Reverb and Bass

[quincy72]

Is there a rule on this? Is it unheard of? If not, does any have any examples of song/tracks that I can listen too?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Fairlight]

Is there a rule on this? Is it unheard of? If not, does any have any examples of song/tracks that I can listen too?

Thanks in advance,

Definitaly not. There are no rules in music production, just general guidlines. I often use a tiny bit of early reflections to beef up a bassline, I sometimes use delay. If it sounds good, it doesn't matter how you got there.

For some reason, "I am Somebody", by Glenn Jones springs to mind. Lots of reverb on that bassline

Cheers,
Peter

 

[brian]

Some people tend to think there is never a situation to put reverb on a bass, but remember there are no hard rules when it comes to mixing. Try it out and see if you like it, this kind of sound obviously will not work on every song. I almost never leave my basses dry for what it's worth. I usually end up using some subtle ER program, the DimensionD, or a short stereo delay. In sparse arrangements having a short verb on the bass can make it sound pretty big so long as you tune it right so it doesn't get very muddy.

 

[imdrecordings]

F'n Hippies :wink:





I've used it to create a SPector or MotoTown like vibe on a drums and bass bus.
But if I ever see another bass player with a Chorus or Verb or Octave or DELAY or a Bass with more than 4 strings... I'll choke them to dealth and beat them with their pedals.

 

[Akis]

Depending on the song, I may use a bit of reverb on the bass, usually a short one.

 

[quincy72]

Thanks for the all the replies. As well, I'll see if I can find the song you suggested.

Cheers

 

[brian]

... Bass with more than 4 strings... I'll choke them to dealth and beat them with their pedals.

I'm with you on that man!

But it is possible to use chorus/delay in a subtle way on basses just for stereo width without sounding completely cheeseball. Using a pedal on the way to the amp ain't gonna do it though.

 

[saemskin]

Those Nord sawtooths sound alot better with some distortion and then a touch of reverb to open it up. HUGE I say.

 

[imdrecordings]

... Bass with more than 4 strings... I'll choke them to dealth and beat them with their pedals.

I'm with you on that man!

But it is possible to use chorus/delay in a subtle way on basses just for stereo width without sounding completely cheeseball. Using a pedal on the way to the amp ain't gonna do it though.

The old "TOol Bass", haz gotztta GOoo

 

[BTLG]

Whenever I get tracks with clean bass on them, no matter the style, I usually replay them as slap bass lines through a mu-tron and a boss digital delay.

I find it works best on country and big band tracks.

 

[imdrecordings]

Whenever I get tracks with clean bass on them, no matter the style, I usually replay them as slap bass lines through a mu-tron and a boss digital delay.

I find it works best on country and big band tracks.

I hope you're using Monster Bass Cables.....
I sure wish UA would model Monster Cable's Studio 1000 cables.
It could fix everything. Even timing issues. With it's 3-way Frequency time corrective wiring.

 

[Akis]

Whenever I get tracks with clean bass on them, no matter the style, I usually replay them as slap bass lines through a mu-tron and a boss digital delay.

I find it works best on country and big band tracks.

I hope you're using Monster Bass Cables.....
I sure wish UA would model Monster Cable's Studio 1000 cables.
It could fix everything. Even timing issues. With it's 3-way Frequency time corrective wiring.

Kidding aside, the SP1000 is an awesome cable, worth the money in my opinion.

 

[imdrecordings]

Agreed Akis... totally agree..
I have 2 of them. 1-21' and the other 12'.
AWESOME Cable...

Did you notice the highs aren't there, compared to other cables?
I do, but in a good way.

 

[Akis]

Yup, as I've also noticed that it allows more signal to pass than other (guitar) cables I've compared it to, when I had done my shoot out. I had compared it with George L's (both types that were available back then, don't know what's available now), the cheaper Monster ones (Standard and Rock) and the Evidence Lyric. They all had different characters, yet the SP1000 was admittedly louder, fuller and smoother (the highs you're talking about). Much as I wanted to like the cheaper ones, I ended up buying 2x21' ones, from which I made 2x12' ones and then wired my rack and pedal board. Later I got the speaker SP1000, too.

Now, let's get back on topic.

 

[Arys Chien]

I think this is a very subjective issue, as some of my friends and myself prefer the Vovox cables over Monster most of the time.

The Monster cables sounds darker (which is nice by the way) and has more bass. Yet the bass is not tight enough to our ears, and the highs? Well if we want to we can roll it off ourselves. Also, a good eq like an Avedis e27 can give us a better low end boost when we want it.

Yet I'm quite sure it's subjective, just like we all prefer Lavry converters over Apogee, etc..

 

[Akis]

I think this is a very subjective issue, as some of my friends and myself prefer the Vovox cables over Monster most of the time.

The Monster cables sounds darker (which is nice by the way) and has more bass. Yet the bass is not tight enough to our ears, and the highs? Well if we want to we can roll it off ourselves. Also, a good eq like an Avedis e27 can give us a better low end boost when we want it.

Yet I'm quite sure it's subjective, just like we all prefer Lavry converters over Apogee, etc..

It's definitely subjective, in my opinion. Each cable has its own sound, which sometimes, like in the case of Monster, can not really be emulated with a guitar amp's EQ, especially since the latter comes after the signal has hit the amp, while the cable's 'EQ curve' will affect how the amp (its input) is fed the signal and reacts to it.

 

[Matt Hepworth]

I've done a few songs with some reverb on the bass. Mostly to create a more live feel for the bass - sometimes even to the point of a club feel.

Normally, I don't though.

 

[Soundawg]

I feel the bass 'blends better' when it has the same aparent ambiant level as the drums.

So if the drums have lots of room in the mics - I may need to add verb to the bass... if the drums are dry - no verb required.

I gues I just like it best when it sounds as though the bass amp is sitting right next to the drummer.

Soundawg

 

[BTLG]

try the slap bass/dotted 8th delay combo!

it makes everything fall into place!

 

[tkingen]

A lot of people have different opinions about low frequency reverb, but I like to think of reverb as air. So I think of a mix as the lower frequencies down near the ground and the higher frequencies as being more in the air. So I tend to add little or no reverb to the bass and kick drum.
Works for me - YMMV.