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[BonsaiK]

Some problems that we've been having is that the Bass sound has been really shitty for us whenever we've tracked it down. What we do is plug the Bal. line out from the amp into the mixing board, into the computer, and it always turns out sounding somewhere between unclear and fart-noise.

It's probably not the bass (make sure volume and tone is up all the way on the bass though). Sounds like the problem might be the balanced line from your amp. What does the bass sound like when you plug that straight into the board with no amp? If the answer is "a lot better", then buy a dedicated D.I. box and use that instead of the amp's balanced line, they're not expensive at all, or even just forget the D.I. and plug straight into the board with the bass player listening to the drum tracks on headphones. If on the other hand the bass sounds shit when plugged straight into the board with a guitar lead, but it sounds good through the amp, then mic the amp up and forget the D.I.

Also sometimes a combination of the D.I. signal and micing sounds good and fixes the problem. You just have to experiment and play around.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Some problems that we've been having is that the Bass sound has been really shitty for us whenever we've tracked it down. What we do is plug the Bal. line out from the amp into the mixing board, into the computer, and it always turns out sounding somewhere between unclear and fart-noise.

It's probably not the bass (make sure volume and tone is up all the way on the bass though). Sounds like the problem might be the balanced line from your amp. What does the bass sound like when you plug that straight into the board with no amp? If the answer is "a lot better", then buy a dedicated D.I. box and use that instead of the amp's balanced line, they're not expensive at all, or even just forget the D.I. and plug straight into the board with the bass player listening to the drum tracks on headphones. If on the other hand the bass sounds shit when plugged straight into the board with a guitar lead, but it sounds good through the amp, then mic the amp up and forget the D.I.

Also sometimes a combination of the D.I. signal and micing sounds good and fixes the problem. You just have to experiment and play around.

Okay, sweet. I'll have to experiment with that(I'm the bassist, so anything you tell about bass should be directed at me).

The thing we have is that the bass I've recorded has been recorded while listening to the rhythm guitar, not the drums. Is there any problem with this?

 

[BonsaiK]

The next problem we have is that the bass I've recorded has been recorded while listening to the rhythm guitar, not the drums. Is there any problem with this?

Probably, yes. Listen and see if it sounds good in context, you might get lucky but I doubt it. If you hear any timing mistakes at all, re-record it, and when re-recording listen to the drums first, not the guitar. Both at once is acceptable but not only guitar. A rock band that isn't recording everything at once should always record in this order: drums -> bass -> other rhythm instruments -> vocals -> everything else.

 

[Ham_authority95]

The next problem we have is that the bass I've recorded has been recorded while listening to the rhythm guitar, not the drums. Is there any problem with this?

Probably, yes. Listen and see if it sounds good in context, you might get lucky but I doubt it. If you hear any timing mistakes at all, re-record it, and when re-recording listen to the drums first, not the guitar. Both at once is acceptable but not only guitar. A rock band that isn't recording everything at once should always record in this order: drums -> bass -> other rhythm instruments -> vocals -> everything else.

I should tell our drummer to get his shit together, then, because he hasn't fully made his parts to record, yet.

 

[BonsaiK]

The next problem we have is that the bass I've recorded has been recorded while listening to the rhythm guitar, not the drums. Is there any problem with this?

Probably, yes. Listen and see if it sounds good in context, you might get lucky but I doubt it. If you hear any timing mistakes at all, re-record it, and when re-recording listen to the drums first, not the guitar. Both at once is acceptable but not only guitar. A rock band that isn't recording everything at once should always record in this order: drums -> bass -> other rhythm instruments -> vocals -> everything else.

I should tell our drummer to get his shit together, then, because he hasn't fully made his parts to record, yet.

Yes, you should. Nothing else should be recorded until his parts are done.

 

[Ham_authority95]

The next problem we have is that the bass I've recorded has been recorded while listening to the rhythm guitar, not the drums. Is there any problem with this?

Probably, yes. Listen and see if it sounds good in context, you might get lucky but I doubt it. If you hear any timing mistakes at all, re-record it, and when re-recording listen to the drums first, not the guitar. Both at once is acceptable but not only guitar. A rock band that isn't recording everything at once should always record in this order: drums -> bass -> other rhythm instruments -> vocals -> everything else.

I should tell our drummer to get his shit together, then, because he hasn't fully made his parts to record, yet.

Yes, you should. Nothing else should be recorded until his parts are done.

Have a lot to do this weekend...

Thanks for the responses. This is a lot of an easier way to figure out how to do things right without fucking up first and wasting more time.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Can you suggest some good songs for the Upright Bass? I play it in school, but I want it to become more of an extracurricular thing.

 

[BonsaiK]

Can you suggest some good songs for the Upright Bass? I play it in school, but I want it to become more of an extracurricular thing.

Are you talking about bowing the thing and playing it classical music style, or are you talking about playing it in a rock band?

 

[Ham_authority95]

Can you suggest some good songs for the Upright Bass? I play it in school, but I want it to become more of an extracurricular thing.

Are you talking about bowing the thing and playing it classical music style, or are you talking about playing it in a rock band?

Bowing it and playing Classical music style, but thanks for the idea to play it in a rock band...

If there are any good rock songs that have an Upright bass part, you could tell me those.

 

[BonsaiK]

Can you suggest some good songs for the Upright Bass? I play it in school, but I want it to become more of an extracurricular thing.

Are you talking about bowing the thing and playing it classical music style, or are you talking about playing it in a rock band?

Bowing it and playing Classical music style, but thanks for the idea to play it in a rock band...

If there are any good rock songs that have an Upright bass part, you could tell me those.

Tons. I'll fill you in later when I'm not on a work computer with crappy internet that is almost impossible to link Youtubes with.

As for classical upright bass I really don't know, that instrument in that style is not a field I ever got into. Just raid your local sheet music store for stuff I guess, they'll no doubt have at least something.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Can you suggest some good songs for the Upright Bass? I play it in school, but I want it to become more of an extracurricular thing.

Are you talking about bowing the thing and playing it classical music style, or are you talking about playing it in a rock band?

Bowing it and playing Classical music style, but thanks for the idea to play it in a rock band...

If there are any good rock songs that have an Upright bass part, you could tell me those.

Tons. I'll fill you in later when I'm not on a work computer with crappy internet that is almost impossible to link Youtubes with.

As for classical upright bass I really don't know, that instrument in that style is not a field I ever got into. Just raid your local sheet music store for stuff I guess, they'll no doubt have at least something.

I have to sleep, so I can wait until morning to see them.

And when I have the opportunity, I'll raid the sheet music store. Hell, I could probably just snoop around the school archive...so much unused sheet music since our budget got cut to shit.

 

[Computer-Noob]

Just wanted to know if you knew the average amount of time a record label will watch or follow a band in order to determine if they want to sign them or not.

 

[Ham_authority95]

* Flip it over, look at the song titles, if I see anything there that screams "dickhead", in the bin it goes. I don't mean profanity (which is fine), I mean immaturity. Sorry but if you've got a song called "No Fat Chicks" or "LOL" then I don't wanna know what else you got. Also, if I see a huge list of really unoriginal titles I won't bother, like if every single song title has the word "love" in it.

About this, does a song title called "Sir Sweaty Palms" scream "dickhead" in any way?

 

[BonsaiK]

If there are any good rock songs that have an Upright bass part, you could tell me those.

Ever listened to much rock music from before the electric bass came into vogue?


Pretty much any 50s rock will do. (The screaming is not overdubbed - PA systems back then were garbage and incapable of competing with a bunch of excited schoolgirls.)

If you want something more contemporary there's plenty of stuff, double-bass never really went completely out of style because it's texturally so different to electric bass, and instantly recalls the 50s rock vibe no matter what style you use it in:


Even in the synth-technology obsessesed 80s there was The Stray Cats:

does a song title called "Sir Sweaty Palms" scream "dickhead" in any way?

Depends on context. It might, but then maybe not, I guess it depends on the angle the band are taking with it, as the title is potentially ambiguous, and that's the point, right? It's probably not bad enough a title to make me bin it without listening to it purely for that reason. "Sir Sweaty Palms" is potentially pretty bad but "I Love You" is worse.

 

[BonsaiK]

Just wanted to know if you knew the average amount of time a record label will watch or follow a band in order to determine if they want to sign them or not.

About 30 seconds, but if we must, we'll wait until the end of their set before we approach them out of politeness.

 

[Ham_authority95]

Depends on context. It might, but then maybe not, I guess it depends on the angle the band are taking with it, as the title is potentially ambiguous, and that's the point, right? It's probably not bad enough a title to make me bin it without listening to it purely for that reason. "Sir Sweaty Palms" is potentially pretty bad but "I Love You" is worse.

Thanks for the videos. I'll be sure to look up some sheet music...

The song title isn't a lame-ass masturbation reference, to put it into more context.

 

[BonsaiK]

"Sir Sweaty Palms" isn't some kind of lame ass masturbation reference, to put it into a better context.

Yeah but there's no way someone will know that if they don't listen to it. And people in the music biz all have the filthiest minds imaginable, so that's instantly what they will think of. But yeah I wouldn't worry. I'd hope that well-written lyrics to a song with a name like "Sir Sweaty Palms" would slyly and indirectly acknowledge the masturbation angle but also more openly present another potential angle, thus giving a nod to the deviants in the audience while leaving those without dirty minds unscathed and clueless... much like South Park often demonstrates with racial issues, the following excerpt being a prime example:


As a lyricist, multiple interpretations are your friend.

 

[Ham_authority95]

"Sir Sweaty Palms" isn't some kind of lame ass masturbation reference, to put it into a better context.

Yeah but there's no way someone will know that if they don't listen to it. And people in the music biz all have the filthiest minds imaginable, so that's instantly what they will think of. But yeah I wouldn't worry. I'd hope that well-written lyrics to a song with a name like "Sir Sweaty Palms" would slyly and indirectly acknowledge the masturbation angle but also more openly present another potential angle, thus giving a nod to the deviants in the audience while leaving those without dirty minds unscathed and clueless... much like South Park often demonstrates with racial issues, the following excerpt being a prime example:


As a lyricist, multiple interpretations are your friend.

I started the song on a really mundane premise, so this will make it stand out.

 

[Berethond]

I looked through the thread and didn't see it, but what's the best way to mic up / record an acoustic piano?

 

[BonsaiK]

I looked through the thread and didn't see it, but what's the best way to mic up / record an acoustic piano?

If we're talking about an upright, pop the top open and place two microphones pointing downward into the hole (but not actually in the hole), parallel to each other. They should be at roughly 1/3rd and 2/3rds of the way along the keyboard, but you can experiment with that if the pianist isn't playing at the extreme low and/or high register. For pop music and other modern styles, get close and use dynamic mics because you don't want too much ambient sound to mush up your mix, for classical music or solo piano pieces ambience is more important so back off a bit and user condensors and you'll get more "room" sound in your mixture.

Micing a grand is a lot more of a science, because of the instrument's asymmetrical shape. What you usually want to mic is not just the piano itself but the reflections coming off the inside of the lid which add a lot to the sound (and yes you must open the lid). Too complicated to go into here but the following article is excellent ---> http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may99/articles/recpiano.htm