A tasty little sonic recipe

[SweetDan]

Have you ever been in the kitchen, took a nibble of something, thought "I wonder how it will taste if I stir in a bit of X and top it with some Y?" You threw a few ingredients together, and you ended up with something quite tasty? Happened to met this weekend, in my musical "kitchen", so to speak. Tell me what you think...

untitled_20191020.mp3

Ingredients:

- 1 telecaster
- 1 p-bass
- 1 tube-screamer style pedal, drive down low
- 1 generic overdrive/distortion style pedal, distortion also down low
- 1 clean amp, either a small-ish combo (10") speaker (what I used), or a head+single extension speaker
- 1 snare drum
- 1 kick drum
- 1 hi-hat
- wire brushes
- 1 SM57
- 1 kick drum mic
- 1 LDC mic
- 1 audio interface with at least 2 channels
- 1 DAW


Instructions:

1. get a groove going on the rhythm guitar
(tele/bridge p.u. -> TS pedal -> OD/dist pedal -> amp/speaker -> LDC)

2. lay down kick & hat tracks
(kick mic as you like; record hats with SM57 positioned as if recording the snare so it's really far off-axis and not too "spicy")

3. smooth out the beat with those brushes on the snare (SM57)

4. lay down the bass line
(p-bass -> TS pedal -> OD/dist pedal -> amp/speaker -> LDC)

5. sprinkle bits of noodly melodic goodness over over the top
(tele/both p.u. -> TS pedal -> amp/speaker -> LDC; note there's no OD/dist this time!)

6. blend in a touch of reverb, mix to taste, and serve


Hints:

- roll the volume of the guitar way off, and some of the tone too - you don't want to push the pedals hard at all
- keep the gain/drive really low on both pedals - you want the implicit EQ curves of the pedals to shine through "transparently" with just the slightest hint of breakup
- set the volume of the TS-style pedal to slightly more than unity (it crunches the OD/dist pedal slightly)
- set the volume of the OD/dist pedal to slightly less than unity (so you don't crunch the amp)
- the point of using a p-bass and running it through the TS (and the 10" speaker if you've got it) is to help de-emphasize the low frequencies; keep it really mid-focused
- make sure the melodic bits contrast with the other parts, both in they style of playing (long, sustained notes vs. chord "chops" in the rhythm) as well as the sonic textures (mid-pickup position, no distortion)

[rayc]

The TS on bass cuts the low end & the drive gives a little more definition to CUT THROUGH the mix without it sounding dirty.
That sounded cool.

[vomitHatSteve]

Cool. YOu planning to expand on the idea, or are you happy with what you've got?

[WhiskeyJack]

Everything is coming through really nicely in this mix SD. I can really pick up on the telecasterness of your tele. Very cool! I can't really hear what the pedals are doing to your bass much at all but it definitely smacks of P-Bass tone as well. I think the cool thing about this, intentional or otherwise is i can hear alot of the trademark characteristics of each stringed instrument The tele and Pbass. that is cool.

The tune it self turned out pretty cool too. I think Steve asked a great question, are we to expect a little more or was this just a short clip for experimentation purposes?

[JD01]

Dan, I reckon this sounds really good. Would be nice if you could get a little more thump into the kick.

However, I think you've got a good sound here. You've clearly got some limitations to what you can achieve with what you've got, but I reckon this is a really tidy mix, where you've mixed what you have really well. Basically, you've mixed to the limitations of your tracking set up.

[Lt. Bob]

that bass into TS thing is way cool.
I must try that

[SweetDan]

Thanks everybody for the positive feedback.

This clip is an extension of what I was working on over there --> viewtopic.php?f=28&t=2565#p67063 - the set-up is the same in terms of the mic positions, instruments, and pedal and amp settings. The difference is that here the goal was "how subtle can I make this"; how far can I turn down the guitar vol before the sound dies? how can I play the drums so they're very different stylistically?

(I'm also writing this up for notes to my future self if I need to remember how I achieved some "vibe" or effect.)

Cool. YOu planning to expand on the idea, or are you happy with what you've got?

...The tune it self turned out pretty cool too. I think Steve asked a great question, are we to expect a little more or was this just a short clip for experimentation purposes?

As far as where it's going, probably nowhere. Maybe, if I can come up w/some good stuff to fill out another 2-3 minutes. I've got folders scattered on my phone and my computer full of little 8-, 16-, sometimes 32-bar song ideas. This is one happened to fall together better than some, so I thought I'd share. But overall, I'm a much better "starter" than a "finisher".

that bass into TS thing is way cool.
I must try that

The TS on bass cuts the low end & the drive gives a little more definition to CUT THROUGH the mix without it sounding dirty.
That sounded cool.

That's a pleasant surprise, for sure, but thinking about what's going on, it makes sense. The Tube-Screamer-style pedal puts an obvious low cut on the signal, and a bit of grit (depending on how you have the pedal dialed; I didn't want too much). The bass still puts out enough of the other frequencies, though, that you can get away with cutting off that much low end. And the grit higher up helps it be hearable in comparison to the rest of the instruments. It's very different from what I've tried before, which was to run the bass cable straight into the interface, producing a really clean and full DI sound more-or-less, and then try to "fix" the bass sound in the mix with plugins.

...I can't really hear what the pedals are doing to your bass much at all but it definitely smacks of P-Bass tone as well...

If I remember, next time I'm on my home computer, I'll post a clip of just the bass.

Dan, I reckon this sounds really good. Would be nice if you could get a little more thump into the kick.

Yes, with all that low-end space left over by not filling it w/bass, I should be able to push up the kick. If I end up finishing this "tune", I'll do that in the real mix.

[einstein magoo]

Very groovy! Dig it!

[WhiskeyJack]

But overall, I'm a much better "starter" than a "finisher".

Buddy i am right there with you sadly. If you saw my library of "started" projects it would make you cringe. I know exactly where you are coming from.

[musicturtle]

Nicely done Dan. I think you should add to it. A nice little contrasting B section would be easy to pull off.

[Lt. Bob]

I don't think of it as unfinished projects.
I do it enough to hear what it's be ...... I just wanna hear my idea.
I'm not trying o make a record for the ages.
I put down an idea and then I'm done with it usually.

[SweetDan]

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention] - the bass by itself. My ears may be tired, but it sounds like I got a bit of reverb with this; I must have left the verb on at the amp and tracked it like that.

bassThroughTS.mp3

[WhiskeyJack]

@WhiskeyJack - the bass by itself. My ears may be tired, but it sounds like I got a bit of reverb with this; I must have left the verb on at the amp and tracked it like that.


bassThroughTS.mp3

Ok i can hear it a tiny bit. Well done. Sounds like a P-Bass. Good job man!!! thanks for coming back with the share. Would be really cool to hear with and with out the the T/S to see how it shapes it. I honestly didn't think a TS would have such a nice little transparent bump.

[Tadpui]

Nice little groove. This is the kind of stuff that I love doing myself as well. Just get caught up with an idea in your head and spend the afternoon fleshing it out.

I think its worth pursuing this one if you're so inclined. It'd make a nice instrumental or even a vocal or two on there could be fun.