Bass tips and tricks

Hey everyone,

I'm having issues getting the best sound from my bass instrument. I know it's all personal preference on how it should sound, but I'm not happy with how the bass sounds on any of my tracks. The music is more rock driven, but even on acoustic tracks I feel like there's no definition to the bass. It either sounds like it has too much bass and sometimes drowns the other tracks and you can't even understand the notes, or it has too much treble and sounds flat with no punch to it. So I was wondering if there's any tips and tricks you guys can give me that you use? I've tried using the presets and tweaking them but I have the issue of the bass starting to clip the whole track. All the tracks are low enough as it is so if I lower the drums or other instruments anymore even at max volume of your selected listening device(iPod,car,etc) it would be too low and that's not what I want it to sound like. I know it's not my bass, I've got decent pickups and it sounds like a beast on my amp. Any tips and tricks are much appreciated.

Thanks

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Using logic pro 9

Macbook pro

See if this helps.

How to Mix Rock Kick Drum and Bass Guitar

There are some really good tips in that article.

There are a couple of things that may be useful to mention to get more specific advice.

What is your monitoring / studio setup like? Do you have a fully treated room and a good monitoring setup? How big is the room you are mixing in?

Are you recording the amp or are you using a DI and plugins?

How 'driven' is the bass sound you want - are you aiming for a crunchy, growly tone or a deep rumbling chest thump?

How are you mixing the drums - particularly the kick? Are you going for low end energy in the kick or do you want the bass to do all the work?

Sorry for all the questions! It may also be quite helpful to pick a track that exemplifies the problems you have been having and post it as an example.

one tip i can give you is to side chain the bass so that it's not fighting with the kick...

also, modulation of the filters is key to getting better bass...i'm still learning myself but improving after watching a lot of tutorials...

Sorry for the late reply, haven't been home all week.

Thanks Scott! Great post and these are definitely some useful tips.

Alex, it's sad to say but I don't use monitors. Not because I don't want to. But I can't use them in my current living situation. It would be too loud unfortunately. I record DI straight into my interface. Sometimes I'll record with a plugin enabled. Other times I'll record it raw and then add the plugins later when I'm mixing. Either way I can't find the sound I want. I would say I'm going for more of a rumbling chest thump. I feel like the bass is not noticeable in the music because you can't really hear it. I want more definition in the notes.

Thanks Mr.Badass. Definitely going to try that

Like I mentioned before, I don't have monitors. I did invest in some good headphones so I can at least try to mix as best as I can. When I listen to my tracks I listen to them on 3 different kind of headphones on my mac, my iPod, and in my car. I know I'm not going to get the absolute best sound because of my equipment. I'm somewhat happy with how everything else is sounding. Just not the bass.

What are your system'specs? What is your sound card?

Can you manage to get a satisfying recording?

Use of compression, transient, EQ as mentionned in the other posts are usually efficient. There is however no one-size-fits-all solution, as songs differs from one another, and within the same tune, inherent variations are most likely inevitable. Automation could be then of some use. Some other times playing another instrument (with the sought characteristic) in unison with your bass line could palliate...