owens hound Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Hello fellow Lowdowners,I'm trying to record a bass track for a song a guitar player friend emailed me and am having some trouble with the different volumes of the different strings when recording.The song is in drop D and when I play the low D string the volume level is much higher then on the other three strings. My recording set-up is my bass, Godin BG4 into a bass pod from into a PA then into my computer. I'm using n-track for this one. I'm finding that when I play the A string in comparison to the low D I can hardly hear it on the recording that the low D is very loud. I tried adjusting the pick-up on the bass, lowering it at the low D, thinking that if is was farther away, it would be quieter but so far that has not helped. I also tried playing lighter on the low D and harder on the other strings and that didn't help either.Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.Thanks, Jason www.myspace.com/nobandatpresent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy c Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 This is a situation that compressors were invented for. Studios have been using compression to even out bass tracks for thousands of years. Free download of my cd!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moyo Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Ditto compression... BBE optical compressor works very well for this on live apps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owens hound Posted March 12, 2006 Author Share Posted March 12, 2006 Thanks, the bass pod has compression. I didn't think that it was that simple. Thanks for taking the time to answer my very rookie question. www.myspace.com/nobandatpresent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geoff Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Originally posted by jeremy c: This is a situation that compressors were invented for. Studios have been using compression to even out bass tracks for thousands of years. Yes, archeaologists in Central Africa recently found a fossilised rack mount compressor clutched in the cold, dead fingers of an Australapithicus. http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/1088.gif http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/278.gif http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/253.gif G. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the World will know Peace": Jimi Hendrix http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=738517&content=music The Geoff - blame Caevan!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Daddy from Motown Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 The compressor is the last resort. The first thing to look at is how your pickup is adjusted. If the low E is to loud adjust the E side of the pickup down (farther from the string).The ideal is to adjust the pickup for the most even loudness from each string.After that try the compression on the Pod.Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Good one Big Daddy. A long shot but when my batteries are running low the pickup response becomes very uneven so check your battery (if your bass is active) too. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMan99 Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Originally posted by Big Daddy from Motown: The compressor is the last resort. The first thing to look at is how your pickup is adjusted. If the low E is to loud adjust the E side of the pickup down (farther from the string). The ideal is to adjust the pickup for the most even loudness from each string. After that try the compression on the Pod. Good Luck. Ditto. ...and some string-sets are more balanced than others. I use compression too, BTW, but only at mild settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owens hound Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks for the replies. I'll check the battery as the pick-ups are active. The battery had crossed my mind. I've been recording with the bass pod for some time and hadn't noticed a significant volume difference before. I'm also trying a few different things with the pod, recording from both outputs, one channel with effects and one channel without into a PA then into the computer and this was the first time I had the volume problem. This is where I'm hearing the differences in volume when I record.When I'm playing through the Pa speakers, I don't hear the difference in volume, just in the recording. I'll also read up on the pod effects and outputs to see if I'm missing something when I'm hooking it pu to the PA.I initially tried adjusting the pick-up, lowering the low D side before I posted the question.I'll try a fresh battery, check the position of the pick-up and try a bit more compressor.Thanks again, Jason www.myspace.com/nobandatpresent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhomer Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Might also trying boosting EQ around the 800Hz area.. Discovered that doing my recording mixdowns.. made big difference..now I have it dialed in my rig..never sounded better.. A lot of bassists are quick to scoop the midrange, and wonder why they don't "cut through the mix" very well... Just a suggestion for experimentation.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Daddy from Motown Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 If you have boosted the bass on the POD it may be throwing off the balance of the Bass guitar. Try to avoid extremes of EQ and Compression when recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owens hound Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 I have the eq levels set flat on the pod but will try rolling the bass back a bit. I think at this point it is either the battery or me not using the 2 outputs from the pod correctly. I've recorded with it for quite a while without any problems level wise and just had the problem yeaterday. It's been quite a while since I changed the battery. I'll post my results when I change the battery.Thanks for the help. Jason www.myspace.com/nobandatpresent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Originally posted by dhomer: Might also trying boosting EQ around the 800Hz area.. Discovered that doing my recording mixdowns.. made big difference..now I have it dialed in my rig..never sounded better.. A lot of bassists are quick to scoop the midrange, and wonder why they don't "cut through the mix" very well... Just a suggestion for experimentation.. My Bartolini preamp has the 3-way mid frequency selector toggle. I almost always have it on the 800 option. I love that range - especially for that real smooth jazz, Tom Kennedy type growl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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