Noise gate for bass:
silencing the hiss between notes

A noise gate cuts the sound when you’re not playing. It silences hiss, hum and little string noises between notes, especially with a driven tone. The trick is to set it just above the noise, without cutting off the end of your notes.

What it does to your sound

A noise gate is a doorman. It watches the signal level: as long as it stays below a threshold, it keeps the door shut and nothing comes out. As soon as a note goes over that threshold, it opens and lets the note through untouched.

When the note dies away and drops back below the threshold, the gate closes again, more or less quickly depending on its release. Too fast, and the end of the note is chopped off; more gently, and it fades out naturally.

It doesn’t remove the noise while the note is playing: it only hides it between notes, where you hear it most. It’s most useful with drive, which brings up every little noise.

What it’s for on bass

• Metal and driven rock: tight stops, with no hiss between riffs.
• A noisy setup: a cable, an audio interface or a bass that hums a little.
• Before drive or heavy compression, both of which bring up the noise.

The controls, one by one

A starting point

1. Set THRESHOLD all the way down and RELEASE to halfway.
2. Don’t play, and raise THRESHOLD until the hiss disappears. Stop right there.
3. Play a long note and let it ring out: if the end gets cut off, lower the threshold a little or lengthen RELEASE.
4. Play softly: every note should get through.

For comparison: the UnitBasse factory preset Metal sets its Noise Gate to −40 dB, at the start of the chain, ahead of the Compressor and the Distortion.

The pitfalls

• Notes cut short: threshold too high or release too short. Sustained notes stop dead.
• Soft notes swallowed: a ghost note or a lightly played note no longer gets through. Lower the threshold.
• Chattering: on a note that fades out near the threshold, the gate opens and closes over and over. Lengthen RELEASE.
• A gate hiding a problem: a loud hum often comes from a cable or a ground issue. The gate masks it, but the problem is still there.

Where to put it in the chain

Right at the start, before the compressor and the drive pedals. It cuts the noise before compression brings it up and drive makes it bigger. That’s its place in the classic order: the first effect in the chain.

In UnitBasse

The noise gate is called Noise Gate, nicknamed Hush, in the Dynamics family, alongside the Compressor. Its display, Gate opening (input → output), shows the threshold below which it cuts. You’ll find it in the factory preset Metal.

Frequently asked questions