There are so many different ways that the electric bass has been used recording. Some recordings have the bass rendered in dark, broad colors that feature that powerful bottom end. In others, high-end overtones and fret noise are the featured characteristics. Sometimes the bass is presented in the ambience of a room or hall environment, or maybe the exact oposite: starkly defined and dry.

When you record the electric bass, your choice of methods should, first and foremost, reflect the musical perspective you see the bass taking in the final mix. Those decisions are yours to make. I'll give you some options we're using here at one time or another.

Let's start at the two extremes: the Direct Box and the mic'ed amplifier.

The direct box allows you to plug your bass directly into the recorder input. Remember that when you do this the recorder "sees" only what your pickup sees: the magnetic vibrations caused by the strings. Room acoustics have no effect on the sound, and all the signals are direct and unaltered. This works well for some types of recording but is usually pretty harsh and unmusical. Various effects and preamps can be used as direct boxes, and in some cases the resulting sound can be very warm. Tube-type preamps are popular for bass DBs. We also like the Sans-Amp and high-end dual-pentode mic preamps. A good compressor added to the recording chain can really help to fatten the gain envelope so it isn't too brittle. Also, an early reflection-type effect can be added to the playback if you want to create your own "room" sound.

If you choose to play your bass through an amp into a mic, there is an inherent warmth to the recorder that sounds really great for many styles of music. If you're recording a band or rhythm section, the ambient sound the bass mic picks up from the rest of the music is often beneficial to the final sound. We've found that recording everyone in the same room can give great results if you get a sense of where the instruments should be placed. The mic'ed bass amp sounds great if it's next to the drums, facing away from them, and seperated by a mid-level divider.

To have more confidence in the final mix it's always easy to cut two tracks of an important bass part: a DB as well as the mic'ed amp. And by the way, depending on the mic and the room, it's not always best to use a big bass amp in the studio. Even a funky little guitar amp can give great results when used with the right mic at the right level. Enjoy!

Fred Bogert is the proprietor of Studio C Productions, which also manages the historic RCA Studio B in Nashville.