Studio NATD

[MDV]

Is that an Arcam CD73?

Yes.

And very nice it is too through the adams. Well spotted!

[JDC]

^ could be wrong, but I can't see anywhere to put your coffee cup..?

^ this guy knows his priorities!!!

Mark how you do mix bass? record direct, copy the track and add distortion on the copy? if so how do you EQ it and etc

[MDV]

DI and a double with severe and and low cut and filthy distortion added and stereo widened to blend with the guitars.

I tend to fit the main bass in from about 60 to 120, just above the bottom of the kick, and blended with the 1st overtone of the lowest pitch of the gutiars (b, for me, normally, so about 120Hz). 1-ish through 2-ish k for pick attack and some cut from 150-200ish to about 700 to let the guitars low mids and mid come through.

I also more or less smash the $%&# out of both of them (6:1 or more, usually round 20ms attack, realease to track tempo), and I'm much more willing to record a bass in tiny pieces and assemble a bassline; its consistency and timing, even if its really low, is part of the backbone and glue of the track.

I'm looking to ways to improve this situation with impulses and LF exciters. I'll be experimenting in a track I'm currently recording. I say currently, I started ages ago, stopped, redid the studio, played with some mixes for people, and now I'm going back to it.

These are, however, just guidelines and starting points. You need to listen, and make reasonably intelligent changes to close the gap between how it sounds and how you want it to sound.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

nice studio,

I've also treated mine with lots of bass trapping, I used wickes heavy density insulation butthey are just plonked in the corners from floor to ceiling for the time being until I make some frames for them and get the fabric, I plan to eventually have around 10 broadband bass traps, but it should be worth the effort, I know what you mean about bass trapping making the high frequencies cleaner, they become less harsh

have you used any diffusion in there?

[HTH AMPS]

I always liked mixing DI'd and mic'd bass amps for the best results, I found that ONLY DI'ing the bass gave for a poor bass tone, imo.

I also like 12" speakers for bass, just 'sits' really nice in the mix.

[MDV]

nice studio,

I've also treated mine with lots of bass trapping, I used wickes heavy density insulation butthey are just plonked in the corners from floor to ceiling for the time being until I make some frames for them and get the fabric, I plan to eventually have around 10 broadband bass traps, but it should be worth the effort, I know what you mean about bass trapping making the high frequencies cleaner, they become less harsh

have you used any diffusion in there?

Definitely worth the effort. I had a couple in here for a while, and it did some good, but unitl I just accepted that you need to plaster the traps everywhere to really imapct the sound I just went for it, and what a difference it made.

I didnt use diffusion, no. I considered making a poor mans diffusion (well, actuall more expensive by far, but already there) from my CD racks on the back wall, or trying to combine the diffusion and bass trap by putting my bookshelf (which is about 6 feet high, a bit less than 3 wide and very densly packed with lots of books of different densities and sizes).

I may still do the latter, actually. I dont know if it would help more than the traps though.

[MDV]

I always liked mixing DI'd and mic'd bass amps for the best results, I found that ONLY DI'ing the bass gave for a poor bass tone, imo.

I also like 12" speakers for bass, just 'sits' really nice in the mix.

I agree, that is overall the best way.

No bass amp, though.

[HTH AMPS]

I always liked mixing DI'd and mic'd bass amps for the best results, I found that ONLY DI'ing the bass gave for a poor bass tone, imo.

I also like 12" speakers for bass, just 'sits' really nice in the mix.

I agree, that is overall the best way.

No bass amp, though.

aww man!!! - you need some bass amp action going on, will seriously improve the low end growl.  get a nice Ampeg B15.

on the subject of dirty bass, check this out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvstS6mGmYs

[MDV]

Dude, thats awesome. I can hear that blending with some brutal guitars really well.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

nice studio,

I've also treated mine with lots of bass trapping, I used wickes heavy density insulation butthey are just plonked in the corners from floor to ceiling for the time being until I make some frames for them and get the fabric, I plan to eventually have around 10 broadband bass traps, but it should be worth the effort, I know what you mean about bass trapping making the high frequencies cleaner, they become less harsh

have you used any diffusion in there?

Definitely worth the effort. I had a couple in here for a while, and it did some good, but unitl I just accepted that you need to plaster the traps everywhere to really imapct the sound I just went for it, and what a difference it made.

I didnt use diffusion, no. I considered making a poor mans diffusion (well, actuall more expensive by far, but already there) from my CD racks on the back wall, or trying to combine the diffusion and bass trap by putting my bookshelf (which is about 6 feet high, a bit less than 3 wide and very densly packed with lots of books of different densities and sizes).

I may still do the latter, actually. I dont know if it would help more than the traps though.

this might answer your question: bookshelves don't do much http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nzmBhkR4JQ

[MDV]

nice studio,

I've also treated mine with lots of bass trapping, I used wickes heavy density insulation butthey are just plonked in the corners from floor to ceiling for the time being until I make some frames for them and get the fabric, I plan to eventually have around 10 broadband bass traps, but it should be worth the effort, I know what you mean about bass trapping making the high frequencies cleaner, they become less harsh

have you used any diffusion in there?

Definitely worth the effort. I had a couple in here for a while, and it did some good, but unitl I just accepted that you need to plaster the traps everywhere to really imapct the sound I just went for it, and what a difference it made.

I didnt use diffusion, no. I considered making a poor mans diffusion (well, actuall more expensive by far, but already there) from my CD racks on the back wall, or trying to combine the diffusion and bass trap by putting my bookshelf (which is about 6 feet high, a bit less than 3 wide and very densly packed with lots of books of different densities and sizes).

I may still do the latter, actually. I dont know if it would help more than the traps though.

this might answer your question: bookshelves don't do much http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nzmBhkR4JQ

Ahh, Ethan Winer

The mans eyebrows are have their own independent brains, you know.

I do like his valiant attempts to bring some proper practical and empirical analysis to acoustics. I think a large amount of the acoustic gear/treatment out there is very much for audio engineers more than audio, and he fights that fight quite well

Anyway, I cant help but notice that his bookshelf is very homogeneous. All the books about the same size. Mine isnt, they're quite heavily staggered, or I wouldnt suspect it would do anything at all. Easily improved if I were to rearange them, too.

But he does show something else I suspected would happen; lots of high end gets absorbed, since it is just paper after all.

CD rack as a second choice - I always have far more CD rack space than I need for my CDs (for obvious reasons), so there are a lot of spaces, but it would be a monotone diffuser. I suppose with a few spare racks, a couple of planks of wood of whatever thickness a CD rack space is, a jigsaw and a few hours you could make lots of regions of different depth and make a poor mans QRD diffuser.

Love the shot of Massenbergs control room there - what you dont quite get from that shot is that those hyper-diffuser-trap-combo things are 4 feet deep, not one of the bits of wood they're made from the same length as another. Gotta love the proper OCD dedication to getting awesome sound (but what do you expect from the man that invented the parametric EQ?).

[Johnny Mac]

Great looking studio Mark.
All my gear is in my bedroom so it has less space than yours. I have to sit on the edge of my bed too, which can be pain in the back for long periods. Mind you I love it! I had a lot of fun knocking up a simple track at the weekend using the guitar synth and software instruments.

[plastercaster]

mmmmmm....

More gear than I could eat!

[Telerocker]

Mmmm, quite some nice stuff laying around there.

[MDV]

Cheers chaps.

Johnny, post the track up!

And go over to jamsite!