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[Jason Lucas]

I've done a few recordings straight from the main mix on to USB, but every time I do it sound like there's no low end whatsoever. The bass and kick are almost none existent. It doesn't make much sense since I have those two instruments up a lot higher than most of the others. They should sound just as hot in the recording as they do in the speakers, wouldn't you think?

[Matthew Donadio]

Few things to check:

Are you positive that the main out is what is being recorded, and not another aux/group/matrix/alt?

Did you double check that the bass/kick are assigned to same out that is being recorded?

If you PFL/AFL the out that is being recorded, do you hear the bass/kick?

Can you monitor the in and the out from the recorder?  Do you hear the bass/kick?

[John Roberts {JR}]

If you are talking about a board check from a mix done in a live room that is not in a very large room the stage wash from a live drum kit and big bass rig may reduce the level needed for them in the PA mix..

JR
 

[Jason Lucas]

Few things to check:

Are you positive that the main out is what is being recorded, and not another aux/group/matrix/alt?

Did you double check that the bass/kick are assigned to same out that is being recorded?

If you PFL/AFL the out that is being recorded, do you hear the bass/kick?

Can you monitor the in and the out from the recorder?  Do you hear the bass/kick?

Yep, I'm positive what is being recorded, I have the main left, right, and center all going to a matrix, and the USB recorder is getting its signal from that matrix. The matrix has no processing on it.

I'll try monitoring out of that matrix and seeing if I can hear the kick and bass.

JR: There is no rig for the stage, he's going direct through the system. The kick drum's signal is as hot as I can get it without the preamp clipping and I have the fader at +6 over unity and the main fader at unity, so I'm running the kick pretty hot, much hotter than other instruments that I can clearly hear in the recordings.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Yep, I'm positive what is being recorded, I have the main left, right, and center all going to a matrix, and the USB recorder is getting its signal from that matrix. The matrix has no processing on it.

I'll try monitoring out of that matrix and seeing if I can hear the kick and bass.

JR: There is no rig for the stage, he's going direct through the system. The kick drum's signal is as hot as I can get it without the preamp clipping and I have the fader at +6 over unity and the main fader at unity, so I'm running the kick pretty hot, much hotter than other instruments that I can clearly hear in the recordings.

Check that the polarity of the multiple LF sources is the same.  If not, they'll cancel to a greater or lesser degree.  If the bass is going in direct and the kick is miked up, then there'll be a slight time differential in the signals, likely enough to cause some cancellation.

[Jason Lucas]

Check that the polarity of the multiple LF sources is the same.  If not, they'll cancel to a greater or lesser degree.  If the bass is going in direct and the kick is miked up, then there'll be a slight time differential in the signals, likely enough to cause some cancellation.

Wouldn't I be able to hear that live?

I haven't ever experimented with the phase switch on either the kick or bass, but I've never heard the two instruments cancel each other out live.

Either way, I'm going to do some headphone monitoring tonight because I'm really curious why this is happening.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Wouldn't I be able to hear that live?

I haven't ever experimented with the phase switch on either the kick or bass, but I've never heard the two instruments cancel each other out live.

Either way, I'm going to do some headphone monitoring tonight because I'm really curious why this is happening.

No the kick and bass do not cancel each other out, stage wash leaking into other open mics may be opposite polarity and causing them to cancel themselves out.

LF sounds are long acoustic wavelength so cancellation from leakage is more possible than from HF signals with their shorter wavelengths where the mics meed to be much closer together. 

Use headphones and compare the solo'd channel to the final mix, if there is cancellation it will be apparent there.  Another test is to mute the drum mic and see if it goes away completely, or if there is audible leakage into other mics.

JR

[Lee Buckalew]

I've done a few recordings straight from the main mix on to USB, but every time I do it sound like there's no low end whatsoever. The bass and kick are almost none existent. It doesn't make much sense since I have those two instruments up a lot higher than most of the others. They should sound just as hot in the recording as they do in the speakers, wouldn't you think?

You say you are recording to a USB recorder.  Are you recording an MP3? What settings for the MP3?  The MP3 perceptual encoding and settings may well be a t least a part of what you are hearing.

Lee

[Jay Barracato]

If you are running the subs a lot hotter than the tops and you are mixing to what you hear then they are going to be lower in the recorded mix.

Also are you playing back through the same system?.
 
Checking your recording feed with a pair of headphones will help.

[Jason Lucas]

I tried flipping the phase switch on the kick channel, no change. Same with the bass channel. I did notice that when monitoring the kick that it sounds really thin and wimpy, no "oomph" to it at all. Probably explains why I couldn't hear it very well in the recording.

The recordings are 24bit, 48KHz wave files.

When I played the recordings back, I was listening through headphones.

[ProSoundWeb Community]