So you’ve written the funkiest or punkiest bass line ever - how do you transcribe its power to the recording medium?

As always with every instrument you record, you have to get the right sound at the source.

If you record in your bedroom or a place where sound volume is a problem, you can follow the advice from my post recording your guitar in a bedroom as the principles for choosing a guitar and a bass amp suitable for bedroom recording are fairly similar.

But what is the right sound?

You have to make sure there is absolutely no buzzing coming out of the bass amp. Small or low quality bass amps often buzz if you push the volume up. 

In the past, I had a small Fender bass amp on which i had to keep the volume as low as 4 to avoid any buzzing. You need a zero tolerance regarding buzzing as buzzing adds frequencies you simply don’t want.

String noises are natural, organic and cool but buzzing is not.

If buzzing come from your instrument, then the options are to change the type of strings you use, then get it fixed by a pro. If it fails, you might need to buy another bass…

Whether you play with a pick or your fingers, confidence in your playing can make a huge difference. You need a steady hand.

With every instrumental part, it’s important to practice before to make sure you play it as you intend it. With a bass part, it’s even more important. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “I’m a guitarist, so playing bass is easy, it’s only got 4 strings and you pluck them one at a time”.

You need a steady hand when playing bass, you need power in your right hand (or left hand if you are a lefty) and this doesn’t always come naturally, even to skilled guitarists.

My favourite method to record bass is to use a bass amp and a Shure SM57 microphone. However, if your amp makes any kind of humming or buzzing noise, bypass it and use a DI box, or the line output of your amp, to record your bass.

Next in the recording chain should be compression.  This will reinforce the steadiness of your playing, but even if you play very steadily, it will help your sound. Start with a fairly high setting, bass is an instrument that can take a lot of compression. In fact, IMHO, compression was made for bass!

When it comes to good and affordable pre-amps, i recommend the Foscurite range. Of course, you can use whatever you have but in my experience, it pays to invest in a decent pre-amp/compression module like a Foscurite TrakMaster or similar. This was the first I ever bought and I have gotten much better results than my friends who were using cheap pre-amps (such as the cheap Berhinger range). I’m not a gear head or gear collector but I don’t believe all gear is equal, especially when it comes to the cheaper range. 

Now, record.

Got your great performance on tape (or hard drive)? You’re now ready to mix.

The principles when it comes to bass is separation. Basically, you don’t want your guitar tracks to muddle your bass tracks.  That’s when EQ comes in.

For a start, put a low cut on all your guitars and other low instruments (except the bass) at about 100Hz. On your bass, put a high cut at about 500Hz.

Now, solo the bass and each other instrument, one at a time, and tweak the EQs. I usually end up using a low cut setting at about 160Hz for my guitars, and 450Hz for my bass, but this is entirely up to you. Use your ears

Now, isolate the bass and drum parts. Are they tight?

If they do not sound tight enough, if they don’t make you groove, you have 2 choices. You can re-record your bass part, or you can edit it. You shouldn’t try to edit a bass part you aren’t 90% happy with. In fact, you shouldn’t try to edit any part you aren’t 90% happy with. Editing a bad performance will only bring frustration.

Let’s assume your part is mostly right but not entirely.

I’m going to assume here that you are recording digitally, as I know nothing about slice tape editing.

The main problem with bass parts is that the beat isn’t constant. Some bass players play a touch ahead of the beat, some play a touch behind. But sometimes, it changes within a part, and when it does, the groove changes. If you like what you hear, don’t fix it. But if you don’t, this is usually the reason why your ears notice something that doesn’t sit quite right.

Digital editing makes this kind of micro-editing very easy. View your drums and bass tracks on the screen and zoom in enough so you can visually see if sections are about 40 milliseconds apart.

I hear the purists scream already “Do not edit visually, always edit with your ears!” and i will say that i agree. However, a visual aid is always welcome. You can spot the problem areas more quickly.

Study your bass track. Is it mostly a bit before, exactly on or a bit after the beat? When does it sound right, and when does it sound wrong? Essentially, you are using the visual representation of sound to help you pinpoint the patterns and problems of your bass line more quickly.

Now, go in and edit. If you notice that some bass notes are much before, or much after, the beat than most of your notes, start with re-aligning those. It’s all about pattern. You need to adjust your out-of-rhythm notes in keeping with the other notes, eg don’t put them exactly on the beat if all your other notes are 30 milliseconds before the beat.

Note that this method of finding patterns and adjusting notes that don’t fit the pattern only works if you are 90% happy with the track. You need a reference, a solid frame, for this editing method to work.

After you’ve done this, hopefully, upon hearing your funkiest, or punkiest, bass line, you will think “that’s so funky”, or “that’s so punky”, and you will be pleased with yourself