fuck balls dude. Sorry. Keep us updated.

Yeah I still have everything. I'm trying my best to keep it as long as I can.



Thanks, dudes.

Balls, man, been there. How long have you been out?

That sucks, mojo etc sent.

I lost my internet shortly after the big storm on June 29th... lost my electricity about three weeks ago. So not long, really.

My bass arrived today. It's surprisingly hard work I'm finding it hard to get it sitting right in a mix as well, it either sounds too boomy or too high up in the mix. What do you guys do for it? I'm just using Amplitube 3 with a Gallien Kruger patch as that seems to sound best to me. Oh and I'm "cheating" and playing with a pick, this seems to get a good toane though so I'll probably just stick with that Quick clip - http://soundcloud.com/shotgunroyale/intro (also, follow us on soundcloud )

And a pic of the beast for good measure

Wif a bass, don't be afraid to limit the fuck out of it.

You will also get used to how you need to play the thing for consistent levels, but the short term stopgap can perhaps be some heavy compressor/limiter action.

Also, you may find that you are having more low end overlap with the guitars now. Try highpassing the guits hard for some experimental 'oh so that's what that does' sorts of knowledges. Depending on what your other elements are doing you may find solutions there, or you may not.

Also, don't be afraid to play with highpassing the bass, or at least notching the lower mids some, so it doesn't crash into your kick, snare, or cabinet low end too hard. Just make some space. You just need to experiment with the EQ a bit, so as not to remove something the thing needs to sound proper.

In general, i like to run an overdrive on the thing(an IRL OD, like a TS or my timmycopy) as this limits the low end some, which i personally tend to find helpful in the types of things i record. Really, i just go OD->Direct In usually, no ampsims or anything. A bass can actually sound very nice direct, even without a proper direct box or impedance matching, or anything.

Experiment a bit.

I think that mainly though, the more time you have with it, it will become easier to play and get to sound correctly. The biggest thing i have found with bass, is consistent attack. For rock music at least, you don't necessarily want too much dynamic in the bass, IMHO.

That sucks man, any prospects for new work?

Whoever says using a pick on bass is cheating is a fucking dumb dumb. There, I said it.


Picks are just another way to achieve a different sound from your playing. That said, it isn't a bad idea to learn how to pluck and slap etc. etc., because they are also other ways to achieve different sounds from your playing.

Picks are great for heavy bass stuff, nice sharp attack that can keep the notes defined in a not-so-much-gain to heavily distorted tones. Trying running that P-Bass into a nice thick fuzz (or fuzz vst) before your amp (or amp sim) and get the pick closeish to the bridge. Pure aggression.





And yeah, if you are a heavy-handed player be prepared to limit the ever living fucks out of your bass tracks. I know this, because I am a ham-fisted bastard (also I like the toanes of heavy hitting playing on bass.) Shit, plenty of production bass amps come with compressors/limiters built into them and with good reason.

Playing with a pick is just a different sound.

I say this as someone who pretty well never uses a pick on bass, even for fast stuff- I'm faster with my fingers on bass. Arm motion, and all.

But yeah, it is totally acceptable and there are plenty of quality bassists who use a pick some or all of the time. Start with McCartney and progress on from there. Fuck, my bassist in Garda plays 5-string fretless, distorted, with a pick on a regular basis, and if that's not against the rules...

Anyhow, beat on it with a compressor- especially on the way in. Distortion is cool. Run it through your guitar gear. Take a line out from the head. (Which has the added effect of reducing the midrangey-ness of putting it through a guitar cab.) But yeah, anything to smooth the signal going in, because that will change your playing (think playing guitar totally clean through a solid-state amp vs. playing through nice gear with whatever flavour of gain your desire. This will change how you approach the thing.) You can smash it with a compressor after the fact if need be- bass is a quirky beast and you may want to do that anyhow no matter how good the playing or player is dependent on style. Stomping on it with a limiter can be awesome. Or necessary (slap, I'm looking at you; slapping is nuts dynamically, and bass can be crazy to begin with. Very sharp transient spikes, potentially. Electric bass guitar is not always a nice instrument to record. It is a fantastic tool for generating low end though).

I almost always compress bass on the way in when it's not full-on distorted.

Re: bass gear and your amp model of choice, GK stuff sounds good, but they're all solid-state and respond as such. They tend toward clean. Ampeg is your man if you want to get squishy. If we're talking software, IK Multimedia Ampeg SVX actually cops the tones pretty well. Does not matter if you're not playing into it, though, and adding it after the fact.

Hardware, any number of inexpensive compressors could do the trick if you have a hundred quid (can I say "quid", being from The States and all? "Bucks" is inappropriate.) some time, and you can always use them on other things too. I have a Sansamp Bass Driver pedal which is pretty sweet as a preamp/distortion unit, if you find yourself bassing a lot. It's important to find something that doesn't eat your low end with bass, of course, and given I think your tastes lean toward rockier sounds, some sort of distortion box may fit the bill here, too, acting as a sort of preamp. Even if the bass is only slightly overdriven- I find I usually want less gain on bass anyhow, unless I'm going for an overt fuzz- it'll still add a healthy dose of compression by the nature of the thing, along with, y'know, balls.

Just mixing projects here and there. I'm just going around and applying for jobs as I can.

Mojo sent, Curtis. Hope things take a turn for the brighter.

My name is Cameron Heck, and pickles can suck on my penis.

Merci,

Thanks for your advice on bass stuff guys I've just acquired that Ampeg VST and my god it sounds gloriously dirty I sense Ampeg bass combo gas creeping in I have hit the fuck out of my bass sound with compressors and it's sounding better. New re-worked track being uploaded then I'll get to work on recording some moar shitz.

Also I need better picks as my tortex greens are getting shredded to fuck already.

I like the tortex blues or purples for bass, meself. Not a ton thicker than the greens (which I like best on geetar too) but it's better, IMO. Lends some aggressive attack to the tone, as well.

Dunlop Gator Grip 2mm.

on Ampeg SVX. It is one of the better sounding things in the software ampsim world- and it's been around for a good long while now, too. It does cop a recognizable Ampeg tone.

The Ampeg B100R is pretty good and not so expensive. There were two of them on my local Craigslist not too long ago for $250 each. Not sure what the UK prices would be like, but I assume Ampeg's fairly ubiquitous?

That would be this guy here:

Huh. Morbid Angel is playing at a shithole dive around here in October. I rarely ever go to metal shows, but I might see that. I liked them when I actually put on a metal record more than a couple times a year.

Huh, I wonder how much stuff off the new album they do.. Could be cool if they stick to the classics.

Speaking of shows, soon after I get back Converge and Nails are playing a show in Seattle. Mother of fuck that is gonna be awesome.

Yarp those BA100 amps are about £250 new I think, if I can pick one up for cheap 2nd hand I might just do it. I do kinda need to stop buying shit I don't really *need* though but at the same time I really want a proper map Will one of those get any kind of a similar sound to the SVT Classic model?

also, snaxo, regarding the Squier I would say it's a great instrument to my untrained ears/hands. The first thing I noticed was how resonant it is - when playing unplugged I can feel the whole thing vibrating through my body Probably more resonant than either of my guitars but I guess that's to be expected what with it being a low-rumbling machine of bass destruction. Neck feels great, very smooth and easy to play. If I ever bother getting another normal guitar I'd seriously consider a Squier tele over a MIM fender. Frees up more monies to replace pickups etc as required.