In this video tutorial from the team at Slate Digital, Steven Slate shows you how to turn a flat, run of the mill sounding DI bass part into something that is going to drive, add body and give the finished mix a solid foundation. 

Steven starts by applying Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machine (VTM) to the DI bass track to give the DI part some warmth in the form of gentle saturation. He then runs the output of the VTM into the Virtual Mix Rack (VMR) and a host of goodies including the FG-73 preamp emulation, the FG-S EQ and the FG-116 Vintage 1176 style compressor. 

To give the bass part some character Steven then duplicates the track for a style of parallel processing again using the VTM but this time the VMR has the Virtual Console Collection (VCC) in the US-A setting.  The VTM passes to another instance of the FG-73, but this time instead of being used for its tonality the FG-73 is being used as an overdrive for the bass part. 

Blending these two channels along with Drums, Steven shows how the bass sits in the track but has its own place in the low end.