Please take a listen and share some bass guitar mixing tips/tricks

 

.....I think it starts with a fantastic bass player. Davide Romani is one of my faves.

 

Sounds like Timmy Allen played his Fender Jazzbass.

 

Jazz Bass with Flatwounds + Ampeg SVT Classic can get you there.

 

...and make some "room" in the arrangement for it

 

This! Sooo overlooked these days.

 

Hahaha I'm unable to enjoy the songs of today, just a few exceptions like Daft Punk.

 

da Flats! LaBella flatwounds are reallly nice https://www.sweetwater.com/store/se...rams=eyJmYWNldCI6eyJDYXRlZ29yeSI6WyI1NjkiXX19

 

oh this is awesome!

 

Vulfpeck got some real nice vintage THICC bass guitars too, i think youll like it:

(their whole channel is full with that kind of stuff)

 

You are 100% correct. Romani is a superb bass player. As noted by @n0xin,this song also benefits from a great arrangement. We can't overlook the facilities used for recording, mixing and mastering. The song was recorded at Mediasounds Studios which was the best place to make the best sounding records at the time. In fact, Mediasounds' Studio A was famous for allowing you to get the best bass sounds. It had a sound that no other studio had. The song was mixed by multiple Grammy winner engineer Michael Brauer. Mastering was done at Sterling Sound. In sum, the best of the best was used to compose, record, mix, and master this song.
A little off topic here but worth mentioning that in those days Romani was getting paid just 500 lires per month, and had to work exclusively for the producer, Jacques Fred Petrus, who needed guys like Romani and Malavasi. Petrus was neither a competent arranger nor composer. At the beginning Romani and Petrus bumped heads because Petrus preferred a cleaner bass sound, while Romani was used to beating the strings and being a bit more aggressive when playing. It is interesting to note that, prior to the formation of Change Romani never had composed anything.

 

To be honest it sounds a lot like a precision to me. Or maybe a Jazz bass with the neck pickup soloed or at least a lot louder than the bridge pickup.

Here's an example of a jazz bass with the bridge pickup soloed that also can sound thick.

<- that's me btw.

 

......very true. Thanks for the info. I'm a huge fan of 'Change' and you gave lots of info I didn't know.

 

......great sound! You got 'funk'!

 

Thanks man - I appreciate it!

 

I would attribute a lot of it to groove and touch/syncopation, which Davide Romani is a pro, but also the rest of the band contributes heavily with that. Paolo Gianolio on the guitar, those Italians know how to funk.

If you're using MIDI to get your instrumentation, you can swing and nudge each individual instrument against the drums until it starts grooving. With the bass notes, definitely adjust the timing and volume of notes when played in step with other instruments. Some Kontakt Bass samples have incredible automation possibilities as well, I would start by subtly randomizing some of them. Just a few ideas.

 

I don't know the exact bass used by Davide Romani on that song but he's surely love both Jazz and P-Bass.

 

Its lovely sound, try 1.2 or 1.6 hz for the string brightness and 600-800 for the body, and then around 80hz for the deepness but not too much, make sure your kick is strong in the 50-60hz area and the 80 for the bass. This isn't as bassy as it might seem its a lot more midrange then a modern bass sound. Yes it sounds like a jazz with flats with a 1x15 speaker

 

The giveaway for me is that throaty sound you get while popping the string which is a pretty signature p-Bass sound (or Jazz neck pickup).
Source: 27 Years as a professional (E-)Bassist.

 

Perhaps, if you like, you can plug your bass to your computer and use Jam Origin: MIDI Bass to play over Evolution Flatwound Bass samples. I dont know it was Flatwound btw, much love for info and mixing tips shared here