📑 Sections (7)

Quick guide: record bass

Everything to set up to record bass right now: instrument, iD44, Studio One and amp sim, with concrete values.

The bass gets recorded clean (DI) just once. The sound is built later and, if you want a distorted layer, it comes from that same take duplicated.

The signal path
Bassvolume all the way up, flat EQ
DI inputfront of the iD44
Mono trackfader at 0 dB
Amp simoptional, on inserts

1. The bass

  • Volume all the way up. The level is controlled from the iD44, never from the instrument.
  • The bass’s EQ flat, if it has an active preamp. Lows and highs get decided in the mix.
  • Nothing in between: no pedals or inline tuners.
  • In tune: in the low register, a slightly out-of-tune note comes across as mud rather than as being out of tune.

2. The iD44

A mono instrument cable (6.35 mm TS) to one of the DI inputs on the front. They belong to channels 1 and 2, and plugging in replaces that channel’s mic. Note which one you used.

  • 48V: off.
  • 100 Hz filter: off. On bass it’s key: it would eat your low end and that can’t be recovered.
  • −10 dB pad: off, except for the active preamp case.
  • Gain: the only knob that defines what gets recorded. You set it in step 4.
  • Headphone or monitor volume: to taste. To hear yourself louder you touch this, never the gain.

In the iD mixer, if you’re going to listen with an amp sim, lower or mute the bass channel and keep the DAW return up. Otherwise you’ll hear both signals at once.

3. Studio One

  • Format: 48 kHz and 24 bits.
  • Buffer: 64 or 128 samples when recording. If there are dropouts or clicks, raise it one step.
  • Input: in Song Setup → Audio I/O Setup, create a mono input with a clear name like “Bass DI”.
  • Track: audio and mono, with that input, armed (red button) and with monitoring (blue button).
  • Fader at 0 dB: it doesn’t change what gets recorded, and this way the meter shows what’s coming in.

4. The level

  1. Keep the amp sim off or not loaded.
  2. Play the most aggressive thing you’ll record: hard pick or slap. Bass clips on the attacks, not on the average.
  3. Raise the iD44 gain from the bottom until peaks sit between −12 and −6 dBFS.
  4. Don’t touch it again for the whole song, and take a photo of the knob.
🔴 Set this NOW· in recording

A clip stays recorded forever. And a bass with very uneven notes costs compression later: every difference you even out by playing is work you save.

5. To play comfortably

  • Turn up the kick in what you hear while recording, and lower the guitars if they cover it. You have to hear where each hit lands.
  • Optional amp sim on the inserts, with input at default and output not reaching 0. It records clean anyway.

Checklist

Before hitting REC

  1. Bass in tune, volume all the way up, flat EQ, battery in good shape.
  2. Cable to the DI input on the front (channel 1 or 2).
  3. 48V and filter off; pad only if it still clips.
  4. Channel monitoring lowered in the iD mixer, if you use an amp sim.
  5. 48 kHz, 24 bits, buffer at 64 or 128.
  6. Mono track with the right input, armed and with monitoring. Fader at 0 dB.
  7. Peaks of −12 to −6 dBFS on the loudest part, without the plugin.
  8. Kick up in the headphones.

Expected result

Expected result

A clean, in-tune DI file with no clip and all its low end, with even notes locked to the kick. Don’t try to make it sound like a record yet. To understand each decision, continue with signal and levels and the two layers.