The Logic Off Topic list

bass as in bass gtr or some other thing?

when I eq a bass gtr the first thing I do is boost a little (1 or 2 db) at
1-3k and a little at 80-100 hz. very subtle. other than that, a little
compression with a medium release to knock the spazzy bits down to human
volume and I'm done. If the bass player played well, the track will be good
without much work. If you are working it for more than an hour or 2 there's
something wrong with the part/playing IMHO.

sometimes people forget that in the old days, when you're in a real studio
recording with real musicians, the engineers job is to make the shit sound
right as it goes down to tape. That is the single most overlooked skill in
home studios in my experience. People think you really can fix it in the
mix. I don't know who originally made that statement, but it certainly
messed up a lot of people's music over the years.

I hardly ever use sampled or synth bass, that's a whole other issue.

teddybut

> What are your favorite tip on making the bass sound good in mixes? I do a
> lot of different music styles from, plain rock, to RnB to house/transe...
> but I always seem to screw up in the mix, especially the bass.
> 
> I find it extremely difficult make the bass sound, warm, with the right
> attack, and not "smearing" out the mix so to speak... Strangely enough I've
> gained best results when using an empty EXS24 sine...
> 
> Anyone?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Obi

> lose the tops ....  leave them for the wankers ,  :-)
> 
> Paul 

what's a wanker in your world Paul?

someone who doesn't cut off all the highs out of their bass sound?

weird...
 
teddybut

> Just a little joke teddy .....maybe you  left a couple of rocks in this wake
> up .

I have no idea what that means, is it english? maybe you're right though..
: )

> In my experience in a conventional studio most [read all ] engineers have
> wanted the bass with the treble wound up all the way so after being able to
> get my hands on the dials in my own setup I was quite surprised to discover
> that bass git sounded much better with a significant amount of the freqency
> ranged rolled off ,
> A very significant amount .You have to remember obi that
> you are getting a lot of your attack characteristics from the bass drum a
> lot of the time and your bass will be buried nearly all the time ,now I'm
> not saying to disappear it but I am saying if you give it full range you are
> going to be interfering with a whole lot of other inst.and not getting much
> more kick\ punch\ smooth roundness or any of those wonderful qualities  we
> bass players dispense to the rest of the mere mortals

to you in your music, I think you're probably right... I would do the same
in reggae, hip hop or dub or some rock, basically I do it when it feels
right. I'm not an advocate for not rolling off top end as you seem to
assume... I can see why you would take offense to my post because I said "if
the bass player played well"... by that I guess I meant, "if the bass player
played with the sound he was hearing and he was sensitive with it and didn't
smack the pickups and make god awful noises and it was right for the style
and felt really good for the song, etc...."

I think this subject is very style sensitive, there are a lot ways to play
the bass gtr. I am not looking to start the bass tone control war.

> ...so just leave them
> out . I'm sure there are pedants

pedants???

> everywhere currently finding exceptions to
> the rule as stated by MOI but be that as it may thats what I reckon and I'vr
> been listening to and playing bass while a significant portion of this list
> were still getting their arse wiped by mummy .

ok, that's weird to say... feeling a little cocky today?

I've been playing bass for 25 years... I play bass in 2 bands right now and
on pro recordings just about everyday. My mummy is not with us sadly to wipe
my ass anymore.

> As far as bass is concerned
> treble sucks so dump it unless you want to sound like Jet Harris which with
> all due respect I dont .

treble sucks... you should have t-shirts made up. good for you! who is Jet
Harris?

> I'm not going to say where to roll it off because
> that depends .

oh does it now? the mystery gets shallower.
you're really getting off now, aren't you?

> Oh and one more comment ,

oh, ok, go ahead...

> I have never ever been in a situation where
> shitty inst have ended up sounding great due to engineering brilliance Teddy

ok... I'm not sure I can testify to your preaching, I usually think that if
it sounds good it must be good, shitty instrument or not. In my world the
player brings his instrument which is his or her sound and there you go,
work with it.

> ,shit sticks but beauty shines .

and what the heck that statement is here for I will never understand.

teddybut

> Here's a few of my tracks, maybe you can tell me what I'm doing wrong...
> 
> http://www.bacteria.no/showreel/media/voodoobeats_theone.wmv
> http://www.bacteria.no/showreel/media/voodoobeats_bmc.wmv
> http://www.bacteria.no/showreel/media/varners_03.wmv
> http://www.bacteria.no/showreel/media/dressmann_01.wmv
> 
> Obi

I'd like to help. but...

I can't seem to download them. When I click on them, my browser just shows
the code in text and there's no way to download.

Very cool site by the way. amazing design.

in the show reel page I couldn't enlarge the pictures. IE said I needed a
certain plug in but it couldn't even go to the normal plug download page. I
wanted to look at the 3 Swedish ladies, but sadly couldn't.

teddybut