I always end up compressing the bass guitar alot to make it sit in the mix right. What would be the con of using a limiter instead? I've done this in a couple of my mixes and i haven't noticed anything negative or weird about it.
using a limiter on bass guitar?
- Thread starter brianhood
- Start date
Fox Mulder
The Truth Is Out There
Interesting. Never tried that, though.
I usually automate the shit out of the bass, followed by 6:1 compression. Attack: 10ms. Release: 220 - 250ms.
Gain Reduction of 3-4db. We should be able to hear the note being struck, and gradually sustaining while at the same time maintaining a proper dynamic range. Not too compressed, not too dynamic. Squashing the bass with a limiter may sound like a good idea to make it fit well, but really, wouldn't that make it sound a little too dull? Just a thought, cause I've never tried it on a bass. Can't say anymore without actually trying it.
'
Cheers!
I usually automate the shit out of the bass, followed by 6:1 compression. Attack: 10ms. Release: 220 - 250ms.
Gain Reduction of 3-4db. We should be able to hear the note being struck, and gradually sustaining while at the same time maintaining a proper dynamic range. Not too compressed, not too dynamic. Squashing the bass with a limiter may sound like a good idea to make it fit well, but really, wouldn't that make it sound a little too dull? Just a thought, cause I've never tried it on a bass. Can't say anymore without actually trying it.
'Cheers!
AFAIK there's really no disadvantage to limiting the bass (since a limiter is just a compressor with an infinity:1 ratio) if you don't want dynamics, and for metal I know I don't!
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
I struggle with the idea myself. Normally I'll hit the end of the bass chain with a limiter to chop any errant peaks. But I have this feeling that if you go overboard and essentially kill all the transients in the bass (which are what constitutes the 'punch' and 'tightness') you may end up with a droning, muddy mess. I've yet to really draw concrete conclusions on this, but I do know that my better bass sounds have come from extremely minimal bass limiting, and very minimal compression to boot.
Cyanide_Anima
yooveesevenbeekay
i use the 315 sonalksis comp. it has a limiter function i use on bass, but i also turn the 'fast' switch off. odd. i usually do just a little bit of limiting on top of a moderate amount of crushing of the bass, lol.
joeymusicguy
Member
if its pop punk, you'll probably want a duck on the bass everytime the kick hits, followed by tons of limiting so every note is the same amount of RMS
if its metal, you'll probably want some compression, but not limiting, because all the fast note movement in combination with limiting will make the bass seem kinda like "a guy that never stops humming behind the music"
as much as we all naturally (somehow) lean towards removin all dynamics from music, i think metal bass needs lots of ching, gain, and dynamics
joeymusicguy
Member
p.s. always check your bass track with some kind of analyzer that shows you dc offset (some frequency analyzers can show this if you know what to look for)
lots of problems can occur if there's "extra" low hz energy. it can cause your mix bus compression to work incorrectly and all kinds of crazy shit. people who are recording at home should worry about this because most consumer gear doesn't give a shit and will produce this energy (along with 60hz hum).
if you get bad dc offset, and 60hz hum on your bass track, you're looking at an unusable mess of shit being thrown into your mix.
lots of problems can occur if there's "extra" low hz energy. it can cause your mix bus compression to work incorrectly and all kinds of crazy shit. people who are recording at home should worry about this because most consumer gear doesn't give a shit and will produce this energy (along with 60hz hum).
if you get bad dc offset, and 60hz hum on your bass track, you're looking at an unusable mess of shit being thrown into your mix.
thanks for the tips dude.
forgive my ignorance, but wtf is dc offset, what causes it, and how do i get rid of it?
tried googling it, but its 3am, im laying in bed, its hot, and all of the answers were long and full of things i didnt understand, so i gave up.
I'm sure you could put it into words i could understand
joeymusicguy
Member
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_offset
if you've got waves x-hum, it can remove dc offset from something that has improper dc offset (always use it last in the chain, and don't clip the input into the insert)
if you've got ozone, you can look at the dc offset in real time in the limiter section (it should hover very close to 0, if not, then its fucked)
it can occur when a analog signal is converted to a digital signal (all digital recording). sometimes the a/d chip can fuck it up.
joeymusicguy
Member
CatharsisStudios
trcksngsrpbngs
- Jun 25, 2008
- 2,198
- 10
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holy shit i didn't even think about the whole hum fucking with the compressor i usually compress, distort, then limit my bass :X i've gotten some sick basstones, that i need to post on here actually i'll get to em when i don't suck at drum editing so i don't get torn apart haha
please do post them
I think bass is my weakest aspect of recording right now...
good thing bass is usually the last thing the average person notices on a recording
I think bass is my weakest aspect of recording right now...
good thing bass is usually the last thing the average person notices on a recording
CatharsisStudios
trcksngsrpbngs
- Jun 25, 2008
- 2,198
- 10
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https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/347071/Heavy heavy bass tone.mp3 i thought the bass was pretty monsterious in this, just ignore the whole mix though
nice ;P what compressor do you use on bass? reacomp?
this songs reminds mi a little Alert The Sky ;P heh
chers dude
alan1990
Member
Ok.. that info was really helpful Joey, thank you ! I think I might be having those issues with my audio. So, I should remove the DC Offset BEFORE processing the track, correct ?
BTW, http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1306.html
& http://www.analogx.com/CONTENTS/download/audio/dcoffset.htm
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
Thanks for the heads up. I'll be wary of this from now on.
The article mentions most DAWs having a DC Offset function, so I'll start using that a bit more often.
It'd have to be pretty abysmal gear to introduce any significant amount of DC Offset though, right?
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
On this whole note, what sort of attack times do you guys usually use on bass? I think from memory 6 to 13ms used to work best for me. Recently I used a ton of comp with about 1 to 2ms, and then limiting on top and it totally ruined things. Basically had the exact droning sound that joey described above.
