Week 9 - AA1

This week’s exercise was to record 5 samples of bass guitar.
For the 1st sample, I used an AKG 414 condenser microphone. I did not use any other devices (such as the Avalon pre-amp) and recorded the line only using the mic and the Laney bass amplifier. As you can see, I set 3 microphones pointing towards the amp differently.

The bass player did not have his “tone” switch opened to the max; therefore I was not receiving a full range of treble frequencies.




This experience gave me a relatively clear sound. I found AKG 414 a good microphone to record the bass guitar with. Positioning the microphone pointing towards the edge of the amplifier, I also ended up having a reasonable amount of bass frequencies in my sample.

My 2nd sample used a “Shure 56A beta” dynamic microphone. I sent its signal to the Avalon Pre-amp and recorded the final result from the Avalon.




The use of Avalon notably added to the strength of the signal provided by the mic.
The result (compared to AKG) was a fatter and bassier sound.

3rd sample used a Yamaha MZ-204 dynamic microphone. All the processes were similar to the previous sample and I used Avalon again. It is notable that both samples 2 and 3 were having microphones pointing the centre of the amplifier.




MZ-204 did not make a huge difference in sound to me (compared to Shure). Both of these microphones are often used to record kick drum and presumably their functions are more or less the same.

For the next sample, I utilised the DI. Going directly to pro-tools and being recorded with no intervention of any other devices. Although the tone switch of the bass was not fully open, DI picked more of treble frequencies.




Attention!: the DI and the AKG (Sample 1) were recording in the same time. The technique was that I used the “Link” gateway of the DI; sent one signal direct to the pro-tools from it and another one to the amp. I could record two different tracks simultaneously.

5th sample is a stereo recording having AKG 414 set to the right channel and the DI to the left.




Out of all, this one sounds the best to me personally. Considering bass as the common background-instrument (or base-instrument?) of many songs, this experience was totally suitable for the job in my opinion.
Here is the picture for my Pro-tools session:
References:
- White, Paul: ‘THE LOW DOWN, Recording Bass Guitar’, Sound On Sound (Accessed [11.05.2007]), (http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar99/articles/recordingbass.htm)
- Steven Fieldhouse 'Audio Arts I' Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 08/05/2007.
- Shambro, Joe: ‘Getting The Perfect Low End, Recording Bass Guitar’, Home Recording – About.com (Accessed [11.05.2007]), (http://homerecording.about.com/od/recordingtutorials/a/bassguitar.htm)