Recording Bass direct

[FretlessBass.com]

Hello,

We thought it would be a good idea to get some feedback from people on the best way to record electric bass direct.

1. What is the best way / best equipment to use, to record bass direct without an amp?

2. What is the best way to go from a single bass input to two separate output signals to a recording setup (recording two separate tracks) - one track direct and untouched, and one through a pedal or amp simulator?

[NickBass]

Well, in my experience recording in the studio involves many times the bass pod, I found the Line 6 products to be good for this kind of things, othervise I'm not that great pod fan...other times I'll plug directly in the board (or PC) adding effects or compression later.
If the budget and the time allow it I'll take my Eden combo or my Trace Elliot combo and just play with them lined to the mixer.

[FunkDaFied]

1. What is the best way / best equipment to use, to record bass direct without an amp?

I use sometimes, my SansAmp Bass Driver to allow the good impedance and have a good sound .

Or If I have the time, I plug my bass in my sound card and I choose Hi impedance preset.

I record the bass lines without Effects. I put the effects on the mix.

I think the best way to make a good recording, is to have a good sound card.

There's a lot of sound card for good value nowaday.
Even USB or FireWire sound cards.

There's a lot of plug ins like AmpliTube....

2. What is the best way to go from a single bass input to two separate output signals to a recording setup (recording two separate tracks) - one track direct and untouched, and one through a pedal or amp simulator?

I think the best way is to record the bass diferently:
Direct
Tru the amp (line)
Pick up with a microphone

And mix it.

After I put some effect to the mix

It's important to keep the tracks untouched and make a copy,if you want to change the setting.

[FretLessSince68]

1. What is the best way / best equipment to use, to record bass direct without an amp?

Assuming that you are talking about recording into a computer setup and not a studio with a big consol etc. Although the differences are becoming indistinct. Your A/D D/A converters should be of good quality although it is possible to get pretty fair results using consumer level sound cards or a USB guitar A/D converter.

Since the question specifies direct it is assumed that a Direct Input box (D.I. or DI) is being used. Every serious bassist should own a decent D.I.. These are designed to interface with various gear and generally sound fairly transparent.

Plug the instrument most appropriate for the music into a good D.I.
Plug D.I. into one of your hardware or consol mic inputs.
Patch the mic pre-amp to your A/D D/A or sound card.
Patch to a previously created input channel/track (or select the proper input).
Enable monitoring, arm the track, get a level, press record.

Having said that, I usually do not use a D.I. at the home studio, preferring to record via a bass pre-amp patched to the A/D and hence into Sonar 5 PE. This avoids the extra gain stages, and filters, in a mic pre-amp.

2. What is the best way to go from a single bass input to two separate output signals to a recording setup (recording two separate tracks) - one track direct and untouched, and one through a pedal or amp simulator?

You will need bi-directional audio I/O capability if you are recording onto a computer. Some sound cards may not be up to the task. Because of the great differences in hardware and software there are bound to be some procedural variances from what is described here.

You are only limited by your recording skill and imagination, the best way is the one that works for you. I can think of several methods. Here is one.

Take a single bass track straight from D.I. as in the first alternative (above). Later, after the peanut gallery and musician types have gone home, patch the output of the first bass track (usually via monitor) to whatever outboard effects you wish to use, as simple or complex as you desire. Arm a new track. Patch the output of the effects (can be a submix) to the input of the newly armed track. Record new track with effects while playing first track. Done.

If the bassist needs to hear the effects in real time during the take due to aural feedback effecting performance reasons, that requires a different approach.

Instrument to D.I.
D.I. to input of armed track named no_effects, enable input monitoring.
Output (usually via monitor) of no_effects directed to hardware output, then to whatever outboard effects you want to use.
Your outboard effects here.
Output of effects (either a chain or submix) to hardware input.
Patch, or select, this input to a new track w_effects , enable monitoring, arm it, get a level.
If you wish to use plugin effects or a virtual device such as a VSTsimulator enable your plugins, or create a third track just for plugin effects. Same idea only routing stays in the computer system.
Press Record.
Done.

In a professional recording environment, I have found that the instrument itself is more important than the gizmos between it and the track. The producer may/can/will have the signal chain modified later after you get a good take.

Take my word for it, they will alter your tone anyway, so just concentrate on the music. One exception is if you are the sole composer/recordist/producer in a home studio.

It helps to be familiar with the music, so you can concentrate on getting tone from your fingers rather than merely executing the part correctly.

[JV]

In my experience, when recording in a studio I DI the clean sound with a standard DI box that they give me, and mic the cab. As has already been said you then have the option to mix these on the desk and add affects etc to the mic’d signal later if needed. I like to leave the clean DI completely natural, with maybe a bit of compression to smooth it out.

At home you can use something like the MXR M80 where you can send a clean signal via the parallel output, and another DI box, and then an effected signal from the main XLR output.

[Jason]

Well my band are going into the studio in the first week of August to try and get some ideas down, hopefully record 4 tracks. I'm looking to record my bass using a DI and also miking my amp. If all goes well I'll post a link

[willie_wade]

1. What is the best way / best equipment to use, to record bass direct without an amp?

I have always just used a simple DI box (usually my trusty Live Wire Solutions Direct Box) or preamp (I usually use Blue Tube if I'm using preamps). So, in terms of signal chain, very straight forward. However, I think a mistake that a lot of bassists make when recording direct is that they use the EQ knobs to set the tone. In my opinion, to have the most flexibility in the mix later on, you should turn all the EQ knobs on your bass to Flat! No Cuts or Boosts, just flat!!


2. What is the best way to go from a single bass input to two separate output signals to a recording setup (recording two separate tracks) - one track direct and untouched, and one through a pedal or amp simulator?

On this one, most good pedals or amp simulators give you a direct out that is unprocessed so you can run that back into the board for your "untouched" signal, and then use the main out on the pedal for the effected signal. I occasionally do this with my Sansamp Bass Driver DI. The Live Wire Solutions Direct Box I mentioned above also has the abillity to send two out signals, which you could feed one to the board and one to another pedal. Only drawback here for some people is that one of the outs is via 1/4 jack and the other is via XLR cable.