I’m not quite getting the bit where everyone is complaining that, in my above Aftermath cover, the bass is too low in the mix.
In the meantime, I’ve played it on my reference system, but also downstairs, where we run two 2-way, 40 cm high window sill speakers, on my car stereo, and on my iPod with the foldable on-ear AKG headphones. On all of these, the bass is definitely present – not dominant, but definitely present.
The only listening test where it was down in the mix was on my wife’s HP notebook with her in-ear earbuds. Which was odd, because on an earlier recording I made, the bass was clearly audible – the difference being that on that recording, I used the jazz bass with both pickups, and on Aftermath, I used the Cort Action with mainly the neck element dialed in (and the occasional string buzz present, haha).
So… if you thought the bass was too low in the mix, what equipment were you using to listen?
I’m stumped…
The bass is clearly audible, but I think you do exactly what I do : you mix for the song and not for the bass line only. A lot of people expect that, for a bass cover, the bass line would be very dominant to make it easier to listen to. I understand that, but I prefer a more “complete” mix.
That said I think the bass line could have been a little bit (a LITTLE bit) louder but it’s not to say that it’s not clearly audible, it would just be an artistic choice.
About the equipment, I use a pair of KRK VXT8 monitors. no problem to ear anything with those
I see. That sounds about in line with what I would say.
Earlier this evening, I played this song on the jazz bass, which has a more pronounced, “in your face” if you will, voice, and it occurs to me that with that instrument, the bass can be heard a lot better even at the same mixing level.
I didn’t quite like that for this song. The somewhat more laid-back character of the Cort suited this song well.
Now, for my next assignment (which I already received from Sebastiaan), the jazz bass will be a lot better suited…
Yeah actually I think the Cort sounded great there!
I would have mixed the bass slightly higher too. I specifically would have probably EQed the bass’ midrange up a little, which would have a similar effect. The reason I would have done this is that currently in the song the high end and high mids are very strongly represented by the other instruments and her voice; for the bass to not get overwhelmed in the mix it could use a little more midrange punch. The lows sounded rich to me but with a little less volume than I would have mixed.
Yes @peterhuppertz, first let me say GREAT JOB!!!
I can’t wait til I can get recording figured out, and actually have a song ready for play thru. So much work, so much to look forward to.
Now, I can’t hear any bass, not one note if played thru my Ipad speakers. However, plug my Bluedio T5’s in, and it comes alive. It is same on Bluetooth.
I imagine those that said they can’t hear any bass, were trying to play it thru their phone, tablet, or other portable device. Possibly laptop speakers, even small inexpensive computer speakers may also be culprit of robbing the song of the very well played bass line. Can’t say for sure, but that’s my guess.
I figured that would be the case @terb, I just went thru the motions so I could say, with research to back, that you can’t hear it without proper equipment.
What I’ve found with most all of my early cover recordings was that although the bass line sounded fine when I posted to the B2B forum, many, many more people said that they couldn’t hear me play even though they saw me playing in the video.
What I realized was that the majority of B2B listeners will either use their computer attached to either an amp, headphones, or decent computer speakers with a subwoofer. As @terb mentioned, there are many other listeners who typically only use their phones which produce very little bass frequencies.
As such, I have since began to record with a little more prominence on the bass line so that the music appears to be a bit more bass balanced when listened through an iPhone. When listening using a more complex sound system, the capability to adjust the bass level is available, so the bass can be tuned down a bit as needed.
The majority of people who listen to my online bass covers or original songs will pretty much always use their iPhones - at least for a first listen…
Just my observations with what I’ve done. May be different for others though…
Yes, I think my mileage will vary.
This may have to do with the type of music we play, and the target audience.
I like jazz, with some prog on the side. My target audience used to be me, two cats, and my motivator, who is a jazz drummer I’ve been waxing too lyrical about already, who records his own music, and knows how to listen to bass (his dad is a retired contrabass player for a national philharmonic orchestra and an accomplished bass guitar player). So he won’t listen to my output on his phone.
And my cats don’t know how to operate the tone controls of my stereo amp.
Come to think of it, neither do I. I’m pretty sure that the Denon amp downstairs as well as my Sony ES in my Jazz Cave have tone controls, but I’d have to find the manual to figure out how to use them.
And now, we’ve added the BB community to my target audience, so the plot, she thickens.
Today, I played both the Cort and the Samick Jazz, and one thing I find is how ridiculously easy it is to get the Cort to fulfill basic bass duties: provide low-end harmony and rhythm and nothing else. No adding any specific character in the midrange, just… bass. And since I have been accused by a luthier of having a ‘genteel touch’, there is not much in the way of attack either when I play fingerstyle – unless I want it.
So yeah. No chance of me compromising on this song. But I’ll try to crank it up a bit.
The next assignment calls for a lot more voice in the bass track. I might even go fretless for that one.
I’m working on some covers and hope to post some in a month or so. Still working my way through the course so that’s the main focus at this point. When I do get started, I was planning to just record into my iPhone, which would record the sound and some video of me playing. I certainly understand that it would be inferior to doing it through some legit equipment, but I figured it would be a good start.
Is that a typical path for this sort of thing - starting with phone video and then migrating to more serious equipment?
I guess another element of my question is, how bad is that iPhone model? It seems like many youtube covers are done that way, but maybe there’s some extra equipment involved that I’m not aware of???
Thx!
There are devices that can link your bass to your I phone, you can use Garage Band and mic actual full songs. You can get the bassless tracks and lay them down, then record your bass over it, almost Studio quality. I am in the process of doing this with my IPad, since I don’t have a Mac anymore.
I am in the learning process, and I think I am tho only one here doing it, so it’s a learning process.
There are others with actual Garage Band experience, like @howard, but nit thru an I phone or IPad.
The simple solution is to but an Irig device, even the $40 usd practice amp from Irig has iPhone connectivity.
I am useing an actual DAI ( which Irig is basically a DAI) unit from Zoom, the U-22, and a Lightening to USB Camera adapter to connect,.
Garage Band, and other apps model real amps, simulate pedals, and you can use it as an effects processor as well.
Digging the bass track, but the cabin build pics rock! Beautiful up there in Alaska. Haha, no septic huh, just an outhouse! Is that cabin still out there? Looks like the ultimate in social distancing, but probably some tough winters to get through up there, lol!
Thanks @Vik! No septic and no running water. Total isolation… Since it’s been over 25 years since I built that one, I’m not sure it’s still in use or has been replaced.
I just started playing (#beginnertobadass on @bassbuzz 4-5 weeks ago). I know I butchered it some, missed some notes, and my form is really off (should have been using my pinky and middle finger more on the fretting hand, and was not alternate plucking) but I got brave and made this video the other day. Looking forward to hearing what you all think. And by the way, yes, I FINALLY got my new bass in, cancelled the order with the Big Box store and bought a different bass from Sweetwater - and love it!
