In December 2017 my band Salem split. After some very expensive litigation the singer, (Simon) and I secured the rights to all master recordings and also the name Salem UK (which we have always been known as in order to avoid confusion with other outfits of the same name).
A year down the line with a new guitarist and drummer we are about 3/4 of the way through a new album which will be released next year by Dissonance Productions - so I’ll have to take this recording down after a while.
In this thread:
I mentioned that I almost always put stereo chorus on bass guitars, and I was asked to post an example. So this post serves that purpose, and also gives me a chance to ask the honourable members how it is sounding at this stage of the process.
You can’t really hear the chorus as a separate entity, it’s just there to help the bass cut through - although if you listen carefully you can hear it on the two half-beat bars at the end of every chorus (no pun intended!).
Interesting. If - in your opinion - it definitely makes the bass cut through, wouldn’t a more logical solution be to back off the useage rather than ditching it completely?
Yes. I wasn’t implying my solution was logical. I just found I would dial it in to the point where it sounded right, and I’d go back a few days later and think “holy crap, that’s way too much.” For me (I don’t think this applies to anyone else) I just found that chorus on bass was an effect that was too easy for me to overdo and get numb to the sound. I have no idea why, and it might be the case that I wouldn’t have that issue any more. I just haven’t tried in a while.
Sorry to hear about the band hassles… sounds like a very stressful time…
…but this new lineup sounds MASSIVE, Adrian! Guitarring is fabulous! Did you do anything different with the drums? Record them/process them differently to usual? They sound great here, and different to usual (can’t hear in great detail at the moment, as I’m listening on crud speakers at work). I’m guessing maybe it’s the drummer… ?
Totally was. I was going through a divorce at the time and this felt like someone had dished a second one up for a side order.
Heh, thank you. Funnily enough that’s the word we use to describe it ourselves.
Agreed. He is truly gifted.
They are actually the same samples as I used on the previous album. I’ve EQd them differently though, and as you suggest, it’s a different drummer, so it’s going to sound different - and his kit is in the overheads, of course.
This is sounding really good to me as well. The overall rhythm of the song is very interesting, finding myself a little surprised here and there-- in a good way, as in monotony has no chance to set in. Good arranging work there.
No nits to pick on the mix, except that perhaps I’d like for the vox to be just a tad more out front of that indeed massive guitar attack. And yes indeed, that guitarist can really play!! Sorry you had the dual-divorce situation, but you came out ahead in that department at least… “addition by subtraction” as the saying goes.
Thank you Dave. Yes I spent much longer than I should have done on the level of the lead vocal. It was very tricky to get right. I really wanted the guitars to be big, so there has to be compromise. As soon as the lead vocal goes up, it effectively brings the guitars down too much - for my ears at least. I actually had the lead vocal 0.5db lower than this until yesterday. I can just about handle the 0.5db increase but any more is too much - for me anyway.
Hey, that’s impressive. You are correct, it really does cut through beautifully. And, yes as well, I really wouldn’t have picked out chorus as an effect.
Could I ask what kind of settings you used for your chorus on the bass? # voices, length, etc. This is really helpful. Thanks, man.
