Recording Electric Bass – Notes from a Recording Bassist

In most studios, setting up for a tracking session means that a good chunk of the time will involve getting drum sounds—tuning the drums, choosing and placing the mics, setting levels, and adding EQ and other processing. Another significant chunk of time will be spent getting guitar sounds—selecting the right amp and instrument, deciding on the pedals and dialing in the tone.

And then there’s setting up to record an electric bass—point the bass player towards a DI box, plug in, turn up the resulting signal and move on. While that’s undoubtedly an excellent way to record bass (proven by the fact that it’s by far the most common approach to recording a bass), it’s certainly not the only way. So let’s look at several approaches to recording the instrument and a few things to consider before you hit the “Record” button.