>Step by step
Create a great bass tone with stock plugins
1 First things first, record your pass parts into Logic. You can use Logic’s input monitor to check your levels are coming out OK. You don’t want your signal to be too hot (have too much gain) or too low (meaning that when you raise the level in the DAW you’ll also add noise).
2 Make sure that the level of your recorded audio sits at about -12dB. When we add compression and amp modulation, the volume will increase, so we just want to make sure there’s plenty of headroom. Adjust as necessary by gain staging (raising or lowering the gain) if you’ve recorded too quiet or too loud.
3 Next add the amp simulator to your track. Audio effects>Amps and pedals >Bass amp designer. With this you can then switch through the list of default settings to find the ultimate sound you need, or just have a solid starting point.
4 This amp designer is incredibly powerful for a stock plugin. You can mix and match amps and cabs however you want; you can select your virtual microphone placement to lighten or darken the sound. You can even select a DI box setting and blend as much as you like in.
5 Use the dropdown in the top left of the plugin to select the sound you desire. I recommend just having a listen through in the first instance until you find something that’ll make a good starting point. You might even get lucky and find just the right thing from the off!
6 For this tutorial I’m going for a classic funk/RnB sound with my bass tone. I’m using the Big Stack factory setting as a starting point. This has a nice, deep bass tone but also a little bit of low mid presence to capture the subtleties of what I’m playing. It’s still not quite right, but we’ll adjust it to make it so.
7 The first thing I do is turn off some of the inbuilt functions of the amp modulation. The compressor is basic, not as powerful as my pro plugins, so I switch it off. I also adjust the pre faders on the module, to lower the 40Hz region and also the 250Hz region.
8 Adjusting the 40Hz fader helps control the frequencies below 100Hz against that of my kick drum, which is quite thick in this track. Between 200 and 300Hz your bass can sound artificial and pretty cheap. So I can give myself a helping hand before EQing by amending on the pre fader.
9 EQ is your new best friend for getting the sound you desire. Remember that cutting can be more important than boosting as you just want to get rid of nasty, cheap sounding frequencies. I’ve cut between 200Hz and 250Hz as that sounds much better for my sound. I’ve boosted at around 80-90Hz as that’s the best tone for me here.
10 Keep a watch over your track output volume as you tweak the sound. I recommend switching the plugin on and off periodically to see where your sound started from and where you’ve gone with it by adding the effects. You want to ensure the volume isn’t increasing too much when you switch A-B so adjust the output Volume slider accordingly.
11 You can also adjust the virtual microphone placement to suit your sound. This is a great little feature to help shape your tone – acting as a way to emulate the microphone being closer or further from the amp cone. Once you’re satisfied, it’s time to keep sharpening the sound with a VCA compressor for maximum control.
12 A compressor will really thicken up your sound and even it out. There are numerous settings to consider, appropriate to your genre and sound, and it could be the difference-maker in making your bass really shine in your track. Check out my previous tutorial and video for more guidance on this.