keeping bass pops and slaps under control...

[aharter]

Hi,

What recording techniques can I use to keep the volume swells at bay when a bass player pops and slaps his strings?

The popping tends to be the worse culprit but the input meter is not peaking out.

The signal chain is: Active DI out of the bass amp --> Alesis multimix --> Ableton Live 8. The bass player is not using any external effects, but does have a built in limiter.

[String7th]

Try either using that built in limiter, or use a compressor/limiter plug in with a .01 attack speed.

Another way is to find what high frequesncy is really sharp and popping and cut a bunch of db's off it.

[j03]

Also, tell the bass player to quit popping and slapping his strings Really though, I think half of it is playing technique.

[aharter]

Originally Posted by j03

Also, tell the bass player to quit popping and slapping his strings Really though, I think half of it is playing technique.

Yes, thats his playing technique as the music is funk based.
But keeping it to a minimum would help allot.

[aharter]

Originally Posted by String7th

Try either using that built in limiter, or use a compressor/limiter plug in with a .01 attack speed.

Another way is to find what high frequesncy is really sharp and popping and cut a bunch of db's off it.

The limiter on the amp has no inputs, and it's just there asa little yellow light.
I really dont think it works however.

I have good plugins in Ablteon and will apply the .01 attack speed and see if that tames it down.

Can i also combine the subtractive EQing with the limter?

Thanks for the input!

[venuestudio]

This is the perfect place to use a compressor with a side chained eq.

Start by sending the signal through a spectrum analyzer to find the frequencies that are hot. You can do this by sweeping the frequency spectrum with an eq until you find it but the S/A is faster and more accurate if you have one. Once you find the frequency, set the side chain eq to that frequency and bump it up a few db to start. Now the compressor will compress that frequency first and leave the rest of the frequencies alone more or less. You can scoop the other frequencies too if you want less compression on them. Side chaining is a beautiful thing.

Oh, yes you can eq and limit/compress. Remember that limiting is compression with higher ratios (above 10:1).

[aharter]

I used Izotope's spectrum analyzer and Abletons side chaining feature that did the trick!

I was able to identify the frequency (112hz at the slap on the e string) and apply the compression to it which smoothed it out. It took a bit of tweaking with the EQ filtering type before I was happy with it.

thanks so much!

[garageband]

Late to the party, but my two deals.
Roll off pretty hard everything from about 50Hz and down. Lots of thump energy that doesn't help musically and will upset the limiter into doing the wrong thing.
Second, lower the pick-ups. That'll help limit the dynamic range of his playing.

[venuestudio]

I love using the side chaining technique. Great on so many things (drums mixes especially). Good to hear things worked out for you.

[aharter]

Originally Posted by garageband

Late to the party, but my two deals.
Roll off pretty hard everything from about 50Hz and down. Lots of thump energy that doesn't help musically and will upset the limiter into doing the wrong thing.
Second, lower the pick-ups. That'll help limit the dynamic range of his playing.

Good stuff!
The bassist is playing a music man and his pickup is very hot and sensative to where he plays on the neck. The good thing is he's more than willing to adjust for a better recording next time.