Recording Bass guitar.

[jhanse]

The method above sounds pretty cool, but time-consuming as hell... I myself am not so much in love with any bass sound... I know a guy who insists on micing the bass amp because he loves his sound so much... But I guess a DI is way better than any miced track itself. Although I have found the combination of both very good at times.

[mrabassist]

i agree. mic'd cabs require some of the best rooms, most pressure controlled mics in the world. Some guys can make it work on less. i certainly cant. a di is the way to go.

bass is tricky

[jhanse]

Of course... It's just like micing a piano... I'd use a VSTi any day... I guess these days the piano in the digital domain can actually compete with its real counterpart...

Bass isn't that far I'd say... Definitely DI all the way!

[POP'S Studio]

Hay this is POP's. Don't make bass track's hard. I found out a long time ago that when your doing a session have a really good time. Guitar; Bass; Brum's, Just have a good time and enjoy what your doing. I kept ever thing basic when it comes to laying the bass track down. Works really good for me. Have a great day and keep on picking. POP'S

[mrabassist]

oh i agree. bass isnt hard. its tricky.

same with piano. i work in a studio with 2 grands to chose from and i still pick Native Instruments Akoustik over anything.

[jhanse]

sorry for the offtopic.... But how does the Akoustik sound? Is it really that good. I just stick with my TruePianos! It's been great for me but I have been considering another option... Thanks

As for the recording of bass guitar. I always have fun. But I noticed I always have to rerecord every instrument when I finish a song, because I have such a funny active process of making songs... I just make parts and record them on the spot, very raw and even out of time at some points ... Then when I have the whole idea of the song laid down I just learn the lines by heart and try to play good enough for it to sound good enough

[brandondrury]

But I guess a DI is way better than any miced track itself.

No such thing as "better". It comes down to being more right or wrong for the song.

I found out a long time ago that when your doing a session have a really good time. Guitar; Bass; Brum's, Just have a good time and enjoy what your doing.

I 100% agree! Trying to hard is a killer of creativity and fun. The sessions that involve beer always end up being the funnest, even if I have to fix a big mess the next day!

Brandon

[mrabassist]

Akoustik works great...but i also recieved it for free from a guy who got it as part of a premotion. It's got unbelievable sound with very little tweaking involved. Native Instruments is very well known for that. The only problem is they tend to have a lot of noice with their sounds, especially in Guitar Rig 2...this is simply fixed by turning the actual volume on the effect down and pushing your volume later in the mix...simple enough haha. Rule of thumb tho--if you are happy with what you have, dont change it until you are unhappy

[jhanse]

That's true. I'm using Guitar Rig 3 and must say that it's quite OK. I use it mostly for layering, when I record distortion guitars and such. And the noise is sometimes very unhelpful

[brandondrury]

Every real amp has plenty of noise when it is cranked. It's possible that the noise is a big part of the sound.

Brandon