Bass double ups?

[LOUD]

I know alot of engineers/producers will double,triple or more on the guitars for heavy stuff but what about the bass guitar? Anyone out there double up on bass parts? Maybe even just for parts of the song?????

[gainreduction]

I try to avoid doubling bass parts, same goes for kick drums and other low frequency stuff.

Reason beeing phase issues leading to both cancellations and build ups in different frequencies.

It *might* work but it might just cause trouble aswell.

Depending on the style of the song the bass might need some assistance but it's usually more in the midrange (think distortion, chorus, high passed synth part, whatever...) or purely (but rarely) some sub-synth action.

If you have trouble getting a deep solid bass from one source I'd suggest working harder on that source first, without defaulting to doubling.

Hope this helps.

[vandertone]

Originally Posted by LOUD

I know alot of engineers/producers will double,triple or more on the guitars for heavy stuff but what about the bass guitar? Anyone out there double up on bass parts? Maybe even just for parts of the song?????

Sometimes,
when we do this we use a synth(moog for example) for that application.
It might happen that you have to deal with pitch issues but in most cases
you can fix that with AutoTune or Melodyne.
....and DoubleBass doubled() with picked ElectricBass could also sound
very sexy if you turn down the lowend of one of them.
just my 2cents
best,
mirko

[LOUD]

I am in aband that is a very driving rock kinda thing and I just thought it might sound cool if perhaps on the chorus I stacked the bass part up the same as the guitars. I could do it spot on. I guess I will just have to try it!

[Tom H]

Doubling bass can work IMO but when it does it's usually with a total different sound; most likely with different instruments amps or outboard so you can cut a clean and distorted part for example.

What also can work is recording the same part an octave down or up and just blend it in a little.

[scott petito]

check out a bassist named Mick Karn he uses doubled bass very effectively... I remember doing a session with him years ago and was very impressed with his quirky technique...

also not to toot my own horn but I used a lot of doubling on this:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/petito


cheers
SP

[vandertone]

Hey Scott,
amazing what you do just with a bass, truly brilliant stuff on your side!!!!
best,
mirko

[mizzle]

Originally Posted by moracspace

Heres a little thingy i do when the bassist is out of the pocket,Record one track then bounce it to another track,time slip one track about -8 milli seconds.And bam thick in your face bass lines.This works well with inconsistant bassists.

I'm curious as to how this technique could possibly redeem a poor bass performance. This would just seem to make the bass less defined.

As far as layering the bass, I would think of each addition as another instrument in an orchestration. A unison bass line can sound incredible with an electric bass, bass trombone, bass clarinet, and the left hand of a piano player all going at the same time. By drastically altering the electric bass tone of each take, maybe you could come up with some interesting results.

[Kiwiburger]

Originally Posted by moracspace

Heres a little thingy i do when the bassist is out of the pocket,Record one track then bounce it to another track,time slip one track about -8 milli seconds.And bam thick in your face bass lines.This works well with inconsistant bassists.

This is just a big phase problem - can't see how it helps anything. Inconsistent bass players - I guess you are talking about timing rather than dynamics? A compressor can help uneven dynamics, but if timing is an issue then an audio quantise algorithmn (or heavy editing) is your best bet.

Sound travels at around 1 foot per millisecond - so an 8 millisecond slapback delay which you are creating is like having a big wall about 8 feet from the speaker. I can't see it adding anything except a static notch filter type of phasing.

Time shifting the whole bass track might be a good idea to compensate for latency in your tracking chain, but I don't see phase smearing as helping anything. I've spent a lot of time experimenting with artificial Haas delay effects, and i've come to the conclusion they pretty much suck. Which is why i'm pursuing reamping and multi-micing and other ways of getting desirable early reflections.

A chorus (modulating delays) can possibly help a smeary performance by smearing it up some more - but I find chorus on bass to be a very strong, distinctive 80's sort of effect I don't really respect.