HOW TO GET A GREAT BASS SOUND IN YOUR HOME STUDIO

I spent more time in the early part of my engineering career trying to get a great bass sound than anything else. I tried going through a direct box. I tried miking the amp. I tried different amps. I tried different mics. I tried everything!

No matter how hard I tried, I always fell short of the mark. I went in search of the Holy Grail for bass sounds but never found it. I realized with time that the answer wasn't a singular prescription for success, but a collection of techniques that could be used as each situation dictated.

The first step in getting a good bass sound is of course, having a good sounding bass. "Good" being a subjective word, of course. With that in mind, let me simply say that the bass should have a nice balance between a rich bottom end and an articulate top end, great intonation, nice sustain, and no rattles or buzzes.

A few basic things to know about recording basses; First, and maybe foremost, the player has a great deal to do with the sound. As with many instruments, it's mostly in the fingers.

Second, the natural sound of the instrument is important. If the tonality isn't there to begin with, it's difficult at best to fake it. All the tube preamps and eq in the world can't hide a bass sound that's dull and lifeless.

Third, the strings. Round from flatwound, brass verses nickel. They all have a sound. The sound you like will be a personal choice. But, let me add that the song you're recording can and should dictate the type of sound you are going for. In other words, the bottom shouldn't sound alike for every type of song.

Fourth, recording a bass guitar with a direct box sounds differently than recording the bass by miking the amp.

Fifth, the tone you get on the bass itself will play a major role in getting your sound. Don't set and forget the onboard tone controls. Experiment.

Let's start with a direct box. There are many different brands. Some sound better than others. Do your homework. Ask your friends or engineers you know which they prefer. Try to find the brand and model which gives you the most bottom end, while also giving you the most definition or attack on the mid range frequencies. My personal favorite at the moment is made by Sans Amp.

It's usually best to use a compressor/limiter in line to keep your bass's signal from slamming into the red on the VU meter. A 3:1 ratio with a fast attack and slow release usually does the trick. A little higher ratio will give you more "punch" - too much compression will make the bass sound squashed. As always, experimentation is the key. And yes, tubes do make a difference. They'll arm up the sound, but they won't perform miracles.

I find that with most basses, I need to add about 4 db @ 80 HZ to fatten up the bottom end coming out of a direct box, and moderate compression gives me the "thump" I'm looking for. The more you can do with a bass's tone controls, the less work you'll have to do with equalizers.

I've also noticed that many direct boxes don't have a very fast slew rate. In plain English, that means the signal's rise and fall time is sluggish. What that means to the sound is the attack of the top end is often diminished, not due to the tone of the instrument, but the inadequacies of the box. Keep your ears open, and try several models. You'll be surprised at the wide range of sounds.

For miking the bass through an amp, I'll use a Fender Precision Bass as my imaginary example, and an old Bassman amp. A classic combination. I like to mic the cabinet with two microphones. A Senheiser 421 facing directly into one of the speakers at point blank range, and an AKG 414 (or any other good condensor mic) about four feet back from the cabinet. The close mic will give a more direct sound with an accentuated attack, and the distant mic will give you more of the low end (it takes several feet of "air" for a bass wave to develop).

By using various combinations of the two mics, I'm able to get a great sound that often just can't come out of one mic. While two mics can often spell trouble because of phase anomalies, this is a case where those same problems can work to your advantage. By balancing the signals different ways, you are effecting the phase relationship between the two mics and altering the eq curve, hopefully for the better. The amount you vary the signal is of course controlled by the faders on the respective channels of the console. The amount you move the faders to change the sound can often be measured by hair widths. A little dab will do ya!

Just for kicks, you can try adding a direct box to the aforementioned scenario, and send all three signals to the same track. The direct box often adds clarity to the whole sound that is nothing short of wonderful. Lesson learned: As always, experimentation pays. Be patient, be persistent, and most importantly, don't print it to tape unless you love it . . . or your client is getting ticked-off that you're taking way too long to get the sound!

Guitar

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments these days. The modern guitar has six strings. You can play the guitar either by plucking the string with the finger or strumming it with a pick. There is a similarity between the guitar and the lute, especially the older guitar which had a few similar strings. With its slim waist and flat back, the guitar looks as beautiful as a young girl.

It has a fretted neck. There are other types of guitars besides the 6-string guitar, which are

- 12-stringed guitar

- Bass guitar

- Steel guitar

- Lefty guitar

- Electric guitar

- 4-stringed bass guitar

- Acoustic guitar

- Vintage guitar

- 12-stringed guitar

- Lefty guitar

- Electric guitar

- Vintage guitar

- Bass guitar

- Steel guitar

- 4-stringed bass guitar

- Acoustic guitar

The steel guitar generates a sliding tone as a metal barstrums it. Four stringed bass guitar and electric guitar are compatible with rock music. They rely on electronics for amplification.

The conventional guitars that are classical, originated in Spain in the 12th century, but became popular only in 16th century when music was exclusively created for them. Fernando Sor was the master in playing guitar.

He was a composer and composed music exclusively for the guitar. The 19th century was the zenith in popularity of guitar and the credit for this goes to one of the stalw arts in the world of guitar- Francisco Tarrega.

Another interesting thing discovered about the guitar is that it has succeeded the harp, played in ancient Egypt. Over the years the harp has been modified from a bow-shaped string instrument to the one that looks like the guitar. The guitar, too, has seen many changes because of the influence of various countries. It has been gaining more and more popularity with every passing century.

Those of you who mistake the association of the guitar with the modern generation would be surprised to know that archeologists have uncovered clay plaques having figures similar to the guitar. This places the origin of the guitar to about 1900-1800 B.C.

Joueur Guitarre is the owner and webmaster of http://lpguitar.com, a leading Internet portal for guitar information. For more guitar information and resources, be sure to visit: http://www.lpguitar.com

Different types of Guitar Amps

Once you have selected your guitar, you require finding an amp to go with it. Today there are various options available depending on size, sound, amplifier technology and configuration. We are here to give you some useful and necessary information that would steer you through the maze.

Various types of Amplifiers

There are basically four types of guitar amplifiers: Solid-state (analog), Tube, Modeling (digital), and Hybrids.

Solid-state Amps - These guitar amps are recognized solid-state as they use transistors for their preamp and for power sections as an alternative of tubes. They are extremely trustworthy and hardly ever require repairs. They normally have a very fresh tone, even though many come with "distortion" channels also. These amps are all the rage with players looking for a strong, dependable touring amp.

Tube Amps - Tube amps are favored by many guitarists for their tepid, fat tone and as well for the "organic" distortion. Tube amps are generally sound louder than solid-state amps of the same wattage and have an exact "feel", which you do not acquire from solid-state amps. Most tube amps have different channels, which could be switched from clean to distorted tones instantly. Tube performance could also be deteriorating over time, so tubes require changing occasionally.

Modeling Amps (Digital Amps) - Modeling amp uses digital processors to reproduce the sound of traditional and contemporary tube technology. Using software that "models" the sound of tube amplifiers (and cabinets); these amps put the sound of various amps in one box. Modeling amps are programmable, and frequently have fitted digital effects like delay, chorus, etc. Some as well comprise of digital or even for analog outputs with orator simulation for going direct in to a recording border or P A system.

Hybrid Amps - Combining the best of each kind of guitar amp into one package, these amps use a real tube in combination with the solid state power part of their amps. Marshall Valve state amps use tubes in the preamp part and solid state circuitry in the power section to make a tube tone with no necessity the use of power tubes.

An Introduction to 8-string guitar

8-String guitar comes with eight strings. There are many variants of this musical instrument guitar, one maybe invented from Russia along with the 7-string guitar alternative in the 19th century. The musical instrument 8-string guitar has started gaining popularity very recently, notably among jazz artists such as Charlie Hunter, The Special Purpose, Richard Scott, and Terje Rypdal and other metal artists like Meshuggah, Korn guitarist James ?Munky? Shaffer also had also been appeared with 8 string guitar during occasional live shows.

There are constantly increasing the number of online musical instrument store and musical instrument store offering 8 string guitars, and a production eight stings is been released during 2007 by Ibanez. Some of the other main manufacturing companies of 8 and also 9 strings guitars are Novax Guitars launched by Ralph Novak and Conklin Guitars.

Advantages of 8 string guitars:

? Full range of bass notes appears from A an octave lowers than the 5th guitar string, and up to the drop-D string.

? Latest 19-century model smaller scale and thin neck facilitates access to all 8 strings, for even Barres.

? It has the ability to play 10-string range of Mertz, and 7-string Coste range.

? It has the ability to play Baroque transcriptions at actual pitch.

? It plays Baroque 8-course lute pieces from originals.

? Play drop-D pieces with contact to the usual 6-string and drop-D fingerings.

? Low D and A quiver understandingly with 2 open strings.

This period balanced 8-string guitar shaped by Reis in about 1840 is a hard surviving example of the multi-bass guitars. It is designed after the well-known Viennese builder Anton Stauffer, as many Viennese builders copied the same Stauffer's design. Note that the additional 2 strings are not fretted and they are only the open string could be played. The headstock is a usual figure 8 shape, where the gathering for the 7th and 8th strings is interlocked.

The musical instrument 8 string variations can also be found in classical nylon strung instruments.They are usually tuned with two additional basses, which differ in pitch depending on the piece being played. Another general variation is to add an additional bass and treble string. The additional treble is almost forever tuned to A, while the added bass string generally falls on A, B, or C.