Recording myself

First off, I don't have a webcam
So far I've made a few mp3's of my playing and I could upload them if you know of a place to upload mp3 files.

The problem I have though is that I can't seem to get a decent recording sound. I record via Line-Out on my amp.
Whenever I record, my sound gets lost completely in the background or it gets really really messy because of the huge dynamic range. The only way I've managed to control it is by going through my Compressor, but then the sound gets ruined. There's like this really small delay when I pick a note and before the sound reaches it's peak. Also, whenever I try to give it a good bass sound where I don't want the highs messing it up, it gets lost even with over-the-top compression.
I can upload examples if you tell me where.

I've tried it with the mic from my head set, but the results are even worse. There are hardly any lows. I know I can't expect top-notch reproduction without some insane recording equipment, but I've seen videos on youtube where players get a very decent sound (and I'm sure they don't have some amazing recording gear). For example, Smaz's videos.

Any advice?
(my recoring equipment consists of: my bass, amp, headset mic even though I don't use it, a boss limiter/enhancer, a boss bass equilizer and a few effect pedals which don't really influence the quality of recording).

First/Easiest thing to do is attatch the mp3 to a picture and upload it to youtoob. then link us to it.

Thats my $0.02

How do I go about attaching a picture?
Sorry, I'm completely new to this.

And any recording tips in general? Of the top of your heads?

Dunno, windows movie maker/mac equivilant. Maybe youtube does it for you, I dunno..

one of these should do the trick. Plug into USB, plug bass straight in, make some noise

http://www.thomann.de/ie/line6_pod_studio_ux1.htm

Yea, I kind of figured that my sound card can't register the lows properly. Sadly, that's out of my financial grasp at the moment

E-mail me the mp3s if you like, I'll host 'em for you? I'll PM you my addy.

Thanks man
I'll send you just the ones I'm happy with (i.e. the ones where the sound is at least decent).

I got a new idea that I'm going to try tonight. Recording my bass raw and then EQ-ing and compressing it with software. This should produce better results, because my problem is most likely the fact that my sound card can't handle the amplified and equilized sound that comes from my amp. It should be able to handle a raw recording though. Since I have active pickups, it shouldn't be a problem

I think those recordings don't sound too bad! You can clearly hear the bass - I think if you get a bit too much low end when playing over tracks, the notes tend to blend in & sound too quiet making it harder to hear what you're playing.

I'll upload them in a mo!

Woah, great quality recordings! Nice job Stryfer and Smaz

Thanks guys! Your support means a lot.

I'm serious, it really does.

Anyway, my problem was not getting enough of the low end across. I guess I just need better recording equipment for that though.
When I play at home, my whole room vibrates
Also, the clicks are more crunchy. My question was because I've seen videos where a lot more elements of the sound get recorded (using the same bass). Plus, there's no way I can record a nice soft song. When I make my bass deep and mellow, it just can't be heard in the mix.
I guess that they just have better recording equipment then

Oh well at least I can be heard.

They sound a lot better than my recordings!
I figured out why mine sound like crap, it's because I'm using the headphone out on my amp which has electricity running through it as well, which just distorts the crap out of anything over a set volume.

Pastichio wrote:one of these should do the trick. Plug into USB, plug bass straight in, make some noise

http://www.thomann.de/ie/line6_pod_studio_ux1.htm

or you could go with USB ---> Guitar jack. from below, not sure of quality though.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=225789

Stryfer wrote:Any advice?

First off, I use http://www.box.net for all sorts of storage, mp3's being one of the things stored there. It's an easy way to get free space online to share files with other people.

Now, as to your recording setup, you say you're using Line-Out on your amplifier, but are you using Line-In or Mic-In on your computer? A Line-Out signal should be a relatively stable voltage signal which a Line-In module should be able to pick up with no problems. There should be no distortion nor any deterioration of the signal. How are you recording? Are you recording the bass over a song playing on the computer? Are you using a multi-channel software with the capability of mixing the volumes? A standard desktop computer can do wonders with music and sound if you put in some effort

Yes, I am using Line-In on my PC. I play the song, but record on a seperate track then adjust the Gain so that my bass can be heard.

The problems I'm faced with is lack of low end. I just think my sound card isn't able to process such low frequencies properly. After all, it's just an integrated sound card. Nothing special.
What you hear in my recordings is the high end clicks, but the bulk of the sound which is soposed to go with it can hardly be found even on a highly compressed sound.
Also, if try to play mellow like, where just the bass of the tone can be heard, without the click of anything - the sound is extremely quiet and no matter what I do with it - it can't be made to work.

I can't record songs where I use a single note bar (Into the Night by Santana), because it either can't be heard or I play it harder and the sound gets ruined.

Either it's the sound card, or I'm missing something very basic.