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How to Blend the Sound of a Guitar and a Bass

Achieving just the right blend between guitar and bass should be felt by the listener "like a warm hug" according to Manny Marroquin, mixing engineer on multiple platinum hits for John Mayer and other top recording artists. Think of the guitar as one arm and the bass as the other arm. The idea is to wrap both arms around the listener and engulf them, blending the two sources together to sound like one. Effective microphone placement, the tone, instruments, amplification, style and rapport of the musicians themselves--and not studio wizardry--represent the keys to successfully blending bass and guitar.

Instructions

    • 1

      Conduct some practice sessions with just the guitarist and bass player alone. It's important these two musicians find their "comfort zone" together. Over time, both will develop a natural ability to anticipate the other's every move and share a common conception of where the beat lies.

    • 2

      Focus on essential duties as a team. Rather than putting the emphasis on being individual/solo players, blend as a rhythm section. The bass player's essential duty is to keep time and to play notes fundamental to the harmony, while the rhythm guitar's job is to emphasize the beat.

    • 3

      Adjust the tone of the rhythm guitar. A crisp but slightly muffled sound is generally preferred because it cuts through better and blends well. A medium/high string action produces this sound. This eliminates the "buzz" caused by the strings striking the frets when the action is too low.

    • 4

      Use heavy gauge strings on the guitar; this brings more fullness and depth to the sound, more like a bass. In February 1958, legendary jazz rhythm guitarist Barry Galbraith told Metronome Magazine: "I think of the guitar as the top part of the bass." This summarizes in simple terms the golden rule of rhythm guitar playing even today in any genre' of music.

    • 5

      Tune the bass and guitar together to ensure the two instruments are in perfect tune with each other. Since calibration can vary from one tuner to the next, share the same tuner.

    • 6

      Experiment with microphone placement on the bass and guitar amplifiers. In the recording studio, moving the mic back a couple of feet adds depth and produces a warmer sound overall. Placing the mic six to eight inches from the amp's grill cloth, with the ribbon element centered on the dome of the speaker generates a bright, crisp sound. Like a tone control, you'll find that moving the mic closer to the center of the speaker gives you more highs; moving it further away brings out the lows.

    • 7

      Use baffles or other sound-deadening materials around the bass amp. Rooms with a lot of hard surfaces tend to produce a low-end rumble which needs to be toned down or eliminated completely.

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