What are the ways for the Bass to cut through between the mix during both live and jamming sessions??
I have been jamming around in various studios with my friends and it seems that the bass has a hard time getting heard, even when the volume is maxed out on the amplifier and bass.
It's only when I pluck hard (on max amp volume) will the bass be heard. However it will either be muffled or rattling most of the time.
Is it due to the amp, others playing too loud or my technique?
On days when I visit the Esplanade outdoor stage to appreciate the bands playing live, the bassist is almost drowned out by the other instruments as well. Sometimes I can't hear the bass at all.
Why is this so? Is it the mixing or something else?
Hi Fellow Bassists,
Is it due to the amp, others playing too loud or my technique?
Well if u can't hear urself in all the studios, then its probably not the amp.
Between blaming guitarist and drummers or ur technique....
blame the guitarist and drummer! Its always their fault!
On a more serious note though, what kind of bass and EQ settings do you use?
On a more serious note though, what kind of bass and EQ settings do you use?
Hey bro,
Yea I can't hear myself in most of the studios, better in some but not all that good either. Lol. Even on Ampeg amps.
So far I've been using Jazz Basses. My main bass is an EBMM Stingray but I haven't brought it out to the studios yet.
For EQ, I tend to cut the treble a little and boost both the mids and bass. I've tried other settings or without the EQ of course, but the results are pretty much the same. :???:
If you find you're lacking power, try bringing ur EBMM out to one of ur jamming sessions one day. With that sort of onboard preamp you shouldn't have a problem.
If u can't hear urself with ur EBMM either, double check your technique. Plucking at different areas can have very different effects on your sound.
EQ wise, maybe try noting down the exact frequencies you are boosting?
I don't know what kind of EQ you have though. Amp's EQ?
Balance of power and clarity comes with a nice bump at around 250-300hz, which some call the low mids. Watch out for the 50hz area or below. Most amps have a hard time reproducing those frequencies, and thus you're wasting lots of the amp's power just trying to produce those sounds. Normal humans can't hear anything but a muddy boom below 50hz anyway, and most musicians are half deaf, so it'll be even worst for them :-D.
U can try boosting at higher frequencies like 400hz instead if u still can't cut through.
If it still doesn't work...trying asking a friend who is skilled in electronics to teach you how to rewire guitar amps so that they will only produce half their output even when the volume knobs at max.
you can listen to these guys or you can follow some real advice.
firstly, you are blasting the bass amp at max volume. you must be completely insane. most solid state bass amps begin to distort past 50% gain, so cranking it is not gonna help you get a good tone. more importantly, blasting the amp is also a sure-fire way to destroy the speakers. i can only imagine that the 'rattle' is the amp distorting, speakers being pushed beyond the limit, or both.
the bass amps in many jamming studios are inadequate. especially where the studio has tube guitar amps. tube amps are much, much louder than solid state amps at the same wattage.
at the end of the day wattage is no less important than the size of the speaker. in order to push air you need a large combined speaker surface area.
for example, the studio at scape youth park has 2 tube head+cab guitar rigs, and a pathetic ampeg combo for the bass. is that some kind of joke? needless to say it was the first and last time i jammed there.
cutting through has nothing to do with eq and the manufacturer of the amp or technique. it has to do with amp power.
there seems to be a popular misconception that low mids must be boosted for the bass to punch through. lows and low mids contribute to mud. you need highs and high mids for more presence and clarity. the bass has a very wide dynamic range, if you start cutting these frequencies you will suffer the consequences.
onboard/pedal preamps are also irrelevant. they are nothing compared to the preamp section of an amp. at any rate, most active bass users would need to pad the input impedance of the amp to prevent the amp from clipping and getting damaged.
if you get this far and still have a problem, then maybe we can start to discuss a real problem.
basically you cannot have too much lows in the mix. there is not enough room for too much low end and the mix will sound like a bloody mess. you also cannot assume that the presence of your bass in the mix is independent of other factors. it's not the 'guitarist's mix' or 'bassist's mix' or 'keyboardist's mix'. everyone in the band is in the same mix.
the problem comes when there is too much bass in the guitar, or your keyboardist is playing lower octaves. whatever tone you can come up with in the bedroom could sound like shit in a band setting.
the reason why the other instrumentalists may do such a thing is because, just like you, they practice in their bedrooms. in the bedroom, a single instrument playing alone will have alot of space. to fill this space, they crank up the bass. this makes their tone fuller. it also causes the band to sound like a wreck.
if you want to be heard in the mix it will take some cooperation with your band mates. but maybe your guitarist wants to dial in all that low end because it's part of his 'signature' (bedroom) tone. but dealing with egos is another issue.
__________________ Ps 33:3 Play skillfully with a shout of joy. Ps 37:8 Do not fret-- it leads only to evil.
Vintage Suzuki (DiMarzio Model P/J PU), Yamaha BB615, Stagg 3/4 EDB
there seems to be a popular misconception that low mids must be boosted for the bass to punch through. lows and low mids contribute to mud. you need highs and high mids for more presence and clarity. the bass has a very wide dynamic range, if you start cutting these frequencies you will suffer the consequences.
onboard/pedal preamps are also irrelevant. they are nothing compared to the preamp section of an amp. at any rate, most active bass users would need to pad the input impedance of the amp to prevent the amp from clipping and getting damaged.
That's not true. Highs and high mids (750 and 12khz or so) will give you presence and clarity, but the lower mids somewhere in between 250-450hz is whats going to give you that punch. The frequencies that turn into mud are generally lower than 250hz. Below 50hz might be range, but it certainly won't be dynamic. It would truly be mud.
As for onboards, if power and in-your-face is what he's looking for, they will definitely make a difference.
Its simple math. Lets say the preamp section of the amp gives 100000x amplification, while an onboard gives only an insignificant slight 2x.
A passive bass will thus give 1x100000 =100000 units of output
But an active bass will give 2x100000 =200000 units of output.
200000-100000 is quite a big difference.
Minus the -db pad, i would say there is still a significant difference in the kind of power, and whats more, he can now turn down the gain and still achieve the same volume, thus contributing to a better tone.
i think what is important, at the end of the day, each instrument has to respect each other's 'frequency space'.
dont boost low freq for keyboard and electric guitar so that only bass guitar and kick drum will occupy this freq range.
likewise, dont boost bass guitar mid/high too much as this is where e.guitar and keyboard fall within.
get a person familiar with mixing (those front of house persons) to help setup the amp + eq initially for the live/jam sessions so that each band members knows how to correctly dial-in their own instrument for next sessions.
__________________ Ps 33:3 Play skillfully with a shout of joy. Ps 37:8 Do not fret-- it leads only to evil.
Vintage Suzuki (DiMarzio Model P/J PU), Yamaha BB615, Stagg 3/4 EDB
Bass not cutting through..
