Bass Overdrive
Bass Overdrive
Tips For Mixing Songs
I have got some basic and seemingly trivial advices regarding to mixing a song I want to share with you that are mostly missed by beginners.
Reverb & Delay
Personally, I think it's important to keep your song a little 'wet'. By wet I mean to apply some reverb and delay to your tracks -- yes, even to the drum tracks! Note, it can be a real challenge to find a happy medium between wet and dry. Of course you shouldn't get too dry -- the listener has to notice that there is some reverb or delay, but more like on a subconscious level. I want to point out here that I'm talking about general wetness and not piercing delays you would want to use for a solo, like for instance in "No No No" by Deep Purple, or a highlighting reverb dosage at the end of a vocal's verse like it's to be found in "School" by Supertramp, or even an excessive, but beautiful use of reverb like in the solo of "Fools" by Deep Purple as well.
Since the individual instruments and their elements respond differently to one and the same reverb and moreover not every instrument requires the same 'wetness', you mostly should choose one particular reverb for each instrument. Naturally, it's not desirable to have your tracks 'swimming' in reverb except you mean to do so.
Normally, drums (especially the snare since it's so punchy) require only little and short reverb. I'd recommend to equalize it a little 'bluntly' so you get a soft sound impression. Piercing elements consisting of mainly high frequencies and a fast decay like the snare make your reverb stand out more than for instance a bass drum or a crash. The bass drum doesn't have these penetrating frequencies and a crash has a very slow decay which both makes the reverb hardly noticeable.
Especially guitars and vocals require more brilliant reverbs since otherwise they tend to gain what I would call 'vague outlines'. It's up to you to choose the right reverb time and to determine its appropriate percentage, but especially with rock guitars I would prefer a delay because the overdrive sound tends to lose some 'punch' in combination with too much reverb.
In my experience, synthesizers, organs, and keyboards tolerate more reverberation without beginning to reverberate penetratingly.
Critical Frequency Bands
A big mistake I've often made in the past was to stress the low middle frequencies. You probably know that middle frequencies and especially the low mids are responsible for a warm sound impression. The issue I often had was to set up my sounds individually until they sounded great in themselves, but only without the rest of the tracks. And if you set up all your sounds separately, you'll probably find that every instrument sounds full and balanced, but in the complete mix everything suddenly starts to sound awfully fuzzy and blurry.
There is a trick to doing that properly. You sort of have to consider your whole song as one instrument in order to equalize it properly -- I know, it can be quite hard, especially since you have to analyze and set up every single track in a proper ratio to the others. As I wanted every single instrument to sound warm and full I almost every single time added a certain amount of low mids to middle frequencies (in the range of 200 to 500 Hz -- that's the critical point). Unfortunately these frequencies, if they're accumulated much, tend to make the song sound 'blunt' and kind of stuffed full with 'non-brilliancy'.
I made the experience that it is advisable to take out a certain amount of these frequencies especially with guitar, vocal, and synthesizer tracks, and to instead add these to bass guitars and bass drums.
Nohow would you want to take these completely out, but you'll be astonished how full and balanced every single instrument sounds in the general view by reducing and shifting specifically low middle frequencies.
One more thing: Earlier I had been using loudspeakers that used to emphasize the high and low middle frequencies. Using non-linear loudspeakers can be a great issue with mixing your songs -- back then I thought that all my master bounces were great and brilliant, but when I listened to them through linear loudspeakers the bounces sounded 'as dry as a bone'. The ultimate key with monitoring songs is to firstly make them sound great through linear loudspeakers and secondly through non-linear, maybe even trashy ones.
Take An External View
There are some things anyone who is too much involved in mastering a song can easily misjudge.
It can be a big mistake, for instance, trying to make all instruments sound equally loud -- that doesn't really work. Well, actually it does work and it's possible to make all tracks sound equally loud, but it's probably not what you're really looking for. I tried this myself and had to realize that it would pose more difficulties than it would solve problems. The big issue about this is that the listener doesn't know on which element to focus and this makes listening quite taxing. Best, you create a mix that makes perfect sense to the listener and to which they can simply 'abandon themselves' without focusing.
The key is to so to speak allot a leading role to one particular instrument group and then to emphasize certain elements of this group. As soon as you have chosen a group to 'play the leading role', note that it is exactly the same important to also decide what particular element of the group shall undertake the leading role here. With drums I would always put the snare and bass drum into the foreground, with vocals you would probably choose the lead vocals and reduce the volume level of the others, and with let's say two guitars you'd pick the lead guitar or, if there is none, the one that has more high frequencies or so. It's the exact same thing as the golden section in painting.
If you're now thinking: "Yeah well, but now my other instruments are kind of drowned in the rest", I can reassure you -- It's not gonna happen. One often underestimates how well quiet instruments come through in a mix if they're equalized cleverly.
One more advise for rock songs: If you want to make your song sound powerful, put your drums into the foreground (atonal instruments sometimes require more volume than you would expect). Next, the vocals and one of your guitars (if you got some), then the next guitar together with the bass guitar. At least I underestimated for a long time how much drums actually contribute to a powerful sound impression.
And one more psychological advice: Don't let the graphics influence your mind and power of judgement. I know that sometimes they distracted my acoustic perception a bit, so I often hid my software interface while monitoring, or just opened a track mixer window in order to fully focus on the acoustic impression.
My brother and I recorded the brilliant song "White Room" by Cream and shot a video, too. For the video soundtrack we took our studio recording, put a 'Space Designer' on the output track, and adapted the reverb to the acoustic features of the room we were shooting the video in. If you want to know how this sounds without 'over-applying' the level of reverb, click on Linus & Dino "White Room"!
(c) Linus Schachten 2010 (Hamburg, Germany). All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
About the Author
Can bass gear work with guitars?
Can i connect my electric bass overdrive pedal to an electric guitar?
I don't know why you'd want to, it will probably sound horrible. I'd imagine you can though, don't ever play a bass guitar through a guitar amp though, it will blow the speaker.
Bass Overdrive
Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed Bass Overdrive Demonstration
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Digitech XBD Bass Driver Bass Overdrive/Distortion $79.95 Digitech XBD Bass Driver Bass Overdrive/Distortion When you need to get raunchy, when you need to step out front and be heard, when you need a total metal meltdown, you need the DigiTech XBD Bass Driver Overdrive Pedal. The Bass Driver has 3 overdrive pedal models that can be morphed for entirely new sonic combos. Includes 9 volt battery. Features: Huge, throaty overdrive 3 overdrive pedal models Morphing lets you recombine models Get Your Digitech XBD Bass Driver Bass Overdrive/Distortion Today! |
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Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive $99 Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Tailored to meet the demands of today's bassist with a wide variation of sharply contoured sounds ranging from a mild overdrive to a hard distortion. It covers the entire spectrum, including five-string basses, so there's no muddiness, even on the lowest notes. A balance control is provided so you can mix the effect with the bass signal to keep the power and presence of the original sound. Can also be used as a two-band EQ. Crunchy Overdrive Effects for Bass. An overdrive effect designed to cover the entire frequency range of bass guitars, including 5-string basses. Overdriven sounds can be blended with dry bass signal for maximum clarity and punch. Features: Get mild overdrive to hard distortion Works for four- and five-string basses Balance control lets you mix signals Can be used as a two-band EQ Specifications: Nominal Input Level -20 dBu Input Impedance 1 M ohms Nominal Output Level -20 dBu Output Impedance 1 k ohms Equivalent Input Noise Level -110 dBu (IHF-A, Typ.) Connectors INPUT Jack, OUTPUT Jack, AC Adaptor Jack (DC 9 V) Power Supply DC 9 V: Dry Battery 9 V type (6F22/9 V), AC Adaptor Current Draw 15 mA (DC 9 V) Accessories Dry Battery 9 V type (6F22/9 V) Options AC Adaptor (PSA-Series) Size and Weight ( incl. battery ) Width 73 mm 2-7/8 inches Depth 129 mm 5-1/8 inches Height 59 mm 2-3/8 inches Weight 0.4 kg 0 lbs. 15 oz. 0 dBu = 0.775 Vrms The specifications are subject to change without notice. Get Your Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Today! |
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Behringer BOD400 Bass Overdrive Pedal $23.99 Get rich, tube-like distortion, smooth sustain and super-fat tone! Here's an overdrive pedal that supports the entire frequency range of bass guitars, even 5 & 6-stringers. The best part of all, the BASS OVERDRIVE BOD400 was designed specifically for bass, so the bottom-end won't drop out when you pull the trigger. |
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Behringer BOD400 Overdrive Pedal $23.99 Get rich, tube-like distortion, smooth sustain and super-fat tone! Here's an overdrive pedal that supports the entire frequency range of bass guitars, even 5 & 6-stringers. The best part of all, the BASS OVERDRIVE BOD400 was designed specifically for bass, so the bottom-end won't drop out when you pull the trigger. |
Largemouth Bass Fishing
The Largemouth Bass
Make no mistake the Largemouth Bass is a predator, and as a predator it brings to the game a complex genetic skill set. Honed over generations of environmental conditioning the Bass is neither shy or timid. A solitary hunter or part of a loose school. The Largemouth Bass is always a hunter, always a predator. Disturb his domain and your fly will disappear almost as soon as it arrives. Sometimes never to be seen again.
When Bass fishing with a fly rod it is essential to remember that the Bass is not unlike us humans. It is always seeking food, shelter and comfort. Learning what these mean to a Largemouth Bass will take us a long way to catching this elusive hunter.
Food
When does a mouse top the dinner menu? When it is attached to the end of a fly line. As food goes the largemouth Bass is not that particular. They will attack and eat a variety of foods: insects, popcorn, minnows, amphibians, reptiles, worms, mammals etc. They generally prefer larger foods, but can be taken on smaller offerings as well. Even a size 14 dry fly.
Shelter and Habitat
The Largemouth Bass usually invades the shallows from their winter depths as spring arrives. The exact timing is determined by your location. When the weather warms up and ice-out begins you can expect the Bass to awaken form their winter solace.
Once the water warms up to 60 degrees a Largemouth Bass’s thoughts turn to spawning. After spawning, the female leaves the nest and thus begins the male’s job of guarding the nest until the eggs hatch and they turn into a school of tiny black fish. It is during this time that the male will savagely defend the nest. The male Bass will not eat until the little ones leave the nest.
During this time they do not eat, but the will defend and attack. It is now that a mouse pattern plopped down next to the nest will attract his attention and his lateral sense line will go into overdrive. A small mammal is no match for this ferocious predator. With lighting speed he will cover the distance to your mouse pattern. In an instant its gone and your fly line leader tightens to the breaking point.
As a predator once the nest is empty certain habits and cycles of the bass are predictable. As a hunter they do things with enough regularity for us to capitalize on them.
Not unlike us they: “hunt”, they “feed” and they “defend”. Knowing how they do these things will give us an edge on the fight.
The largemouth Bass makes it home in and around structure. Structure is any area that a Bass can take up a position of feeding and ambush superiority. Usually with a backdoor exit to deeper water to escape into. The best structure goes to the largest fish. Such as fallen trees, sunken logs, weed beds, lily pads, piers etc… These are our hunting grounds for the Largemouth Bass.
Early morning Bass fishing is a favorite time. Cooler water and more oxygen. It is now that Bass can be found cruising the shorelines for food. This is when I use a size 2 mouse. Mice often fall into the water from the shore so a mouse isn’t a big surprise for a Bass. Casting our mouse next to the shoreline or into the weeds/Lilly pads or a sunken/floating log will often elicit a hit.
Cast the mouse and let it sit for a moment. Bass will often take a few seconds and look at your treat. But sometime the mouse barely hit’s the water. A bass will take about a 1/10 of a second to determine if the meal is to his liking before he spits it out so you must be ready for a strike.
The afternoon brings out my streamers and wooly buggers in sizes 2 - 6. I fish these a little deeper and outside a weed bed edge with a slight hesitation retrieve. As if it is a wounded fish. A Dalhburg diver is a good fly for this. The Dalhburg will dive as it is retrieved and come back up to the surface as you let up on the retrieve. This action mimics the action of a wounded bait fish. It’s an action few bass can ignore. A little fly float will help this action as well.
The evening brings out the top water flies again. A black or natural mouse size 2, dragon flies size 4, general red and black poppers size 4 even a saltwater white pencil plug with a red tail size 2 can work. Also it is a good time for dry flies. Nothing can beat a 3 lb Bass hitting a size 12 Blue winged olive. Patterns don’t mater to the Bass. We are not matching the hatch. Just annoying a hungry fish. Toss it into edge a weed bed and let it sit. Twitch it and stop. Mimic a struggling wet insect. See what happens.
Check out what other Bass fishers are using in your area.
Fly Rods For Bass Fishing
This is an area of much confusion and misunderstanding. A good fly rod for Largemouth Bass fishing is a 8 ½ foot 6 weight medium to fast action rod. A good medium action rod will get your fly out to 20 feet depending on your casting style and skill. Set it up with a 7 foot 2x - 4x leader with a matching 12 - 16 inch length of tippet.
Final thoughts
Knowing the habits of this fish will give you the edge in the contest. Deep/shallow, hot /cold, what kind of structure, passage to deep water, food, oxygen, water clarity, shoreline features. Knowing how Bass relate to these and many more environmental stimulants will make the hunter “par excellence” into the hunted. Good fishing.
why-bass
for more information fly rods for Bass fishing.
About the Author
A lifetime bass fisherman with a passion for fly fishing. For more information on Bass fishing with a fly rod and general tips and tricks please go to http://www.why-bass.blogspot.com
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BBE Boosta Grande 20db Clean Boost Pedal $129.00 BBE BOOSTA GRANDE Boosta Grande Pedal... |
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Bass Overdrive