How do you get a full bass sound?

[tmontag]

I feel like I can get a decent tone when recording bass, but it never seems to sound as full as I want. An example of what I'm looking for is O.A.R.'s "Shattered". The bass seems to make up a lot of the sound especially in the chorus. Any suggestions? I'm recording with a Fender P-Bass direct into the mixer. Thanks.

[ryanoliver]

Ampeg SVX! I love this plug, can't imagine life without it.

I know some bass player/engineers that swear by doubling or tripling parts each with different eq's and usually a touch of distortion.

Also try parrallel compression. This seems to be my answer for every post but it works dammit! Learn this.

Hmmm what else...If I'm looking for fullnes in my bass I reach for R-bass or Maxxbass, both will add lower octave harmonics that will really fill out that ass end.

What am I missing? Ah yes, VST layering. If you have a synth modeler and you're musical enough to know what notes you're playing, you can always pencil in something to layer underneath your bass line, giving you infinite options for texture. Sometimes I use my mini moog to add a sub bass line beneath my riffs. This works great for hip hop if you want deeeeeep lows with a human feel, it sure puts rock in percpective as well, for instance, the chorus to Seven Fold's "Almost Easy".

Hope this helps.

[garageband]

I'm recording with a Fender P-Bass direct into the mixer

You didn't say DI box, so I'll say "DI box". Those Hi-Z inputs are never to be used. For whatever electronic reason, they are all crap. DI box into a mic input for either your bass itself or the preamp out of your amp. Try both ways, it's free. Then you'll need a kick-ass hardware compressor to process after recording. Rane, Symetrix, dbx160 (not 166), Ashly. Not hugely expensive, just decent.

No, plug-ins will not do the same thing. Figure a couple hundred for a good used comp on eBay and a hundred or so for excellent DI and you WILL have a bone-crushing bass sound.

[fortyseven]

Originally Posted by ryanoliver

Also try parrallel compression.

Could you possibly expand on this?

[garageband]

Perhaps the chorus will delay its distortion and expand the feedback on compression.

[Tony Ramone]

Originally Posted by garageband

Perhaps the chorus will delay its distortion and expand the feedback on compression.

... uuuhh, what?

..... thinking...

... hmmm, still not getting it...

Are you drunk, perhaps?

[garageband]

still not getting it...

I know you can if you try.

[mindundermatter]

Originally Posted by garageband

Perhaps the chorus will delay its distortion and expand the feedback on compression.

I can't quite wrap my head around what this is supposed to mean either.

Anyway, here is my suggestion: try using a multiband compressor. Compressing the different frequencies separately gives a fatter sound than just compressing the track as a whole by itself. If you don't have a multiband compressor at your disposal (and this goes for everyone here) then grab a piece of paper and pencil and take notes, because this will blow your mind. I'm talking life-changing. Are you ready? Here goes.

Step 1: Duplicate your bass buss (yes the buss, not the track itself) twice. You now have the bass coming out on three different tracks.

Step 2: Insert an EQ on all three bass busses.

Step 3: On the first buss, insert a Low Pass filter set to around 250 Hz (not a high pass).

Step 4: On the second buss, insert a High Pass filter to around 250 Hz and a Low Pass filter to around 4kHz.

Step 5: On the third buss, insert a High Pass filter at 4kHz.

Step 6: Insert a compressor on all three busses BELOW the EQ.

You now have a homemade multiband compressor. You can play with the frequencies, just make sure they don't overlap. I was just giving general Hi, Mid, and Low settings. Cheers.

[mindundermatter]

Oh, also another bass trick is to split it into two tracks with one at 250Hz and below, the other 250Hz and above and add a chorus effect to the hi one only.

[tmontag]

Thanks for all of the input. I tried layering a synth with the bass track and definitely like that effect. I'll try some of the other techniques as well and see what happens.