Recording bass in Logic...

[moonbass]

I've just bought Logic Pro 9 and I'm dumbfounded by the amount of options. I reckon it could take several years to try out all the configurations available, so thought it might be useful if people shared any tips, or signal paths they use to get good results from recording bass in Logic?
Do you record straight into your interface? Which amp simulator/effects work well? What settings?
C'mon, I'm a lazy, lazy man, and I'm looking for a quick fix!
Andy

[urb]

Hi Andy

Well I'm very happy to explain - but I've got to go to work now... seriously I'm late already - but I've spent the last couple of years trying different stuff out and think I've finally got a few fail safe tips to get a decent sound - I'll get back to you ASAP

(NB when I get a quiet minute in the office!)

Cheers

Mike

[Noisyjon]

I plug the bass into an EMO D.I. box, Then into a MOTU 8Pre AtoD converter and finally EQ/Compress-Limit/Whatever in Logic.
If it's a more involved recording then a mic on the bass cab aswell.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Jon

[algmusic]

I think it depends..

just getting an idea down = Plug straight in (DI).

If you're recording something with a bit of something = If you have sansamp, those work great into logic

IF you have time and are looking experiment = Use a 2 or more recording input for bass. Mic the Bass cab and DI striaght and or sansamp or something like it. Also the sanamps are great for life work. You can go into the type of mic and positioning as well (and multiple mics), but it's all a personal taste thing and I thing sometimes find, it doesn't make that much difference for a home studio.

I personally find most plug-ins sound very 'aritfulal'. I might use a plug in after I've recorded, but not usually during recording.

Also if you have a nice bass DI might be the best route...

[urb]

hey - basically all good advice - the key is find a good soundcard - ie audio-interface, MOTUs are great but there's a ton of choice out there now. Personally I use a mackie Onyx satellite Base Statiom (I think they're unavailable now) but it does a great job. I agree that a lot of plug ins sound very artificial and force your sound to sound very processed - the one I like best having tried loads is the most basic Bas amp that comes with Logic - it's great for simply boosting your signal level, and then shaping the EQ - it's quite rudimentary but if you have a decent bass with a great DI tone all you need to do is boost this a bit (by all means try some compression a well) and for me that's a good way to get a very 'true' bass sound. I also like the 'imaging' plug in called Spread which creates a fake 'stereo' image of a mono track - that way you can create a bass track that's much bigger sounding in the mix. I think the fundamental thing though is to get a good clean sound that you can then work with - try and achieve this mainly wih the bass and your playing but enhance it with tasteful use of plugins.

I hope that helps - a lot of it is trial and error - so best to do some test recordings and experiment with different settings and amounts of boost, compression etc. The channel strip EQ can be quite useful as well when tweaking your bass tone.

Cheers

Mike

[Bottle]

Not used Logic - I don't have a Mac - just started getting into [url="http://www.reaper.fm"]Reaper[/url] instead (it's awfully fully-featured for something that's basically free - $60 if you want to keep it after the evaluation period has expired). Works great with my M-Audio Fast Track Pro USB interface, and I can make use of all of the inputs and outputs.

What attracted me to the package was the input and output signal routing - I can lay down a bass track (two channels, clean and effected DI) and I can assign an output to feed the clean bass track back through my rig for re-amping later - awfully handy if I don't like the original effected bass track, or I what to change how the verse/chorus/bridge sounds etc.

Most DAWs these days have all of the above features - it's just a case of digging through all the settings to find it - I just found Reaper to be much more user-friendly and intuitive for someone unfamiliar with modern audio workstations, plus there's great online support and community stuff available.

HTH, Ian

EDIT: Oh, and I see you're based in Cambridge too!!

Edited July 26, 2010 by Bottle

[algmusic]

[quote name='moonbass' post='905404' date='Jul 26 2010, 12:47 AM']I've just bought Logic Pro 9 and I'm dumbfounded by the amount of options. I reckon it could take several years to try out all the configurations available, so thought it might be useful if people shared any tips, or signal paths they use to get good results from recording bass in Logic?
Do you record straight into your interface? Which amp simulator/effects work well? What settings?
C'mon, I'm a lazy, lazy man, and I'm looking for a quick fix!
Andy[/quote]


To get you up and running find either someone local either on here or a mate.. offer a pint or two and they could take you through a few things to get you started in a few hours.. if I was local, I'd help you out. I remember what it was like starting out

[moonbass]

Thanks All!
It's interesting that it seems you all go more for the 'pre-Logic' bits than changing stuff in Logic itself. I was kind of expecting people to do a lot of shaping once a basic recording had been made, but perhaps not.
I'm using a Zoom H4n as an interface at the moment, which seems to be fine. I planned to get a MOTU or similar, but while I'm getting started I don't think I need more than 2 inputs. Do the more advanced interface's make that much of a difference to the sound? ie: do they really act as a good preamp? I'd heard that basically most AD converters nowadays did about as good a job as each other, and not a lot of difference between low and high end units, but it'd be great to hear other thoughts on this.
Mike, thanks for the heads up on spread and the bass amp plugin. I'm using a Stingray or Fender 75 reissue straight into the Zoom H4n at the moment, which gives a great full and punchy sound, but lacks any amp/cabinet warmth/growl/woodiness/whatever. I'm finding that the guitar amp and cabinet simulators in Logic work pretty well and are versatile; do people not seem to find this with bass? I guess bass is a much subtler beast in this respect for recording as too much fiddling can leave you without warmth, punch and bottom end. Do people find it's best just to mic up a cabinet? Seems a bit of a faff for most home recording, but do-able if worth it. I've also got an Aphex Bass Exciter, which adds a lot to the sound, but often makes things sound a bit too 'active' and lose that more 'passive' warmth (if that makes any sense?!)
Yep Ian, I'm in Cambridge too. Hopefully gigging with my own band sometime soon, but have been with various other local types for a few years now.
Anyways, thanks for all the input. Much appreciated.
Andy