When I tracked guitar with my band 2 weeks ago I used an sm57 & Behringer C-4. which surprisingly sounded pretty good. I was just going to use the same setup to record bass.
But I also have an Electro-Voice EL33 and an Apex 120. Would it be better to replace the sm57 with one of those?
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OK. I looked up the manual (you might want to also.) Your device
OK. I looked up the manual (you might want to also.) Your device accepts mic/instrument inputs as the default through the front connectors. So if you want the bass guitar DI simply plug the bass into the unit through the front panel. If you want to use the line out from the amp plug it into the rear line in for whichever channel you want and use the switch on the front to set it to line level. I prefer and since you have two channels available to do both at once. But since you asked how to do this with what you've got I don't know if you have an A/B/Y box (splitter.) I take the instrument output 1/4" cable into a splitter and send one to the interface direct the other to the amp. I then take a line out from the amp to the interface. What is the difference? The line out from the amp is in most cases after the preamp and tone/eq, boost, or effects of the amp circuits so it often has a different tonality, usually more of what the bassist wanted for their sound but that does not always translate well to a recording. For example if the artist likes a heavily bass frequency treble cut sound from the amp which might sound good in the room but in the recording may not. By taking the instrument direct eq, effects, re-amping can be done later with the knowledge that you got "all" the frequencies that the instrument provided. Take both and you got all bases (very punny) covered. You can blend both tracks later if you like.
Depending on the bass rig, I'll typically do DI and mic the cabi
Depending on the bass rig, I'll typically do DI and mic the cabinet. If the amp has a good sounding DI output, I'll try that. If not, I've got Radial and BBE DI units. To mic a bass, I use an AKG D11 or something similar to that. I often like the sound of the mic mixed a little hotter than the DI. I set up different EQ and compression on the two until I'm happy with the mix.
I do the same MC. Although I typically mic the cab w/ a Shure 52
I do the same MC.
Although I typically mic the cab w/ a Shure 52 or Senn 421. Also a CAD KBM-???. The Shure and CAD are typically kick drum mics. You can use the 421 on a lot of things (gui amp, toms, vox, etc).
I also use the mic more for color, and rely on the DI for the meat of the bass. It helps to have a good DI an good preamp.
jg is right in that if you don't have a lot of space, mic'ing the cab may not work well. Keep in mind that bass frequencies have LONG waves and take awhile to develop.
If you're gonna mic the amp, get it to a good level, and put the mic 2'-6'+ back. As far back as you can w/o capturing much of the room.
This is not to say that close-miking the amp won't yield good results- I just tend to get better results w/ more space.
Keep in mind that there may be phasing issues between the DI and the mic at these distances. You may have to nudge the mic track back a few ms.
soapfloats wrote: Keep in mind that bass frequencies have LONG w
soapfloats wrote: Keep in mind that bass frequencies have LONG waves and take awhile to develop.
It's interesting to look at room size & shape when playing and recording low frequenices. The typical 4 string electric bass with standard tuning has a low note of 41Hz, which corresponds to a wavelength of a little over 8 meters. But below ~50Hz, much of what we perceive is not due to airborne sound as much as direct transmission that couples to the skeleton. One of the best sounding simple control rooms I've been in was in an old house converted to a studio. The room is 17' wide, 10.5' tall and 25' long and the house is oak framed with 8x10" timbers under the floor and massivley thick plaster over lath walls. From 500 cycles down to about 30, it is much flatter than you'd think based on dimensions, but that probably has something to do with mass, materials, windows, etc.
I prefer DI for most bass recording, either from the bass or a d
I prefer DI for most bass recording, either from the bass or a direct out on the amp or both, rather than micing bass cabs except in large spaces like theaters, arenas, etc.