Tuning bass to match the guitars?

[GuitarMaestro]

Sometimes I read about producers first recording guitars and the bass in order to tune the bass to the guitars so you have no tuning problems. IIRC Sneap does this as well.

I always record drums, then bass, then guitars.

And I simply tune the guitars and basses with the same tuner to 440HZ. I never encountered a problem so far and never had someone complain about my mixes in that regard.

Am I missing/not hearing something? Whats the idea behind this?

 

[Zack Uidl]

I never really have done that. I normally record similarly to how you mentioned that you do.

I am pretty anal about tuning, making sure that each instrument is in tune very frequently

I have never had issues

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

I've occasionally had problems with bass players hitting so hard that the bass sounds sharp. So in that situation it's a little easier to have the guitars as a guide. When that's happened to me though I've just Melodyned the bass into tune. Problem solved. Still, it's worth considering if it saves you the headache.

 

[deanbailey]

I only see it as what is the most important instrument because I rarely have any problem either.
In Metal it's most guitar driven so I record that first then bass, as bass is often played as a simpler 3rd guitar tuned lower (not always).

I've recorded softer rock type music where the bass followed the Rhythm of the drums more so I felt it better to record that before guitars.
I never experienced any crazy tuning problems. Not even Slightly.
lol It's only the fact that Sneap mentioned his reason that makes me doubt the method I use.

 

[GuitarMaestro]

Good to know that I am not the only one recording bass first.

lol It's only the fact that Sneap mentioned his reason that makes me doubt the method I use.

Same for me lol. I bet he only wants to confuse us...

 

[Trevoire520]

I've occasionally had problems with bass players hitting so hard that the bass sounds sharp.

I've had that with guitar players aswell, though to a much lesser extent than bassists. I find that when tuning if i get the bassist/guitarist to constantly pick the string rather than hitting it once and letting it ring out then you can compensate for them hitting the notes sharp.

Also, used melodyne to sort out of tune bass before, worked a treat.

 

[Zack Uidl]

yeah, bass players who play really hard tend to pull the strings a bit out of tune. my answer has been to get them settle down a bit

that is pretty rare for me though, I have only had a few bassist I recorded play like that

 

[Chryst Krispies]

I've always recorded Bass after guitars.

 

[Ermz]

I usually record bass after guitars also.

 

[AudioPhile777]

For anything other than metal, Bass comes first...

 

[Aaron Smith]

Bass after guitars

 

[Andy Sneap]

quite often i tune the e string on guitar flat too because of hard hitters.

 

[colonel kurtz]

quite often i tune the e string on guitar flat too because of hard hitters.

in addition to going sharp from whacking the strings too hard, i think some folks neglect the fact that you can also go sharp from fretting really hard as well

 

[smy1]

I always played/recorded guitars first in my band back in the 90s because I was the only one who knew the song by heart when there was just a click. I mean, everyone could play it tightly as soon as the guitars were there, but without them they'd fuck it up constantly. Don't ask me why, they were good players.

So my recording order was:

1) Drumcomputer rhythm with lots of shakers and off-beat hats (for groove)
2) Guitars
3) Drums
4) Bass
5) Vocals

 

[brandy]

I've always recorded Bass after guitars.

Yea - most of the time!

Metal: 99% of the time - guitars first, then bass

other kinds of music, especially groove orientated, for example funk: bass together with drums or directly after drums.

I usually ask the band how they would like to do it as well as I easily know about the "kind of bass player" after checking the demo... If he/she is ... mh.. guitar player but does the bass because they need someone to play the bass... you know what I mean - then I record first guitars, then bass. Because then the bass-player has way less trouble.

If he/she is a groove-expert and a REAL bass player (not just "e-e-e-e-e" then I consider to record either together with drums or directly after drums.

 

[GuitarMaestro]

If he/she is a groove-expert and a REAL bass player (not just "e-e-e-e-e" then I consider to record either together with drums or directly after drums.

Exactly. The kind that is superior to the average guitarist in groove/tightness. It would be a shame to record guitars first in that case.

 

[ze kink]

I've always recorded bass first, I think I'll experiment when I next do some metal. Again, I haven't really recorded other bands that much, just my own playing. I usually do rough guitars first though, so my order is drums, scratch guitars (one or two tracks), bass, final guitars. When I recorded our post-rock -band's demo, I did it so that the guitarist and drummer both played in the same room using my Pod X3 Live. Then we recorded the real guitars and then I recorded my bass parts. That order was because the guitarist uses a delay almost all of the time, so we didn't use a click and rather played to the tempo of the delay. I also used parts of the scratch tracks for intros to those songs that start with guitar.

 

[Ihsahn1981]

Im a bassplayer and I prefer to record before the guitars.

But I dont mind really if the guitars are recorded first.
I usually mute them anyway when I record.
Sometimes it works, sometimes its not quite as good as it could be.
Depends on the nature of the song in question really.

 

[-J-]

interesting thread.

don't laugh too hard but I opt for "detune light." I tune to A436. Back in the day I wanted to detune a tad but not have to setup my guitars again after they were set to A440. It stuck and it's the only thing that sounds right to me now. It sounds kind of "off" in a good way - give it a try if you typically do 440.

I really don't see the difference in what is recorded first if both are tuned to a tuner, but I do understand that certain playing would need to require special tuning calibration to match if they play sharp.

here's a cool article on the history of pitch. looks like it jumped all over the place for pianos in history, even landing on 436 for a number of years in the 1800s, kinda wild.

http://www.uk-piano.org/history/pitch.html

If you were Tru Brootalz, you'd tune to the first tuning fork invented by John Shore in 1711 that had a pitch of A423.5.

 

[joeymusicguy]

always melodyne the bass