I cant hear what I'm playing.....

MackieFX

MackieFX

Experienced
Ive been attempting bass for a couple months now and no matter what I try on the axe I just cant seem to hear what Im doing.

Let me explain......

I posted a thread about not hearing the fundamental of bass notes a while back, this actually wasnt the problem. The actual problem is that Im hearing overtones far more than the note Im playing, and its driving me INSANE!!!

I was playing some 5ths earlier today and I could swear to you that some of them sounded like tritones to me. Bass in tune, bit of dirt on it, and the notes I was playing I was just not hearing. My ear training skills I would consider above average and to know Im playing one thing and hearing another is infuriating.

Can anyone help me out here? Is it EQ/Cuts/Cabs/The bass

Im so lost
 
What are you monitoring through and does it have a low enough frequency response to properly reproduce the fundamental?

Distortion adds harmonics, so if your monitors have a weak low end you can end up hearing the harmonics more than the fundamental.

If your room is untreated, it could also be room modes or standing waves messing with you too.
 
EQ for bass can really help bring it out.

- low cut to remove energy that can be smashing your compressor (~30Hz)

- clear room for the kick (high-pass 30-60Hz)

- remove mud / boxiness (scoop 200-500Hz)

- add definition / articulation (~4kHz)

- remove excess freq (low pass ~8kHz)

- compress : limiter to catch peaks into a softer overall compressor.

- add distortion to generate harmonics in the upper register
 
mr_fender said:
What are you monitoring through and does it have a low enough frequency response to properly reproduce the fundamental?

Distortion adds harmonics, so if your monitors have a weak low end you can end up hearing the harmonics more than the fundamental.

If your room is untreated, it could also be room modes or standing waves messing with you too.
Click to expand...
Using a7x in untreated room, which is a huge issue.

However this phenomenon occurred on my Beyer DT700X headphones.

fractalz said:
EQ for bass can really help bring it out.

- low cut to remove energy that can be smashing your compressor (~30Hz)

- clear room for the kick (high-pass 30-60Hz)

- remove mud / boxiness (scoop 200-500Hz)

- add definition / articulation (~4kHz)

- remove excess freq (low pass ~8kHz)

- compress : limiter to catch peaks into a softer overall compressor.

- add distortion to generate harmonics in the upper register
Click to expand...
Will try this later on and report back <3
 
In my experience running sound at church, I’ve seen basses with varying amounts of harmonics present in the tone. The ones with lots of harmonic content exhibit the unfocused, undefined and muddy tone you describe. In these cases I usually will use the RTA to find the predominant harmonic frequencies when the bass is playing in the normal range, and cut them.
Also, as someone has said, How you compress is very important to preserve the fundamental frequency. Multiple compression passes is best, as was said. But, if only one is possible, try a longer attack time and shorter release time. Or parallel compression.
 
jakel said:
In my experience running sound at church, I’ve seen basses with varying amounts of harmonics present in the tone. The ones with lots of harmonic content exhibit the unfocused, undefined and muddy tone you describe. In these cases I usually will use the RTA to find the predominant harmonic frequencies when the bass is playing in the normal range, and cut them.
Also, as someone has said, How you compress is very important to preserve the fundamental frequency. Multiple compression passes is best, as was said. But, if only one is possible, try a longer attack time and shorter release time. Or parallel compression.
Click to expand...
Im surprised this is happening with my Dingwall bass.. thing was expensive!
 
Can someone elaborate on the multiple compression passes btw?

How much to use and where in the chain.
 
MackieFX said:
Can someone elaborate on the multiple compression passes btw?

How much to use and where in the chain.
Click to expand...
I'm usually doing this in post in the DAW. A typical chain would be:

  • EQ to remove low and high freq
  • limiter to catch peaks (eg an 1176 with fast attack and 20:1 compression)
  • slow compressor to even out performance (eg LA2A)

If I'm recording the bass (mic'ing a cab in the room) I'll run through an 1176 and optical compressor (Manley ELOP) on the way in.
 
fractalz said:
I'm usually doing this in post in the DAW. A typical chain would be:

  • EQ to remove low and high freq
  • limiter to catch peaks (eg an 1176 with fast attack and 20:1 compression)
  • slow compressor to even out performance (eg LA2A)

If I'm recording the bass (mic'ing a cab in the room) I'll run through an 1176 and optical compressor (Manley ELOP) on the way in.
Click to expand...
I know the JFET is an 1176 in the axe 20:1 on the start of the chain seems like a LOT tho.

Whats the LA2A equivalent in the axe?
 
Tried a few of these techniques last night and there is certainly a difference for the better. I do want to make some observations though

Using the JFET compressor to limit peaks:
There is no way I can tell aside from a dB reduction to know if this is working. Which is fine, but setting the ratio to infinite (20:1) compresses everything, not just peaks. There is no threshold control on this compressor. 3:1 seems like a decent peak limiter.

Post Chain Comp
I tried out the M-Comp for this but all it really seemed to do was boost the volume. And I didn't really notice any difference in feel. So I just left the 2nd compressor off. (Open to tips)

EQ Controls
A boost at 4k really worked a charm. I also did the technique of high-Q sweeping the range to cut some super boomy frequencies.

The big one - THE CABINET!
I had been using the AMPG 8x10 and Mesa 8x10 IRs. I was making a new preset and didn't realise it defaulted to the 1x4 pig nose and I actually really liked it. So I tried some of the smaller bass cab IRs and they cleaned up a lot of the low end REALLY well. Ill be staying well away from 8x10IRs.
 
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