If you’re unsure about the accuracy of your monitoring, try importing some good‑sounding commercial tracks into your DAW, install an EQ set to flat in all bands but with the spectrum display active, and examine the overall frequency shape of the audio. I’ll assume that you already have a project with a single, mono track of DI‑recorded bass guitar, and monitor speakers or headphones that allow you to hear a satisfying amount of bass when you listen to commercial mixes. I’m going to be employing only basic plug‑ins such as the EQs and compressors available in any DAW, alongside some simple editing and routing strategies. Whilst there are some very capable amp‑modellers, speaker IRs and clever bass‑enhancement plug‑ins available, you won’t need them for this. So, in this article, I’ll be explaining what it is about a clean DI’d bass sound that can make it challenging, and I’ll take you through some techniques that should help you get closer to the kind of result you may be seeking in your productions. Furthermore, a clean DI track offers up the widest range of options for modifying the sound when mixing.Ī lot of recording musicians, though, seem to struggle to get a DI’d bass part to sound right when it is in a mix. That’s often helpful because bass amps and their associated speaker cabs aren’t the easiest things to record with mics, especially in smaller rooms where unpredictable cancellations can occur due to interactions between room boundaries and the long wavelengths involved. Using a DI allows low‑volume or even silent monitoring, of course, but also removes the acoustics of the room as a consideration. But even when the sound of a miked speaker is the preferred sonic outcome, many people still choose initially to record a ‘clean’ signal by connecting the bass guitar to a DI box or the high‑impedance instrument input on their audio interface, since it’s often just the most pragmatic option. On occasion, a clean, unadorned DI bass guitar sound is exactly what’s wanted in a mix.

Getting the bottom end right is often the difference between a polished, professional‑sounding mix and something that never quite realises its full potential, and that usually means both capturing and mixing a good bass guitar sound.

Ever had trouble getting a plain DI’d bass guitar to sound right in a mix? Me too, sometimes! But it’s almost always fixable once you understand the issues.

Decisions decisions chords