTheSmith]

This an 11 year old $99 Squier P-Bass that has 8 year old strings. I soaked the strings in denatured alcohol I got from Walmart for $6.50 USD. Pretty much any bass can sound gnarly with that new string "zing"
The plugin chain was
CLA-76 - Slow attack, fast release, 4:1 ratio, 10-12db reduction
TSE BOD - all knobs pretty much 3 o'clock blend 75/25
Studio Devil VBA Pro - This splits the signal into a sub and distortion channel with a crossover and blend
C4 - A pretty extreme version of the Sneap setting
EQ - Cutting ugly and boosting throaty mids
Limiter - 3-4db reduction
There's an annotation on the video that links to a walkthrough of that tone.

The VBA Pro with the BOD before is pretty much my go-to for a metal/grindy tone and the Mark Studio 2 is my go-to for cleaner rock/fingered/funk tone. I have a nice Carvin bass amp, 2x10, and 1x15 just no suitable mics for micing it up.

 

[Another Guitar Dude]

Thanks a lot for all your posts guys. It's very interesting and pretty cool to read how you shape your bass tones. There's a lot of useful information in this thread, and that is what makes this community so awesome, lots of experienced people who share their knowledge.

 

[J.L.BeelerMusic]

I can't stand the sound of a "bare" DI with heavily distorted guitars in an aggressive song. I'll low pass the DI for consistent lowend, then mic up a fender bass combo amp (I can't remember the model but I know it's discontinued, which is a bummer because it's on its last leg). I can usually get it pretty "clanky" with the fender. Then if I need some grind I send a copy of the DI to either a sansamp or amplitube or any other ITB distortion plug I feel like using at the time. The hard part is keeping the phase relationship intact with everything.

After that I send it to a bass bus, sculpt it around the kick. Maybe sidechain comp the lowpassed DI if I need to. Make sure it blends with the rhythm guitars. I try to do the majority of my EQing (other than filters) on the bus in order to keep everything in phase. Nothing too fancy, just a lot of corrective eq to reduce build-up and quite a bit of compression to keep it consistent.

 

[nezvers]

I used to do low pass clean and hi pass driven + flip phase of driven (most of the times).
Now I'm starting to like results with 4 band multi comp and pretty much limiting all of them. 1st for subs below 100hz-ish; 2nd bellow 250-400hz (when character changes when soloed); 3rd below 1k+; and 4th to keep glassy top to be consistent
Than I have consistent signal that has steady drive into BOD 100%blend nice grind (than I level comp bands for preferred sound). If I wish than add some IR.

 

[Jormyn]

I used to do low pass clean and hi pass driven + flip phase of driven (most of the times).
Now I'm starting to like results with 4 band multi comp and pretty much limiting all of them. 1st for subs below 100hz-ish; 2nd bellow 250-400hz (when character changes when soloed); 3rd below 1k+; and 4th to keep glassy top to be consistent
Than I have consistent signal that has steady drive into BOD 100%blend nice grind (than I level comp bands for preferred sound). If I wish than add some IR.

For those using Reaper, there's a great JS plugin called BassProfessor that does four-band multicomp for you, as well as having a bit of dirt available. See here: http://jsplugins.supermaailma.net/jsplugins.php

 

[nezvers]

Yeah I'm using reaper for recording and mixing, so I'm definitely going to check that plugin.
I was using native multi-band and BOD because I'm familiar with them.

 

[Another Guitar Dude]

@Jormyn thanks for the heads-up, I'll check the plugin too.

 

[Alpha-Dee]

For those using Reaper, there's a great JS plugin called BassProfessor that does four-band multicomp for you, as well as having a bit of dirt available. See here: http://jsplugins.supermaailma.net/jsplugins.php

Thanks for the heads-up, tested this out for a project yesterday and instantly fell in love with it!

 

[BassTard]

(Yeeha back from the twilight zone - first post since 2010 )

Nowadays, I will usually use two tracks - DI and a fairly messed up setup of stomp boxes. The latter uses an EBS Multicomp, a Bass Driver DI (curious about the Darkglass B7K, though), some guitar distortion (whatever's at hand...) and an EBS MicroBass II. Sometimes I might even add my beloved Mark Bass Super Booster (to get a more amp-like feeling) and I add drive in specific parts - using an EBS Multidrive...

The chain will be Multidrive -> Multicomp -> Bass Driver DI (blend is just below 50%): the parrallel output goes into the guitar distortion,
Both signals (Bass Driver and Distortion) will be mixed, using the Microbass II and eventually be fed to the Super Booster...

I know, I know - but it works for me

Here's a picture of my setup, sans the Mark Bass...

Also, I find myself using the Platinumears 5orc3ry, especially if I don't play along with the kick. It's an amazing free plugin - and it's got a sidechain (fed by the kick signal) to duck just the lowend. (Works for cleaning up the fundemental frequencies of the snare within your guitar tracks as well.)

Have fun!


EDIT & Addendum: I use the (compressed) DI if I need an ultra-steady lowend and for some 800 to 1000 Hz presence. AND I will check out the JS BassProfessor - thanks for the tip!