Members L-1329 Posted October 13, 2007 Members Share Posted October 13, 2007 So I've been really working on playing fretless, and in particular trying to dust off a nice vibrato technique and bring out some more mwah. Playing through my rig I'm getting a very nice, sweet sound where the vibrato really comes through, and the mwah is coming along. Now, last night I was going to record something and ran the bass direct into the pc, with only the mixer/interface in between. It sounds super clean for recording compared to the amp's DI, but now I can't seem to get any of the vibrato to come through. ??? I'm playing the same, but run direct like this I can't hear any vibrato, and there is much less mwah sound to it. Anyone ever encounter something like this, I'm kind of stumped. I think I'll just practice running direct for a bit and see if I can improve the playing aspect, but there really is a difference from the live rig sound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members __tony__renaud Posted October 13, 2007 Members Share Posted October 13, 2007 My guess is that there's a mid-bump in your rig that the direct signal sound doesn't have. You need a lift from 800-900 Hz and 2.5KHz to really get that fretless "honk" that has to be there a little bit. Vibrato and Mwah aren't necessarily connected to amplification and EQ though, as any non-fretted acoustic instrument can be made to do it. Does this happen on a recording with only bass, or in an ensemble recording? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L-1329 Posted October 13, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2007 My guess is that there's a mid-bump in your rig that the direct signal sound doesn't have. You need a lift from 800-900 Hz and 2.5KHz to really get that fretless "honk" that has to be there a little bit.Vibrato and Mwah aren't necessarily connected to amplification and EQ though, as any non-fretted acoustic instrument can be made to do it.Does this happen on a recording with only bass, or in an ensemble recording? I've been playing with the onboard pre mids as well as the basic three band on the mixer channel. Obviously these are less ideal than the amps voicing and eq, and I haven't had much success with that yet. You're right about the acoustic thing, and I can hear it in the bass itself but I just don't hear it in the recording. I've only recorded keyboards, guitar and some drum patterns, and they all sound good. This is the first time I've tried to record the fretless though so I'm sure there's things to learn that I don't have quite right yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members __tony__renaud Posted October 13, 2007 Members Share Posted October 13, 2007 If you aren't already, try playing the lines you do that have vibrato and mwah by plucking the strings right where the neck meets the body. It excites the string into greater motion and will allow the sound it's making to pop out a little more. Otherwise, it may help to make your vibrato stronger and more apparent. The standard advice for that is to look into classical cello technique and try to cop what they do. Back in the day, I hit the library for that, but it's all over Google now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L-1329 Posted October 13, 2007 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2007 Otherwise, it may help to make your vibrato stronger and more apparent. The standard advice for that is to look into classical cello technique and try to cop what they do. Back in the day, I hit the library for that, but it's all over Google now. That's what I'm trying now, and my background for years was classical bass so it's not new territory, just rusty. If I do say so I think my vibrato technique is coming back nicely, although somewhat different not on the upright. I'll keep working on that, trying to make it as you said more apparent, and see how much I can improve the recorded sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members __tony__renaud Posted October 13, 2007 Members Share Posted October 13, 2007 Those cello players really focus on that vibrato thing, since it's so important to the sound of the instrument. I used to hear cello students yak about it for hours at Yale - mostly this sorta stuff: http://coraphillips.com/2006/03/investigating-fundementals-of-vibrato_02.html Once that's taken into account, then the art comes into it because it's personal. Lukather's vibrato is different than Yngwie's, and singers approach it uniquely, too. I still hear a lot of Frank Sinatra's phrasing and vibrato in Jaco's playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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