How do you get a full bass sound?

[Tony Ramone]

Originally Posted by mindundermatter

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

Actually, I was pretty sure he was just messing, so I followed suit

Originally Posted by mindundermatter

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.

This sounds pretty interesting - must give it a try sometime. Maybe on my new song.
I've been thinking of ways to improve my bass sound for a while now - I'm thinking of putting quarter-pounders into the bass for starters, then get some sort of DI box (actually I was thinking of the ART tube MP so I'd have an extra mic-pre to play with as well).
I remember when I first found this forum, I was recording my first song and I threw multi-band compressors on a bunch of tracks and was told to stay away from them until I knew what the hell I was doing Maybe I'm mature enough to figure out when they can be appropriate by now...