Recording: 'Seven Shades' bass - Light Audio Recording

After recording drums for Seven Shades was such a kerfuffle, it’s a relief to move onto bass!

Seven Shades bass: rig run down

Recording

So, you may have noticed something new. Indeed, I have a new audio interface – the BandLab Link Digital. However, I won’t dwell on it for now – there’ll be a review in a few weeks.

But, I have to note that one of the best things about the Link Digital is being able to record directly onto my Chromebook again. While recording with my phone was fine and I got it done, when I’m recording at home, it seems silly to record onto one device, then edit on another device.

Now, things are more straightforward. Therefore, lighter in terms of process.

As usual, recording went though the usual steps.

Firstly, I set up the hardware; in this case, it was my Chromebook, the BandLab Link Digital connected via USB; Samson BT3 monitors; Beyerdynamic DT-240 Pro headphones; my Cort Gene Simmons axe bass DIed into the Link Digital using Pig Hog cables via my pedalboard, but I only used the tuner from it
Secondly, I did all the admin in BandLab; so, I bounced down the drums with the scratch track, and imported it into a new project, just for recording bass
Finally, I recorded some bass!

With the Link Digital, I was able to play the drums and scratch track through the monitors.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to listen to what I was playing through BandLab. I wasn’t able to get a satisfactory fix on the latency, so when I played, there was a slight delay. It was off-putting, so I just lowered the volume on the monitors, and listed to the bass as I played it.

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I recorded some bass. I never tire of this bass. 💻🎧🎸🎙🎶👊😂

A post shared by Light Audio Recording (@lightaudiorecording) on Jul 4, 2019 at 2:34pm PDT

Fuzz

Given that Seven Shades is a dark song, I wanted fuzz on the bass. My favorite bass sound is fuzzy, especially fuzz and clean at the same time.

I once had an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi – it had a blend knob that mixed its fuzz with your bass’s clean sound. I sold it during a period of unemployment. And of all the gear I’ve bought and sold over the years, it’s the thing I miss the most.

While I no longer have it, I have a Zinky Smokey, which apart from being a tiny amp, can also be used as a filthy fuzz box.

So, for Seven Shades, I was going to: record bass once clean, and once through the Smokey; then pan one wide left, the other wide right.

However, I couldn’t get the level with the Smokey just right – it was either too loud or too quiet. I recorded the quieter one, and it sounded like mush, so I ditched that approach.

But, I wasn’t done. I decided to duplicate the clean track I recorded, and settle for BandLab’s built-in effects for the fuzz.

So, the tracks looked like this…

For the fuzz on that duplicate track, I guessed BandLab had some kind of fuzz in their presets. I guessed correctly, and selected Big Fuzz from the preset dropdown menu – guessing that it was intended to be a Big Muff clone.

I had a listen to what it did, and it was perfect. The settings didn’t need adjustment. But I did need to take down the level of the track a bit.

Seven Shades bass: conclusion

Pros	Cons
Recording directly into the Chromebook: I know I have a more efficient process going forward	Latency: it’d be nice to listen to what I record as it’s happening
Fuzz: it sounds immense	Smokey: it would’ve been nice to use it

To conclude, here’s how the bass for Seven Shades sounds, in all its half-fuzzy glory.

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