[Metal Recording] How hard would this to be play on bass?

[MegaMustaine]

Myself and a guitarist have been working on material, and have yet to find a capable bassist. We are fairly young, but we can't find much of anyone.

I'm just curious, if a bass player had to mimic this guitar playing, would it be all that hard? Do we need to be on the lookout for an ultra ridiculous bass player? Because it seems like everytime we find a ridiculous bassist thats our age, they want to add funk and other bass elements, whereas we are just looking for someone to hold the rhythm down.

http://media.putfile.com/Resistance-63

Thanks guys.

[Ting]

Im about a third way through and so far Im not hearing anything to difficult if the guy were to follow guitar

[BassVirtuoso]

No it's pretty easy to chuggah chuggah on a bass.

[MasterofBass]

I'd think if you would mimic the guitars it'd be pretty easy to play on bass for most players.

Also if you're looking for a ridiculously good bassist it'll be hard to find one that'll not add his own elements in some way, not necessarily funk but some of their own colors to the music, imo.

[da_s_man13]

Whats wrong with someone adding their own thing to the song? You even tried it with a bass player who wants to add things to the song yet?

[AcerbicCunnt77]

it sounds like you want the bass not a bassist.

[Left Shoe]

yeah, why dont one of you just play bass

[katana_manatee]

Whats wrong with someone adding their own thing to the song? You even tried it with a bass player who wants to add things to the song yet?

Because for that sorta style of metal having a bass which gets busy over an already busy riff would create unnecessary chaos and would lose a lot of the power of the songs. I played in a band where I was just riffing and mostly following the guitar, I could have done a lot more had I wanted to but it just wouldn't have sounded good.

The problem is with a lot of the younger bassists with decent chops is they are too immature to focus on the music and instead want to show off what they can do, which can be fine in the right context, but in that style of music it wouldn't sound right.

The problem is finding a player with the right attitude who thinks of their chops as tools to make good music and who knows when to only bring out some of their tools when required rather than the whole tool kit and a kitchen sink thrown in for good measure.

The bass doesn't have to match the guitar for everything though, some of the slightly more fiddly bits the bassist can simply do a simple progression over it and it will sound fine.

Good luck in finding someone, bass players are often thin on the ground. Nice tune btw, had some nice pantera-esque parts to it.

[MegaMustaine]

Thank you katana manatee, you hit the nail on the head with your statement.

[Jaded]

Whats wrong with someone adding their own thing to the song?

Because you don't full get creative control over your music?

[MegaMustaine]

As katana said, the main reason is the overall sound gets busy and all over the place when you have 2 people playing two busy and all over the place riffs.

[Akira]

I'd just like to say that any bassist who tries to add in funk and complicated bass to metal like that when you specifically want simple bass is an awful bassist. I don't care if he can play a Victor Wooten - a good bassist will take the pocket when the band leader says to.

[katana_manatee]

I'd just like to say that any bassist who tries to add in funk and complicated bass to metal like that when you specifically want simple bass is an awful bassist. I don't care if he can play a Victor Wooten - a good bassist will take the pocket when the band leader says to.

Exactly, it is one thing to be able to physically play complicated things but if you force yourself to show off over everything your not being a good musician.

You have to learn to play in context, music is so much about feel. Imagine a country band where the bass player started doing lots of syncopated sixteenth note grooves, it wouldn't be country anymore. You have to play what is right for the music. If you wanna play funk, play funk in a funk band, not in a country band where only playing on beats one and three with the odd walking line will keep the feel.

In most metal the point is making the sound feel big and heavy and this takes having the musicians playing in unison with one another. Playing random slap parts or moving totally away from the riff might make some other bass players go, "Oh that is interesting", while for other bassists they might think their just being an arse along with the vast majority of people who want some heavy loud music to get their energy going.

[Foxfire]

Exactly, it is one thing to be able to physically play complicated things but if you force yourself to show off over everything your not being a good musician.

You have to learn to play in context, music is so much about feel. Imagine a country band where the bass player started doing lots of syncopated sixteenth note grooves, it wouldn't be country anymore. You have to play what is right for the music. If you wanna play funk, play funk in a funk band, not in a country band where only playing on beats one and three with the odd walking line will keep the feel.

In most metal the point is making the sound feel big and heavy and this takes having the musicians playing in unison with one another. Playing random slap parts or moving totally away from the riff might make some other bass players go, "Oh that is interesting", while for other bassists they might think their just being an arse along with the vast majority of people who want some heavy loud music to get their energy going.

I think I learned that lesson this year.

Though I've had band leaders tell me I don't play out enough for them.

[LowExpectations]

I think a lot of what defines a good bass player, especially in metal, is touch. Anyone can play the notes, but a bassist plays the notes how they should be played; that's why guitarists generally don't make good bassists, no matter how precisely they can play.

I can't listen to your song for some reason, but in my experience, a metal bassist can really fill the pocket and yet utilize his own creative spirit tonally. Metal guitarists are so focused on their riffs that often times the sound feels isolated; there's no context to the music. The bassist has the leisure to work the ambience to give the music a deep, rich backround that the guitars can emerge from.

[:amaze:]

I think a lot of what defines a good bass player, especially in metal, is touch. Anyone can play the notes, but a bassist plays the notes how they should be played; that's why guitarists generally don't make good bassists, no matter how precisely they can play.

I can't listen to your song for some reason, but in my experience, a metal bassist can really fill the pocket and yet utilize his own creative spirit tonally. Metal guitarists are so focused on their riffs that often times the sound feels isolated; there's no context to the music. The bassist has the leisure to work the ambience to give the music a deep, rich backround that the guitars can emerge from.

as true as that is in a live situation, i think that the deep, rich background you speak of is more a concern of the production of a recording.




:amaze:

[peeted]

id think for that most part that would be quite easy, but tbh i think there was quite alot of room in there for some actual constructivce bass fills and fun, if you get a bassist who can realy play though make shure he/she is tastefull as well.

[Jody LeCompte]

Steve(katana_manatee) is a good example of how playing more than one instrument leads to a bit higher of an understanding of how two instruments are suposed to interact in a band.

A good bassist will be able to leave his mark without every riff screaming with purely individiual sound. Mudvayne comes to mind when I think about good metal bass. He makes things funky as hell through syncopation. The timing of the bass doubling the guitar in a "chugga chugga" type of song can change the entire sound of the overall peice. For instance, if you play the guitar part in half time, or double time, rather than just one bass note for every guitar stroke.