BASS OVERDUBS
My name is Hamilton Belk, and I'm a session musician. I record bass overdubs from my studio for bands and artists all over the world. I love what I well written bass line can do in a song!
I do overdubs for $150 per song, and I will play most genres. My wheelhouse on bass is folk, americana, indie rock, country, and r&b. I don't really play slap bass or face-melting bass solos. However, I do well in most situations that call for tasteful, melodic bass parts. Take a listen to my samples, and you'll get a sense of my skill set.
Hopefully you'll hear something that resonates with your project. If not, drop me a line, and I should be able find a sample that does.
BASS SAMPLES
BASS RECORDING PROCESS
DECIDING WHAT TO PLAY: First I will take a listen to any references you have to get an idea of the style and tone we'll be aiming for with the bass track. I have a handful of techniques for achieving a variety of tones, and it will be important to dial that in before getting started. Then I'll listen to the song from start to finish to get a sense of the arc of the arrangement in addition to the emotional tone. I'll take all of this into consideration as I record a bass track that is sensitive to the material and matches the energy, section to section. Sometimes the bass has a pretty clear role. Sometimes it just needs to hold down the low end and stay out of the way. Other times, bass can really elevate the emotional content. When it's called for, I love finding effective melodies on bass. I'll send in draft one, and if I nailed it on the first delivery, great! If not, we can work together to hone it in until it's perfect. Once I get the green light on the track, I'll send dry preamp and DI signals, as well as any effects prints you'd like for your mix. I can tailor the delivery to meet your technical needs.
SIGNAL CHAIN: Here is my typical signal chain for recording bass. Hofner Club Series bass > Sarno Black Box (a vacuumm tube pickup driver) > Radial DI Box (this is where I split the signal in order to provide a clean DI) > Neve 511 Portico Preamp > Warm Audio EPQ (a pultec style EQ I usually use in bypass mode for the extra tubes)> Apollo x8p interface > Pro Tools 12. Having the DI and the mildly saturated preamp signals will give you many tone-shaping options. I often use a blend of low end from the DI and mid to high end from the preamp. I also have the Univeral Audio Ampeg SVT plugin, which is my go to.