Session bassist Keith Rosier, the author of Jump 'n' Blues Bass, has some tips for EQ'ing the bass. "The frequencies that work for the low-end would be anywhere from 40 to 100 hertz. If your bass isn't sounding deep enough, I would sparingly raise those maybe three db.
"If your bass is just not cutting through, surprisingly, the best frequencies for that are from 250 to 700 hertz. That's the midrange; the human ear hears midrange easier than other frequencies. So if your bass is just not popping out, just scroll through a parametric EQ from 200 to 700 with your boost maybe at plus-three or plus-six dbs, until you find the frequency that really makes the bass pop out, and then when you do, back it down to plus-three or so."
Rosier says that if the bass you've recorded is an electric, "If it isn't bright enough, that means you either need to put new strings on your bass, or you need to boost around three, four or five k. Sparingly--because if you boost a lot of high-end on bass, you'll start getting in the way of the guitar and the vocal".
Craig Anderton adds, "The important thing to a lot of my music is the kick drum rather than the bass, so I don't want them to argue in the same frequency range. I'll often add a fairly narrow midrange EQ peak to bring out "snap" or pick noise. Usually the EQ in Sonar's Producer Edition is more than sufficient. I do use the Steinberg Quadrafuzz plug-in sometimes to add some 'edge'; of course that brings out the highs without EQ due to the added harmonics."
"But as to specific settings", Anderton says, "it's impossible to generalize...every song is different. It's like assuming that the same dress would look good on all women."
Article comments
1 - Johno
Speaking as a working bassist, your kung fu is the best. Thanks Ed, for a fantastic article and reverent homage to the Low End.
2 - Jim Carruthers
What a great article. I'd often wondered why so many women played bass in rock bands, and asked one who was replaced in a studio session by Will Lee, and she said it was because there were fewer strings than a guitar.
Drums and bass are the two sections most replaced by machines, but I think that really opens up the field for awesome players, since machines can't do awesome yet.
3 - Eric Olsen
Really exceptional Ed: informative, interesting, enduring. Thanks as always!
4 - Casper
Great post; very informative.
Just a small quibble, though. I'd point to Anthony Jackson for the revolution of creating the contrabass (5 strings and more).
5 - Ed Driscoll
Casper,
That's a great point--Jackson is featured in both Jim Roberts' and Alan Slutsky's books, though. I also sort of kicked myself after writing this for not including Carol Kaye. But there are so many great players, it's tough to know when to stop.
Ed
6 - Ed Driscoll
Guys,
Thanks for the kind words--most appreciated!
Ed
7 - SFC SKi
As a bass player whio really wishes he'd deployed with at least one guitar to play, this clumn made me really eager to get back home and rebuild my calussed fingers. I am going to be buying a few of those books as well, thanks for the tip!
You should have mentioned the advent of affordable acoustic guitar-bodied 4 strings. I have a Sonata acoustic, only $275. but full sounding with great action, with the portability that many of us long-envied acoustic guitarists for haiving at beach parties or just sittin out back woodshedding.
once again, great column!