Recording Bass Guitar

[tjlee87]

Hi, I'm looking for this one particular bass guitar sound that I've found on youtube. It's very percussive with the fret clacks and I think its pretty cool. Does anyone know how to obtain such sound?

The link to the video is "watch?v=XSiLscOgs7A&hd=1" from youtube (sorry I don't have enough posts to put direct link) Skip to around 1min for the actual song.

[ObiK]

I think that has to do more with how you play. If you want to record clean bass you have 2 ways of doing it. (well 3- but you'll see what I mean)

1 : Record direct with a DI.
2 : Record the live sound of the amp.
3 : See 1 and 2. Mix to taste.

I personally use 1 and use Ampeg SVX to make it sound like I used a bass amp.

[tjlee87]

Thanks for the reply. I've tried my Ibanez SR500 bass through audio interface using Ampeg SVX (great product btw) but I could not achieve the fret percussiveness no matter how hard I hit the strings.
I wonder if I should really buy a mic and place it right on the fretboard and recording that along with DI. But the thing is that I've not heard of such recording technique and I don't want to waste my money for a mic that does not deliever the result I am looking for.

[ObiK]

Do you play with your fingers or a pick?

[tjlee87]

Yes, I use tried both. I even tried a coin as a pick but that didn't help.

[bandcoach]

You are describing pop and snap techniques which are a combination of thumb slaps just above the fretboard at the pickup end of the string and finger pulling on the other strings

See this



and this



to start with.

Use this youtube search string to find more: bass guitar technique pop and snap funk

disclaimer: I just selected the first two videos that matched the criteria of the search string; I have neither watched nor endorse the contents.......

[tjlee87]

I'm 100% certain its not slap and pop technique. If you saw the video I linked at 3:53 mark, you can see the bassist using a pick. This has to be some kind of recording method that I have yet to find on the internet. Also, if this sound originated from a bass playing technique I would have just went to talkbass forum and asked there instead of asking here.

[bandcoach]

So, I've looked at the vid at thew 1 minute mark like you originally asked and it is pop and snap techniques - you can barely see it but the bassplayer is popping and snapping as well as using more traditional index and middle finger strokes on the strings, particularly in the half time sections - along with the bass being a five string bass tuned B_-1^NN:23~E₀^NN:28~A₀^NN:33~D₁^NN:38~G₁^NN:43

A lot of the bass part is on the B string and is played with a fuzz box ala bass-balls which is why it seems like there is a lot fret content.

try and see


NN is the midi note number in case you use FL. If you do use FL, change the octave number by adding 2 to the currently shown octaves in the subscripts.

[tjlee87]

No... if you pause exactly at 1:00 mark you can see that the bass is 4 string and its tuned to drop-C (CGCF) I know this because I can play this song partially now.
Anyway I haven't tried fuzz box so I'll try that out soon. Again thanks for your input.

[bandcoach]

I'll admit that it is difficult to see if the bass is four or five string as all the frames seem to have the bass as motion capture i.e. the frames the bass is in are moving faster than the frame rate - the sound told me 5-string, but I will accept that it is a drop tuning 4-string, my other observations remain unchanged.....