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How to record my bass
I wrote a song this evening I really dig. So I thought I would try and record it instead of writing it down. Lazy tonight. I find sometimes I will come up with something not write it down and then the next day forget what the hell I was playing. And I want to record the other songs I have written as well. I tried ipod, phone, and the mic on my computer. All of which sucked big time. However I got to hear what my bass sounds like with the effects I use from a different perspective. It is a whole different animal hearing your own bass on recording. Fantastic except recording on those devices isn't really what I am after. The quality isn't there. Playing something thru a amp and then hearing yourself play on a recording is a whole different experience for me. Its different somehow. Its like I am listening to someone else. Is that me playing that. If that makes sense. Everything I tried blows goats. So any tips you guys might have on what I should buy to record what I write would really be appreciated. I am on a budget so don't go nuts on me. Something not to expensive but something that will give me a fairly good quality recording and capture not only what I write but how my bass sounds and what I need to tweak. Many thanks if you guys have any ideas for me. If not ignore the post and I will check around. Thought I would ask you guys first.
Every time I come up with what I think is a half-interesting riff, I immediately tab it out, and add it to a text file called “My Tabs” that I keep in my “WIP tabs” folder. I used to record riffs on a little four-track but it went kaput on me and I'm too cheap to buy another (and even if I weren't cheap, right now I'm too broke LOL). As of now, there are about 20 riffs in that file, some as little as one bar, others are full songs, completely laid out and arranged. I figure if the day every comes that I join another band, then maybe I'll actually record those riffs. But for now, I'm content with just writing them into tabs.
I had a little four track recorder a lot of years ago, it was cassette tape, that's how long. I think it was Digitech and I know they updated it to a hard drive format and the price was very reasonable, there's bound to be loads on eBay. I've actually recorded with a band in a 32 track studio and you're right, I was thinking, “Is that me?”
Thanks for the info guys. I did a search and found a usb mic for recording instruments and pretty much anything else you want. Plug and play for your computer. Its called Blue Yeti. And the price is right. And you can download free software for recording from Audacity. Going to give that a try. I will let you guys know how it goes. I really want to record what I play. Things I have written and also to critique my own playing. Its one thing playing bass. But after I recorded that little bit last night, I almost didn't believe it was me playing what I was hearing. To cool. I need to experiment with this. Thanks again.
It's nice to be surprised by the results.
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It's nice to be surprised by the results.
That's the thing it did surprise me. I knew what I was playing but some how listening to the recording as opposed to playing in real time is different. I guess I was concentrating on the riffs I was working on rather than listening to the over all sound I was projecting thru the amp. And the effects I was looking for I had mentioned in another post were right there in the recording. I just failed to notice it. In any case it was a eye opener and rather exciting to say the least.
I use a Line6 BackTrack digital recorder. It's capable of recording 16 bit and 24 bit .wav files. It never let me down.
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I use a Line6 BackTrack digital recorder. It's capable of recording 16 bit and 24 bit .wav files. It never let me down.
Thanks Jay for the info. I think I am going to go with the Blue Yeti USB mic and Audacity software because I can also use it for Youtube. Which I would like to do in the future. You know show off my cooking skills wearing nothing but a apron and playing bass at the same time. I can see the money rolling in from the advertisers now. Oh Yeah. One million hits and climbing for the half naked bass playing Chef. Booyah…
There was a video of some guy on Youtube breading and deep frying a chicken wing something like 50 times. Yup one chicken wing. You heard it here first. Youtube is pretty flipping lame. But he had a bazillion hits. That says something doesn't it as to what some people find entertaining. So a guy wearing a Southpark apron and nothing else, playing a fender bass and frying porkchops at the same time isn't to far fetched is it. Lmao…
So a guy wearing a Southpark apron and nothing else, playing a fender bass and frying porkchops at the same time isn't to far fetched is it. Lmao…
Better to grill the chops, you don't want fat spitting all over the bass. lol.
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