AUDIO
MIXING MASTERY : THE WORLD OF BASS , PART 1 | Jeff Hawley
Duke Ellington , The Supremes , Marvin Gaye , Joni Mitchell . All powerhouse legends in their own right . But would Ellington be quite the same without Jimmy Blanton ’ s virtuosic bass playing propelling the band along ? Would we have the same Pavlovian toe-tap reflex to classic Motown grooves without James Jamerson ’ s Precision Bass holding down the low end ? What about the role players like Jaco Pastorius played in bringing the electric bass forward as an expressive and melodic voice through albums like Joni Mitchell ’ s classic 1976 album Hejira ?
Similarly , it wouldn ’ t be a stretch to credit the progression of popular music over the last 100 years to the steadily evolving tech behind bass guitar instrument design , recording techniques and live reproduction . Try to imagine a reggae concert without a thumping dub bass line . How about envisioning the Fab Four without that one bass player guy who happened to write a hit song or two ? Or even think about a Seinfeld episode without the catchy synth slap bass riff . Now that is a world I wouldn ’ t want to live in .
As live sound ( and streaming !) audio engineers , bass is often the make or break in your mix . The best shows I ’ ve experienced live ? Those with the sweetest blend and balance of the bass in the mix . The worst shows ? Those with underwhelming low end or non-stop overpowering bass frequency haar ( and overpriced nachos ). We kick off the Mixing Mastery series with a handful of bass tracks , a few considerations around how to approach mixing bass effectively , and a selection of audio samples from top live engineers who have
kindly volunteered their time and talent to help us all improve our mixes . Let ’ s get started !
BASS IS THE PLACE . If you talk to seasoned studio and live sound pros long enough , you ’ ll most certainly hear some variant of “ get it right at the source .” We are blessed with a plethora of sonic tools to correct and enhance and color and tweak signals coming into our mix , but there is just something magical about a really well-tuned snare drum crack being picked up by a nice mic at the right position in a good room . The same holds true for bass . Probably even more so for bass ‘ mathematically ’ — rather than consisting of short transients on 2 and 4 like those snare cracks , bass tends to be much more present with musical content that is both rhythmic and melodic . It is fundamental ( pun intended ) that you get a good sound from your bassist .
In most scenarios , the bass signal chain is fairly straightforward . A bass plugs into an amp or a DI ( direct inject ) box and you might decide to add in a mic on the bass cabinet if needed . We ’ ll play with a couple examples of how you might make that call on adding a microphone in just a moment . Let ’ s start with the bass itself and share a few thoughts .
Most of the bass tone is in the player ’ s fingers and the volume / tone controls on the instrument . Period . I may get a few letters to the editor for that proclamation , but hear me out . For the audio samples today I grabbed a mid-60 ’ s hollowbody bass . It isn ’ t ‘ fancy ’ in any way . No holographic AI digital tone modeling , no handwound pickups made from salvaged Russian submarines , no ‘ tone wood ’ grain aligned to the Earth ’ s magnetic pole , no debossed signature of a famous endorsing artist . It is just a bass . But with this humble bass — and just about any other bass out there — the range of tones available just by altering the playing approach and signal pick point is quite astonishing .
EXAMPLE 1 : Fingerstyle bass line . Bass direct into Countryman DT85 DI and into desk . No EQ or processing . Medium strong attack just over the end of the fretboard .
EXAMPLE 2 : Same bass , played with a medium pick . Pro Co CB1 DI into desk . No EQ or processing .
Strong pick attack over bridge pickup .
EXAMPLE 3 : Same bass , fingerstyle with right hand moved back close to the bridge and played with a bit more ‘ oomph ’. Post EQ XLR output from Gallien-Krueger MB150E into desk .
EXAMPLE 4 : Same bass , light touch between pickups . Tone control on bass rolled off . Pro Co CB1 DI into desk .
So now imagine you are about to run sound for a local church that tends to gravitate to a more traditional Maranatha Music sort of sonic space . The usual bass player gives you a DI signal about like Example 1 , but can ’ t make it this week . The ringer bass player shows up and soundcheck starts off with a bass tone to the