figuring out bass line that's buried in mix

[SeventhSon]

On some songs it's really buried in the mix, so what's the best technique you've used for figuring it out? I've tried eq'ing the treble down, but that makes it even harder. There's probably a lot of upper frequency harmonics that make the bass tone sound distinctive and eq'ing seems to destroy that.

On a different subject, have you checked out some bass tabs by doing a google search? They suck! Most of them are completely wrong! Even for the simplest songs.

[Hollywood]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

Sometimes playing songs on different stereos has revealed parts I didn't hear on another one(mainly rhythm guitar stuff). What are you using to play the songs? I don't play bass a whole lot, but I've had to learn some bass parts for parody songs we've done.

[ApeDosMil]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

if the song is stero and has 2 guitars that have their own speaker, you could cut off the rythem guitar and just listen to lead/bass. I did that with music by Thrice.

[Inearthed]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

If you have a subwoofer sometimes the bass comes through that with quite a bit of clarity. Also, if the bass is really buried, it sometimes helps to learn the other guitar parts and then once you know what they're playing you can pick out what the bass is playing.

[discordant]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

i always listen through headphones when i'm trying to pick out parts of songs. it helps me a lot

[discordant]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

forgot to add this, you should try using guitar pro for getting hold of tabs. it seems that with a lot of the tabs on www.mysongbook.com that they have been copied stright out of the official tab books. check it out

[peabuddy]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

i usually turn my amp down low play song through the pa over and over while playing along til i find what at least sounds sorta like it. lol that helps me find something to do on songs with a 5 string bass as i only have 4 string basses at the moment.

[SeventhSon]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

You guys rock! Great suggestions! [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

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Sometimes playing songs on different stereos has revealed parts I didn't hear on another one(mainly rhythm guitar stuff). What are you using to play the songs?


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I've noticed that as well. On some songs I can hear bass lines very clearly on crappy computer speakers or on my crappy car stereo, but not on my Mackie HR824s... [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

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i always listen through headphones when i'm trying to pick out parts of songs. it helps me a lot.

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...or my Sennheiser HD580s.

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if the song is stero and has 2 guitars that have their own speaker, you could cut off the rythem guitar and just listen to lead/bass

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I couldn't handle panning hard left/right on my headphones...maybe I'll try again with monitors...

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If you have a subwoofer sometimes the bass comes through that with quite a bit of clarity. Also, if the bass is really buried, it sometimes helps to learn the other guitar parts and then once you know what they're playing you can pick out what the bass is playing.


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The Mackie's are supposed to have a flat freq response down to 39Hz. But maybe I'm not turning it up loud enough to feel the thump (I do this late at night when everyone's asleep). It's so much easier to figure out the bass when the column of air from the speaker is collapsing your chest cavity! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Yep, as a guitarist, I definitely figure out the guitar part to help me get a feel for the song.

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i usually turn my amp down low play song through the pa over and over while playing along til i find what at least sounds sorta like it. lol that helps me find something to do on songs with a 5 string bass as i only have 4 string basses at the moment.

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There's some wisdom there, if I can't figure out the bass line, the audience is not going care what I play as long as it sounds good. will also check out guitar pro and mysongbook.com. Thanks!

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

There's a gizmo called a "Rhythm Bandit" which sort of looks like a pack of cigarettes with a couple of switches on it.

It is passive, and is hooked up between the source and receiver. It has a switch which will cut either the high or low frequencies to hone in on them for transcription.

I got mine from E-Bay for like $25 and is one of my better purchases, along with my Akai Phrase-Sampler.

[David Dineen]

Re: figuring out bass line that\'s buried in mix

the "easy way"...just follow the chord progressions and play the lowest root note...then you can spice the bass line up a bit by some variations....easy but effective.