Best tracking tips

[ministryoflower]

So i posted this in the recording thread for an engineers perspective , but also want some wisdom from those of you who also have recording and engineering experience. What is the best way to capture a bed track. What's the best way to record bass. As in 10 inch speaker cab miked and mixed with D.I signal to taste, or do you find a room mike and 15's work better or.........watcha got to offer. I'm just looking for that perfect procedure to take to the session. Live beds off the floor.Active Stingray/SVT or clean GK 800rb D.I or a tube D.I. +compressor....for solid /beefy vintage 70's rock and roll signal. Thanx in advance for you wisdom and experience....

[Roguetitan]

a lot of things come into play when recording any instrument or vocals.

if you have a nice well padded dead room designed spesifically for recording, Micking a cab can be an excellent way to get a good tone however if the room conditions are not quite as ideal Going DI would probably be a more suitable method of recording. what I mean by that is a live room will have the sound bouncing all over the place which can muddy up a track very easily not to mention all of the feedback issues you have to contend with.

I am very persnickity about background noises and the easiest way to get background noise is to mic the cab because of the reasons mentioned above. The same amp sound can be achieved running the guitar thru the amp then sending the signal from the amp to the mixer and is a more controlled method of sending a signal to the recording track with no worries about background noises which brings us to yet another type of noise that I hate thet is very noticable in audio tracks is line interferance noise usually brought on by a effects pedalsor a cluster of plugs in a wall wart:mad: spend the estra money to get a good rack mount power supply station (Power conditonerAKA Glorified power strip) they do help. if you plan on using effects in your tracks you need to get something worth using that Is why I am sold out on the Boss GT8 and GT6B multi effects processors, thet are not cheap but well designed for recording conditions. even with the most perfect conditions and the best equipment a recorded track has a totally different sound compaired to live sound that is why editing tools were invented.

 

getting multi track Recordings blended together is more of a trick than the method of how to get it on the track in the first place. the mastering of the track is where the skill of the sound tech realy shines through.

[ministryoflower]

Come on....step up and share.......

[82Daion]

SVT through a 15" or two mic'ed blended with DI signal would probably give you the best 70's rock sound. I imagine that the 800RB would be too clean for your purposes.

 

However, don't hesitate to try it all. There's no right or wrong way to get a sound on a recording, as long as it fits what you're trying to do.

[Rippin' Robin]

I got excellent results by ambient miking an Ampeg 4x10".

[ministryoflower]

On recent recording we were trying to get beds live, so we DI'ed the SVT and miked a GK 15 ,but due to room volume, and a lack of cab tone(it was the cab in the studio) I needed to be louder so i brought in the fridge. There was'nt any iso I prefer the punch of 10's myself, but there wasn't a big difference in the sound at all. We go in this weekend to listen and do some vocals...so maybe fresh ears might help to distinguish the two .....

[Timmylikedthing]

When I'm recording bass I do 2-3 different things.

 

1) Sansamp straight in. It's nice to set for a tone you really wouldn't normally go for. Like more dirt and treble than usual.

 

2) Bass DI'd through a nice neve style pre and a good compressor. In a perfect world a neve 1073 into a Urei 1176 (honestly EVERYTHING will sound good with that combo), but I personally use a Chameleon Labs 7602 and an FMR RNC. I've used everything from an LA-610 to the Joemeek Channel Strip and really as long as the pieces are quality, well you won't have to worry.

 

3) Mic the cab. I close mic. I run a 100W sovtek Mig100B. It is pretty crunchy/punchy on it's own. I use a Sennheiser MD421 or a Shure SM7B. Sounds excellent.

 

I never use an ambient mic because of the problems with phasing/room acoustics associated with the bass frequencies.

 

It all depends on the song. I just did a project where the entire thing was the 2 DI tracks, no amp. It sounds beefy and punchy as hell.

 

Good luck.

Tim

[PaulyWally]

I've found a lot of things work in many different situations. A single room used for recording will never have a single set of procedures.

 

My best advice to you... is to experiment. Try DI'ing the bass. Try mic'ing it. Try different mics. Try different mic placement. Try different cab placement (that's a big one). Most people underestimate bass cabinet location/placement within a room.

 

I haven't done a lot of recording by any means. But every time I have recorded, I've tried something different. Sometimes with great results. Sometimes with decent results. Sometimes with crappy results.

 

There's a lot of "guidelines" to follow when recording. But you'll never know the full potential of whatever room you're using without lots of experimenting. And IMHO, that is what is going to make your recording sound good or bad. Equipment comes in a distant 2nd place in importance.

[catphish]

I prefer the tone almost entirely DI. Only on one track did I use significant amounts of the mic'd cab track. I used a countryman DI.

[Kindness]

 

I prefer the tone almost entirely DI.

 

 

+1

 

 

When I record an amp, it is almost always a re-amped signal fed from the DIed track.

[T. Alan Smith]

I've found a lot of things work in many different situations. A single room used for recording will never have a single set of procedures. My best advice to you... is to experiment. Try DI'ing the bass. Try mic'ing it. Try different mics. Try different mic placement. Try different cab placement (that's a big one). Most people underestimate bass cabinet location/placement within a room. I haven't done a lot of recording by any means. But every time I have recorded, I've tried something different. Sometimes with great results. Sometimes with decent results. Sometimes with crappy results. There's a lot of "guidelines" to follow when recording. But you'll never know the full potential of whatever room you're using without lots of experimenting. And IMHO, that is what is going to make your recording sound good or bad. Equipment comes in a distant 2nd place in importance.

 

Best advice yet!

[catphish]

 

When I record an amp, it is almost always a re-amped signal fed from the DIed track.

 

 

Because of tracking limitations or some other reason?

[T. Alan Smith]

I prefer the tone almost entirely DI. I used a countryman DI.

 

Yeah, everything in my sig is DI.

My solo CD is ProCo DI thru Peavey board pre into recorder input.

My session work was done DI thru an Avalon 737 to the recorder.

My 2 newer free downloads on my MySpace were done with my recently re-acquired Earthworks pre to the recorder. Unfortunately, those are MP3's.

[Kindness]

 

Because of tracking limitations or some other reason?

 

 

Because that is the sound I go for 99% of the time. However, if after initial mix I need to go a different direction, I can re-amp it do what I need, whether that is with effects, different mics, etc. As long as my performance is solid in the DI track, I know I will get the right track eventually and I can spend that time focusing on the tone. It also helps me not to be distracted by listening to other things (is that the right cabinet - are those the right amp settings - do I need more of that effect) when I am evaluating my performance. Once the performance is set, then I can start getting into the other details.

[catphish]

 

As long as my performance is solid in the DI track, I know I will get the right track eventually and I can spend that time focusing on the tone. It also helps me not to be distracted by listening to other things .

 

 

Very good point. I'll have to give it a try.

[Kindness]

 

Very good point. I'll have to give it a try.

 

 

I got your mail last night. Thanks. I listened to it heading over to Lora's last night and then heading in to work this morning. I think that the difference between the final product and what I heard the day we were talking about your guitarist's tone is significant and for the better. I recognize all of the tracks so far, which is nice, and I haven't found one that I haven't enjoyed listening to.