Thanks for the tips! I boosted the volume of the bass track (well, lowered the song track) because I thought youtube/vimeo would take it down if the original track was too loud. It ended up still being pretty loud anyway. I’m still totally green when it comes to mixing and recording, so I welcome any advice/knowledge I can get.
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Me too, but the tips I was given.
On you DAI, if it has a GAIN set it below the level where you see clipping, like the green light go red. you never want red.
Then in the track itself, you can set the volume of the bass track to -3db. and the master volume at -3db
If you are using any AMP set its output to -3db, and if you are using any other effects, compression or something, make sure the unity gain (when the compressor’s volume is the same as the bass volume, if you turn on and off, the volume should not change, that is what unity gain is) is set neutral, like I just described.
This way when you export the song, you won’t hear the bass garbled while the rest of the song sounds normal.
it is ok to have the bass track volume higher then the song track so that you hear the bass, you just don’t want the bass to sound bad.
So when you get the bass track volume and any amp / compression all set right, then lower the song track volume to the right level so you can hear the bass just a little. louder.
Then when you export the song, it should sound better.
If I said anything wrong, there are others that can tell you better, or give tips. the -3db is a safe level
Now, you can help me
IDK how to do any of the video yet, not even set a picture like that. LOL, I am just figuring out Garage Band a little tiny bit.
I got a cover coming out in a few minutes, but no video. LOL
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Awesome, will give this a shot. As for the video, I just used iMovie on Mac and imported the mp3 as the audio and dropped in the album cover for the “video” portion of the timeline. I’d never used iMovie before, more familiar with Adobe Premiere and FinalCut Pro but I don’t have that software anymore since I stopped using it for work. iMovie was pretty straightforward, only minor frustrations in getting it to work.
If you’re on PC there looks to be a lot of free options for video editing software – 12 Best Free Video Editing Software in 2023 (Pros/Cons) . OpenShot looks fairly user-friendly for this kind of thing.
Then I upload to vimeo since they seem more lenient over copyrights than youtube. Whatever video software you use, you’ll want to export your final video in a small-ish file size as vimeo has pretty strict upload size limits.
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imac, so I think I can get iMovie
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yeah it might even already be installed on your system. If not you should be able to download it for free from the app store on your Mac. I’m no iMovie expert but when you open it, you should be able to drag the audio file from Finder into the timeline in iMovie, and then do the same with the album cover. If you have video of yourself playing you’d just need to drag that in where you’d put the album cover, and move it to where it syncs up with the audio. Then you’d click the “Share” button in the top right to export as a video file.
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Hey @bjams,
Nice first cover, just listened to it through computer and it sounds ok👍
You just need to lower the bass volume a little and that should stop the saturation, you can do this on the DAI.
It is a trial and error thing, the more experiments you try will improve your recordings, keep in mind that every audio track you are recording to has been mixed at different settings by different individuals who are doing it to suit their ear, your no different, you just need to mix to suit what you like to hear👍
Also depends what your using to listen to your cover, a phone will produce a lot more bass than a computer, so it’s worth having a listen on both devices as a trial as well.
I like others on here use GB , photo booth and mix it together in iMovie, some of the others like @terb, @JerryP are using different platforms, I’m sure they can help out 
Hey Toby @T_dub, when you want to do a video, get your GB set up on your screen, then open up photo booth And it will appear over the top of GB, you can then see yourself on the screen, set it up so you can move back, showing you in the pic with your bass, make sure you switch photo booth to record movie, not take still frame, bottom left of photo booth screen is the function for this, as soon as you hit record it will count down from 3 and begin, you then hit record to start your audio recording in GB. Photo booth disappears, but don’t worry it is still running in the back ground👍When you finish your audio recording press stop and go to the icon bar at the bottom of the screen and bring photo booth back up and press stop, and it will save the video clip. Then it’s just a matter of saving those 2 files, audio and video, you then take them into iMovie and mix together there👍
Bills @Lanny tutorial will help guide you with this, if you have any problems, the band of many names can help out👍
Cheers Brian
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Too Late. 
Next time 
Sorry Brian, I was in TBOMN website making the post there, but I will next time for sure.
So, here we go
The Wrong Way
By Sublime
https://bilgerats.billlanahan.com/2020/09/15/the-wrong-way/
I did not plan this cover. I was shown a YouTube channel that has a lot of punk and rock covers la`st night (late late last night) and I found this song as a play thru with tab. Well, I turned it down to 50% and played it thru it about 5-6 times, until I had a good idea of the parts. Once i got the structure pretty much down, I turned it up to 75% and kept at it for another 5-6 times. I put it at 100%, and quickly realized I was not there yet, so back to 75% for 3-4 more times.
I then had to close the window to do some other things, and when I came back, I put the play thru back on and played thru it, making a mistake or two, so I tried again, and I played thru it pretty well except one part that is something that will take time. After another try and getting it, I realized I never turned it back to 75% when I opened the window back up, so I took a quick peek and it was cranked up to 100%.
Somewhere between 50% and 75%, I had asked a friend to make me a bass-less track, and was told I would have it in a few hours. I did take a break between the 75% and coming back to 100% for a few hours. After I played thru 3 times and realized I was at full speed, the bass less track showed up.
So, I threw it in Garage Band and played thru the song a few times, this time to the song, with no bass to follow. After the third play thru I recorded a track, and it turned out pretty good, but I figured I would do another take. Take 2 took a few times to get thru the song all the way, but I got track 2 complete. After a break, I cane back for track 3. Track 3 took a few times thru, but I got it complete.
After listening to them I chose the best one and exported it. I tried my best to use suggested levels and get a good track without saturation, where you can still hear the bass line. TBH, I am more interested in feedback on the recording itself, and any tips to get it better, if it needs to be better. As far as my playing, I know where my timing needs work and where I missed notes, and I know the part at the end of the horns that plays Octaves and rushes back down the neck to play the main riff quickly, yeah, I know I missed on that and it needs work. I had fun learning this song, and I had fun recording it. It is another example of me using this recording as marker for which i can measure my improvement over time. That said, any constructive comments are welcome, no matter how critical.
BTW, I exported Take 1, as I think it was the best all the way thru. Take 2 and Take 3 had some areas better, but were not as consistent all the way thru
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Just had a listen Toby, @T_dub,
Sounded really nice with the audio, bass was nicely mixed and fitted really nicely, good job👍
Cheers Brian
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Great first cover @bjams! We are always our own worst critic… What I listen to mostly is style, and you did a great job! Nice tonal attack and timing was mostly pretty well spot on. Recording settings will be honed over time as you start more often. Like bass playing, recording also gets better each time you do it. Looking forward to more!
Keep on Thumpin’!
Lanny
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I like them, they were a local band, and I saw them alot when they were nobody’s. I have seen many bands like that because of where I grew up and live.
Sublime
No Doubt
Korn
Offspring
Just to name a few off the top of my head, but there are alot more.
Anyway, I liked them they were fun, good musicians, creative and broad spectrum of musical influences.
One thing many don’t know is how many covers they did, you could have almost call them a cover band at one point. But they always put their own spin on things, like “Scarlet Begonias” is a great example
I am not like a super fan like it would appear since 2 of my first 4 were sublime, but I do like them and appreciate them musically.
What I am is a big Fan of Eric Wilson. At every stage of Sublime’s existence, he was always a rock, his bass lines are fun, creative and tell a story. I really have fun learning them to far, and I could almost say, if I were to aspire to be any bass player, it might be him.
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Looks like today is a true “Post Your Covers” kinda day here on the forum!! Had a few hours between other musical projects so I decided to do a quick Jim Croce song…
For this particular song I focused on trying to create deep tones that I thought would work best with the melody and lyrics. I played this one by ear, and didn’t follow any sheet music. I’ve played a lot of Croce’s music when I was playing guitar so I know that my notes aren’t what’s recorded on his original studio version. Actually, in keeping with how I use to play his music on my guitar, this is kind of my own interpretation of what I thought worked best on bass…
As a result of my efforts, you will notice that I may have incorporated some unconventional and a bit odd looking measures, but in the quest for that “Just Right” tonal feel, any and all measures are acceptable in my book… Anyway…
Enjoy!!
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That was Awesome lanny, loved the slide show too, I think I am in love with a few of those heavily tatted women myself.
As usual such style and tone, love your performances time after time.
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Great job @T_dub! Not familiar with the group, but did enjoy listening to you play to the song. Maybe could have been just a bit louder for me though but then again, I’m deaf in one ear and can’t hear outta the other… 
Keep on Thumpin’!
Lanny
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Both No Doubt and Offspring’s early stuff is great!
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So glad I could put a smile on your face Toby!! 
It was a fun song, and sometimes it’s just good to do something a little out of the ordinary to make the day enjoyable…
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@T_dub I was actually going to cover a No Doubt song just because they have some great grooves in them lol
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Thanks for that feedback. I was so worried about saturation that I toned it down as low as I could to where I could still hear the bass thru the mix.
Next time I will see if I can get it louder without the negative results like in the past.
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