Recipe for recording poppin' funk bass?

[SixStringGeek]

I'm trying to get down a bass line - it is about half poppin and half fingering.

The pops are redlining and producing digital distortion - wrong kind of pops getting into my track. So, turn it down, right? But the fingered parts are getting lost. I've got the bass coming in on a direct box to an audio track. It seems the insert effects don't get printed to the track, they get applied on playback, but I think I need a compressor/limiter before that point - how do I set this up? Do I bring the bass in on an aux track with effects, then route the output of that to an audio track? What's your preferred treatment in this situation?

Thanks for any ideas.

[kassonica]

Do you have an hardware limiter/compressor?

If so I'd use that, even a pedal like the MXR dyna comp would help you.

If not set up your recording track then apply A compressor on the channel then buss it to a audio track and record that,

If will have the compressor recorded.

Not recommended for most cases but it will work for some.

To make these even easier it will help to lower the buffer to 64 so you can monitor in real time to adjust the compressor.

[BradLyons]

I love a good slap, funky bass. This was recorded at my church a few years ago. Although live, my input path doesn't change---the bass was direct through a Focusrite ISA220 using it's built-in compressor. Being this is YouTube, there's some serious compression here hurting the overall audio quality. A GOOD compressor makes ALL the difference! This guy is one of the best bass players I've ever worked with, in fact he's on-tour with Mariah Carey as her bass player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exNQLGeA ... re=channel

[SixStringGeek]

I love a good slap, funky bass.

Me too, I grew up in Detroit so I'm very steeped in the local gospel, R&B, Detroit sounds. I learned guitar and most of my music theory from the guitar player for these guys: http://www.sunmessengers.com/ and that's a sound I keep going back to.

I'm bringing it on using a UA Solo/610 for my DI and the fingered bits sound warm and full and lovely, but it isn't doing anything for my level control. $2k is a bit more that i want to spend on a hunk of gear right now.

I've got an old JoeMeek VC2 preamp lying around with a little compressor in it, maybe I'll give that a shot. Might not be awful sounding.

[BradLyons]

Oh I'm not saying to buy an ISA220, just saying that's what I use as a bass channel strip. If you have the Solo610, you have a killer DI.....Do you have any compressors at all? If not, consider the Summit Audio TLA50---you can use this for anything from vocals, guitars, bass, etc. It's what I like to call the poor man's LA2A.

[sdemott]

I've got an old JoeMeek VC2 preamp lying around with a little compressor in it, maybe I'll give that a shot. Might not be awful sounding.

I *love* my VC2 (and SC2). I know most consider them "pro-sumer" which is a great marketing term to make you think you need to spend more. But, hell, those units do the job. When the SC2 was first released it was on tons of releases and some big names were calling it the Fairchild of the '90s.

I find the VC2 nice for bass and the compression (when you find that sweet spot) is so tight & smooth. I prefer it to the TubeTech I returned. I just don't like the TubeTech units. Tried 3 of them. But that's neither here nor there.

Give the VC2 a shot - I think you'll like it.

[Dwetmaster]

Bass technique is also a huge + in these case. To get the playing even can be pretty hard.

[EMRR]

Even crazier transients come with slapped upright bass in honky-tonk music; like 20dB hotter than plucked notes. I've tried a ton of hardware options and all the software options at my disposal (not many), and the Stillwell Rocket plug won this challenge hands down. It can handle extremely fast attack and release easily, and can serve as a front end before more typical compression from another product.