Nuther newb question

J

JDWhite

Inspired
Hello all,

JD here with yet another newbie question, in line with recording. This one is purely subjective, I will understand, but here goes.
I am a metalhead from way back, I love high gain chug, but still love everything else as well. Since I used to own a PODX3 before the Axe, I always had sound recording issues. After buying the Axe, I quickly realized that many of these issues were due to what I now believe to have been crappy tone coming from the pod. None the less, I almost quit recording entirely because of it, and at times did not want to play at all due to frustration.

In comes the Axe, the tones are so amazing and beautiful, that the recordings damn near take care of themselves. I was so relieved. I have a couple of them posted at soundcloud, and am very happy with how they sound, but I have still yet to feel confident to head back into my metal. The recordings I do have on sound cloud are pretty much lower to mid gain kind of jams, all from presets. Even the bass was from the A bank 000 baseman. The base tone was brilliant, and fits these lower gain jams perfectly.

Here is the question: in regards to recording 101, when recording a bass line with metal or heavier tracks, is it wise to use gain on bass, or better to keep more of the warm blanket (best way I can think of to describe it) sound with little gain on the bass. Again, I know this is a very subjective topic, and I am not talking about "just tweak till you like it" I am asking about (recording) theory, I guess. I have been to recording forums who say "the higher the gain of guitars, the less gain (or drive) of bass (again, this was a rule of thumb). I think the idea was, that too many distorted instruments have a danger of creating too much noise? But on the other hand, I hear some heavier bands that do have drive on their bass.

So this is not a "taste" question, it is more a recording 101 question. I hope it makes sense what I am asking. I have heard some heavy jams in here, and they sound great, I would just like to hear what you guys think, so I can get to work :)

Thanks in advance,

JD
 
Hi JD,

I have been messing around with bass tones a lot lately myself. I think that some drive on the bass is what helps the actual notes come through a dense metal mix. In a way, it still comes down to taste, but also the arrangement that the bass is fitting into. If it is just supplementing the guitars and following everything they do you can probably get away with a little more grind in the tone to help it mesh with the guitars. If you have bass lines going off on their own tangents, you want them to be audible over whatever the guitars are doing but probably not too distorted.

A lot of bands that I think of having huge, dirty bass tones generally have more of a focus on it over the guitars. On the other hand, a solid bass tone is what will gel the guitars together and give you that 'huge' sound. The context of what you are recording should help decide along with ( i know you don't want to hear) taste, because without personal preference there would be no variety in tones!
 
Hey B1,

Thank you for the reply. I do understand what you are saying. It is has been pretty interesting over the years to listen to the production of big bands, and the bass has played a seemingly much more prominent role. I love the sound of that bass with that 'huge' sound, as you said. It is such a cool relationship. Thanks again for your reply,

Any other opinions?

JD
 
JDWhite said:
That bass on that track sounds excellent. Thanks Funeral. Ok, Those were some eq and double track tips, Do you have any good dial ins for something like that on Axe?
Click to expand...


Not atm due to not having a bass. :(
Im in the market for a 5 or 6 string bass.
My best friend is supposed to be bringing me 3 basses this week for recording.
I will let you know what I come up with. :)
 
Funeral said:
Not atm due to not having a bass. :(
Im in the market for a 5 or 6 string bass.
My best friend is supposed to be bringing me 3 basses this week for recording.
I will let you know what I come up with. :)
Click to expand...

Great,

TYVM.

I recorded this last night. I did not use Ola's trick, though. This is just the SV with
the 8x10 SV cab. I think it sounds pretty thick. Thickest I have ever had it anyway
(specially just coming from the podx3)

Metal test SV by JD White on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

Thanks for your help.

JD:geek
 
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