Hey Y’all!
Ever since last week’s blog on the magical world of recording guitar, I’ve been on a recording FRENZY. My producer brain had a major Oprah-esque “Aha” moment, realizing the countless ways to record any instrument. I've fully gone down the recording technique rabbit hole— like have you ever thought about how many ways there are to mic a kazoo? So many possibilities! So slay! This week we are zooming into the wonderful world of recording bass. I‘ve recorded bass just a handful of times, so I’m pumped to learn more and further expand my knowledge.
Chatting with All Made Up
On that lovely bassy note, I chatted with Bassist, Producer, and Artist: All Made Up (Chappell Roan, Conan Gray, Mayer Hawthorne- to name a few).
I asked her: “As both a Bassist and producer, do you have any go to recording techniques for recording Bass? and why those recording techniques?”
Go-To Recording Techniques for Bass
She said: “It really depends on what I’m recording!! I guess my “go to” starting point when I’m writing is typically my Origin Effects Cali 76 paired with a Noble Tube DI/Preamp. The sound I most associate with myself is a nice round hollow body with some crispness in the high end.
For a clean sound that just needs to be thickened up a little bit, I love adding a teeny bit of slap back to an otherwise clean sound. I’d probably mostly do this on a more fender sounding instrument.
One of my favorite sounds that I’ve ever recorded (and I should probably use more) was recreating The Beatles “Taxman” tone. It’s basically a Fender Bassman Piggy Back, a D12 and a condenser on omni. In my case I used a U47. That’s like the ultimate fat hollowbody sound and I loooove it.
I’m trying to push myself to use more fx on bass though so this will probably change soon as we are ever evolving. 🙃
Key Insights and Personal Takeaways
I thoroughly enjoyed reading All Made Up’s answer. Here are some gems that stuck out to me:
Using a condenser mic, specifically the U47, to record bass was a big one for me! It never occurred to me to try that. This ties back to my larger realization from this recording frenzy: I need to get in the studio and experiment more. Not only to improve my general recording skills (because knowing what you're doing is somewhat important, right? hehe) but also to better my ability to shape tone and achieve specific sounds effectively.
Slapback Delay Revelation
Using slapback delay as a way to thicken the sound has been a REVELATION! As soon as I read All Made Up’s answer, I opened a session for a track I'm producing and put some slight slapback on the bass. It added thickness and really vibe-ified the track. This trick is definitely a gem that I’m keeping in my arsenal for future projects. It's so cool how such a simple technique can make such a big difference in the overall sonic picture. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend doing so! (It slaps! Pun very much intended!)
Diving Deeper into DIs
All Made Up’s use of the Noble Tube DI. This made me realize that I MUST dive deeper into the world of DI’s and really get to know the different sounds and colors and find what I like. When I find my favorite DI you will likely hear about it on the blog, so stay tuned hehe!
Conclusion
I will definitely be referring back to All Made Up’s insightful answer while in the studio, and I very much look forward to recording bass with these gems of information in mind!
Thanks All Made Up for your awesome answer!Catch y’all next week!