Re-amping Bass guitar, what mic / distance?

[Yetti]

Working on a new Metal CD, and I am going to re amp the direct bass tracks into a GK amp head with 2 15's.
I have had good results with a 421 about 1 foot away from the speaker, and I will do a quick shootout between the 421 and SM7.
Do any of you ever use multiple mics for bass amp?
Any room mics?
Paying clients arn't like Gearslutz, so I need to limit my experimentation time to about 20 -30 min before commiting.
BTW- direct track recorded through a Drawmer 1960 aux. channel...nice!

[Yetti]

[Jason Poulin]

Well the only to do it is to know what it is you're looking for.


What sound is going to work for you.... what do you envision?


If you are trying to guess what sound is going to work for you then you're making a big mistake...


Take that 20-30 min and really listen to the amp... what is it doing? You like it or not?

If you like it... think of how you want to sound like in the mix.

Now find that sound.... take an SM57, find that sound you heard in your mind.


Still can't find it like you want to hear it? Try a different mic...


It's all about knowing what you want to record. Have an idea of the whole picture even before you touch anything


Good luck!

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by Jason Poulin

Well the only to do it is to know what it is you're looking for.


What sound is going to work for you.... what do you envision?


If you are trying to guess what sound is going to work for you then you're making a big mistake...


Take that 20-30 min and really listen to the amp... what is it doing? You like it or not?

If you like it... think of how you want to sound like in the mix.

Now find that sound.... take an SM57, find that sound you heard in your mind.


Still can't find it like you want to hear it? Try a different mic...


It's all about knowing what you want to record. Have an idea of the whole picture even before you touch anything


Good luck!

I hear ya.
The Bass player is looking for a "Maiden" sound.
He layed down some really nice tracks...very good Bassist, and uses his FINGERS no pick.
The DI track had modest pre compression and pre-eq ed with some extra treble through the 1960. I think the upper mids sound good, so I'm hoping to use the reamp to fill out the picture, and add some tight lower mids without being too boomy.

[Jason Poulin]

ok, so you're dealing with a great bass player.

1 step has been nailed right on the money... the track has been well recorded.


next step is to insert it in the mix... I find when I'm reamping instruments, I prefer to do it later on after the drums have been pushed to the front.

Then you can search for that sound you've been thinking about with the right amp and micing.

Also, I tend to slip the bass into two tracks and treat them as Low End bass and Mid/Top end bass... I find you have much more control on the bass when putting it into two applications... I don't think one EQ can do it for me.

Anyways, just keep it in mind... know what it is you want and find it.


Try a B52 or D112 for the low end, and perhaps a 421/SM57/Condenser for the top/mid range..

It's very interesting what you can compose from comping tracks together.


Put the bass reamp up with the drums... move the mic around until you get the low end real nice and then treat the mids differently, or reamp again searching just for the mids.


Good luck man!

[bryancook]

i have had success with a 421 on bass amps for re-amping. more importantly, if you have the luxury of doing so, keep the reamp running for the duration of your mix (and print it at the end when you are ready to print the mix) so instead of eq'ing the reamp signal you can run out and tweak the amp. this to me is one of the best parts of re-amping.

-b.

[nickynicknick]

Originally Posted by Yetti

I hear ya.
The Bass player is looking for a "Maiden" sound.
He layed down some really nice tracks...very good Bassist, and uses his FINGERS no pick.
The DI track had modest pre compression and pre-eq ed with some extra treble through the 1960. I think the upper mids sound good, so I'm hoping to use the reamp to fill out the picture, and add some tight lower mids without being too boomy.

For bass amp , I would really try to get an agressive mid to upper mid sound happening...esp for metal....and then use the DI sound to round it out in the mix

[No4PCs]

Originally Posted by nickynicknick

For bass amp , I would really try to get an agressive mid to upper mid sound happening...esp for metal....and then use the DI sound to round it out in the mix

+1 here, im bass player and always get good "bass" tones from DI, well, i think re-amping to get the mid/high tones then blend with DI signal to get desired bass tone. ( maybe some compression added in the re-amp track ).

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by nickynicknick

For bass amp , I would really try to get an agressive mid to upper mid sound happening...esp for metal....and then use the DI sound to round it out in the mix

Originally Posted by No4PCs

+1 here, im bass player and always get good "bass" tones from DI, well, i think re-amping to get the mid/high tones then blend with DI signal to get desired bass tone. ( maybe some compression added in the re-amp track ).

Interesting advice guys...
I have always approched it the opposite way..
I will give your guys way a try.
Thanks!

[PhiloBeddoe]

IME the DI will give the pure low bass tones and some upper mids. The mids are often kind of scooped in the DI. The amp track will probably not have a very clean low end, but the mids will be much more prominent. You may end up high passing some of the lowest stuff out of the amp track.

Maybe you'll want to compress the amped track, but the speakers will be doing some degree of compression so it won't be as dynamic as the DI. And if your DI was already compressed on the way in, I'm guessing you might not even compress the amp track at all. Or maybe you will, I dunno.

You may also want to time align the DI and amp tracks either by sliding them around in a DAW or putting a delay on the DI when mixing it with the amp.

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by PhiloBeddoe

IME the DI will give the pure low bass tones and some upper mids. The mids are often kind of scooped in the DI. The amp track will probably not have a very clean low end, but the mids will be much more prominent. You may end up high passing some of the lowest stuff out of the amp track.

Maybe you'll want to compress the amped track, but the speakers will be doing some degree of compression so it won't be as dynamic as the DI. And if your DI was already compressed on the way in, I'm guessing you might not even compress the amp track at all. Or maybe you will, I dunno.

You may also want to time align the DI and amp tracks either by sliding them around in a DAW or putting a delay on the DI when mixing it with the amp.

The DI track was slightly pre compressed going in, so I will send that sinal to the Radial Xamp> Amp as is.
Whatever mic I use on the speaker (shootout a 421, SM7b, K2) will go through some slight pre-compression Pacifica> 160a > Hd24xr.
This player was better than the usual local dudes who visit, so I probably won't need to compress any further at mixdown.
Lining uo tracks in a DAW has been a goal of mine for years, but I am still recording using old school techniques without any DAW.