Bass Player Magazine Session Greats

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10/23/09

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BASS PLAYER PRESENTS SESSION LEGENDS & STUDIO GEAR

B A S S P L A Y E R . C O M

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CONTENTS Mike Inez

Anthony Jackson

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Bob Babbitt

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Bob Glaub

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Carol Kaye

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Chris Chaney

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Chuck Rainey

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David Hood

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David Hungate

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Duck Dunn

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James Jamerson

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Jerry Jemmott

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Jerry Scheff

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Jimmy Johnson

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Joe Osborn

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Justin Meldal-Johnsen

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Larry Klein

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Leland Sklar

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Michael Rhodes

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Mike Elizondo

38

Mike Inez

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Marcus Miller

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Nathan East

46

Neil Stubenhaus

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Pino Palladino

49

Randy Jackson

50

Tony Levin

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Will Lee

52

Willie Weeks

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STUDIO TECH

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Bass Meets The Studio

56

Home Recording How-To

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Sound Advice From Bassists Behind The Board

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SESSION LEGENDS & STUDIO GEAR

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FROM THE EDITOR

SESSION

LEGENDS & Studio Gear www.bassplayer.com Editor Jonathan Herrera Associate Editor Brian Fox

Bass is often a subtle instrument. It has good name recognition, but ask Joe or Josephine Public to identify it by looks, sound, or role, and you’ll either get no answer or something like: Isn’t it basically like a, um, big guitar? The irony of this ignorance is significant, of course, because countless jewels of mainstream musical genius count on a bass player for their vitality. Guitar players may drool over the live legends, but for us, it’s the studio players who often garner our maximum respect. We’ve all struggled to come up with a bass line under pressure (new song, new artist, strange environment, etc.)—we’re sidepersons by nature. That the icons of session bass not only rise to that occasion day after day, but do it with singular style, tone, and musicality is an achievement worthy of our utmost admiration. This special issue distills choice bits of wisdom from the undisputed legends of studio bass playing into a concise reference. We’ve also packed in a ton of indispensible info on how to become a producer, how to get the most out of studio gear, and how to set up a home studio. Maybe it’s our mellow temperament or tolerance for diverse musical styles, but bass players are ideally suited to be excellent session musicians and producers. It’s not only a way to expand our professional potential, it’s also a means of living a rich and dynamic musical life.

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ANTHONY JACKSON THE O’JAYS, CHAKA KHAN, CHICK COREA, DONALD FAGAN, PAUL SIMON

Anthony Jackson is not only one of the most revered and recorded studio bassists of all time, he’s also a significant technical innovator.

darvis] on keyboards, Gadd on drums, Ralph MacDonald or Crusher Bennett on percussion, David Spinozza, Hugh McCracken, and Jeff Mironov—any two out of three—on guitars, and myself. We recorded hundreds of tracks, most of which were never released, but for sheer quality of composition and performance, the music is as good as anything I or anyone else has experienced. ‘The Darvis’ is one the few composers who knows how to write for the rhythm section. He writes for the basic unit— guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, and percussion—with the proficiency of a composer of string quartets. Working with that unit was significant because it stimulated major personal growth. Steve Gadd decisively influenced the way I hear music and is really the only drummer I’ve worked with who has. He is one of the important talents of the twentieth century.”

ON TECHNIQUE AND THE “IDEAL” SOUND:

ON HIS EARLY CAREER: “I didn’t set out to be a ‘studio,’ ‘stage,’ or any other ‘type’ of musician. Understand that I was a child when I started playing and my only motivation, reflecting a child’s innocent idealism, was to find the greatest music to play and the greatest musicians to play it with. My first major recording experiences were very intense, beginning with Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia in 1972, and later as a freelancer in New York in 1974. One of the first people I came across in New York was L. Leon Pendarvis Jr., a very great composer and arranger who managed to get me on a Roberta Flack recording project he was producing. That led me to one of his other sessions, which is where I first met the great Steve Gadd. And as far as I’m concerned, there isn’t anything that any fusion artist has done that exceeds the quality of work produced by what we can call the Pendarvis rhythm section, consisting of ‘The Darvis’ [Pen-

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“To me, the ideal bass guitar sound has always seemed to be the sound of a standard guitar dropped an octave or more in pitch. My acceptance of this principle predates my first experiences as a bass guitarist and can possibly be traced to experiments involving records played at halfspeed. Sometime back in the very beginning, I can recall commenting to a school friend on the shimmering, exquisite beauty of a now-forgotten performer’s bronze-stringed flat-top guitar heard on a record played at 16 RPM. At the time, I simply could not accept not being able to achieve this sound, even if my intention was not to use it all the time. A few people—Jack Casady, John Entwistle, and the Dead’s Phil Lesh—achieved a sound that at least seemed to be on the right track. I decided to try roundwound strings in 1972, when they were still a novelty and people were saying, ‘Don’t be a fool. They’re noisy, they’ll eat your frets, and they make the bass sound too much like a guitar.’ They were a revelation. Combined with the flatpick, which I had been using

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since the beginning as well as fingerstyle, my instrument assumed an identity completely removed from my Jamerson self, accentuating Casady’s influence. Around the same time, the Maestro company released a phase shifter. I knew the theory behind the device, and I heard it demonstrated by a guitarist one day at Manny’s Music in New York City. Henry Aldrich, the owner, insisted that the box simply would not work for me: It’s for guitar, not for bass. I bought it anyway, and when I plugged it in at home, the world changed. I was completely flabbergasted. Here was a sound I had never heard—it was beautiful and just plain right. After a few weeks, I took the unit apart and located the intensity adjustment. I did some careful tweaking and was able to subtly enhance the effect. That particular unit and my recently purchased Fender Precision were used on ‘For the Love of Money.’ That was, as far as I know, the first time a recording was made with a phased bass guitar.

ON HIS CLASSIC ASSOCIATION WITH CHAKA KHAN: “The performances represent, with only scattered exceptions, the peak of my creative abilities at the time and in that genre. They are, hopefully, only elemental today, but I recall listening to the final mixes just before release and realizing that I was able, for the first time, to hear evidence of a defined, mature, and effective style coming through my playing. This was a revelation, a coming-of-age, and, I hoped, proof that my stubbornness in playing what I heard despite intense pressure to ‘conform or else’ was paying off. The succeeding album, What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me, recorded in Montreux in 1980, was made along similar “highbrow” lines, but with the first signs of an end of an era in sight—the budget was down and the time restricted—although the end result remains impressive. Unfortunately, reality closed in around us after that album, and the crucial prerequisites to recordmaking of this quality are difficult to come by today. Producers are no longer inclined to grant sidemen, however esteemed, unlimited control of anything, and certainly time is more tightly rationed than anything else. The right combina-

tion of players is now highly unlikely, inasmuch as a full rhythm section is seldom seen. Machine augmentation is the rule. Most important of all, few artists of major stature have ever possessed the patience, supportiveness, musicality, and virtuosity of Chaka Khan. I’ve worked with countless singers, from divas to bicycle pumps, and none has been able to gather and harness such powerful creative forces as Chaka.”

ON WORKING WITH NOTORIOUSLY FASTIDIOUS BAND LEADERS: “Becker and Fagen—and also Paul Simon— approach their goals a bit differently than Chaka, but all parties, at the end of the day, want all asses to have been thoroughly kicked. Fagen, in particular, is a stickler for detail, but no more so than I am, so the only important issue is whether my detailing as interpreter coincides with his as composer. Once a stylistic approach to a song has been decided—such approach, of course, having been determined almost entirely by Fagen—the actual recording of the performance begins, and this is where the legend of cruelty to musicians originates. It’s true that Becker, Fagen, and Simon split more hairs than most and never hype players: no high-fives, no reverential cursing. You’ve played well? Good; next song. Or more likely: Not good; do it again. Still not good; again. Still not good; go home. Many did. This kind of ferocious performance-disciplining, far from intimidating me, sends adrenaline pouring into my bloodstream. Split hairs, will you? Split this! Becker and Fagen made neurosis and obsession rewarding and uplifting. Endless hours were spent analyzing and refining the smallest performance details without noticeably improving the music. But I must say that the two tracks I did for Steely Dan’s Gaucho [MCA]—‘Glamour Profession’ and ‘My Rival’—and the two on The Nightfly [Donald Fagen’s solo album on Warner Bros.]—‘I.G.Y.’ and ‘Ruby Baby’—did improve my ability to constructively analyze a performance. Becker and Fagen’s constant prodding, combined with their willingness to let me prod myself—even allowing me to destroy a performance they loved because I insisted on redoing the entire part—helped put titanium in my spine.”

SESSION TOOLS “Career Girl” Fender Jazz Bass; Carl Thompson Contrabass Guitar; Fodera Anthony Jackson Presentation Contrabass Guitar; Millenia HV-3B preamp; API 550b/500H EQ; Neumann U47 mic; Countryman DI Meyer Sound CQ-1 1x15 cabinet;


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BOB BABBIT THE OTHER MOTOWN HEAVYWEIGHT

Being part of Hitsville’s staff was the dream of every musician in Detroit—and Babbitt was no exception. He had tried to break into the company in 1965, by auditioning for the Supremes road band, but was talked out of it by Ed Wingate. Two years later, a second opportunity presented itself when Motown founder Berry Gordy tried to eliminate all competition in Detroit by buying out Golden World. Bob had been playing some live dates with Stevie Wonder, so Gordy’s move left him perched right on Hitsville’s doorstep. “My first Motown date was a Stevie Wonder song called ‘We Can Work It Out.’ My immediate impres-

sion of [Motown’s] Studio A was how good they made the bass sound. It made you feel as if you could do no wrong. In terms of practical matters, like working with producers and engineers, those were the best music lessons I ever had. For one thing, I learned that most of the time when people say, ‘You sound great,’ they’re not talking about your technique or the notes you’re playing. They really mean the sound itself. I also learned that if the music doesn’t feel right, the first thing they’re gonna do is blame the bassist or the drummer, so feel is more important than the notes.” Because of the overwhelming presence of James Jamerson within the company, Babbitt soon found that working in Studio A was a bit more complicated than just showing up, plugging in, and cutting a hit. “Working at Motown was the hardest thing I ever did, because I always felt like I was in the hot seat,” he sighs.

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BOB GLAUB DON HENLEY, JACKSON BROWNE, ROD STEWART, DONNA SUMMER, JOHN LENNON, CROSBY, STILLS & NASH

Bob Glaub is a busy L.A. session bassist known for his thick tone and killer feel.

ON LIVE STUDIO PLAYING AND OVERDUBBING: “In the studio you play to maybe four people, and six months down the line you hear it on the radio. You have to put every ounce of your energy into the track to create the moment, as if you were playing in front of an audience. Sometimes I might try to picture an audience, and imagine what it would be like for them watching. But ultimately I react to the people I’m playing with, the outcome of that interplay is what goes down on tape. On an overdub you sit there in the control room and have a little more time to construct a part and dial in your sound. You have to fit in with what’s already there. I had nothing to do with the feel, yet I have to make it seem like I did.”

ON WHAT HE CONTRIBUTES TO THE MUSIC ON A SESSION: “I think I bring a lot of heart and a keen sense of the groove to a session. I show up with a good attitude, if I’m bringing one bass or a trunk full they’ll all sound good, I listen and try to play the right thing. I don’t want to call attention to myself, I want the focus to be on the singer and the song. I’ve developed a sixth sense for how to fit in to a track. The time, the groove, the feel, where the drummer places the hi-hat and the snare and kick. I listen to the singer, the melody, the lyrics, the other instruments—the whole pallette. It’s a very instinctual thing. It’s hard to describe, I’m such an in-the-moment player that I don’t think about it much. But there was a time when I thought about it so much that it got in the way, I realized that not thinking made the music flow better.”

ON DEALING WITH DIFFERENT DRUMMERS: “Well, some drummers play on top of the groove, some play behind, and some right in the middle. A little edge is nice, it creates forward motion, but If a drummer is too much on

top, it makes me work harder. I’ll dig in and try to broaden out the beat, I’ll try to sit more in the middle. For instance, Jim Keltner, who is one of my favorite people and musicians, leaves a lot of breathing room, you can play behind, the middle or on top and it all works. He’s got a big, wide groove, there’s a lot of flexibility for a bass player. The other side is Kenny Aronoff, who I also love. He has incredible energy and a very diverse background, he’s a classically trained timpanist as well as a great rock drummer. He plays more aggressively, and I react well to that. Yeah, he definitely was, but I also listened to Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Milt Hinton, Jimmy Blanton, Mingus, Slam Stewart, and Paul Chambers, they all were big influences too. I did make a conscious effort not to use the double stops in the same way as Chuck, I was bringing an R&B ear to rock and roll music. I love Bob Moore who played on all the old Patsy Cline hits, Willie Dixon, Edgar Willis who played with Ray Charles early band. I was also listening to the bass playing of Hammond B3 players like Groove Holmes, Larry Young, Jimmy McGriff, and Jimmy Smith.”

SESSION TOOLS Lakland Bob Glaub Signature 4-string; Fender Precision Bass, Gibson Les Paul Signature; ’50s Kay Hollowbody; Demeter tube preamp & DI; Ampeg B-15


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CAROL KAYE THE BEACH BOYS, RAY CHARLES, SIMON & GARFUNKEL, BARBRA STREISAND

Carol Kaye is a studio bass pioneer, known for her jazz-inflected lines and aggressive pickstyle bounce.

ON THE EARLY DAYS: “I thought, ‘Four strings, easy enough … and only one thing to carry in.’ It was easier to specialize. I practiced fiercely at first. I considered myself a jazz guitarist who picked up the Fender bass, as it was called then. The challenge of inventing a line and helping to make a hit happen was fun. “I’d been reluctant to work in the studios. I’d heard the musicians talk, the horror stories about studio work ruining your creative chops so you could never play jazz again. I kept up

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with jazz for a short time, until I got into bass, which eventually ruined my hands for serious guitar. But I thought, ‘The music’s not that bad.’ It was enjoyable to make a #1 hit record.” “There were a few string bassists who could play Fender bass—Buddy Clarke and Red Callender—but the guitar players usually didn’t have the feel of the bass, except for Joe Osborn, Art Wright, and Ray Pohlman. I was aware of James Jamerson’s work for Motown, but I rarely listened to other bass players. I came up with creative lines

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from my jazz background. Eventually, I realized that a lot of my patterns also came from things like the jazz chords Artie Shaw used in the ’50s and the Latin licks I’d played in big bands. “I played with a pick, and my sound accidentally put the other adjunct bassists out of work—unfortunately. It was more versatile; I could get a deep bass sound or add a bit of ‘click’ with the pick, enough to make it sound like a Dano at times. That changed the whole thing. The producers started to figure, ‘Instead of three bassists, we can hire that one Fender bass player.’ Brian Wilson [of the Beach Boys] still used Lyle Ritz on string bass sometimes, as would Henry Mancini with Ray Brown. But beginning in 1964, producers were dropping the multiple-bass sections. They also liked the spontaneous creativity of the two-bar rhythmic bass lines they’d ask me to invent. “I played what I felt was needed for the different songs, situations, and groups. Arrangers wrote down my lines, and later I had to sightread hard charts—sometimes reading my own earlier lines, even my double-stop funk lines. When I worked for Motown, arrangers like Gene Page, Jerry Long, and Gil Askey would write two charts, hard and easy. The hard one was for me, and the easy one was a backup in case I was booked.”

ON THE STUDIO GRIND: “When we went to the dates, we wore jeans and worn-out tennis shoes. The cords were dirty, we’d knock over coffee cups, and there were no rugs on the floor. It was a cold, stark, bright room—we all wore dark glasses so we could read the music under the fluorescent lights. We weren’t into partying. We were lucky to get a lunch break, and eating out of cans from the vending machine was the usual as we dashed from studio to studio every day, hoping to find a close-in parking spot. I’d try to make it home to eat dinner with my kids. I’d say 98% of our group did not use drugs, booze, or prescription pills. We lived on a ton of coffee. “There was a lot of work, and we tried to help everybody who came into town. When James Jamerson came out from Detroit, we all had a lot of respect for him because he started

the Motown sound. I recommended him for dates but got bawled out because there were ‘problems.’ If you couldn’t come up to the Hollywood standard, you were out. It was a very strict, cut-and-dried business. “By the late ’60s, the fences had started to go up. The rhythm section would record first, the horns would come in later, and then the strings, and then the vocals. The rhythm section would jam, and the arranger many times would write parts for the horns based on our lines. It would fit great, but the layering cut down on the feel. It got to be more of the arranger’s date. A lot of control was taken out of our hands, and our day was starting to go.”

LOOKING BACK AT THE ’60S, KAYE RECALLS HER WORK WITH SOME OF TOP NAMES IN THE BUSINESS: Phil Spector: “His sessions were long, anywhere from 20 to 35 takes. I played bass on the Righteous Brothers’ ‘(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,’ guitar on the rest. We usually recorded at Gold Star, and sometimes the horn section would draw a naked lady on the wall to throw darts at while they were waiting—aiming strategically, of course. It got a little boring for them, because Phil took his time to get sounds on the rhythm section. But they were great and played their asses off. “People try to get me to say bad things about Phil, but he was an artistic genius with sound and he loved jazz musicians. He paid us very well, too. Hal Blaine was his mainstay [on drums], along with [such studio players as] Earl Palmer, Ray Pohlman, Tommy Tedesco, Barney Kessel, Al Casey, Don Randi, Mac Rebennack, Larry Knechtel, Glen Campbell, and myself. Glen used to sing dirty hillbilly songs in the lulls.” Henry Mancini: “He had fun with his music. We’d be sitting, waiting for our cue to come in, and he’d go off into another tune. While we were playing, he’d get us laughing so hard that we’d have to take a 20-minute break.” The Beach Boys: “I played guitar on the dates for a while, but starting with ‘Help Me Rhonda,’ Brian [Wilson] switched me to bass. The music all came from his head. Brian came up with the ideas and the arrangements—he was very creative.”

SESSION TOOLS Fender Precision Bass; Danolectro 6-string; Fender Super Reverb amp


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CHRIS CHANEY JANE’S ADDICTION, ALANIS MORISETTE

Chris Chaney is a top L.A. session bassist with a broad range of chart-topping credits.

click. Nick Lashley and Joel Shearer both played baritone guitars to give the track presence, and they were in booths on either side of the board— which is where I also sat with Alanis and producer Glen Ballard.”

ON CONSTRUCTING BASS LINES IN THE STUDIO:

ON RECORDING ALANIS MORISETTE’S “JOINING YOU”: “In 1994 a friend told Chaney about an audition for a new Maverick artist named Alanis Morissette. The last bassist to be heard, Chris got the gig and left on what became a marathon world tour as Morissette’s debut, Jagged Little Pill, became the all-time biggest-selling album by a female artist. Chris, who used his Sadowsky 4- and 5-strings, Lakland 5, fretless Warwick 5, and vintage Les Paul Signature bass to record Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, can already be heard all over the airwaves on the first single, ‘Thank U.’ But the disc’s most interesting bass part comes from ‘Joining You,’ a funky rocker with a powerful key-change hook. The rhythm tracks were recorded live, with no punches. We kept the second or third take. Gary was in the main room and played to a

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“I learned more about pop rhythms from [Alanis drummer] Gary Novak than from anyone else. Gary taught me that it’s all about the subdivisions within the beat. I learned that even when you’re just playing the root on the downbeats, if you understand the beats’ subdivisions and how they work together, you can make the shit as funky as hell. And once you understand exactly where to place your notes, you can start building your grooves from the drums on up. That’s a crucial skill, especially in pop music. Grooving with a drummer is all about the space around the beat, and being able to control your notes—not just when you play them but also how you play them and for how long. Understanding that will allow you to do so much more with a simple groove. Unless we’re playing written parts, I use the same approach most of the time, regardless of the artist or style: I clear my mind, listen to the other instruments, focus on the progression and the overall song structure, and start hitting roots as the song passes by. Then I begin searching for the part. The more the song passes by, the more I start hearing the part that should be there. I don’t know where that comes from, but I always hear something. And that something gradually progresses until it becomes part of the song. Open-minded listening is the key. It’s what helps me understand what is an appropriate sound or part. It may not be the clichéd sound or part for that particular genre; it may be something totally different. But being open to all music, I can usually tell right away if it will work. It’s tough to analyze, and it’s hard to say exactly where that inspiration comes from. It’s really cool that any other bass player, given the same song, would come up with a different part. I love that.”

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CHUCK RAINEY QUINCY JONES, ARETHA FRANKLIN, STEELY DAN, JOE COCKER

Chuck Rainey is a groove legend, contributing his busy-but-funky style to a pile of major R&B and rock records.

ON SUSTAINING A LONG AND SUCCESSFUL STUDIO CAREER: “To start with, I’m a player, and I have been my whole life. I love to play and I need to play; the only music I don’t like playing is music that isn’t organized, and I encounter very little of that. I also realize what may be a good idea

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today isn’t necessarily going to be happening a month or a year from now. I’m amazed how many of my peers still play the way they did 20 or 30 years ago; they act like it’s the cutting edge, but it just sounds old-fashioned to me. I come more from the Miles Davis mentality: what’s past is done, so let’s move on to some-

thing new. For example, I wouldn’t use an Ampeg B-15 [amp] now, and I don’t play my Fender anymore, because things change. My biggest problem, though, is getting people to perceive me that way. For at least seven of the last ten projects I’ve played on, I was brought in to recreate feels I played in the ’60s and ’70s, and that’s a drag. I keep current with what’s happening in popular music, and I feel I’ve continued to grow as a bass player. Even if a project involves old music, why not re-interpret it with some contemporary flavor? That’s what made Cornell Dupree’s Bop ’N’ Blues album so enjoyable.”

ON THE NEW YORK HERITAGE OF HIS DISTINCTIVE GROOVE APPROACH: “In New York, the drummers were playing with a 16th-note feel; that awakened a similar rhythmic sense in me, rooted in both my drum and bugle-corps background and my exposure to rag music early on. I hear all the stuff between the notes when I play—like the tuba’s funky two-feel in a Dixieland brass band, or the hightom parts in a drum corps. All those in-between rhythms and ghost notes provide the nuances that give a groove that swinging, push-pull feel. In Detroit, Benny Benjamin and Pistol Allen weren’t playing as busily as the New York drummers—so I was able to clearly hear all of those rhythms coming from Jamerson. I’ve always described myself as a busy player, but not “busy” as in playing a lot of notes. I’m rhythmically active—almost like a drummer playing bass.”

ON HIS FAVORITE NEW YORK RHYTHM SECTIONS: “One was led by Gary McFarland, with Donald McDonald on drums and Warren Bernhardt on piano; another was with drummers Gary Chester and Herb Lovelle, and guitarists Vinnie Bell and Al Caiola. I did the most sessions—literally thousands—with Bernard Purdie, Eric Gale, Paul Griffin, and Carl Lynch on second guitar; that would sometimes be altered to include Jimmy Johnson on drums or Richard Tee on piano. My first-call

subs were Jerry Jemmott and Gordon Edwards, who were great bassists in their own right, of course. As for my all-time favorite section, it would have to be the one with Bernard, Eric, and Paul Griffin or Richard Tee.”

ON WORKING WITH QUINCY JONES AFTER MOVING TO L.A.: “I started doing sessions for Quincy, and because of that, a lot of producers and contractors began calling me. Motown called with work as well, since many of the artists and musicians knew me from back in the Great Lakes area, and they had two studios going around the clock. On top of that there was the weather, the beaches, the convenience of driving right to a session and parking my car, and—of course—the fact that I was getting double and triple scale.”

ON HOW THE L.A. STUDIO SCENE DIFFERED FROM NEW YORK: “A lot of the bassists played with a pick, so they had a clicky, twangier sound. I switched to roundwound strings, and I even had a DeArmond pickup installed by the bridge of my PBass for a while to get more of that snappy tone. But it wasn’t just the bass players; the whole sound coming off the board was much brighter than in New York. On the business side, there were a few ploys I didn’t care for. If someone wanted you on a record date and another person on the project wanted a different bassist, sometimes that person would call and book you on a bogus session that took place at the same time. Then, when he got the player he wanted, he’d cancel you on the fake session, and you would end up with nothing. The other hassle I ran into was bassists—and I mean notable bassists—taking credit for something I had played on. I was sort of a maverick in town, because I worked as an independent contractor, and I refused to be pushed into any cliques. Overall, though, I have fond memories of my time in L.A. The only downside was that my chops suffered, because I wasn’t working as much or enjoying the playing as much as I did in New York.”

SESSION TOOLS Fender Precision Bass; Ken Smith basses; Warrior basses; Ampeg B-15; Genz Benz amps; LaBella strings


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DAVID HOOD ARETHA FRANKLIN, STAPLE SINGERS, PAUL SIMON, ROD STEWART, BOB SEGER

As the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios house bassist, David Hood helped establish a definitively funky Alabama vibe on a big pile of hits in the ’60s and ’70s.

ON HIS FIRST SESSION: “The band I played in booked the session—the lead singer’s father put up the money. We rehearsed the song and just went in and played it. I wasn’t scared or nervous, because I didn’t know I should be. It was only after I started working for other people that I got nervous.

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Everybody else had been playing longer than me, and I always felt like I was a little behind. Back then it was all mono, so if you messed up it was stop and start all over again—there was no punching in. That was a bloodbath at first, because Rick Hall was a taskmaster who didn’t mind embarrassing you in front of every-

Totally Tubular!

body. That’s when I learned to just cancel my feelings and put everything out of my mind except the job at hand. I loved the job, though— I was learning new things and getting paid. Even though it wasn’t a lot of money, it was better than working at the tire store.”

ON STAYING FOCUSED ON COUNTLESS SESSIONS: “Sometimes we would cut 50 tracks in a week. The producer would run in these songwriters, we would record their track, they would leave and finish it, and we would never know what it was. Later on it would come out, and I’d say, “Is that us? It sounds familiar.” For a while we were a track factory, and we were really good at it. We could make them all sound good and different enough. But it’s hard over the long run. You start to burn out. “I don’t have a secret to staying focused; I just have to shut out everything else and go into this state of mind where there’s nothing but the music. When you’re doing that and you lock into a real good thing, it’s almost like you’re floating—your body’s doing it without your having to think about it. That’s a great thing, and I don’t think it happens as much with rhythm sections that are thrown together.”

ON DEALING WITH CHALLENGING SESSIONS: “I hate when something doesn’t work on a session. It’s your whole soul on the line. Plus after all these years I have a reputation to live up to. But I’ve learned you can’t force things; if it’s not working one way you just try something else. Usually it helps to simplify. I’m not a real technical player anyway, so I’m more comfortable playing less. Having a good sound and playing in tune and in time is much more important than chops. You’re not playing for yourself or for other bass players—you’re playing to make a song come out. It’s not brain surgery. It’s all about entertainment. If you’re not pleas-

ing someone you’re wasting your time. “Don’t get me wrong, though—I love for somebody to give me a challenging line. Even if I don’t nail it exactly, it’s fun to do my version of it. I get tired of sessions where nobody has any suggestions; that’s not any fun. I know what I know, so it’s fun to get outside ideas.”

ON BEING STARSTRUCK BY AN ARTIST AND HIS FAVORITE SESSIONS: “In the beginning I was starstruck by artists, and Aretha Franklin was one of them. I had a Columbia record called Trouble in Mind that I thought was wonderful, and when they said they were bringing her here I said, Hot dog! I’m going to get to work with her. On those first sessions I played trombone, but later I got to play bass with her, and that was fun. She’s such a great vocalist and piano player that you can just pattern your part after what she’s doing. “I loved all the Staple Singers and Stax stuff, and there have been some great Atlantic things produced by Jerry Wexler as well as Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd. I enjoyed working with Phil Ramone, and I got to work with Otis Redding when he was producing. He taught me a lot of things about rhythm and feel, like playing on the upbeat when you would normally be playing on the downbeat. His feel was so good, and you can hear it in all of his records—horn lines and everything. You can tell Otis had a hand in that. I’ve been privileged to work with a lot of other great people. Some of the early Bob Seger stuff was fun, and so was Paul Simon, though he got kind of weird toward the end. He had heard “I’ll Take You There,” so he called Stax and said, Who are those Jamaican musicians? They told him, Those are some white boys from Alabama. When he first came down here he told us, This is the song, I want you all to just do what you do. We did and were very successful. But toward the end he figured, Gosh, these guys aren’t musical geniuses or anything—I know more than they do. So he started dictating every note, and it didn’t sound as good.”

SESSION TOOLS Lakland 55-94, 44-94, and Joe Osborne; ’76 Alembic 4-string; Kubicki Ex-Factor


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DAVID HUNGATE TOTO, BOZ SKAGGS, GEORGE JONES, REBA MCENTIRE, RICKY SKAGGS

David Hungate is one of Nashville’s most revered session bassists. His song-serving style has supported hundreds of records.

ON THE P-BASS: “My main complaint with virtually all the non-Fender designs I have tried is this: though they are often capable of producing a wide variety of sounds, they are usually incapable of sounding like a good Precision. And the sound most producers and artists in the real world want is that of a P-bass played with fingers or a pick.”

ON THE EMERGENCE OF DRUM MACHINES AND MODERN MUSIC:

ON THE REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDIO PLAYING: “Studio playing requires accuracy and subtlety. It also demands less attention to wardrobe and choreography than to fret noise and ground hum. To maintain a career as a studio musician, it’s valuable not only to have your own distinctive style but also to have a command of a variety of styles and techniques. Players who consistently refuse producers’ requests to play certain styles because of their personal tastes may be respected for their artistic integrity, but they will tend to have short careers.”

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“Playing with drum machines and sequencers is the ultimate in predictability and one of the easiest things I’m called upon to do. But nothing is as much fun as playing with a roomful of musicians having a good time. The best thing about working in Nashville today is playing with rhythm sections rather than machines most of time, and getting to play songs rather than the fatuous exercises in production and image that constitute so much of current pop. The ’60s and ’70s R&B that was some of my favorite music to play is virtually gone, replaced by mindless, mechanical garbage. Absurd as it seems, thanks to rap it is now possible to have a hit record without a melody or a singer—hype, attitude, and production tricks are often sufficient. And most heavy metal records are just regurgitations of what Led Zeppelin was doing 20 years ago.”

SESSION TOOLS Tyler 5-string; Fender Precision; Pedulla fretless; Kay acoustic

DUCK DUNN BOOKER T. & THE MGS; OTIS REDDING; WILSON PICKETT; ALBERT KING; THE BLUES BROTHERS; NEIL YOUNG

As Stax Records house bassist, Duck Dunn’s fat tone and rocksolid pocket is a definitive voice in the Soul lexicon.

ON GETTING HIS TONE: “I thought we sounded terrible at Stax. I hated it. They were always asking me to play with a lot of highs, and it just sounded too trebly to me. And the drums never sounded right. But we’d walk out and listen to the playback, and the bass would be just as round as it could be. I couldn’t hear it when we were playing, but somehow our sound always made it to tape.”

ON EARLY SUCCESS: “When we started charting records, it just felt great. We all knew, even before the charts did, that we were working with great talent. I mean, Otis Redding—now there was a sense of time and feeling; you didn’t have to understand any of the words he was singing to understand what he was saying. We did have an MG’s sound, but we’d shift it around a little depending on whether we were

playing with Otis or Wilson or Sam & Dave. And as we got more successful, there was definitely a little competition with Motown and Muscle Shoals. At first I used to think, James Jamerson—man, I’m not even in the same league with him. But that kind of competition keeps you focused on your playing. It keeps you working hard—real hard.”

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD GROOVE: “I don’t really think about technique anymore; I just try to think about not overdoing it. I try to do things the simplest way I know how, and I think more about the groove than the notes. I’m a feel player, so it doesn’t take a lot of notes for me to get there—and after you find the groove, anything will work. Once the bass and drums are happening, everybody’s playing better. You’ve got a better band.”

SESSION TOOLS Fender Precision; Lakland Duck Dunn Signature; Ampeg B-15 & SVT-4PRO


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JAMES JAMERSON MOTOWN

The Funk Brother, Motown bassist James Jamerson is perhaps the most iconic, prolific, and astounding of all session players.

Unfortunately, BASS P LAYER never had a chance to speak with Jamerson before his death, so the following are thoughts on his style from a few of his celebrated acolytes.

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Totally Tubular!

CHUCK RAINEY: “On Motown tracks the bass is the most audible element other than the singer. Like all great musicians, James heard other things in his head while he played—such as polyrhythms from the drum patterns—and when he added those ideas they came through loud and clear, but they always locked with the groove and supported the song. Coming from his upright background, James plucked mainly with one finger, using all upstrokes. His heavy touch, high P-Bass action, and “real man” attitude resulted in strong, singing notes. I remember showing him my back-andforth index-finger plucking technique, and he laughed and said, “that’s sissy stuff right there.”

MICHAEL HENDERSON: Jamerson had a way of getting notes that weren’t on the bass. Like on the E string, he’d go between the G and F, but he wouldn’t get an F#—it was something else! He’d fret it just enough to get a ghosted note with some pitch to it. I think Jamerson had perfect pitch; at a club one night I saw him play a bass that had serious intonation problems, and he bent and pulled the strings so every note was in tune. Live, he’d use his Ampeg B-15 or blue Kustom 200 with two 15s, and he would turn the amp almost all the way up, so he could control the volume and dynamics from his P-Bass and with his fingers. His strings were dead flatwounds; [Philly session bassist] Ronnie Baker used to rub butter on his strings to try to get a sound like James had. And his action was so high, you had to get your friend to help you play Bb! But it made every note he played a nuclear weapon. He had a take-no-prisoners approach to playing; every song was a knockout.”

PHIL CHEN: “In Hitsville’s Studio A he recorded direct by plugging into one of five inputs in the wall. Each had a volume control, and he would boost the signal so the VU meter was slightly in the red, giving him a bit of warm overdrive from the tube console. His bass then went through a Fairchild limiter and a Pultec EQ, and he’d hear it through a Bozak

monitor in the studio. In later sessions he would occasionally use his miked Ampeg B-15.”

RALPHE ARMSTRONG: “Jamerson’s high action prevented string buzz and gave him a louder fundamental tone—just as it does on the upright. The foam mute under the bridge cover warmed up his sound, and he’d vary his tone knob between off and full on; sometimes you can hear some bite in his tone. Everything he played was pure and strong. He didn’t believe in tricks; I mean, I saw him slap once kidding around, but everything he played you could write down on paper. He always wanted the instrument to sound like a bass. He used to tease Michael Henderson about playing up high and sounding like a flute. James Jamerson was the man.”

WILTON FELDER: “Jamerson’s style was unique, from the heart, and earthy. He had an innate sense of the bass’s role, but at the same time, he knew how to play freely while keeping the groove going. He could hear a song and instantly know where it was going, where he was able to stretch, and where playing less would mean more. And his bass lines always went with the vocalist and melody. Whatever he played, he meant it and you felt it, yet he was able to add the nuances that gave his parts so much expression. He’s the godfather of the electric bass.”

JAMES JAMERSON, JR.: “As for his sense of syncopation, that was his God-given gift. I couldn’t even explain that one. I put it like this: My dad liked to dance, so he just danced on the bass. He was a staunch acoustic bassist, and he made me learn the upright before I was allowed to play electric bass, but he grew to like both instruments. When he first got to the electric he told me he felt a bit more regimented and restricted by the frets, so he purposely didn’t apply the exact same approach he used with the upright, and that probably helped him develop his own electric voice. He would occasionally polish his P-Bass, but he’d never touch the gunk that had built up on the fingerboard. He told me, The dirt keeps the funk.”

SESSION TOOLS Fender Precision; Ampeg B-15; Fairchild limiter; Pultec EQ


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JERRY JEMMOTT ARETHA FRANKLIN, NINA SIMONE, ROBERTA FLACK, B.B. KING, KING CURTIS

Jerry Jemmott began his career with the inimitable soul saxophonist King Curtis. Soon after, his supreme funkiness became a musthave for any artist looking for a deep, percolating pocket.

ON FINDING HIS TRUE CALLING: “I discovered James Jamerson through Junior Walker’s ‘Shotgun.’ I took that line and developed it. In fact I was playing ‘Shotgun’ for many years! This led me to my style: I’m going to show them what to play using a combination of syncopation and nuance with a dose of the unexpected.”

goal is to provide a foundation for the music. In addition to his stylistic versatility—which gave him a huge vocabulary of ideas to draw from—he got different sounds from the kit that would inspire me to play a certain way. He was like a percussionist; it wasn’t about a heavy beat, yet he locked a groove hard and tight.”

ON HIS FAVORITE DRUMMER:

ON MEETING JACO PASTORIUS:

Fender Jazz Bass; Rivera

“It was magic from the first time Herb Lovelle and I played together. He would complement and contrast whatever I was doing instead of pinning me in a corner, because his ultimate

“Jaco showed me a harmonized C major scale, and it was a revelation. It was very rewarding watching the same reaction when I passed it on to my students.”

neck-through 4-string;

SESSION TOOLS

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ESP Horizon; LaBella strings

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JERRY SCHEFF ELVIS PRESLEY, NEIL DIAMOND, BARBRA STREISAND, RICHARD THOMPSON, CROWDED HOUSE, ELVIS COSTELLO

After cutting his teeth with the King, Jerry Scheff moved to L.A. and became an A-list pop session man.

ON ESTABLISHING A BASS LINE’S FEEL: “I always start by listening to the vocalists and any instrument they happen to be playing, and then I try to think of a rhythmic pattern—like a Latin clave or something. In doing that, I’m pulling something from stuff I’ve heard before, and it becomes my timekeeper. It helps me to set up spaces between the notes so my accents fall in places that complement what the singer is singing. It’s wonderful when you have a drummer who’s aware of that kind of thinking. It makes it a lot more fun. Many drummers just start playing—“Here it is, this is where it’s going to be”— and they’re too rigid. They don’t listen to the other players or to the nuances in the music. Sometimes you should allow more space, open up the music a little more. The most exciting music isn’t just dead-on perfect all the way through—it’s better when there is some kind of interplay going on. That’s the fun stuff.”

ON HIS FAVORITE RECORDING ENVIRONMENT: “I prefer to record on the main floor with my amp beside me—but I have severe tinnitus and a very serious hearing loss, like what Pete Townshend has. The ringing in my ears is the loudest thing I hear. So when I’ve got a pair of headphones on, the ringing is louder than the music, and it masks the high frequencies. A lot of the people I work for give me the luxury of going into the control room after the take so I

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can hear things in context and fix my part if necessary.”

ON HIS EARLY ’60S WORK: “I played lots of easy-listening and bubble gum music. It was just work. Back then everybody had an answering service that would keep your schedule and book you with whoever called. I sometimes worked in three different studios in one day. At the busiest period I was doing about 20 three-hour dates a week.”

SESSION TOOLS Fender Jazz; Lakland Deluxe 4-string; EMG pickups; Sadowsky outboard preamp; Ampeg B15; SWR Redhead; Tech 21 Sansamp; GHS strings

JIMMY JOHNSON ALAN HOLDWORTH, JAMES TAYLOR, FLIM & THE BB’S

A true bass player’s bass player, Jimmy Johnson is among the most respected L.A.-based studio players, as comfortable in sophisticated pop as he is playing burning fusion.

ON DEVELOPING A 5-STRING APPROACH: “Sometimes you can tell when someone just got a 5, because all you hear are the low notes. There’s a right time to play the B string; you don’t have to be down there all the time. There’s not much else in that frequency range except the kick drum, so you should be sparse with it at first. Play the top four strings while remembering you have those low notes; then, when the music calls for a big sound, go down there.”

ON USING A DI VS. USING AN AMP IN THE STUDIO: “I’m pretty much a DI guy—but on one rock session, the producer asked me to bring all my amps because he wanted an “unbelievable” bass sound. There were eight inputs on the board just for bass. It came out sounding like a Twinkie; everything was canceling everything else out and it was just awful!”

ON HIS TOUGHEST RECORD DATE: “Billy Childs’s His April Touch [Windham Hill

Jazz]. Billy writes really hard parts, with the left hand of the piano often written out for the bass. There were a lot of long, bizarre lines. It’s probably the hardest stuff I’ve played lately, but it’s rewarding to get something like that on tape, even if you do have to go back and fix things.”

ON HOW HE MAKES DIFFICULT PARTS SOUND EASY: “I have no idea—maybe it’s because the stuff isn’t that difficult! I try to remember I’m not the main point of interest until it’s time for a bass solo. I probably overplay in a lot of cases; I definitely don’t hold back if I feel like trying something.”

SESSION TOOLS Alembic Series II; Simon

ON MAKING IT IN L.A.:

Systems DB1A DI; Walter

“It’s a slow process and you have to hang in there. You’ll have to do weird rehearsals and seemingly strange gigs, but eventually one thing will lead to another. I was lucky; I did only a few gigs where I was carrying my rig through a hotel kitchen and asking myself, What does this have to do with music?”

Woods head; Meyer Sound cabinets


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JOE OSBORN RICKY NELSON, THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS, THE MONKEES, SIMON & GARFUNKEL

With Glen Campbell, the Carpenters, Neil Diamond, the 5th Dimension, and too many other artists to name, Joe Osborn was a true pioneer of the electric bass in the studio.

worked my way up to page 12—and my work did double! “Another fellow who helped me was an arranger named Al Capps. He didn’t care if I played his written line, but he always wrote out the part with the chord symbols above, so if I tried to read it and got lost, I could just look at the chords. That gave me a chance to practice without any pressure. Inevitably, while I was still learning, I’d come across some arranger who would say, ‘Excuse me, is there something wrong with the part?’ I’d say, ‘I certainly hope not, ’cause I’m having enough trouble if it’s correct!’”

ON ANONYMITY AS A SESSION PLAYER:

ON HIS PICKSTYLE TONE: “When I got out to L.A. with Ricky Nelson and began working on records and publishing demos, people would say, ‘Wow, we can hear the bass all of a sudden.’ All the notes came out clearly, and I had no idea why. Eventually, I realized that my bass, played with the pick, had its own frequency space. Instead of competing with the kick drum at the very bottom, there was more of a blend. Plus it held up on any kind of record—even if the bass was EQed different, there was an attitude about it, a certain tone that you couldn’t lose.”

The Association got up and made a speech one morning: ‘Please don’t tell anyone you guys are doing all our records.’ But the producers didn’t care. They’d go in and make a hit record and then put a band together to go out on the road. We recorded for a lot of groups: Gary Lewis & the Playboys, the Monkees, the Grass Roots, Spanky & Our Gang, the Partridge Family. I was talking to a keyboard player in Nashville about some of the projects that [drummer Hal Blaine, [keyboardist] Larry Knechtel, and I played on, and he said, ‘Man, I just found out my five favorite bands are all the same people!’”

ON HIS STUDIO METHOD: “Aside from the given of locking with the drummer, I always play for the song. If you listen to the song—the lyrics, the feel, the vocals—it will feed you and tell you what to do. What it all comes down to, in the end, is attitude. You can learn the notes and the form, but ultimately you’ve got to just put both feet on floor, dig in, and play!”

ON HIS FAMOUS ’60 FENDER JAZZ BASS: ON READING MUSIC: “[Session legend] Tommy Tedesco once said to me, ‘I see you on sessions for Johnny Rivers or the Mamas & the Papas, working your ass off to create those parts. If you learn how to read, you can do all the easy dates where you come in, read the chart, and split. You’ll double your money, and you can still do the creative things.’ That made a lot of sense, so I got a book and

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“I think it’s probably a prototype rather than a regular production model. We were going on an Australian tour with Ricky Nelson in 1960, and Fender wanted us to take their new equipment. I asked for a Concert, which was their biggest amp, and a bass, thinking they made only the Precision. When they sent the Jazz Bass instead I was pretty annoyed, but I fell in love with it because the thinner neck was perfect for my short fingers.”

ON RECORDING DIRECT: “Early on, engineers would just put a mic on my amp, but by the mid-’60s people were also taking a direct signal. In L.A., I used to use my 4x10 Fender Concert amp. I still have it, along with an old tweed 4x10 Bassman. Those open-back cabinets worked best for getting the sound of my bass. When I moved to Nashville in 1974, it all became direct, though I’ve been using the combination again lately.”

ON HIS LEGACY: “I’d like to think that maybe the way I played and the way my bass sounded changed the way records were made, indirectly, by making it acceptable to hear the bass cutting through in a melodic way. And I hope that when people listened to me doing things they hadn’t heard before, it inspired them to try new things and to develop their own styles.”

ANTHONY JACKSON ON JOE OSBORN: “Joe Osborn is one of the most important musicians ever to play the bass guitar. No, he doesn’t play 31 notes per second. In fact,

his note-per-song count has almost always been on the low side— but those notes define a universe, as opposed to a circus ring or playpen. The completely original and powerful Osborn style—epitomized by such tracks as the Mamas & the Papas’ ‘I Saw Her Again Last Night’ and Scott McKenzie’s ‘(If You’re Going to) San Francisco’—utterly transcends hype, trick, and any other manifestation of shallowness and mediocrity, which today are desperately sought-after as the norm. As with the case of James Jamerson, Osborn’s story deserves telling because he managed to establish his individuality in a business in which conformity is an unbreakable rule. He did this so successfully for so many years that his career might be summed up as an aberration, one that “slipped through the net,” perhaps leading modern players to believe such individuality would never be tolerated again. This would be a mistake. I have always felt that the most unusual and individualistic of styles can be made to work, regardless of context, as long as the performer loves said context, loves his instrument, and is willing to be patient while—or perhaps if—the music world catches up with him. A look at Osborn’s method, especially when taken in the context of his time (1960s–’70s) and related to what his peers were

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doing then, will demonstrate his absolutely outrageous talent and courage. Remember, conformity in the commercial music world, even in a time of exceptional experimentation, was (and still is) more than party talk: those who insisted on having their own way at all costs were usually punished by partial, or more often total, exclusion. “To define the secret of Osborn, one must confront orthodoxy. He uses a flatpick, not his fingers; he always has, and as far as I know, he always will. Of course he’s heard James Jamerson and Chuck Rainey and Jerry Jemmott and David Hood, all of whom were concurrently active and were considered important industry stylists. However, none of them, as far as I know, was a full-time picker; they, like nearly all others, chose to turn their backs on this most guitaristic of techniques. The result was that Osborn never really heard himself copied and was thus spared the temptation to delib-

erately alter his own style in order to avoid sounding like anyone else. He was therefore free to develop essentially on his own. “It isn’t just flatpicking, of course, that warrants all this attention. Osborn’s sheer control of the instrument, his consistency of touch, his almostperfect time, and his astounding sense of where to play certain passagework on the neck reveal an understanding seldom seen in music—what I prefer to call ‘successful style.’ No doubt, credit for this success must be shared with the great Hal Blaine, and everyone reading this should take note of an irrefutable and enduring truth: The single most important collaboration is that between the drummer and the bass player. This is not to say that Joe could not have achieved what he did without Blaine, but their superb communication and agreement on what-goes-where clearly enhanced the work of both men and is equalled only by the equivalent Motown team of Jamerson and Benny Benjamin.”

SESSION TOOLS 1960 Fender Jazz Bass, played with a pick; Lakland Joe Osborn signature; La Bella flatwound strings

JAMES LOMENZO MEGADETH

NATE MENDEL FOO FIGHTERS

SHAVO ODADJIAN SYSTEM OF A DOWN

CARL DALEMO RAZORLIGHT

JACK DALEY LENNY KRAVITZ

JOSH WERNER MATISYAHU

ADAM CLAYTON U2

RICK SAVAGE DEF LEPPARD

GINGER POOLEY SMASHING PUMPKINS

PETE TURNER ELBOW

COLIN GREENWOOD RADIOHEAD

MARK KING LEVEL 42

MARTIN BLUNT THE CHARLATANS

JJ BURNEL STRANGLERS

TIM KINGSBURY THE ARCADE FIRE

GORDON MOAKES BLOC PARTY

RUSSELL LEETCH EDITORS

ROGER WATERS PINK FLOYD

PINO PALLADINO

GUY PRATT DAVID GILMOUR

JARED REYNOLDS BEN FOLDS

NICK HARMER DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

THE ROXY LOS ANGELES

WOJTEK PILICHOWSKI

JAMES JOHNSTON BIFFY CLYRO

JESSE QUINN KEANE

NICK SEYMOUR CROWDED HOUSE

THE VIPER ROOM WEST HOLLYWOOD

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JUSTIN MELDAL-JOHNSEN BECK, NINE INCH NAILS, MACY GRAY

Justin Meldal-Johnson has got it going on: killer groove sensibility, deep awareness of tone, and the flexibility to deliver in whatever situation he finds himself, whether it’s anchoring the idiosyncratic indie rock of Beck or greasing the slick hip-hop tracks of Macy Gray.

he wanted, but it’s become much more of a twoway street. We actually contribute to each other’s ideas. Understanding his aesthetic and being able to strike out on my own is very satisfying.”

ON TRACKING BECK’S MIDNIGHT VULTURES:

ON HIS UNIQUE STYLE: “People don’t usually call me unless they already know what I do. My phone rings selectively, and I’m lucky to be in that position. I’m not a ‘standard’ studio bassist, although occasionally I get calls that are very generic. I have to make a living like anyone else, so I do records that are way more poppy or standard-issue than what I listen to, but I can find the fun in anything. Generally, though, just being in the studio gets me really stoked. I don’t work every day—I’m often touring or doing other projects— so when I do session work, it’s never a 9-to-5 job. It still has that air of freshness to me, even after ten years of doing it. I think this saves me from the grind, from prematurely having integrity issues and all of that. So I head into the studio looking for something to like, something I can contribute to, something I can ride like a wave and maybe take in my own direction a little. It’s a matter of viewpoint.”

ON WORKING WITH BECK: “When we’re in a recording environment, he regularly asks me to do things that seem impossible— whether it’s a tap-dance on some effect pedals or a very gymnastic, non-standard bass part. Those demands helped my musical development in no small terms. His approach can be daunting, but my job is to throw away preconceptions and just dive in. For a while, I tried to play what I thought

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“‘Peaches and Cream’ is a classic example of how interesting it can be recording with Beck. As the tune developed, I tried various lines, but nothing I came up with aesthetically matched what he envisioned. As I was about to try another take, the track was playing back while I was sitting on a couch, absentmindedly fretting with my left hand and looking through a magazine with my right, as well as chatting with the others in the room. Beck then pointed and exclaimed we should ‘try that!’ I didn’t have much of a clue what he was talking about—the stuff I was doing with my left hand was just subconscious noodling. We spent some time figuring out exactly what ‘that’ was, and we came up with this subtle, broken, offbeat line, which works in tandem with a likewise off-kilter guitar part. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My Vox Cougar was the instrument of choice.”

ON SESSION RAPPORT: “I’ve been in situations where the producer and artist don’t know each other that well, and if I see that they’re not necessarily firing on all cylinders, I get up and work my way into their rapport. I don’t want to make crappy recordings; I want to make lasting records. No matter who it is, five or six people in a room have the potential to make great recordings if they can put aside expectations and create music for music’s sake. If you can get everyone feeling each other and really listening to each other and just playing for fun, magic is inevitable. It’s a classic way to make records, and the results speak for themselves. That’s why it will always be the best way to record.”

SESSION TOOLS Guild Starfire, ’60s Vox Couger hollowbody; SansAmp PSA-1, Empirical Labs Distressor compressor; Boss Bass Synth; Electro-Harmonix BassBalls

LARRY KLEIN JONI MITCHELL, PETER GABRIEL, FREDDIE HUBBARD

Larry Klein plucked his upright with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson, and his electric on seminal recordings with Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, and Don Henley —that’s Larry’s fretless on Henley’s “Boys of Summer”—before becoming one of L.A.’s top producers.

ON HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE L.A. STUDIO SCENE: “The impact of Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, and Alphonso Johnson motivated me to try putting my own fingerprint on the bass. More than flash, I was interested in shaping the music from the bottom and playing to the composition. Alphonso was a key influence in that way. With my rock and pop roots, I was also attracted to what great session musicians like Victor Feldman were creating on hit records. Fortunately Victor’s drummer, John Guerin, liked me and got me into the L.A. scene.”

ON WORKING WITH JONI MITCHELL AND HIS MOVE INTO PRODUCING: “Her artistic commitment spoiled me. I was getting sucked dry by the daily session grind,

and I hated the sound of 90% of the other tracks I played on. I decided to integrate all of my skills and put myself in a position to make albums sound the way I thought they should sound. That brought me to record production.”

ON A PRODUCER’S ROLE:

SESSION TOOLS

“A producer’s job is to help an artist edit ideas; you then take those ideas and find the best way to execute them to yield a record that’s identifiably the artist’s. My favorite producers create a fresh sonic palette for each album that’s organically tied to the artist’s music, as opposed to falling back on something familiar or forcing their own trademark sound on the artist. Ultimately, producing is similar to the challenge of coming up with a good, solid bass part instead of overplaying. Both involve humility for the music’s sake.”

1920s Czech upright bass; Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay 5-strings; Lakland 5-strings; Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler; vintage Neumann U 47 condenser mic; Royer R-121 ribbon mic; TubeTech compressor, Urei 1176 compressor


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LELAND SKLAR JAMES TAYLOR, PHIL COLLINS, JACKSON BROWNE

Leland Sklar’s legendary studio output—from James Taylor and Phil Collins to Jackson Browne and Hall & Oates—earned him a Lifetime Achievement Award at 2007’s BASS PLAYER LIVE!

SESSION TOOLS Modified P-Bass with a Charvel body, ’62 Fender Precision neck, and EMG pickups; fretless Yamaha

ON MAKING NOTES COUNT:

TRB; medium-gauge GHS

“Before anything else, you have to be musical. It’s great listening to a guy like Pino Palladino; he can hit a note that’ll last for three bars—and I’ll faint. It’s the right note with the right sound and the right emotion. Somebody else could have put a thousand notes into that space, but his one note says much more.”

Progressive strings

studio: everybody’s got a different board, a different direct box, a different patch bay. I hardly ever get involved in bass sound in the studio. I go in and I play the best I can, and then it’s up to them. Each guy has his own way of doing things, and I don’t feel it’s my gig to educate the engineer.”

ON HIS MAGIC “PRODUCER SWITCH”: ON STUDIO ETIQUETTE: “There are so many variables from studio to

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“I used to have a bass with a ‘producer switch’ on it. That’s what I called it. All I did was drill

Totally Tubular!

a hole and install a toggle switch; it wasn’t wired to anything. When the producer would ask for something different, I’d flip the switch and he’d go [gives the thumbs-up sign], ‘That’s great!’”

the whole bass down. I’ll just look at the chart and think of it as the other key. The music takes on another dimension, because I can play a lot of open strings.”

ON TAKING DIRECTION:

ON STRINGS AND THINGS:

“I always tell people to speak up if there’s something they want me to do—or not to do. Nothing I’ve ever played is etched in granite. When you’re working with writers and singers, they have to be happy. I do a record and move on, but the artist has to live with it for a long time.”

“When I’m working in the studio, I hardly ever change strings. On the road, I change them every three days; to cut through in an arena, I like to have the best, brightest sound I can. But that doesn’t necessarily work in the studio.”

ON NERVES: “Before a session, I get nervous; before a show, I get anxious. There’s a big difference. When I’m out on the road, I know the music well, so it’s more a feeling of excitement. Before sessions, I often don’t have any idea what I’m going to be doing, and that makes me nervous. It can be scary to work on music you’ve never seen before.”

ON LISTENING: “The last thing I listen to is my part; I kind of know what I’m doing, but I want to hear where the guitar player and the drummer are breathing, and then find the thing that holds all that together. Too many guys become these little islands; you go over and listen to their mix, and they’re just listening to themselves. To me, the family of players is the greatest extended family there is. When you start to breathe as one, when you can close your eyes and still catch all the hits and all the nuances of the music, when everybody’s there together and listening to each other—then it’s magical.”

ON 4-, 5-, AND 6-STRINGS: “You have a variety of tools to do different jobs—a carpenter doesn’t show up to a job with one hammer and one screwdriver. I probably do 90% of my work with a 4-string; it’s the right tool for the kind of music I play. If I’m in the studio, I might bring the whole bass down; I’ve got one bass that sounds good tuned CFBbEb. If there’s a song in D or C, I sometimes tune

ON THE NASHVILLE STUDIO ENVIRONMENT: “It’s very rare that anyone has all the parts worked out beforehand, so the artist will rely on the players to come up with something. That’s one of the great things about working in Nashville—we’ll get the demo and ideas will just start to flow. Someone will come up with a bridge or an intro, and then we’ll work together on the arrangement. That environment helps you to create great parts. It’s funny, because sometimes you have a so-so tune and by the time it’s finished everybody’s going, ‘Wow, that’s great.’ Other times, you’ll start with a great song and … nothing!”

ON KEEPING A BROAD SKILL SET: “The more skills you can harness, the better it is for you. People ask me, ‘What about reading?’ I say, ‘If you have the time and the inclination, learn to read. It can only enhance your career.’ If you can, learn treble clef, too; an arranger might hand you a chart in treble clef, so you should know what it is. Figure these things out. I’ve had to learn how to do number charts in Nashville, which is a whole other thing completely. Harness as many skills as you can—and that includes chops. If you can do all kinds of machine-gunning and hammering and harmonics, you may get called for it. But start with the fundamentals; have a feel for music and time and intonation. Work on a tone; work on a touch; work on glisses and the other things that get you from here to there. Then all that other stuff is like frosting on the cake.”


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ON COUNTY BASS: “Country bass is a very exacting art form. You’ve got to know just where to edge it and just where to pull it back. And of course there’s all the signature things for bass—the walkups, the walkdowns, the passing tones. There’s a whole vocabulary.”

ON SETUP: “Higher action produces better tone—it increases the string’s orbit potential. Plus it keeps me from lapsing into personality attack

36


and playing inappropriately. If I’ve been on vacation I usually lower the action for a couple of days to get back in shape. The main technique for dealing with high action is just playing. And if it hurts, stop.”

TONE TIP: “On passive basses with flatwounds, using an outboard preamp can help. P-Bass pickups are pretty midrangy, so I take out some mids. And flatwounds can sound muddy, so I crank the treble to 3 or 4 o’clock. Otherwise my right-

MICHAEL RHODES DOLLY PARTON, THE DIXIE CHICKS, RANDY TRAVIS, FAITH HILL

Since the early ’90s, Michael Rhodes has been first-call Nashville session player, playing on some of the biggest hits in country music.

confines of the song. You ask yourself: What can I do that’s going to make people ask, ‘Who did that?’ In country sessions, the guys get together and decide who’s doing what fills and where: ‘You’re going to fill the first verse; I’ll fill the second verse,’ and so on. It’s like a roundrobin, and you get two bars or whatever. That’s where you have to stand and be counted.”

ON “TIC-TAC” BASS: “There something I do to approximate a tictac sound [the Nashville recording technique that involves doubling a plucked acoustic bass with a flatpicked baritone guitar]. I’ll rest the edge of my palm on the strings, back by the bridge—lightly, so as not to deaden the strings too much. Instead of a pick, I strike with the top of my index fingernail, and then I stop the string with my thumb.

ON EFFECTS:

hand positioning combined with my different basses covers the tonal possibilities. Also, I highly recommend tapewounds for taking some of the ‘chirp’ out of piezo pickups.”

ON SELF-WILL: “Sometimes I get caught in the act of self-will; I might be playing something I think is really cool, and the producer says, ‘No, we don’t want cool—just play bass.’ The ego devil can creep up and say, ‘Okay, where can I sign my name?’ So you pick a little spot, but always within the

“I never print to tape with effects—they’re added afterwards. But how many effects do you use on a country session? The most I’ll ever use is a little chorusing on the fretless, or maybe an octave doubler. You can build this big huge sound that sounds great alone, but it has to fit it into the mix. You’ve got to know how engineers like to mix—the easier you make their job, the more they’re going to like and take care of you.”

SESSION TOOLS ’53 Kay acoustic; ’65 Fender Jazz; ’63 Fender Precision; Sadowsky 4- and 5-strings;

ON CONTINUING EDUCATION:

Tyler fretted and fretless 5-

“I learn something at every session, whether it’s a tough piece of music or something so simple that the Zen aspect comes into play. Like: ‘What is the least amount I can play on this? What is the ultimate note duration?’ It’s a lot more challenging to play something simple and hold the long tones just the right length than it is to wail.”

strings; Lakland Basses hollowbody; fretless Washburn AB5 with La Bella tapewounds; Avalon U5 DI; TubeTech compressor/limiter; Trilogic preamp; various SWR and Euphonic Audio amps


37

MIKE ELIZONDO DR. DRE, EMINEM, FIONA APPLE, MAROON 5

Mike Elizondo has built a killer career for himself as both bassist and producer for some of the top acts in today’s pop and hip-hop.

in between straight and swung feels, and how many different ways there are to play eighthand 16th-notes. Plus, you realize how you can play straight against a swung figure, or vice versa, to create tension. A good idea is to program or sample a drum pattern and play along as you vary the swing percentage. Once that’s in your ears, program a simple quarter-note kick-and-snare pattern at 92 BPM and explore the different feels you can create by moving around the pocket with your bass lines. “Drum machines also changed the way I heard live drummers. I became more aware of a drummer’s individual lope, and I was able to tune in better. Now, I listen not only to the kick and snare but also to the hi-hat and how the drummer is subdividing the inflections, which helps me figure out what will match up the best.”

ON PLAYING FOR PRODUCER T-BONE BURNETT:

ON PRODUCING:

SESSION TOOLS 1957 Fender Precision Bass; ’64 Hofner Beatle Bass;

“Whenever anybody is tracking, I try to have at least one other musician playing with them at the same time. When there’s more than one musician tracking, a certain energy is established, and it translates into a great performance. It’s important for a musician to feel, OK, now we’re just focusing on my part. He needs to feel psyched about his performance and what he’s doing. Since I’ve worked as a musician, I’ve learned what makes me the most comfortable. I try to do that for the musicians I get to work with.”

early-’90s Sadowsky J-style 5-string; Pendulum Audio

ON GROOVING WITH DRUM MACHINES:

Quartet II Mercenary Edition

“Dre’s drum machine, the Akai MPC3000, allows you to adjust how much a pattern swings by setting a percentage. Once I heard that, it kind of re-opened my mind to all those areas

preamp; Line 6 Lowdown LD300 Pro combo; Aguilar and Ampeg amps

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“I am very fortunate to get calls once in a while from T-Bone. I did one for the theme song to Wim Wenders’s movie, Don’t Come Knockin’. The song was written and performed by U2’s Bono and The Edge; they wrote it using Apple’s GarageBand and then sent all the files to T-Bone. Knowing T-Bone’s rootsy recording background, I figured the bass sound needed to be classic, so I brought along two basses that are very dear to me: a ’57 Fender Precision Bass and a ’64 Hofner Beatle Bass. After listening to the song, which had an old Memphis soul feel to it, I knew the P-Bass would fit in perfectly. I went through a Neve 1073 preamp and a Teletronix LA-2A for a little compression. We also ran a signal to a vintage Ampeg B-15 and miked it with a Neumann U 47. Both sounds were then blended together and recorded into Pro Tools. Once the bass part was done, we were free to hang out for a little while. Typically on a T-Bone session, the in-between dialogue can be just as amazing as the music being played. Usually we’ll talk about politics, religion, current events, or anything on our minds. The best sessions aren’t only about the music being recorded, but also whom you get to spend time with while you’re there. It’s all about the relationships with the people you’re creating with. If that’s good, it will always come through in the music.”

MIKE INEZ ALICE IN CHAINS, OZZY OSBOURNE, HEART, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY

The ultimate sideman, Mike Inez has logged studio and stage time with some of the heaviest bands in the business.

ON WRITING CHARTS FOR SESSIONS: “My dirty little secret is when I make a chart for a session, I chart it in treble clef, like a sax player. With Alice In Chains, often I’ll put a part down early on, and after I hear the guitars and vocals I’ll add to it or edit it down; or I’ll redo it altogether because I’ll hear a new line running through everything that will hook up all the notes. Our music is so dense with guitars and vocals that sometimes I’ll just stay heavy and low to let everything ride on top. It all depends on the character of the song; I try to approach each one as it’s own entity.”

ON TECHNIQUE: “Over the last three years I’ve been diving into alternating-string exercises with my index and middle fingers to get my right hand happening. It depends on the song; there’s something about fingers that makes you feel like a bonafide bassist. I use the pick to slam a lot of fifths and power chords, especially behind the guitar solos, and I do a lot of string bends with my left hand, and I like using vibrato and slides to make my parts fluid.”

ON KEEPING GOOD COMPANY:

SESSION TOOLS Warwick Streamer Stage I; Spector

4-strings;

Dean

Markley Blue Steel strings; biamped Ampeg rig

“I really got to grow and refine my style by virtue of playing with some different artists; mainly doing five tours, an album, and a soundtrack with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Music just oozes out of their pores. They’ll jam all day, perform at night, and then get on the bus and play Beatles tunes until 6AM. We would do country sessions jamming with folks like Wynonna Judd, Carrie Underwood, Rufus Wainwright, and Gretchen Wilson. That really stretched me out, musically. And a personal crowning moment for me was having Lemmy ask me to play on a Motörhead record!”

ON HIS HEROES: “When I’m at home, I find myself playing along with a lot of early Elton John. Dee Murray’s

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playing on Elton’s live radio show album [1117-70, Rocket/Island, 1971] is a showcase for how to be a tasty, melodic, space-filling bassist, without being pretentious. Doing all those moving lines underneath with such pocket and imagination is a hard line to walk, and he’s fluid and natural with it. “I was really drawn to John Entwistle’s aggression and lead bass tones as an integral part of the Who. He never took the easy approach to his writing, and always wrote in context with each individual song. I remember meeting him at a Hollywood restaurant when I was starting out, and I said to him, ‘Mr. Entwistle, I think you are a brilliant bass player.’ He looked me right in the eye and without blinking, said, “I fucking know that!” and walked away. I thought that was the coolest thing ever! “Paul McCartney is Bass Playing 101; a great place to start if you are just picking up the instrument. If you sit and listen to his bass lines as their own little pieces you’ll be blown away by how much personality and tongue-in-cheek humor he puts into them. “Led Zeppelin was an amalgamation of some truly great ideas: heavy riffage and superstar musicians creating a unique blend of timeless tunes. John Paul Jones is such a fantastic all-around musician and it bleeds into his amazing bass lines. His solid fundamentals gave him a great platform to experiment as a bassist, songwriter, and producer. Chops, tone, and an inventive brain—this dude is an all-timer! “Cliff Burton was magical to watch in concert with Metallica. I always felt he wasn’t there to entertain you, he was there to kick your face in! He had a unique way of focusing all that aggression and angst into a finely-tuned assault, delivered with the explosiveness of a shuttle launch. He smashed stereotypes of what the capabilities and limitations of the instrument were at the time.”

JAMES MINCHIN

Totally Tubular!


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ON WORKING WITH MILES DAVIS: “Miles was like a musical father to me. In 1980, I was booked to play on a session for him, but he never showed up. A year later, during a country date, I got a note saying, ‘Call Miles.’ He answered the phone and asked me to meet him at CBS Studios in an hour. I went in and introduced myself and played with everybody for a while without much being said. When we were finished, he asked me to join his band. Early on, he occasionally gave me a hard time, but he was always very supportive and proud of my session career. He used to tell his girlfriend, ‘This is Marcus Miller. He drives a BMW.’ Eventually, as we grew together musically, he placed entire projects in my hands, which was incredibly scary yet extremely encouraging. In retrospect, I would say that my bass style solidified on The Man with the Horn, and my composing took giant strides beginning with Tutu.”

TONE TIPS:

SESSION TOOLS 1977 Fender Jazz Bass with Sadowsky preamp; DR Strings; SWR amps; dbx 160 Compressor

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“Many bassists are consumed by their pickups, amps, and EQs, but so much of that is bogus. If you take a singer’s voice—say Chaka Khan’s— you could EQ it any way you want: all lows, all mids—and you could give her every mike on the market—but it would still be Chaka. For bass tone there are two levels. One is the instrument’s natural sound, which is constant. So it’s essential to find a bass that sounds good acoustically. Remember that on most records only one bass frequency comes through, and that’s the low end. So if your bass doesn’t have a good natural tone and has to rely on the preamp or board for bottom, your sound is going to suffer. “Second is how you shade or color the tone based on the song and the setting. So you have to make sure your tone is right when everyone else is playing. Try to do what I do: Get someone to play your bass while you stand out in the hall. You’ll hear needed adjustments you would never think of just by standing in front of your amp. “The other consideration is musical. If you’re playing in a jazz trio, the sound coming off your hands is everything. If you’re backing a pop


singer in an arena, the bottom end is important because that’s what people are going to hear. My shows require both; there’s a lot of tone involved in my inflections and phrasing when I’m up front, but when I’m supporting someone else I just provide a note that I know those big old speakers are gonna grab and dance with.”

ON SLAPPING: “I strike the strings right in front of the chrome neck-pickup cover, not at the bottom of the neck where you get all the overtones. A lot of times I don’t pluck [i.e., pop] at all. That developed during my jingle days, because I found that using my thumb was the best way to hear the bass coming out of a tiny TV speaker. Plus, if you use two alternating fingers, as I do when I play fingerstyle, there’s always a strong note followed by a weak one; with the thumb, every note is strong. That became really important when I started doubling sequenced keyboardbass parts. Then I began challenging myself to see if I could develop the speed to play entire charts using only my thumb. I still add plucks whenever they’re necessary. But I think a lot of players tend to overuse them. The plucks are just accents, afterthoughts—the funk is in the thumb.”

ON INSPIRATION AND EMULATION: “Much of it is vocal. When I slide up to a note or bend to it, it’s emulating a singer, because they usually don’t hit notes right on. The hammer-ons and trills pertain to vocal vibrato, but I also use them because the fretted bass doesn’t sustain as well, so I’ll add a hammer-on to keep the note going. Plus, it gives the line attitude. Then there’s the move where I tap a note up on the G string and pull off on two lower notes on the string—I got that from [guitarist] Hiram Bullock, but I think of it as vocal yodeling, like Leon Thomas used to do. Another influence is blues guitarists; they’ve developed a whole language of making their instrument vocal. On the other hand, it’s nice to develop and use the qualities that are unique about your instrument, so I keep that aspect in mind. I think playing other instru-

MARCUS MILLER MILES DAVIS, GROVER WASHINGTON, JR., CHAKA KHAN

Marcus Miller is a man who wears many hats—and not just of the porkpie variety. Even before getting a big break as one of the young guns Miles Davis employed in the early ’80s, Marcus had made his mark with killer grooves on records by Grover Washington, Jr., the Brecker Brothers, and Roberta Flack. He went on to build an impressive career as a session man, bandleader, producer, and arranger.

PAUL HAGGARD


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MARCUS MILLER

ments helps me, too, as does the fact that I’ve worked with phrasing masters like Miles, Luther Vandross, and Roberta Flack. The bottom line is: Phrasing is everything. It’s what sets you apart and gives music its character. Once you’ve learned your scales and techniques, you have to come out the other side and realize it’s all a tool, and now you have to find a way to reach people.”

ON THE CONTEMPORARY STUDIO SCENE: “It’s a bit tougher now for young bassists to get experience. I was fortunate to play in the studios with different people every day for six or seven years, and I always say I learned just as much playing with bad drummers as with good ones. Plus, you learn so much about people—what makes them excited about music and your bass playing. I also spent those years in headphones, with my bass under a magnifying glass—so in terms of tone, phrasing, and subtleties, I probably developed a lot there, playing with other musicians on headphones. You just can’t duplicate that with a program or a CD-ROM. Bassists today need to find a way to get out there and play in as many bands

44


and situations as possible. [Drummer] Poogie Bell has done some of the jam-band shows, and he says the crowds are really open to what they hear, so I hope that will continue to grow as an outlet for live bands. “On the other hand, there’s some cool music being made by artists combining machines and musicians. I think that’s what this age has to offer right now: these hybrid situations that are really a new sound. Basically, the world today is humans interacting with machines, so why shouldn’t music be that way? Musicians now are doing a better job of reflecting life with their machines than they did 15 years ago, when everything sounded very mechanized. If you go to a club and hear a song like Dr. Dre’s “In the Club,” created using today’s technology with those big speakers in mind, you can’t deny the music’s power. And I’m one who believes that dance music drives everything; jazz, Afro-Cuban, R&B, it all emanated from dance clubs. So machines aren’t going anywhere. But the one thing they can’t replace is musicians sweating onstage, making music and having people respond to it. That’s something I’ll always strap on my bass and do.”

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BASSMAN TV DUO TEN

NATHAN EAST ERIC CLAPTON, PHIL COLLINS, FOURPLAY

Since the early ’80s, Nathan East has been a first-call session bassist for pop, rock, and R&B icons ranging from Eric Clapton and Phil Collins to Mary J. Blige and Boyz II Men.

Fourplay, where you’re creating and cutting with a live rhythm section. The L.A. scene has changed so much; you used to be able to go out to clubs like the Baked Potato on a Tuesday night and get schooled by Jeff Porcaro or Lee Ritenour or Abe Laboriel, who were in studios by day and the clubs by night. Now, both scenes have tapered off a great deal.”

ON ROLLING IN WITH DEMO REELS: “When a producer gets a killer bass sound from me, I ask him to make me a tape I can play for other engineers. I’ll play that tape and say, ‘Listen to this: same bass, same settings. This is what it can sound like.’”

ON THE STAGE VS. THE STUDIO: “People have asked me, ‘Which do you prefer: studio or live?’ That’s a tricky question—but at least in the studio you get representation. Live, I don’t know when you ever get representation of your sound. People don’t hear you, especially at the arena gigs.”

ON MINDING THE GROOVE: SESSION TOOLS

ON THE MID-’80S STUDIO SEA CHANGE:

Yamaha BBNE2 6-string; ’72

“There was a time in the ’80s when I started to feel weird about calling myself a bassist. The synth guys were rolling all this gear into the studios, making all this money, and you had to wonder: ‘What am I going to do now?’ People would ask me what I did, and I’d say, [barely audible] ‘Uh … I’m a bassist.’ And their attitude was: ‘Yeah? What time do you have to have the instrument back to the museum?’ It wasn’t until I ran into Phil Collins and Eric Clapton that I got my confidence back. When I heard Phil say, ‘I’m a drummer,’ and saw Eric out there just plugging in his guitar, I though, Great—this is still an art form I can be proud to attach my name to.”

Fender Precision Bass; Clevinger 5-string electric upright; Aguilar amps and cabs; AccuGroove cabs; Avalon Design VT-737 tube preamp; Aphex 1100 C;ass A tube mic preamp

ON THE CONTEMPORARY SESSION SCENE: “The Pro Tools phenomenon is the main difference. I play alone on a lot of the tracks people send, and it gets lonely! I’m playing by myself on probably 70 percent of my session load—so it’s a real treat to record with Eric Clapton or

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“I usually start by simplifying; that way I can really hear what’s going on. I weed out as much as I can so I can listen and figure out how to react. It’s Chuck Rainey’s concept of ‘what you don’t play is as important as what you do play.’ I listen to the whole drum kit and try to place my part right in the sweet spot. When the groove is really happening, you find yourself in a position of being a listener—you’re actually on the outside looking in. It’s like a little Zen zone where you feel like the groove is playing you. You’re not playing it; you’re allowing it to happen.”

STUDIO TIP: “You don’t necessarily have to move to New York or L.A. anymore. Technology has made it a whole new game—you can be in Cleveland and killing it! You’re just as likely to be on a hit record there as you are in L.A. I suggest setting up a home studio around your computer, and then start writing tunes. Find out who’s doing jingles, CDs—any recording in your area. The best thing you can do nowadays is start stirring it up right there in your hometown.”

NEIL STUBENHAUS QUINCY JONES, JOHN WILLIAMS, BARBRA STREISAND

Neil Stubenhaus has landed some killer live gigs, but it’s his session work—especially for movie soundtracks—where he’s made his most lasting impressions.

my bass has. I keep my balance pot dead center, so both the P and the J pickups are full up. “I can’t tell you how many times producers or engineers have me tweak my tone while playing alone or just with the drums, without taking into consideration how the bass is going to sound when combined with all the other instruments. That’s a big fallacy in recording bass. You need to judge the sound in the context of everything else on the track.”

ON FAIR COMPENSATION: “Bass is probably the most undercredited instrument, because it has the ability to drive the music in a particular direction without the listener— and often the other musicians—knowing it. When the bass player moves in a successful new direction, everybody falls in so instantly and seamlessly it’s usually not immediately apparent why. To drive a whole song on bass, or for a rhythm section to come up with a killer arrangement, and be paid a flat labor wage just doesn’t seem fair. Songwriting and publishing all pay again on radio, TV, and film, but what the sideman contributes doesn’t. It’s not something I’m bitter about, but I can think of plenty of sessions like that in my career.”

NEIL ZLOZOWER

ON THE ONCE AND FUTURE SESSION SCENE:

SESSION TOOLS

ON INDIVIDUALITY:

Mid-’70s Fender Precision with

“Having something in your playing that stands out is terrific for individuality, but it can limit you. In most situations producers want the bass to blend in and not draw attention, especially now with everyone wanting low end more than ever. So a bassist with a distinctive sound may be passed over for a session. I may not have as distinct a sound as some of my peers, but people still know it’s me by the notes I play.”

Seymour Duncan PJ pickups; James Tyler 5-string; Pedulla PentaBuzz 5; Rotosound RS66 Swing Bass strings; SWR Super Redhead and Intersteller Overdrive preamp; Raven Labs APD-1 DI box

ON TONE: “In the studio I very rarely use my onboard preamp. I prefer the true passive sound, and I realize the studio has far better electronics than

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“There’s not a lot of major session work for bassists in L.A. anymore. The players I compete with for calls have been the same for over a decade. I think the answer is to emulate the current music scene and embrace the technology. Hone your bass skills, but also develop some keyboard and songwriting skills. Then take out a loan and get a home studio together. Learn about the gear and the software and how to program, and start putting grooves and tunes together. From there you can begin collaborating with other home studio owners, including playing bass on their tracks. We’ve reached the point where a whole generation of artists has been raised entirely on machines and synthesized sounds. If enough home-studio-savvy bass players counter this by adding real bass on the projects they’re involved in, the session bassist— and the instrument—will maintain a healthy existence.”

PINO PALLADINO D’ANGELO, DON HENLEY, PAUL YOUNG, JOHN MAYER

Pino Palladino first made a name for himself with his fretless subhooks on hits by Paul Young and Don Henley, moving on to make super-deep R&B grooves with D’Angelo and ballsy blues rock with John Mayer.

SESSION TOOLS 1963 Fender Precision Bass with heavy La Bella flatwounds; 1979 fretless Music Man StingRay with roundwounds; Moon basses; Ampeg B-15, Boss OC-2 Octave

ON HARNESSING CREATIVITY IN THE STUDIO: “The first take is always the one—no doubt about it. On the first take you don’t know what you’re going to play, because you never played the song before, and you’re using a different part of your brain. In this case, we probably kept or reproduced a lot of ideas from my first take.”

ON GETTING INTO THE GROOVE WITH D’ANGELO: “It was a meeting of minds and influences and sounds, but the feel is 100% Dee. His concept has the drums right on the beat—almost pushing—with the keyboards and bass hanging back in their own places. At points it can even sound polyrhythmic; some of it reminds me of music I’ve heard in Africa. When we first recorded he’d explain how far back he wanted me, and it felt pretty natural. I’d just try to lay back with the keyboards and listen to the overall feel. Still, there were times when I’d wonder if it was too far back—if people would get it. But when he’d finish putting his vocals and sound collages on top, the whole track would work splendidly. He hears everything in his head before he records a note. “My approach, which Dee encour-

aged, was to constantly develop the line with subtle variations, à la Jamerson. Another key is that Ahmir Thompson’s drumming is very Motown-like; he leaves plenty of room for the bass because he just plays straight, heavy time, without a lot fills. Both Dee and Ahmir are pure hip-hop artists, so everything has a swung-16th-note feel. Ahmir can take that old swung soul feel and make it sound contemporary by adding an edginess that didn’t exist back then. The three of us cut all the scratch rhythm tracks as a trio, and in most cases I ended up replacing my part later, with Dee.”

ON FRETLESS BASS: “The fretless is now on so many recordings, commercials, and films that it sometimes seems like such an obvious thing to do—so it’s nice to step away from it and take a different angle. Also, most of the fretless dates I did were in overdub situations, whereas many of the sessions I get to do nowadays are with a live rhythm section. And while the fretless fits into certain sonic situations, such as an arrangement with lush keyboards, the fretted bass usually sounds better with live drums. That’s not to say I’m down on the fretless; I still love playing

the instrument and there are places where it fits perfectly.”

ON RECORDING THE DON HENLEY HIT “NEW YORK MINUTE”: “When I first heard the song on the monitors there was a smile on my face, because it’s such a beautiful composition. At that point there was no bass, but there was plenty of space left for me to fill up. The rest of the track, including Jeff Porcaro’s drums and Don’s lead vocal, was complete. I used my ’79 fretless Music Man StingRay with new roundwound strings; they remained on for the entire session, which took the better part of the day. I wasn’t given a chord sheet or any notation to follow; I just learned the song through repeated listenings, and it inspired what I played. Aside from a particular movement they wanted on the end of the bridge, I was free to create my own part. Once we got going, I believe I played three versions, and they put the final part together from different portions of all three. I always try to play through the entire track on as many takes as possible. Usually, I get down two takes and have a good vibe going; we keep them for security and then work on a third take to connect all of the ideas.”


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RANDY JACKSON ARETHA FRANKLIN, MARIAH CAREY, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

The “American Idol” judge is more than mere television personality—he’s a bonafide session bass badass, with credits spanning the R&B and pop charts.

like the Roland 808 sitting real low, so you don’t necessarily need big bottom from the bass. Below 80Hz everything starts to spread really wide, so I’m probably not going to reach for my 5-string in that scenario.”

ON PRODUCING WITH NARADA MICHAEL WALDEN: “I’d met Narada on the fusion scene and we were all growing tired of the music; we wanted to reach a wider audience than just musicians. I had moved to L.A. and was breaking into sessions, but when he told me about his company, I headed up to San Francisco to try to hone my skills as a producer and songwriter. We were learning on the job how to be session guys instead of fusion guys, trying to pull back a bit and play the right notes instead of all the notes! We did early albums with Stacy Lattisaw and Sister Sledge, which included my first published songs, and we went all the way to the top of the charts with Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. The scene in San Francisco was great, too. At one point, I was in a pickup band with Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Chester Thompson, Joe Henderson, and Tony Williams.”

ON DOING IT RIGHT:

SESSION TOOLS Mike Lull 4- and 5-strings; Dean Markley roundwounds; Euphonic Audio amps; Line 6 Bass POD

ON PLAYING SYNTH BASS WITH ARETHA FRANKLIN AND WHITNEY HOUSTON: “It was the sound of the time and we were trying to move the music forward. I was one of the first with a sequencer, too. Playing synth bass was cool—the physical aspect and the unique tone make you play with a different approach than a real bass—plus I had some keyboard background, which helped. I used Minimoogs and Prophet 5’s. I still use them.”

ON SYNCING WITH PROGRAMMED DRUMS: “A lot of urban music has programmed drums

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“Listen first to the song and the lyrics and figure out what role the bass needs you to play. Also figure out what sound will work best. Then listen to the people you’re playing with—what each of them is doing—to see how you can best complement the music, because it’s all about the song coming out as one cohesive emotional statement to the listener. Try to take the listener’s perspective. You can pull apart Aretha’s ‘Rock Steady,’ with the drum breaks, and guitar accents, and where Aretha sings and lays out, but it’s Chuck Rainey’s amazing bouncing bass part that unifies all of those parts together, and that’s why it’s such a great song; he made the song with his bass line. The same can be said of dozens of Jamerson and McCartney parts. Even if you’re in a jam playing ‘Giant Steps,’ there’s still a melody you have to support in the head. Make sure you complement it and take the same approach during everyone’s solos; you’ll be ahead of the game.”

TONY LEVIN PETER GABRIEL, KING CRIMSON

Tony Levin has toured the world with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson, and he’s made lasting impressions on hundreds of pop and fusion records.

ON BEING A “SESSION MUSICIAN”: “I’m uncomfortable with the term ‘sessions.’ That’s what they are, and I probably shouldn’t feel the way I do about the word. But there was a time when I really was a ‘session musician’— and I felt okay about it. In those days there was a ton of work in New York, and if you left for a while, your work would be taken up by other musicians. It didn’t involve playing with your own sound, technique, or style; any competent player could be used for any session. But at a certain point, I made a decision not to be a ‘session musician’ anymore; I decided I wanted to be a rock musician and go out on the road. I subsequently got to play on albums by people who liked the way I play the bass, and ever since then, I’ve developed an aversion to being called a studio or session musician. My playing, too, has changed. I’m not the craftsman I was in the ’70s; nowadays I try to come up with parts that express what I want to do with the music.”

ON CREATING: “I use every tool available to come up with different things, but all within a framework of holding it down so it doesn’t ever conflict with what the piece is about. I ask other people— especially the singer—for ideas. Usually the person who wrote the song has an idea about a bass part that’s a real non-bassist kind of thing. When I recorded with Paul Simon he would sing me ideas; they were always flowing and melodic, but they’d be nothing like what a bassist would play. Same with Peter Gabriel.”

ON RECORDING DOUBLE FANTASY WITH JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO: “The sessions at the Hit Factory were ‘secret.’ We were asked not to tell anyone whom we were working for, a situation I found quite silly. On the third day I got into a taxi and told the driver to let me off at 48th Street and 9th Avenue; he said, ‘Oh, that’s near the studio where John Lennon is recording.’ How did he know? He had heard it on the radio!”

ON HIS LIST OF CREDITS:

SESSION TOOLS

“I’m glad I’ve never counted them, because that would be a silly thing to do. I have a tendency to forget things, but the figure is certainly in the hundreds and probably below 1,000.”

Ernie Ball/Music Man Stingrays; Chapman Stick; Trace Elliot amps

ON HIS “SUPER WONDER NAPPY BASS” SOUND: “When I went over to England to record So with Peter Gabriel, I took my two-month-old daughter along. For some reason, I thought I wouldn’t be able to buy disposable diapers there, so I packed as many Pampers as I could fit into my bass case. When I was looking for dampening material for the second part of ‘Don’t Give Up,’ I opened my case and found the Pampers—so I put one under the strings, between the pickup and the bridge. Indeed, it was the deepest bottom I’ve ever been able to get out of a Music Man. In England they call diapers ‘nappies,’ so we called that the ‘super wonder nappy bass.’”


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WILL LEE BRECKER BROTHERS, ROBERTA FLACK, CHAKA KHAN

Though he’s watched by millions every night as house bassist for the Late Show with David Letterman, he’s heard by millions more on any of his legendary records with Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, James Brown, Donald Fagan, and more.

it’s all about in most cases. Another way is to totally ignore the kick drum, at least some of the time. If the drummer is playing a strong, simple groove, you can depart from it and play some new things, and it’s not going to stop grooving. Even if what you play is off the wall, if it’s in time and played with feeling and sincerity, it’s probably going to be a be a good part. That was the key to the Motown sound created by [drummer] Benny Benjamin and James Jamerson. A third type of possibility exists when the song has nothing else going for it in support. That’s a golden opportunity for the bass part to shine.”

ON PLAYING WITH DRUM MACHINES: “I find it easy to do. You can trust where the groove is going to be, and it stays there. That allows me to move around in the pocket and make the groove breathe.”

ON TONE “Tone is a per-song situation. I like to keep myself amused and keep the song interesting by changing tone via technique as the song dictates.” SESSION TOOLS:

ON SESSION NECESSITIES:

Sadowsky 4-string; Yamaha

“You must be able to emulate all the current styles and trends. You need the basics, too: being on time; having a good attitude; being able to read well; and, of course, being ‘Pocket Central,’ ready to lock instantly with various human and non-human rhythm-section partners. You should also be able to offer choices to a producer, including arrangement ideas.”

5-string; fretless ’60s Fender Precision w/EMG JJ pickups; Dean Markley SR2000 strings

ON CONQUERING NERVES: “For a long time, my motto was: ‘If I’m not worried, I’m not awake.’ Now, I’d rather be known as a guy who enjoys playing. My new attitude on sessions is to have a good time, and that translates musically. If I feel good, then people will feel good when they hear me play.”

ON BLENDING WITH DRUM TRACKS: “There are several ways to approach it. One is playing exactly what the bass drum is playing, plus a few other notes. I love to do that. That keeps it simple, and keeping it simple is what

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ON MONEY MATTERS: “At some point in the ’70s, several of us—Alan Schwartzberg, [guitarist] Elliot Randall, me, and a few others—were feeling pretty courageous, so we banded together and decided to charge double scale. [Session players receive “scale,” a standard hourly rate set by the musicians’ union.] We were working a lot, and we thought that by charging double we could weed out some of the sessions that were a drag. As it turned out—and this is just one of the quirky things about the music business—people started calling even more. Work came flooding in. Now, I’m charging triple scale for the purpose of lightening my schedule to pursue other musical goals, but so far everybody has agreed. That’s cool, though, because it allows me to do sessions under the best possible circumstances, which includes paying a cartage company to bring a great selection of instruments. When I accept a session now, I’m going to do my ultimate best.”

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WILLIE WEEKS DONNIE HATHAWAY, THE ROLLING STONES, GEORGE HARRISON, STEVIE WONDER, WYNONNA JUDD, VINCE GILL

On his 1972 Live album, Donnie Hathaway introduces Weeks as “the baddest bass player in the country.” But don’t take his word for it—hear for yourself on any one of Willie’s 200 recording credits, which range from classic rock to R&B and country.

Nashville sessions, just so I could see how it works. What clicked for me was: not busy, but very solid. If you do some sort of movement, you have to make sure you don’t bring a lot of attention to yourself—make sure it doesn’t disturb the groove and conflict with the lyrics. I remember one producer saying, ‘Well, it sounds a little bit happy.’ [Laughs.] I have a lot of fun playing, and sometimes the music feels so good that you just want to bounce that baby. So I had to learn how to bounce in my mind but stay focused on the simplicity of the music. Nobody had any idea what I’d be thinking about when I was playing. Sometimes I’d just be sitting there laughing at myself, thinking, Okay, Willie, don’t go off—just stay steady here!”

ON HIS STUDIO TOOLS:

ALAN NAHIGIAN

“I used to go into sessions with different kinds of basses, just trying out stuff, and the sound I was getting was pitiful. I thought, Why can’t this sound good? It’s just bass! So I started searching for a bass that had a good, solid, simple sound, and I ended up with Fender. The only time I drifted away from Fender was when I was with Wynnona Judd. We were playing in keys like Eb—something that didn’t bother James Jamerson a bit; he would make the coolest things out of odd keys—so I started using different 5-strings: a Yamaha, a James Tyler, a Tobias Killer B, and a Sadowsky.”

ON FLATWOUND STRINGS: ON WORK ETHIC: “When I go in I want to be very positive and very open and energetic. When I get ready to play, I try to open myself and be affected by the music. I try to let it all come through me and happen naturally. That’s how I do what I do.”

ON SHIFTING GEARS FROM R&B SESSIONS TO COUNTRY SESSIONS:

SESSION TOOLS 1962 Fender Precision Bass; Ampeg Baby Bass; Ampeg B-15

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“I did one country session where I was actually let go. I called the producer later and said, ‘Please just tell me why I was let go.’ He said, ‘Well, it just wasn’t jelling.’ [Laughs.] That’s about all I could get out of him. I immediately went out and bought some country records that had bass players who were doing a lot of


“If you’re gonna do Old School, you’ve got to put some flats on there. That’s what they did back then, and it sounded incredible.”

ON THE GROWING POPULARITY OF PROTOOLS: “It doesn’t really affect what I do, although I miss having more live sessions, getting into a room with other musicians and creating stuff. But most of the time when I do an overdub, they’ve worked with it until they’ve got it feeling good, so I don’t have to go through and fine-tune the groove. I had a situation where a guy took my bass line from one part and put it in another part because he liked it so much. I said, ‘Okay, if that’s what you want.’ As long as it doesn’t sound bad, it’s fine.”

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S T U D I O

T E C H

Bass Meets Studio

The

By Jay Graydon & Craig Anderton

RECORDING BASS IS EASY, RIGHT?

You just plug right into the mixer and go direct for a clean tone, and you can also stick a mic in front of your amp to make your bass sound more live. What could be simpler? Not so fast. Recording bass is indeed simple—but getting a tone with god-like low end,

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crispy and well-defined presence, and a consistent level is a whole other story. To begin with, there’s the issue of physically recording the bass: Do you go direct, mic an amp, or both? And if you do use an amp, what kind of speaker sounds best, and where should you place the mic? What happens if the frequency

response isn’t even, with a wimpy low end and muddy midrange? There’s also the problem of uneven level, where some notes jump out while other notes sit timidly back in the track. And if you didn’t have enough to think about already, you should know even your cords can affect your sound.

Recording Direct

DIRECT BOXES

With direct recording, you plug the bass into a direct box (also called a DI, for direct input), whose output typically feeds a mixer’s mic-preamp input. Recording bass direct is popular because loudspeakers and microphones don’t handle low frequencies very well, often removing some of the fullness. Unlike guitar amps, where speaker limitations can enhance the sound, bass amps are constantly fighting the laws of physics. Still, since an amp can be a big part of a bassist’s sound, some people like to mic their amp or combine a miked amp and a direct box.

A direct box transforms the high-impedance output of a typical bass (approximately 4,000 to 10,000Ω) to a low impedance (usually 150–600Ω). This lower-impedance signal is better suited for mixing consoles, which usually have a fairly low input impedance. A DI has some or all of the following: • q" input jack. The bass plugs into this. • XLR (3-pin) output jack. This uses a mic cable to take the signal to the board. • q" output jack. This can be routed to an unbalanced mixer


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input but can also feed a standard bass amp, drive an effects pedal that gets mixed in with the main signal, etc. Note: Some DI designs use this jack as a “mult” (simple split) from the input jack. If so, plug this only into a bass amp, not a mixing console. • Ground-lift switch. This helps eliminate ground loops; if you encounter hum, radio-frequency interference, or other forms of noise, use whichever switch position sounds best. • Goodies. Direct boxes may also include EQ, distortion options, and other extras. Direct boxes are also useful for live performance, as you can pull a direct output for the PA and/or recording setup and also feed a bass amp onstage. There are three basic DI designs: • Passive. Uses an audio transformer with a high-impedance input and low-impedance output. Unfortunately, quality trans-

formers are expensive, and a passive-DI input can still impedance-load the pickup somewhat, resulting in a dark, mushy sound and reduced level. However, if you’re trying to recreate classic bass sounds of the ’60s and ’70s, transformer-based DIs will get you there. • Active solid state. Essentially a preamp that adds clarity and punch compared to a passive DI. Downsides include more noise and the need for a power supply (battery, AC adapter, or console phantom power). • Active tube. Similar to the solid-state type but with a vacuum tube. Tubes have high input impedances, making them well-suited for pickups; they can also warm up the sound. Tube direct boxes require their own power supply. Incidentally, before plugging into any DI or patching one into a mixer, set the console’s faders all the way down to avoid nasty noises and possible speaker damage.


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BASS MEETS THE STUDIO

PREAMPS

AMP MIKING

Instead of using a DI box, you can use a preamp. Preamps add Adding a miked amp to your direct signal changes your tone, gain to the bass signal, which improves the signal-to-noise since a microphone, amplifier, speaker, and cabinet are now in ratio and delivers more signal to the console. There are four the equation. They’re all essentially signal processors, and the main types: way you use them will make a big difference in the final sound. • Onboard. Some basses have built-in active electronics that SECRETS OF THE GRILLE COVER deliver a hefty signal capable of directly driving an unbalanced A grille cover is a passive filter that can affect frequency response, mixer input. This also minimizes the impedance-loading effects and if it rings or resonates it may buzz like a blown speaker. of cables and amplifiers or mixer-channel inputs. Once a cabinet is in place in the studio, if it’s easy to remove • Outboard. Typically a rackmount unit containing controls the cover, do so—the sound will be better. However, don’t let a for gain, EQ, etc. Some also have XLR outputs for direct recording. These preamps have q" output jacks and can directly drive mic hit an exposed speaker; be sure to anchor it (see below). a console with unbalanced inputs—no DI required. 22° MIKE POSITIONING • Bass amp direct out. Many amps have a direct It helps to have someone else, like a second engioutput for recording or PA connection. Some have neer, adjust the mic position while you’re in the a q" output jack, but recording-savvy manufacturcontrol room. (If the console is in the same room ers may include an XLR. • Effects-loop SEND connection. If an amp has an as the musicians, all of you may be wearing headeffects loop, you can use the SEND jack as a prephones.) Any type of mic can work: dynamic, conamp out. Some loops use a q" TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) denser, or ribbon. If the amp will be fairly loud, stereo jack where the tip corresponds to send and use a dynamic mic; these deal best with loud sound the ring corresponds to return; to use such a jack sources. (Rule of thumb: Never put a condenser as a preamp out for a mono q" plug, insert the plug or ribbon mic where you wouldn’t put your ear.) Fig. 1: Pointing a mic halfway—until it hits the first “click.” (Plugging in Whatever mic you select, choose one with an even at a single speaker. all the way will interrupt the effects loop, thus allowbottom-end frequency response. ing no output from the amp.) For a single-speaker cabinet, start by positioning the mic in front of the speaker, directly facing the cone. To FEEDING THE PATCH BAY capture the punch of the moving air, mic very closely—about You can also plug an unbalanced output into a recording-conone inch back from the grille cover (or where the cover was sole patch bay that has q" jacks. Depending on the patch bay, before you removed it). Pointing the mic at the speaker cone this may require plugging in only partially, or you may need doesn’t allow for much low end, though, so more upper-mid to use an unbalanced-to-balanced adapter. frequencies will come through. As you play, have someone slowly move the mic toward the speaker’s left or right outer edge. You DIRECT RECORDER FEED can also try moving the mic toward the top of the speaker, but For the cleanest possible signal, bypass the mixer entirely and only if the amp electronics are not right over the speaker. If patch the DI out, preamp out, or effects send directly into the you’re using a combo and you’re picking up hum from the amp’s recorder. There’s nothing quite like a good tube direct box transformer (which typically sits on one side of the chassis), feeding a quality recording deck. move the mic to the other side. If that doesn’t solve the problem, move the mic toward the lower part of the speaker. The CABLES & CONNECTIONS sound bouncing off the floor may cause phase anomalies, so In a typical studio setup, you’d patch your bass into a direct consider putting the cabinet on a chair, milk crate, etc. Also, box’s input and patch the output into the mixer (or mic bay, when an amp sits on the floor, there is a buildup of low end; in larger studios). It’s usually best to use the DI’s XLR jack, as this may not be a problem when recording unless you notice this is tailored for the console’s mic input. If there’s an addiuneven lows. If so, raise the amp or reposition the mic. tional q" output, you can run it to your bass amp, either for Sometimes you’ll find a mic position where the bottom end monitoring or miking. Careful, though—with some DIs the XLR sounds good but there aren’t enough mids. In this case, try and q" jacks aren’t isolated from each other, so using more angling the mic slightly toward the cone at about a 22° angle. than one of these outputs can cause loading problems that (See Fig. 1.) degrade the sound. If the cabinet has more than one speaker, mic each to find

58


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the best-sounding one. Use that speaker mostly for the bottom end, pointing the mic at least halfway between the cone and the edge. (Moving closer to the outer edge results in less mids, but going too far reduces punch and adds mud.) Then, for the mids, point a separate mic directly at the center of the second-best-sounding speaker. Experiment with both mic positions. Important: With two or more mics, keep them the same distance from the cabinet so both will receive the sound at the same time. If there’s a difference you may get phase problems, which can cause frequency buildups and cancellations. If the board has phase switches, blend the channels in mono, flip one mic channel’s switch, and use the position where both mics’ combined sound is stronger. And if you’re combining the mics with a direct signal, check its phase against that of the combined mics, too.

ANCHORING THE MIKE STAND & CABLE Merely positioning the mic is not enough—it has to be stable. Most mic-stand bases can tip easily. The heavier the base, the better. Anchor the stand with sand bags or any stable, heavy object that will not slip or rattle. Placing three 20-pound sand bags around the base is ideal. While positioning the mic, wrap its cable around the stand’s boom (adjustable upper arm) a few times, and leave a little slack so the cord doesn’t pull and change the mic’s position. To keep the cord from moving, tie it to the stand using removable cable ties. Don’t use permanent cable ties, as you will have to cut the tie later and risk damaging the cable. Velcro cable wraps are the easiest to set up and remove. Duct tape also works, although it leaves an adhesive residue. There should be very little cable slack at the mic-stand base. Secure the cable to the floor. On wood floors use duct tape, and cross the cable with tape in one-foot strips at least every

PICKUPS, CABLES & IMPEDANCE signal gets lost due to the amp’s

drop. Under 50k the sound will

magnetic pickups to convert

input impedance, which is speci-

be obviously compromised; 10k-

string vibration into electrical

fied in ohms (a resistance unit)

and-less impedances, common in

The Bottom Line

energy, and a cord to convey this

or kΩ (“k” for short, which stands

pro-level signal processors and

If you want a bass setup that

energy to an amplifier. The

for thousands of ohms). With

amps, will load down your signal

sounds pretty much the same

pickup, amplifier input, and cord

passive bass pickups, lower amp-

big-time.

regardless of the cable you’re

all interact in a way that greatly

input impedances load down the

influences the final bass sound.

bass and produce a duller sound.

Bass-Output Impedance

immune to amplifier loading),

Here’s why:

(Tubes have inherently high

An instrument’s output imped-

consider replacing your passive

input impedances, which might

ance is equivalent to adding a

pickups with actives. Or, feed

Cable Capacitance

partially account for their endur-

resistor in series with the bass,

your bass into an effect (preamp,

An onboard passive tone control

ing popularity).

lowering volume somewhat.

compressor, buffer, etc.) with a

Almost all stock pickups have a

high input impedance.

rolls off highs by applying a

Impedance doesn’t affect

using (and is also relatively

If you’re committed to using

capacitor from the instrument’s

just level—the higher the imped-

relatively high output impedance

“hot” signal to ground. Surprise—

ance, the greater the tone con-

(around 10k), while active pickups

a stock bass and high-impedance

your cable has capacitance, too,

trol’s effect. This is why a tone

have a low output impedance

amp, keep your cord as short as

which has the same electrical

knob can seem very effective

(under 1k). Note that high output

possible, as a longer cable means

effect as adding another tone

with some amps and not with

impedances make cable-capaci-

more cable capacitance. Cable

knob. While this capacitance is

others. Cable capacitance is also

tance effects more noticeable.

specs include a figure for capaci-

not nearly as much as a tone con-

more of an issue with higher

trol’s, it’s significant in some situa-

input impedances.

tions. Whether this has a major

60

amp’s input impedance.

The electric bass uses electro-

Examples: An input imped-

Furthermore, the bass-out-

tance, usually specified in pico-

put impedance and amp-input

farads (pF) per foot; choose

impedance interact. Generally

cable with the lowest pF-per-foot

effect depends on two other fac-

ance of 250k or higher will have

you want a very high amp-input

rating. (Paradoxically, heavy-duty

tors: amp-input impedance and

virtually no effect on your signal.

impedance if you’re using stock

cables often have higher capaci-

bass-output impedance.

Between 100k and 250k there

pickups, as this minimizes signal

tance than lightweight ones.)

can be a slight, almost impercep-

loss (especially in the high fre-

Avoid coil cords, and keep your

Amp-Input Impedance

tible dulling. Between 50k and

quencies). Active pickups, which

onboard volume control as high

When sending a signal to an

100k you’ll hear high-frequency

have lower output impedances,

as possible.

amplifier (or mixer), some of the

loss but not much of a volume

are relatively immune to an



two or three feet. Avoid duct tape on carpeted floors; instead, put throw rugs or carpet remnants over the cable.

GROUND ZERO Before plugging any mics into the console, set the board’s faders all the way down. In fact, whenever you start a recording session, it’s good practice to “zero out” the console (i.e., turn down all faders and auxiliary sends, reset all EQ controls, and set all switches to their standard positions).

BAFFLING THE AMP When your amp is in a live-sounding small or medium-size room along with mics for other instruments, leakage from one track to another can occur. Leakage will be a major problem if you need to fix a performance later, because when you punch in, the leakage disappears and the mix changes. Baffling (surrounding the amp with sound-absorbent structures) can minimize leakage. If necessary, create a “baffle box.” Pro studios use manufactured baffles that combine air pockets and sound-absorbing materials; however, you can stack milk crates and throw blankets over them, or get two tall fans and stretch a thick blanket between them. All baffle surfaces should be very soft— for example, cloth stuffed with cotton. Baffle each side of the amp (unless you’re using a closed-back cabinet, in which case the baffles can form a V in front), with a baffle lying across the box’s top. If you don’t have a good baffle for the top, use a packing blanket. Leave room on the front for speaker “breathing room” as well as space for the mic stand. All other sides can be baffled “tight.” (With an open-back cabinet, leave breathing room in the back, too.) If the room has a soft, non-reflective wall, point the cabinet toward it and use the wall as a baffle. Angle the speaker slightly away from the wall to avoid phase problems. Caution: When baffling overhead with combo amps, allow

for air circulation to prevent the amp from overheating. Never let a blanket drape over the back of an amp! With a separate head and cabinet, set the amp head on a carpeted section of floor so the speakers won’t rattle the electronics. As always, patch the amp to the cab with heavy-duty speaker cables— preferably 14 gauge or heavier—not mic or guitar cables.

REFINING THE SOUND Once the baffling is set and the mic is roughly in place, dial in the sound on the console. First, set the levels to avoid overload. Next, move the mic to find the best spot. Before adding console EQ, try adjusting the tone at the amp; when it sounds good, try adding some console EQ. If the sound still isn’t right, you may need to move the mic around some more. If that helps, switch out the EQ and start over. Try other mics, too. You often won’t get things right the first time, so don’t be impatient. Even with really good miking, you may notice certain notes jumping out or dropping back in level. This is normal and caused by frequency buildups and cancellations. Adding compression should help. When the amp is isolated in its own room, adding a room mic can yield a more live, rock-friendly sound. Place it a fair distance from the amp so it picks up lots of room reflections. There may be huge anomalies in the low end, so you may need to add lots of compression and EQ before it blends with the other bass signals.

EQUALIZATION Equalization can make or break a bass sound. It’s important to remember no two instruments sound exactly alike—so in addition to trying the suggested EQ settings, you should get to know how your bass responds at specific frequencies. This will help you recognize problem areas and find “sweet spots.” As usual, experimentation is the key. Tweak the EQ con-

SPEAKER TYPES

62

use an 18 along with a 10 or 12.

Speakers can really affect an

• 10" speakers sound punchy

• 12" speakers have intermediate

amp’s sound. If they’re cheap

because of their size. Since

punch and bottom. Quality 12"

(with smaller magnets and flimsy

there’s less speaker-cone mass to

speakers are a safe choice.

back types typically have less

construction), they won’t sound

move, the air moves forward

• 15" speakers provide less punch

bottom than closed-back models

as good as speakers with bigger

quickly when you attack a note,

but deeper lows.

but may offer a more even-

magnets and better

resulting in quick response. They

• 18" speakers are generally too

sounding response, since the

components.

give a natural midrange and

bottomy-sounding for record-

speakers can “breathe.” Closed-

Different-size speakers

defined pitch center but produce

ing—not because of excessive

back cabinets are more common

sound different—even if they’re

less bottom than larger speakers.

lows but because of poor

for bass amps as they generally

high quality, have similar specs,

(Using multiple speakers in a

midrange to balance. Boosting

provide more low end.

and are adequately rated to han-

cabinet increases both volume

the amp’s mid frequencies may

dle the same wattages.

and low end.)

help note definition, or you can


In terms of cabinets, open-


trols and let your ears be your guide; there are no rules in EQland. And remember that like basses, not all EQs have the same sonic character. This is one area where subtle differences in tone can really influence the overall sound.

STRINGS AS TONE CONTROLS Strings are the most basic form of EQ. New roundwounds have more highs; old strings sound more dull—or mellow, depending on your taste—and may also have tuning inconsistencies. Flatwounds have less highs and produce fewer squeaks. Also, playing fingerstyle generally produces less highs than using a pick. To make sure your new strings stay in tune while recording, after tuning a string to pitch (preferably with an electronic tuner), pull hard on it to take up any slack on the tuning machine. Retune, pull again, and repeat until the pitch stays constant.

EQ TYPES Shelving EQ is similar to the type found on a typical home stereo. It can boost or cut either the treble or the bass. Fig. 2 shows the shelving EQ’s response; note that in this example

the corner frequency (the frequency where the boosting or cutting begins) is not selectable. Common corner frequencies are 100Hz for bass and 10kHz for treble. A 3-band EQ system adds a midrange control, which typically boosts or cuts 12dB–18dB, sometimes at a selectable frequency. A stepped switch or variable control selects the center frequency, and a knob dials in the amount of boost or cut. Graphic EQ splits the audio spectrum into a number of bands and lets you boost or cut each band with a slider. The more bands a graphic EQ offers, the more precise the adjustments you can make. Top-of-the-line graphics provide a band every third of an octave. Graphic EQs work best for subtle sound-shaping over a wide range, or significant boosts or cuts within just one or two bands. A parametric equalizer is a more flexible device that spaces several full-function, active filters throughout the audio spectrum. Controls for each filter include boost/cut, center frequency, and bandwidth (the range of frequencies boosted, also called “Q” or “resonance”). Fig. 4 illustrates both the response of a typical parametric EQ stage and the concept of bandwidth. Some boards have what’s called “quasi-parametric EQ.” This resembles a parametric but without the bandwidth control.

LINK MODE APPLICATION FOR BASS Even though most basses put out

module 2’s direct output (pre-

channel 2 threshold to show about

the 300Hz peak occurs, it will

a mono signal, you can use stereo

sumably post-EQ) into the stereo

3dB of gain reduction, with a fast

compress channel 1 (which car-

compression for certain applica-

compressor’s channel 2 input.

ATTACK

setting and the release set

ries the signal going to the con-

tions. For example, when mixing a

3. Boost module 2’s board EQ by

to taste. The release time will

sole) by the same amount shown

song, suppose you want to com-

10dB at 300Hz. Cut everything

depend on the duration of the

on channel 2.

press a huge bass-amp bump

below 200Hz and above 400Hz

frequency peak; try 150ms to start.

around 300Hz but leave the rest

using either a multi-stage para-

6. Switch into link mode. When

of the signal alone. Fig. 9 shows

metric EQ or variable-frequency

the mixdown patch you’d use to

high and low shelving EQ.

do this. (It assumes your mixer

4. Before putting the compressor

insert receive

input modules have INSERT jacks.)

into link mode, run the tape and

1. Split the recorder’s bass track

look at the compressor’s channel

and return one split to console

1 GAIN REDUCTION meter. Play the

module 1. Patch the send signal

whole song to find the loudest

from the module’s

INSERT

jack to

bass notes. At this point you

insert send direct out from previously recorded bass track input 1

2

preamp treble mid

the stereo compressor’s chan-

don’t want any compression at

nel 1 input.

all on channel 1, so if gain reduc-

send 1

2. Patch the other bass-track split

tion occurs, raise the threshold

send 2

to console module 2 and set to

until it’s just above the point

unity gain. This signal will not be

where compression kicks in. You

monitored but used only as a

may need to play the song a few

control signal to compress mod-

times to find the proper setting.

ule 1’s signal when the 300Hz

5. Now play the song from the

peak happens. (Do not assign it

beginning, and when the 300Hz

to the stereo monitor bus.) Patch

peak hits, set the compressor

bass

send 3 & 4 panpots

in

channel 2

out

in

channel 1

out

rolloff above 400Hz boost @ 300Hz

compressor

rolloff under 200Hz

do not assign the second module to the stereo bus

assign the first module to the stereo bus

Fig. 8: Using a compressor in stereo link mode to change the response for one channel only.


63


FINDING EQ HOT SPOTS Here’s how to find any instrument’s EQ “hot spots.” It works best on a full parametric EQ, but you can modify the procedure to work with other EQ types. 1. Start with very low monitor levels, as you’ll be adding a lot of boost. Set the boost/cut controls to zero and the bandwidth controls to a relatively narrow Q value (such as one-quarter octave). 2. While you’re playing, have someone boost the low frequencies by 6dB–8dB. Sweep the frequency control—rapidly at first to get an overview, and then more slowly to zero in on specific areas. 3. You will encounter certain settings that sound good and strong, while others will sound bad (muddy, noisy, etc.). After finding a good spot, set the boost/cut to flat, turn up to a normal monitoring level, and then boost or cut as needed. You may also need to narrow or widen the Q setting; go back and forth between the Q and boost/cut controls until you get the sound you want. Follow the same procedure with all of the frequency ranges on the EQ. If you hear a response “bump” (peak) you want to remove, find the frequency where the bump is most obnoxious and cut that frequency until the sound is more balanced. With parametric EQ, if the bump is not too wide, a small Q may be all you need.

TYPICAL HOT SPOTS Here are some important frequency ranges for bass: 10Hz–30Hz. Most home stereos can’t reproduce this range, so there’s little point in boosting here. If you do boost in this area and don’t hear any change, return to zero boost; other-

wise you’ll use up headroom on frequencies you’ll never hear, and you may even damage your monitors’ woofers. While miking your amp, if you hear “room rumble” from a ventilation system or outside traffic, try cutting in this range, using shelving EQ if available. (Beware of low-cut buttons on mixing boards; if they extend higher than about 30Hz, they’ll thin out your tone.) 30Hz–150Hz. Boosting here brings out the fundamentals (lowest harmonics) of your bass notes. 150Hz–200Hz. A little 200Hz boost may help the bass seem rounder—but if you add only at 200Hz, lower frequencies may seem less prominent, thinning out your tone. If you like what you hear when boosting at 200Hz, use a parametric EQ with a wide Q (two or more octaves) so the boost extends down to 100Hz. If using a wide Q reaches up into the 300Hz–400Hz range and the sound becomes too “puffy,” narrow the Q. 200Hz–600Hz. Boosting in this area tends to cloud up the sound, making neither the notes nor their attacks stronger. You may even want to cut a bit in this region, but be careful— there’s still significant bass energy here. 600Hz–1kHz. To emphasize the higher harmonics, try boosting here. A little more 800Hz usually does the trick. If the bass is in a thick mix and isn’t very audible, boosting here will allow the bass to “speak” more—and you won’t have to increase the overall level (which can clutter the mix further). 1kHz–3kHz. 1kHz helps define notes but does not increase brightness. 1.5kHz–3kHz emphasizes upper harmonics as well as the sound of the strings hitting the neck. In general, boosting here adds snap and definition. 3kHz–5kHz. Adding a little boost around 4kHz can open

EQ: PRE- OR POST-COMPRESSOR?

Should EQ come before or after

its job more efficiently. Post-

arguing any concept when it

compression? That depends on

compressor EQ adds peaks or

comes to recording); for example,

the application. For example, if

dips at various frequencies, which

if you specifically want to boost a

ular situation? Experiment and

the EQ first evens out the signal

kind of defeats the purpose of

frequency range, it makes more

listen—but remember that the

by reducing a peak at a certain

compressing. Some may argue

sense to put the compressor first,

usual approach is to place the

frequency, the compressor will do

this concept (get used to people

because post-EQ compression

EQ before the compressor.

bass boost

will minimize the boost. Which works best in a partic-

frequency

treble boost

boost cut

level

bass cut

treble cut

Fig. 2: Shelving EQ response.

64

bandwidth

level

frequency


frequency

Fig. 3: Parametric EQ parameters.


up the sound slightly—but finger noise might get overpowering, especially if you’re using compression. If you want to boost in this range, listen to the bass part all the way through first. 5kHz–10kHz. Boosting this region doesn’t add much (other than finger and string noise) unless you’re going for a bright slap sound. But remember, there are no rules—so if this works for you, great. 10kHz–20kHz. Basically the same as the 5kHz–10kHz range, but boosting at 10kHz can add a little air to your sound. If the string noise is not too bad and boosting here sounds good, go for it.

usually provides plenty of high-frequency definition. Thumbstyle playing usually sounds best with a scooped tone, where the lows (250Hz and below) and highs (2kHz and above) are boosted while the mids are cut. This “smiley face” EQ curve is best achieved with a graphic equalizer.

A TYPICAL EQ APPLICATION

A compressor/limiter is one of the most important tools for recording bass. This type of signal processor alters dynamics; for example, it can make a wide-dynamic-range signal more compatible with recording media that has a narrow dynamic range (such as cassette tape). And since bass has such a wide dynamic range, compression increases punch and audibility, makes the instrument easier to balance in the mix, and increases sustain of long notes. Compressor/limiters are not miracle workers, though; they cannot make your strings vibrate any longer, compensate for dead strings, or fix instruments with poor sustain characteristics.

Consider what kind of bass sound will be appropriate for the song, not just what sounds good by itself. You will almost surely re-tweak EQ during mixdown so the bass sits well with the other tracks—but get as close as possible while tracking, as the bass tone will also influence the other parts as well as the way you play. Let’s assume the song calls for a fairly standard bass sound and you’re playing with your fingers. First, experiment with the low-frequency settings. A typical adjustment is to boost a bit at 100Hz or 150Hz. Play a groove that uses all the strings but favors the low ones. Boost 100Hz by 2dB–3dB and listen. If this adds a “friendly” bottom without increasing the amplitude too much, fine. If the sound gets kind of muddy (i.e., the notes lose definition) but you like the lows, try adding 2dB–5dB at 800Hz with the midrange control. This brings up the harmonics, which helps define pitches. Go back and forth between 100Hz and 800Hz and find a good balance. Second, you may want more upper harmonics for brightness and snap. If so, try adding a few dB at 1.5kHz–3kHz. Third, check for noise problems, possibly due to an active direct box or active onboard electronics. If you’re recording to an analog tape recorder and the bass has its own track, wait to roll off any high-frequency hiss until the mixing stage so you can reduce the tape hiss as well. (This tip applies to any noisy signal recorded onto analog tape.) Hiss can be reduced by rolling off the highest frequency your console allows (usually 10kHz or above; sometimes a high-cut switch will do this). Note that even though the bass does not put out much energy above 10kHz, rolling off these frequencies may start to remove some air from your tone. Playing with a pick typically produces less bottom and a brighter top. If you want a more fingerstyle-like sound, cut a few dB around 2kHz—that’s the frequency region of the pick’s bright attack. Also consider boosting at 100Hz–200Hz, since the pick does not get as much natural low end as fingers. With a pick, boosting at 800Hz may not be necessary, as the pick

COMPRESSION: The Art Of Dynamics Control

HOW COMPRESSOR/LIMITERS WORK A compressor evens out dynamic-range variations by amplifying soft signals and attenuating loud signals, resulting in less level difference between your softest and loudest notes. A compressor incorporates a high-gain preamp and a control circuit that alters the preamp gain based on the compressor input. As the compressor’s audio input increases, the control circuit senses this and turns down the preamp gain to maintain a more consistent output level. Fig. 5 shows the normal amplitude of a decaying string; Fig. 6 shows the same signal after compression. A limiter is similar to a compressor; it also restricts dynamic range but affects only the signal’s peaks. A limiter prevents a signal from exceeding a certain level, leaving quieter passages untouched. (See Fig. 7.) Limiting is worth trying, but is not as universally applicable as compression. It’s often used with PAs to prevent speaker-damaging distortion, and it’s also used with digital recorders, which have a fixed ceiling level the input level must not exceed. When recording, limiting often yields a smaller, more “squeezed” sound. Most modern dynamics processors can compress and limit, hence the term compressor/limiter; for simplicity we’ll just use the term “compressor.”

COMPRESSOR/LIMITER PARAMETERS A typical compressor has several parameters that often inter-


65


66


AMPLITUDE

100 50 0 50

100 0

100ms 200ms 300ms 400ms 500ms 600ms

Fig. 4: A decaying string. Note how the amplitude starts off strong and then decays to nothing.

AMPLITUDE

100 50 0 50

100 0

100ms 200ms 300ms 400ms 500ms 600ms

Fig. 5: Compression attenuates the peak somewhat and amplifies the decay. 100 AMPLITUDE

A typical compressor has several parameters that often interact—after adjusting one parameter you may need to go back and tweak another. INPUT LEVEL adjusts the signal going into the compressor. It’s important not to slam a compressor with too much input; even though the signal is being compressed, it’s still possible to clip (distort) the electronics. THRESHOLD sets the level above which signals will be compressed. With a lower threshold, more of the signal crosses this threshold, so more of the signal is compressed; as a result the output dynamic range (and the levels of the highest peaks) is lower. When the signal drops below the threshold, the compressor leaves the signal alone until it exceeds the threshold again. Typical threshold settings for bass are –2dB to –5dB, although the threshold can get down to –15dB for more extreme applications. Raising the threshold results in less compression and sustain and lets more signal peaks through. RATIO sets how the output signal changes in relation to the input signal, once the input signal exceeds the threshold (Fig. 8). Higher ratios mean more compression and a more “squeezed” sound. For example, a ratio of 2:1 means that increasing the input signal level by 6dB yields an output increase of only 3dB. In other words, for every 2dB of input-level increase, output increases by only 1dB. (With a 3:1 ratio, increasing the input signal by 6dB increases output by 2dB.) A typical ratio starting point for bass is 3:1. Extremely high ratios clamp the output level to the threshold, essentially turning the compressor into a limiter. ATTACK determines how long it takes for the compression to kick in once it senses an input-level change. Longer attack times let more of a signal’s natural dynamics through, but those dynamics do not get compressed. If it’s really important to reduce sharp peaks, use a short attack time; for more naturalsounding transients, use a medium attack of 20ms–40ms. DECAY (also called RELEASE) sets the time required for the compressor to “let go” of the signal once the input passes back below the threshold. With short release times, the compressor tracks even very slight level changes; if this results in a choppy sound, increase the release time to smooth things out. 125ms–250ms works well with bass. Some compressors automatically set the attack and decay times; while this is convenient, you don’t get as much control of dynamics. The OUTPUT LEVEL control is pretty self-explanatory. Since we’re squashing peaks, we’re actually reducing the overall peak level; increasing the output compensates for this perceived volume drop. Turn up this control until the peak levels of the compressed signal match the peak levels of the bypassed signal—in other words, until there’s unity gain between the input peaks and output peaks. Bringing up the level usually adds noise, especially with a budget compressor. For more level

50 0 50

100 0

100ms 200ms 300ms 400ms 500ms 600ms

Fig. 6: After limiting, anything above the threshold (set here to an arbitrary value of 50) gets clamped to that threshold. Lower-level signals are unaffected.

with less noise, try adding gain at the board, which probably has quieter preamps. Some compressors have a HARD KNEE/SOFT KNEE switch, which controls how sharply the amplitude curve changes at the threshold. With soft knee, when the input nears the threshold, the compression ratio gradually increases as the input increases. With hard knee, as soon as the input signal crosses the threshold, it undergoes the specified compression amount. Hard-knee action creates more punch; soft knee may work well if the level variations are extreme, as it preserves dynamics better. Two-channel compressors usually have a LINK switch, which changes the operation mode from dual mono to stereo. Linking the two channels allows one channel’s changes to affect


the other channel, which is necessary to preserve a stereo image. This feature has applications for mono bass signals, too.

METERING

compression your input signal hits 0dB on the highest peaks. With compression you notice the output has now dropped so the peaks don’t register above –3dB. In such a case you’d turn up the output gain until the peaks once again hit 0dB.

OUTPUT

Most compressors have two meters, or one meter that’s switchADJUSTING THE PARAMETERS able between two modes. GAIN REDUCTION shows how much Let’s assume your compressor has separate THRESHOLD and the signal is being compressed. The needle on an analog gainINPUT LEVEL controls. Start the INPUT LEVEL control at 0dB. reduction meter normally sits at 0 VU and swings to the left For now, adjust the compression with the THRESHOLD conto show how much the signal level is being compressed. For trol only; start with THRESHOLD set to 0dB, meaning anyexample, if the meter reads –5, that means the signal is being thing under 0dB will not be compressed. While playing, compressed by an average of 5dB. (Analog meters read avercheck the gain-reduction meter and reset THRESHOLD to average—not peak—gain reduction, so short transients don’t regisage about 2dB of compression, with no ter.) With most digital meters, when there more than about 5dB of compression is no compression, the LEDs are either 0 on the peaks. If the peaks’ output level all on or off; applying more compression –2 –4 is less than the input’s, use the OUTPUT either lights more LEDs to the right or –6 LEVEL control (not INPUT LEVEL) to trim turns off LEDs going to the left. Digital –8 threshold –10 it up to unity gain. meters tend to read peak rather than –12 If you need more compression to average levels, so even short transients –14 make notes sound more even, lower the register. –16 threshold; this way compression will The OUTPUT meter shows the signal –16 –12 –8 –4 0 +4 +8 –14 –10 –6 –2 +2 +6 level coming out of the compressor; this kick in with lower level signals. But be INPUT meter might be switch-selectable to moncareful—too much compression can Fig. 7: This graph shows how input, outitor input level as well if there isn’t a sep- put, ratio, and threshold relate. The squash and thin out your sound. Use the arate input meter. With this display you threshold is set at –8dB, with the comcompressor’s BYPASS switch (if available) to compare the compressed and noncan tell how much output you’ve lost by pression ratio at 4:1. If the input compressed sounds. You may find just adding compression, which makes it eas- increases by 8dB (e.g., from –8dB to a little compression gives the desired ier to set the OUTPUT LEVEL control cor- 0dB), the output increases by only 2dB rectly. For example, suppose that without (from –8dB to –6dB). effect. BP

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USING COMPRESSOR SIDE-CHAIN JACKS return signal. To do this, unplug

Plug the bass into the compres-

signal tells the unit how to react

into the side-chain circuit can

the filter output from the RETURN

sor’s input, and take a kick-drum

to dynamics changes: When the

cause only a certain portion of

jack and patch it to your mixer

feed from the board (from the

input level rises to the threshold,

the signal to be compressed. For

temporarily. Now as you adjust the

channel’s direct out or an effects

compression kicks in. Side-chain

example, inserting a lowpass filter

filter, you can monitor its output

send) and plug it into the side-

jacks let you control the com-

(patch SEND to the filter’s input

(don’t monitor the compressed

chain RETURN jack. Don’t plug

pression action with something

and its output to RETURN) allows

signal for now) and tweak the

anything into the SEND jack. In this

else—for example, an EQed ver-

only low-frequency signals to

filter specifically for the frequen-

configuration whenever there’s

sion of the original signal, or a

affect the compression amount;

cies you want compressed.

no kick drum, there’s no control

completely different signal.

therefore, more low-frequency

These jacks work similarly to the

content yields more compression.

tion allows the bass to duck out

compress—but when the kick

effects-loop jacks on an amp:

This brings the lows into line with

of the way momentarily. For

hits, it triggers compression that

The RETURN jack is usually a

the rest of the signal.

instance, if you think the bass and

affects the bass. Net result: The

kick drum are blurring each other

bass becomes quieter for an instant whenever the kick hits.

Ordinarily, a compressor’s input

switching type, so plugging in

Inserting a signal processor

A graphic or parametric EQ

Another side-chain applica-

breaks the connection between

usually works well for filtering—

because they’re competing for

the compressor’s input signal

however, setup is much faster if

the same low frequencies, make

and the control circuitry.

you can monitor the side-chain

the bass duck under the kick:

signal telling the compressor to


67

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Home Recording How-To By The BP Staff KNOWING HOW TO PLAY BASS IS ONE THING—knowing how to record it right is another thing entirely. If you’re looking to sharpen your home-recording chops, dig into these questions we’ve gotten from readers. Got a tip or trick that’s worked in your home studio? Post it on the forum at bassplayer.com. What is an audio interface? Do I need one to get sound into and out of my computer? An audio interface converts the analog signal of an instrument or microphone into a digital signal appropriate for computer recording. By using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an audio interface allows you to record your bass to a computer and play it back over speakers or headphones. Some computers have rudimentary audio interfaces built into them, often in the form of r" linein and headphone jacks, but they aren’t appropriate for any but the simplest recording projects. In addition to converters, most audio interfaces also feature an array of audio inputs and outputs. Audio interfaces typically include internal preamps that boost analog signals and provide “phantom power,” a form of DC (direct current) electricity used by many condenser microphones. They also typically have MIDI in and out jacks for connecting keyboards and other MIDI gear. Some high-end interfaces come in the form of internal PCI cards that plug into a computer’s motherboard, but many capable external models utilize USB or FireWire as a means of sending the digital signal to and from a computer. Most interfaces now ship with the digital recording software

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necessary to actually record and edit the sound on the computer. When shopping for your first audio interface, consider features like the number of inputs and outputs, compatibility with your computer and software, and portability. Prices range from $99 to many thousands. What are near-field monitors, and why are they well suited for the home studio environment? Near-field monitors are designed to provide true sound reproduction across the entire audible frequency range at distances compatible with the typical home studio environment. Whereas most home stereo speakers are not acoustically accurate, nearfield studio monitors are designed to sound uncolored, or “flat,” in order to provide a true representation of the music. And while professional studio monitors are typically large and designed to operate at a distance of six to ten feet from an engineer’s ears in an acoustically tuned room, near-field monitors are designed so that the “sweet spot” (the area where the speakers sound best) occurs at a distance of three to six feet from the monitors. When the engineer sits so that his or her head forms a equilateral triangle with near-field monitors, the room’s negative acoustical effects are reduced significantly.

STUART HOWLETTE

Totally Tubular!

Smaller near-field monitor models work well in a satellite configuration that incorporates a subwoofer, a larger speaker designed to project only the lowest frequencies. While it’s true that a pair of top-shelf near-field monitors can cost a few thousand dollars, entry-level models can be found for less than $200 a pair. “Active” monitors feature built-in power amplifiers and therefore cost more than their passive equivalents, but many feel that powered monitors are worth the extra money due to convenience and improved fidelity. My recorder has a q" input jack. Can I plug my bass straight into that and expect a good tone, or do I need something more? In general, if your recorder (audio interface or standalone multitrack) has an input labeled “instrument,” it will sound acceptable for recording your bass. A q" instrument input usually incorporates a preamp and is designed to properly interface with electric basses and guitars, whereas the q" line-level inputs you may find on your recorder are meant for keyboards and other pro-audio gear. Using an instrument input is especially important with passive basses, as their low output and high output impedance require an input that compensates for these qualities. Even if your recorder does have a q" instrument input, using a direct box (DI), or your amp’s DI output, could be a better solution. DIs convert the high-impedance, unbalanced signal of your bass to a balanced low-impedance signal that is ideal for recording because of its low noise and insensitivity to cable length. Many active DIs also offer tone shaping and amp and cabinet simulation. Though most DIs utilize an XLR output,

don’t worry if your recorder doesn’t have an XLR input, because it probably at least has a q" balanced input. Simply buy an XLRto-q" TRS (stereo q" plug) adapter and you’re in business. What is compression, and how do I use it? Compression is an effect that evens out your levels. Because it brings down the volume peaks in your playing, compression allows you to turn up your overall level, resulting in a more punchy, present sound. Some players use compression live, but it’s more commonly used when recording, because it greatly helps the bass to “sit” properly in a mix. Compression also makes the mixing process easier, because it keeps the bass levels from fluctuating all over the place. Compressors can come in the form of “stompbox” effect pedals (often the least expensive, but with the fewest features), rackmount devices (more features, more expensive), or software plug-ins. Some combo amps and amp heads also have compressors built in. A compressor may have only one knob—perhaps even just an on/off switch—or it may have two knobs, or a halfdozen knobs and switches. Generally, the fewer knobs, the easier it is for a novice to use, but the less control you have over your sound. An important feature to look for is a “compressor active” LED, which indicates when the effect is kicking in. To use a compressor, plug in your bass and play notes at different loudness levels. If there’s a THRESHOLD knob, adjust it so that the “compressor active” LED comes on with notes that are one-third to half of the way between the softest notes and the loudest notes you’ll play. If there’s a RATIO knob, a setting between 2:1 and 3:1 should work well (higher numbers indicate more compression). Choose settings that even out your


69

H O M E R E CO R D I N G H OW-TO

dynamic levels without causing a “squashing” sound. Basically, you’re on the right track if your compressor is doing its thing without calling attention to itself. On some of the tracks I’ve recorded, I can barely hear my bass. When I turn up the track, the bass gets louder, but I also hear tons of hiss. What am I doing wrong? It sounds like you need to record at higher levels. When you record an instrument at a level that’s too low, its signal tends to get buried by electronic background noise. To make sure this doesn’t happen, before you start recording, find the channel on your mixer or standalone recorder that your bass is coming into, and turn up the channel’s INPUT or TRIM knob. For an electric bass, you may have to turn up this knob quite a bit—maybe to the 3 o’clock position or higher. If there’s an OVERLOAD or CLIP light near the input knob, make sure it doesn’t come on at all when you play your loudest notes. If this light does blink, it means your signal is too loud and your track might be distorting in a way you don’t want it to. Back off the knob a little so that it stops blinking, and proceed to record your track. Getting a signal to be much louder than the background noise—but not so loud that it distorts—is called gain staging, and it’s an important skill in making a good recording. Ideally, in each stage of your recording signal chain, the signals should be much louder than the background noise introduced by that stage, but also below the threshold where unwanted distortion occurs. If you set proper levels at every stage—from the input to the recording medium to your final mix—you’ll get a recording that’s both clean (free from unwanted distortion) and quiet (with minimal noise). How can I make a basic stereo recording of my band at a gig or rehearsal? You can spend a lot of time and money on producing a highquality live recording—but you can get surprisingly good results with just a pair of microphones. Using two mics allows you to make a stereo recording (with one mic providing the left channel and the other the right channel), whereas using just a single mic will result in a monophonic, or single-channel, recording. The mics should be the “cardioid” or “directional” type (not omnidirectional). You can use either dynamic mics or condenser mics, although both mics in the pair should be the same brand and model. Dynamic mics are a good choice if your band is very loud; condenser mics are more sensitive and better at picking up sonic detail. If possible, try both types and see which works better for your band’s sound. Positioning the mics is important. Find a place in the room where there will be a relatively even audio blend of the instruments and vocals. Don’t get too close to a wall, the floor, or the ceiling, as boomy low frequencies tend to build up near

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surfaces. If you’re recording at a gig, try to find a place where audience noise won’t drown out the band, such as near the soundboard or off a balcony. To give your recording a good stereo image, position the mics in an “X/Y” arrangement: They should be at right angles to each other, with their front ends almost touching. The mic on the left will capture sounds coming from the right, and vice versa. This arrangement produces the most natural-sounding stereo image; separating the mics or aiming them in other directions will result in poorer sound. You’ll probably need to run the mics’ signals into a mixer in order to bring them up to recording level; “pan” the signals to hard-left and hard-right so each gets recorded on its own stereo channel. Some recorders accept mic-level signals; if you use one of these, just plug the mics straight into the recorder. Make sure your recording levels are high, but not so high that distortion occurs. I have some song ideas, but I’m not sure how to go about turning them into a finished, recorded song. Where do I start? If you have only preliminary ideas, such as a bass or guitar riff or a vocal hook, you’re probably better off starting with a rough demo recording. A rough demo is a good way to tinker around with a riff or hook, come up with variations, and see which arrangement ideas work and which don’t. Later, you can use this “sketch” to turn your ideas into a more polished version. Start by laying down a simple drum-machine pattern at around the tempo of your hook or riff. (For now, don’t worry about drum variations, fills, or endings.) If you’re starting with a riff, proceed by laying down the part on bass for eight or 16 bars, and then try playing some variations. Improvise on the riff as your recorder is rolling—you may capture a moment of inspiration, and if you don’t, you can always go back and try again. Next, try adding a guitar part. Find out how it sounds when you double the bass part on guitar, and also try playing lines that harmonize with or move in counterpoint against the bass riff. Then see if you can come up with some melodies or even lyrics to go on top. If you’re starting with a vocal hook, a drum-machine pattern is also a good place to start, but your next instrument should be something like strummed guitar or simple keyboard pad chords. This will give you an easy-to-hear pitch reference to sing over. (It can be difficult to sing in key along with bass only, because of the difference in registers.) Figure out which chords go with your hook, lay them down over the drum pattern for a minute or two, and then go back and try singing the line over them. Similar to starting with a riff, repeat your hook idea for a while, and then try improvising variations. This might inspire you to come up with verse or bridge ideas. Finally, try adding another instrument or two or coming up with some

H O M E R E CO R D I N G H OW-TO

instrumental riffs. See if you can find an arrangement that complements the parts you’ve already laid down. If you’re recording digitally on a computer, making a rough demo provides the opportunity to cut, paste, rearrange, and recombine your ideas as much as you want. Don’t like starting the song with verse 1? Try putting the chorus first and see how that sounds. Get creative—this is the fun part! Once you have most of a song’s parts (verses, chorus, etc.) and have a rough arrangement in mind, you can start turning them into a more polished recording. We’ll look at that process next time. I’ve made a rough demo recording, but now I want to polish it up and put it on a CD. Where do I start? The first thing you need to decide is whether to use the same recording medium that you used for your demo, or a betterquality one. For example, if you recorded your demo on a cassette 4-track, you may want to do your polished version on a standalone digital multitrack recorder, a computer with recording capabilities, or a reel-to-reel analog recorder. But it’s not absolutely necessary to upgrade. Provided you have a good knowledge of recording fundamentals, such as gain-staging, you can make surprisingly good recordings on inexpensive gear—especially if it was manufactured within the past five years or so. The fidelity on lower-budget recording systems has really come a long way in the last decade. Next, decide which performances from the demo, if any, you wish to keep on your polished version. For instance, you may like the bass line you played on the demo, but not the vocal. But keep in mind that it can be difficult or impossible to recreate the attitude and spontaneity of an inspired performance, so if something just feels good—even if it isn’t technically perfect—consider keeping it. Certain things (like timing miscues) can be cleaned up on the new medium, particularly if you’re recording digitally, but if the demo tracks are too noisy or contain unwanted distortion, you may need to redo them regardless. If you’re using the same recording medium that you used for the demo, making a polished version is easy—just erase the tracks you don’t want, keep the ones you do want, and rerecord the performances you erased. If you’re using a different medium, you’ll need to transfer the “keeper” performances from one system to the other. This is best done digitally (read your user manuals to learn how to connect the equipment for a digital transfer), although an analog transfer will do. Naturally you’ll want to transfer all of your “keeper” tracks to the medium at the same time so they’ll remain synchronized. If you’re recording digitally, it’s possible to transfer the tracks individually if need be, as you’ll be able to line them up manually afterward. If you’re using analog gear and you

can’t transfer all of the tracks at once, don’t try to transfer the tracks individually—it will be near impossible to re-synchronize them. In that case, you’re better off mixing the “keeper” performances down to stereo (two tracks) and transferring them that way. I’ve started recording on a digital 8-track, but I never have enough tracks to work with. Do you have any suggestions? Many people think that with a 4- or 8-track recorder, each track should get one and only one performance—for example, one track each for bass, drum machine, keyboard, etc. That’s okay, but it’s limiting. For one thing, this arrangement necessitates that you record each instrument in mono (monophonic = one track of audio) as opposed to stereo. You can get much better sound, though, if you employ a little creativity: Try recording the drum machine on two tracks in stereo, and while the drum part is going down, play bass and mix that in with the drums. You can even put a stereo effect on your bass if you want. This way, your bass and drums will both be in glorious stereo—but you’ve used up only two tracks. The downside is you can’t change your balance of bass and drums later, but with some experience, you’ll find the improved sound makes this limitation worthwhile. A common technique with 4- and 8-tracks is bouncing (a.k.a. “ping-ponging”), in which several recorded tracks are mixed together and recorded on another one (or two) tracks, allowing you to erase the old tracks and record new parts onto them. For example, on an 8-track, you could fill up six tracks with instrumental parts, and then bounce these tracks down to two tracks in stereo, leaving the original six tracks available for vocals. If you need to, you may opt to blend in a new instrumental or vocal part “on the fly,” while you’re bouncing your tracks down. Bouncing is more problematic on 4-track machines, but one way to do it is to fill up the four tracks with instrumental parts, mix that down to stereo on a separate machine (such as a DAT), and then run that mix back onto two tracks of a new 4-track file. Then you have two tracks available for vocals. For those whose recorders allow it, another powerful strategy is to synchronize your drum machine and/or a sequencer (MIDI recorder of some kind) to your multitrack, so that every time you press PLAY on the recorder, the drum machine or sequencer also plays. If you can do this, you may not have to devote any tracks at all to MIDI instruments like drums or keyboards: Just record audio tracks—like vocals, bass, and guitar—onto your multitrack, and have the MIDI instruments running in sync “live” with the audio. There are tons of possibilities; if you’re creative and you plan out your course of action, you can get a 4- or 8-track to do incredible things—just like George Martin did with the Beatles. BP


71

S T U D I O

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Sound Advice Bassists Behind Board From

The

By Chris Jisi IT’S A WARM WEEKEND NIGHT AND YOU’RE STRAPPED BEHIND YOUR BASS. From your usual vantage point at the back of the stage, you notice a lot: The drummer is swinging his subdivisions more than you; the keyboardist’s left hand is wandering into your register; the guitarist is playing a busy chickin’pickin’ figure; the tenor saxophone is out of tune with the trumpet and trombone; the background vocals are too loud in the monitors; and the lead vocalist is having trouble with the song’s chorus because it sits right in the break between his natural voice and falsetto. In response, you lay back a bit more, move down an octave, pass on a fill that would clash with the busy guitar part, give a friendly look over to the horn section while motioning to your headstock, signal the soundman to bring down the background vocals, and make a mental note to suggest to the singer that the song’s key be changed. You may not realize it, but you have producer potential. Ask around and you’ll discover the musical maxim that we bass players make the best producers. To find out how valid this theory is, we asked seven top bass-playing producers for their take, as well as for practical and technical tips. Their collective insight reinforces the notion that it can indeed be a short trip from the bass to the board. Meshell Ndegeocello added pro-

ducer to her cap out of necessity. She explains, “I started producing my records in 1992, in the world of Prince, Babyface, and David Gamson, who all produced themselves. At the time, I didn’t have another producer, so I did it myself, too.” Meshell, who recently handled the board work on her upcoming CD and some film score work, feels bassists do make fine producers. “It’s because we’re the foundation of the harmony, while also setting the groove with the drummer. Plus, bass players are observant of their surroundings, whether onstage or in the studio.” As for advice, she offers, “My style is to do as many of the roles that fall under the current use of the term ‘producer’ as I can: songwriting, arranging, contracting, producing, and time and money management. But I find as an artist producing other people’s music, it’s most important to create a comfortable atmosphere for the artist, help facilitate their ideas, and help them realize their vision, as opposed to creating something in my own image.” FAVORITE BASS RECORDING GEAR

“Most essential for me is my right hand and my left hand; it’s all in my hands. I don’t

72


mean to sound arrogant, but I had a piece-of-shit bass for years and I had to make it sound like what I wanted. I’m not a tech geek, so I think a compatible engineer is also essential. I do like the Aguilar DB 680 bass preamp, though.” Veteran producer/bassist Larry Klein, who has helmed CDs by Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin, and Julia Fordham, as well as numerous movie soundtracks, got into producing while married to and working with Mitchell in the mid ’80s. “I got depressed and frustrated by hearing how bad the records I played on sounded. Tracks that sounded fantastic as monitor mixes on the tracking date would end up being buried in overdubs and bad mixes. Plus, I wanted to find a way to unite everything I did. I already had a strong sense of how I thought the music should sound, and I was developing my songwriting. Of course, as I pursued it, the complexities of the job and the things I needed to learn expanded exponentially; I still feel like I learn a lot from every record I work on.” Klein, who’s produced for Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker, vocalist Madeleine Peyroux, and his wife, Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza, points out great producers come from a variety of backgrounds, both musical and otherwise. However, he

does feel a bass player’s perspective is “a great angle from which to approach musical architecture and design.” He adds, “A bassist can bring to the producer’s table an innate sense of space, the subtleties of groove, and the overall contour of a track. But the ability to know how to get the best performances out of people is as important as knowing how to design the record’s musical and sonic aspects. Know that when you say something is as important as what you say; you can completely destroy a day of work in the studio with one ill-advised remark. Always praise musicians and artists when they excel.” FAVORITE BASS RECORDING GEAR

“It’s a good idea to have quality DIs and analog compressors handy. I love the Eclair Evil Twin tube direct box, and I also use some old Simon Systems DIs and the Avalon U5. There are so many great tube compressors; I like the dbx 160x for some tracks, and I’m really digging the compressors and mic preamps made by a company called Inward Connections— they’re really soft and warm sounding. And you can’t beat the Teletronix LA-2A for some things. I definitely think it pays off to put the bass through analog gear on the way to Pro Tools. To me, none of the plug-in compressors come close at this point.” Producing has been a key link in Randy Jackson’s path from bassist to American Idol judge and allaround music impresario. He agrees his bass roots made for a natural transition to the other side of the glass. “Bass players are the heartbeat of the song. We get our rhythmic side from getting tight with the drums, and we have a great melodic sense, thanks to the contributions of McCartney, Jamerson, Jaco, and others. It’s the most well-rounded spot in the band, which gives us a producer-like perspective.” Jackson got into producing in the early ’80s, when he was part of Narada Michael Walden’s San Francisco studio team. “I had ideas, like everyone does,” he recalls, “and eventually I got a chance to try them.” He admits, “I was always a song guy—melody and lyrics—even though I broke onto the scene playing fusion.” Jackson, who has since produced the likes of Eddie Money, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Loggins, Patti LaBelle, and Mariah Carey, advises maintaining a song focus. “To me, first and foremost, a producer should know what a great song is and where to find it. Listen to Top 40 radio and try to learn why those songs are clicking with the public. Hone your own songwriting skills; get

together with friends and have writing sessions, like the Motown writers did. Then make home demos of the songs and play them for people you respect—not to get a deal, but to get their critique of your production skills.” “Producing is really a group format,” says Jackson. “It’s about community; it’s not the me principle, it’s the we principle, because you can’t do it all by yourself. A good producer knows the ‘art of the phonebook’: who to call on each instrument that will give them exactly what they want for a track. And they know to go with someone else’s idea if it’s better than their own. Humility and compassion are two key ingredients to have, not just in producing, but in life.” FAVORITE BASS RECORDING GEAR

“I’m a very hi-tech/lo-tech kind of guy. I need a bit of ghetto in my sound, because that’s what makes it work in so many different styles. I like the combination of a direct signal and the miked sound of a vintage Fender Bassman or Ampeg B-15. Plus, I’m never without my Demeter tube DI and Neve mic preamps and compressors.” Longtime Pat Metheny Group bassist Steve Rodby spent years sharpening his producer instincts as a Chicago session musician before officially stepping behind the board in 1987, for Metheny’s Still Life (Talking) [Geffen]. He has since produced or co-produced over a dozen of the guitarist’s projects, as well as CDs for Oregon, Lyle Mays, and Michael Manring. Rodby is a true specialist these days, often hired to “polish” jazz tracks via Pro Tools in post-production, without losing the vital organic nature of the recordings. Steve agrees that bassists make the best producers. “Bass players learn early on that the way to get gigs isn’t as much by sounding good yourself as by helping other people sound good. They tend to see the bigger picture. They also understand bass is powerful in a stealth way. By contrast, drums are powerful in an obvious way—you know when it’s the drummer propelling the music—but when a bass player drives the track, it’s often almost hidden and mysterious. If you have the temperament to tolerate that and to think about music in those terms, you’re well suited for the producer chair.” Rodby, who co-produced the late Michael Brecker’s final CD, Pilgrimage, offers, “If it’s your first time producing, you need to have your pre-production together and start off with a light touch. Record as much of what’s being played as


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S O U N D A DV I C E F R O M B A S S I STS B E H I N D T H E B OA R D

possible. A basic rule is that if it sounds good, it is good. You never know whose suggestion is going to make the music work, so you can’t get too wrapped up in how you think it should be. What the great artists all have in common is an incredible honesty about their music. They play their hearts out, and then in playback they listen with open ears. They don’t care whose input steers the music in the right direction; they just want to face the truth. You need to be able to hear through your own ideas to get to that same truth.” FAVORITE BASS RECORDING GEAR

“Generally, the only two pieces of gear I find essential are your bass and your fingers. But for amplifying or recording acoustic bass direct, the one essential that is so often overlooked is matching the output impedance of the upright’s transducer pickup with the input impedance of the first device it’s plugged into, be it an amp, a preamp, a DI, or an effect. If the device’s input impedance is too low, as it frequently is, you’ll lose the bottom. What I did was build a box that varies the input and allows the transducer to be loaded with the correct impedance for the sound you want. I’ve found an impedance level of between 1M? and 2M? ideal. Now I have variable inputs built into all my gear, and you wouldn’t believe the tone difference. I’ve become known for playing my upright through an amp or through the board at loud volumes, and that’s my secret.” As a Grammy-winning bassist and producer for the likes of Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Roberta Flack, and David Sanborn, Marcus Miller knows his stuff. Still, he’s not sure it’s only bassists who make natural producers. “I think among musicians, you get the best producers out of the cats who play support roles because they’re trained to see the big picture. I know when I’m producing, after a doing a few takes I’ll ask the musicians which one they like, and the sax player will say, ‘I played the best on this one,’ and the percussionist will say, ‘I snuck some AfroCuban 6/8 beats on this one.’ But the drummer and the bass player will say, ‘Well, take three felt the best.’ They’re not so concerned about their own performance or how technically perfect it was. Those are the guys you can trust.” Miller made the transition to producing through composing. “First it was, Can you help us with the arrangement? Then it was, Can you help us get it to sound like your demo? Finally it was, Why don’t you just produce the track?” For neophytes, Miller recommends settling on a pair of playback speakers. “No two models reproduce bass the same way. Really get to

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know how they sound; listen to your music on them and listen to other artists’ CDs on them, so you can compare.” Marcus touches on the personal side as well. “Producing is more about communication and making people feel comfortable than anything else. You have to really know how to talk to somebody. If they’re doing something bad or wrong, figure out a way to correct it without losing their enthusiasm. If they’re doing something well, it’s often best not to say anything. Sometimes the worst move is to say, “I love what you’re doing here.” All of a sudden you pull their attention to it, and it’s never the same again.” FAVORITE BASS RECORDING GEAR

“The two most essential pieces of gear are your ears. Beyond that, it’s a good instrument and good strings. The benefit I had, from being a studio musician back in New York, was spending eight hours a day listening to my bass through headphones, so I really got to know how to tweak my sound. These days, I like the Radial Bass Bone DI and the API Lunchbox, which I use as a mic pre. As for compressors, I still like the dbx 160 for subtle compression and the Empirical Labs EL8-X Distressor for more extreme compression.” Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus got into producing at the request of his friends in Motion City Soundtrack, who asked him to produce their second effort, Commit This to Memory [Epitaph]. He went on to produce CDs for Match and for his other band, altrockers +44. He feels the reason bassists often make the best producers is the common ground connecting the two chairs. “Bass players are the glue that holds the song together between the rhythm and the melody. A bass player needs to know what is working in a song—when to lay back and when to get flowery. Same with a producer. A producer needs to know where a song is going, how to get there, and where to stop along the way.” Hoppus alerts first-timers: “Listen to the song from your heart. Say what you think, offer your advice, and always know it’s the band’s song, not yours. If they want to do it one way and you think it should be a different way, speak your mind passionately and then let it go.” FAVORITE BASS RECORDING GEAR

An Ampeg SVT rig and a Fender bass: the best bass sound ever! BP

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PORTRAITS in TONE

GEDDY LEE AND THE SANSAMP™ RPM RACKMOUNT. ◆

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