Recording Bass Guitar

T

tjlee87

New member
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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.......
 
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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.
 
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[sub]-1[/sub][sup]NN:23[/sup]~E[sub]0[/sub][sup]NN:28[/sup]~A[sub]0[/sub][sup]NN:33[/sup]~D[sub]1[/sub][sup]NN:38[/sup]~G[sub]1[/sub][sup]NN:43[/sup]

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.
 
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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.
 
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.....
 
Well, fuzz box didn't help either. Anyone here whom specializes in recording actual instruments not midi?

Here is the better sample of how it sounds on youtube. Try listening at 00:35 mark, notice that a pick is used here as well:
watch?v=FuqQBNEZyH0
(sorry still can't post the actual link due to my low post)
 
Thanks for the insult - I am bass player of over 35 years experience with almost a similar degree of experience in recording said beast and many other real instruments. However, when given access to something where the instrument is not prominent in the mix we all capable of make mistakes.

So, based on this new vid, first up add a subtle flanger to the bass part. Second what you are hearing is not frets but over-emphasised high frequencies in the 1k-3k band - try using a 6 band graphic eq that starts at 125Hz and has the following rough distribution of freqs: 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 ) and set it so that every other octave is boosted and every other octave is cut then adjust to taste - this will get you a lot closer than my previous suggestions.....

 
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I was just going to state something like that BandCoach .
Basses do have inherently different sounds between make and models .
The OP might be looking for the sound he heard from and active design , so BC's reply is correct in that sense .

A silly question , but OP how old are the strings on the bass ?
Strings get really dull sounding rapidly IMHE , perhaps time to try a new set and see .
 
My bass has passive pickups with active preamp, so maybe its my pickup that's inadequate for this type of sound. Also, boosting the frequencies that my pickup is not even picking up will only add noise to my bass track but I'll give it a try.

The strings are almost 3 weeks old now, I remember this because I had to switch the string gauge to a heavier one for drop-C tuning and had to re-setup because of it.
 
Ummm... Don't be so certain that your pickup isn't picking up those higher freqs - they are designed to capture the vibrations of the strings above them, not to have a limited bandwidth (they are just a coil of wire around a magnet after all).

What I gave you in my last answer is what I used in the 80's to get that sound and others similar to it - it is based on hard-won personal experience, not guess work. I will say that I couldn't be bothered to go and grab the graphic eq that I used for the job from the drawer it is currently mouldering in to check the freq centres, but I'm still confident that I have the rough numbers right.

Strings will affect the sound to a degree, but can be compensated for with eq to a degree also...

Hi to foggy, btw.....
 
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