Members bikehorn Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Most people listen to music on stereos that are beyond terrible. the amplifiers are crap and the speakers tend to be equally crappy, especially those 'all in one' mini stereo things with 23092309 colourful flashing lights and "EQ presets", invariably set by most to scoop the mids while boosting lows and highs...if they can even get their heads around using an EQ or that it's built into their stereo to begin with. the result is that low end definition suffers horribly and is overboosted so it sounds like mud, if the speakers even go that low. lots of people, i.e. the kid at Best Buy playing with the car audio display seem to think that a loud 60 Hz is "bass". If you play a good quality recording through a decent setup with nice speakers, even a majority of tin-eared n00bs will say things like "damn, I never heard half of these things before, and I listen to this all the time!". Especially the bass lines. Of course there are the ones who find 128 kbps mp3s to be the zenith of sound quality and can't tell the difference between that and something better, but I think it's reasonably safe to say people like that generally don't listen to very good music anyway...YMMV I do think though, that you have to be a bass player to truly understand the bass line. Not sure how else to say it, but when I hear a bassline in a song, I try to imagine it actually being played and what the player was doing with his/her hands at the time provided it wasn't anything other than playing the bass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members someotherguy Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Most people listen to music on stereos that are beyond terrible. Good point. Underscored even more when I'm lazy or out and about and listen to music on my laptop's speakers. Man I miss the bass & kick. I also agree with the sentiment that people miss the bass when it's gone. I must say a drummer friend a while back said (to a guitarist/singer present more than to me) that everything sounds different without a bassist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Noise... Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 I admit I'm guilty of this. At least, I *was* a while back. I started getting into music by learning guitar. And of course, that made me focus on the guitar in songs. But, after trying and trying to get "that tone" I realized that it wasn't just the guitar, but the bass backing it up that gave it that thicker, more rounded sound. A few particular songs also made me notice the basslines more - particularly "Crawl" by Alkaline Trio and "198d" by At the Drive-in. Honestly, those are two of the songs that made me want to play bass. It's not that they're complex, or anything really amazing, but they sound good none-the-less. After a while, I started focusing less on the guitar and more on the bass, which made me realize that a lot of the bands I listen to have absolutely kickass bass players that have come up with some amazing music. I think it's a combination of tuning your ears onto the bass, rather than just listening. Now, the bassline is one of the first things I listen for. I still try to keep some focus on the guitars and drums, but I make sure I hear the bassline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassdudeguy Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 me play boomstick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1964 Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Our keyboard player, who can sing her ass off, but thinks because I play a different part other than her or the guitarist, says I'm playing it wrong. A good example I can think of is Ah Leah by Donnie Iris. The guitar is playing power chords, d major, f major, c major, g major, while I am on the d the whole time. The keyboardist will turn and look at me, and say something like if you practiced once in awhile, you would be able to follow the guitarist. duh! I say if you listened to the bass line instead of looking at yourself in the mirror, you'd hear I am playing it right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeonVomit Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Bass players are overlooked. This is a fact of nature. It comes with the territory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Daryl Chaney Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 "bassplayers can only hear basslines" this is true for the majority of all non-musicians and even most musicians. thankfully i play in a 3 piece band (guitar/vox , bass, drums) which gives me great freedom playing the bass, im able to act like a 2nd guitarist at the same time. strangely enough when we play a gig i always get more comments about my bass playing than the guitarist or drummer. due to the fact im encouraging people to hear my bass. I use alot of effects and use a bow on my bass for some songs too which gets people listening to the bass. Bass is usually overseen by the fact that most bassists just play frigging root notes all the time and never try anything besides following the root line which puts the bass in the background as a filler. that is one of reasons i actually started playing bass. its the sexiest instrument of them all ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roguetitan Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 when you play in a 3 piece band the Bass Player is most definately heard:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boogiebassbill Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 so what are you doing with your right hand? har har har Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boogiebassbill Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 people never notice a good bass playerbut people always notice a bad one I must be pretty popular then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cangrejito Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Just try to imagine a Red Hot Chili Peppers song without bass, or a James Brown song without bass, or Billie Jean without bass. I'm a drummer, and I care soooo much about the quality of my bass player, and if he/she messes up I get very, very annoyed. When the bass player makes mistakes, it very noticeable. In fact, that's one of the reasons I picked up the bass too...to know how to play the songs with the bass, and if I hear mistakes, let him/he know "look you idiot, it's G not F#" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geekwithabass Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Wise words Mogwix...80 to 85% true...100% of the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted August 31, 2007 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2007 an eternal annoyance...was watching Gabriels 'Growing Up' concert earlier tonight, and raving at Levin's work on 'Secret World'...my wife was like, what are you talking about?sometimes it seems like the only people who hear the bass are the players....and a somewhat related gripe...concert footage never, ever, focuses on the bassist..do i need to see david rhodes stumming barre chords? no! do i need to see t.lev working the crazy upright fretless 5er? yes! There are exceptions. Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust", for instance. Overall, though, I agree. Video footage, absolutely. Bass players get in the field of view when they're also the lead singer, or when they stand close to a guitarist or in front of the drummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chunky-b Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 I've noticed that since I have started playing with other live musicians that I hear music differently. Even when listening to the radio i hear sounds, wood block hits, extra notes, noises, etc. that I didn't hear. Same thing happened years ago when I took my first music appreciation class in college. Instead of hearing music as one sound, I heard it as a collection of sounds. Everyone hears differently, but I think from playing with other musicians, we pick out the bass lines, the drum patterns and our brains pick them apart differently. Then a non-musician person doesn't hear the same thing or they just listen for vocals and wonder what we're smoking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pickinatit Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Just try to imagine a Red Hot Chili Peppers song without bass, or a James Brown song without bass, or Billie Jean without bass. I'm a drummer, and I care soooo much about the quality of my bass player, and if he/she messes up I get very, very annoyed. When the bass player makes mistakes, it very noticeable. In fact, that's one of the reasons I picked up the bass too...to know how to play the songs with the bass, and if I hear mistakes, let him/he know "look you idiot, it's G not F#" You sound like a bass player's dream to play with!! :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonathan_matos5 Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 i not only hear what the bass player is playing but what i would play if it were me. does anybody else do that or am i crazy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcrow Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 If you like Blues at all get a copy of Robben Ford's Live In Paris. It's a small stage and there is a lot of excellent footage of Jimmy Earl laying down some great stuff.But for the most part you are right, people don't hear the bass at all. i was tuning up before our meeting one night and doing some riff practice to fit some of the new songs a guy walked up and said...is that 'smoke on the water' deep purple...which i havent heard..but he had and had the bass riff in his head..he doesnt play bass but i go along with the general trend of thoughtwhen i played sax i could hear every horn note as well.. cool:love: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deep Bass Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 my wife has been listening to the bass for years since being with me...in fact as a whole she listens much more critically and intentionally than she did before we got together. Its pretty cool really, she points out certain bass parts in songs she likes, and I often say "did you hear that sick bass note there" and she usually says "yes"! It definately takes training to have a keen ear, and my wife's has improved over the ears! I'm actually more annoyed that so many players have such {censored}ty ears, certain instruments seem more prone than others, of course to not listening... Same thing happened with my girlfriend. I taught her to listen for the bass, and now she knows the difference. She said she always thought it was the guitar she was hearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deep Bass Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 when you play in a 3 piece band the Bass Player is most definately heard:thu: I've only played in 3 piece bands, or (4 piece with a vocalist that doesn't play an instrument). I never felt that I wasn't being heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hawkhuff Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Lots of people have no idea what is a bass part and what is a guitar part. It's a matter of education but many aren't interested and listen for the pure enjoyment of it while others like most of us here, dissect bass parts. The bass parts are the parts that are most difficult to hear, so, does that make us more intellectual than drummers and guitar players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted August 31, 2007 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2007 i not only hear what the bass player is playing but what i would play if it were me. does anybody else do that or am i crazy? Well, yeah, but what he's playing is usually better than what I'd play if it were me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davidM Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Nope, but they sure feel it..and they miss it if it disappears. That's why I prefer to play bass in a band. well when the guitar is likely around 100 watts, 300 if your KISS, and the bass can go into the Quad number range, yea... Besides, if there were no bass, Rage Against the Machine would just be Tom playing with his pedal board. IMO I think bass is one of those instruments that in most popular styles of music, esp. rock, people are listening to the guitar lines. Hence air guitaring high pitch sounds, you don't see people stand infront of their mirror going, "thump thump thump, badebado!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassdudeguy Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 Hence air guitaring high pitch sounds, you don't see people stand infront of their mirror going, "thump thump thump, badebado!" so that makes me weird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davidM Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 so that makes me weird Naw! That makes you a FREAK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Optimus Prime Posted August 31, 2007 Members Share Posted August 31, 2007 When ever I play a song from an iPod and ask someone to listen for bass they never hear it. And when ever I play something on a bass and someone asks what song it is and when I tell them they say they've never heard that part in that specific song. Wow that's kinda confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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