i play bass and i love to , and too much people say me that the bass is not important in a band , what do you think about that?

The bass is certainly the least utilized instrument a standard metal band lineup. With many albums I can't hear any bass at all.

I'm told bass becomes important in a live setting, but I'm not sure.

... How many times is this thread going to repeat itself. I know without a doubt that Traver will have something to say.

Bass is as important in metal as you make it. You can learn to make the parts you write stand out or you can sit in the back and play root notes. You can submit to the demands of your band and let them turn you down in the mix or you can grow a backbone, stand up for yourself and take control.

I choose to make bass important in my band because I am a founding member and a notable part of our creative process. I've spend thousands of dollars on equipment that I felt would compliment our sound, and I think it deserves to be heard. And every now and then people notice that I actually play my instrument instead of filling a role. And they make the experience worth it.

Give me a sub-genre. I'll give you a large list of bands in that sub genre alone that have benefited immensely from a talented bassist.

Edit: A bass guitar is important in a band because it adds texture, fullness, and another element of melody to the sound. This is particularly necessary in more extreme forms of metal in which the vocals are not sung, and still important to power metal and symphonic metal as the classical music which they are based upon relies on multiple octaves of instruments.

Even if you can't hear the actual bass in a lot of bands, it still adds a powerful low-end texture in the song.

When you can hear the actual bass, it adds a whole new dimension to the music. See Atheist's Piece of Time or Cryptopsy's None So Vile (especially during the breakdowns).

As said above, you can follow the guitar or stand out.


Edit
Ugh, tired. Meant "or", not "and".

Following the guitar is good for choruses but you should often roam around and play your own part, whether it be a harmony or a counterpoint or a riff that compliments the guitar riff. Or if you're playing grindcore, play something different entirely.

1) Use your ears. The bass is often a hard instrument to pick out as it is usually a supporting instrument, meaning that it is lowered in the mix compared to the other instruments. To make things more difficult, the "clicky", or edgy sound that is made when fingers or a pick play on bass strings is often swallowed up by other instruments who share the similar frequency range. Thirdly, I think most people are accustomed to listening to the guitars or vocals instead of the bass, as again, it often plays a supporting role (this is not meant to be derogatory). Picking out the bass can take some time.

2) However, with the above being said, the bass is very important in all settings. It is not always obvious, but believe me, when bass is removed from the picture, things sound hollow and thin. Indeed, bass has a very important role in heavy metal, as oftentimes it gives the music its heaviness! If you try recording a guitar riff, adding a bassline definitely makes it sound fuller.

I think it is true that a lot of bands would sound nearly just as good if they had no bass at all, but those are generally bands that I am not all that interested in. This is my problem with a lot of black metal; the bass feels like it is not even in the mix. A prominent bass can turn a simple/mediocre band into something totally fucking killer. Think, for example, of "Hammer Smashed Face" by CC without a bass. There are just some cases where the bass makes the band. Of course, the best bands have excellent musicians in all roles. But an excellent bassist can make make the others really shine, even if their role is a "supporting" role. Also, don't listen to people that tell you that bass is easier to play than guitar. Yes, it is easy to play the root notes and follow the guitar. But to play kick ass rolling bass lines with three finger technique with perfect precision is no easy task. A guitarist can get away with an occasional slip up. When the bass slips, it is much more noticeable. After several years I gave up trying to play bass because it is just too damn hard. I am learning guitar now.

Imagine Motorhead without Lemmy's bass playing.

I rest my case.

I want to point to point out that there are many metal bands with excellent bassists (Steve Digiorgio) and bass is what you make it but some bands wouldnt exist without their bassist such as Black Sabbath and Manowar whos bassists do much of the composing. I am a bass player myself and i can hold my own against any guitarist (except malmsteen but i guess that redundant). If you want to find a good way to play bass in metal check out Technical Death Metal bands like Quo-vadis. Wintersun also has an amazing bassist so check them out to see what a bassist "with a backbone" is like.

and dont use a pick, picks are a forbidden element in bass playing you can play just as fast with a pick even with the same tone as a pick if you pluck hard enough and if this convinces you of nothing then know that alot and i mean ALOT of metalcore bands use picks and if you want to be like a metalcore bassist i reccomend killing yourself now and saveing everyone the trouble, if not then all the power in the world to you!!!!

I like what Joey Vera said a long time ago: play your bass to whatever the song demands. If the song needs the sound of a picked bass, so be it. If it needs fingers, that's what it gets.

I think the pick vs. fingers argument is pretty silly.

The bass, unless played in a really melodic and interesting way or it is just plain loud in the mix, is the instrument that you don't notice unless it's missing.

On the pick vs. fingers issue, I used to think that a proper bassist should use fingers, but I see now, after having played the guitar for a couple of years, that there are pros and cons to both. One should not be prefered over the other for being "the true/proper way".

you have strong feelings on this issue, let it all out


The bass is a wonderful instrument, and I know that this is just going to be repeated throughout the thread, but I suppose it bears repeating. A good bassline can make a fantastic song, in any genre.

I do wonder what makes for a better bass sound, whether it's the aggressive, distorted bass kinda like some Darkthrone stuff, or clean bass in, uh, other bands. It's probably dependant on the sound of the rest of the band, but it might be interesting to imagine what some songs might sound like with a different bass sound. Listening to Under A Funeral Moon with clean bass... could it work?

As a bassist playing for a band, I believe real talent of the bass relies on the use of one's bare fingers. Picks are not necessary for an instrument where its strings are two to three times larger than that of an electric guitar.

Also, I can testify that the bass sends the much needed intensity, groove and rhythm to cater to a full sound of the music. That is, of course, the bassist involved is untalented and plays only the root notes, and still needs a pick. Another problem I have is with a lot of production is the faint sound of bass, making the guitars less comfortable to listen to. Or, when the bass is actually heard, but it is more treble than anything else.

Edit: Might I add, that even if the argument of fingers over pick is redundant, the best bass players are still those who use their fingers.

I still regard Lemmy and Rob Wright to be two of my favorites bassists and both are pick players. But then again, their styles require a certain amount of pummeling and utter bombardment of sound, so there ya go.

Probably worth noting for arguments sake I said "Favorite" not "best".

Which is why it is less of an argument, and all a matter of preference. You may need a pick for, as you said, pummeling the string(s) to match the speed of everything else, and some just aren't capable of acquiring such speed with their fingers alone. However, I believe that it is pointless to need a pick under a few particular circumstances.

With that said, the pick vs. fingers "argument" is ridiculous. Looking at it in a traditionalist sense, I just happen to strongly disagree with the former.

It all depends on what genre you listen to. Imagine technical death metal without bass. it would lack something important. Black metal, on the other hand, usually buries the bass so far in the mix that bands like ceremonial castings have decided to just remove the bass altogether

You are correct that bass usually just plays a supporting role. It's certainly not indisposable the way guitars or drums are.



Bass-free metal can sound very good (picture AJFA's sound).

As a musician who plays the bass with both his fingers and a pick I must say that notes played with my fingers flow together, and the same notes played with a pick demonstrate more clarity and rigidity. I am fond of both.

Ville Sorvali of Moonsorrow is a pretty talented bassist and very talented musician who uses a pick. Same goes for Peter Theobalds, the former bassist of Akercocke.

And don't forget Joey DeMaio, who is basically a guitar player who uses a bass. I've always said that Manowar is a 2 guitar lineup.

Like what has been said so many times already, to find out the importance of bass, imagine a song without bass, simple.

Flotsam and Jetsam's Doomsday for the Deceiver will make anyone reconsider anything they say about bass not being important. Tell Steve Harris about the basses use in heavy metal. Or think of Lemmy without his devastating four stringed axe, it just does not seem right.

I've never had a problem picking out every individual instrument in a song at nearly any point any time during the sound. With the exception of poorly produced black metal and bands who turn the the bass down low (or delete the tracks in Metallica's case), the bass can usually be useful in the mix, as it warms up the track a bit with its lower frequencies, having the bottom end playing the roots an octave lower helps with the depth of it.

It's not too hard however to utilize bass in metal. The bass is like drums in the sense its purpose can not only be supportive in a tonal sense, but a rhythmic one as well. This gives a good player more options to how they can use their instrument to make it sound more interesting.

Well, AJFA was one of those rare albums

Good bassplayers can play with both fingers and a pick.
Sometimes using a pick gives me a "klanky" sound and feel that at least I cannot replicate playing with my fingers.

Also I tend to compose different basslines depending on if Im using a pick or fingers. I try both and choose what I like best.

Hugh Mingay (Skoll) is my favourite bassplayer in black metal at least. His basslines are always interesting and certainly have an impact on the songs he plays on.

Unless your name is Les Claypool you should concentrate on providing the pulse of the song. For me that means paying more attention to the drums than the guitars.

To be honest, as much as I love AJFA, it would sound sooooooo much better with the bass mixed in.

I agree with an above poster...

Bass is extremely important in metal,, you cant so easily hear it on a lot of albums but if you didnt have it there you would lose almost all the heaviness and bottom end of that so sought-after metal texture.

look at bands like opeth, and you will definately see why bass is important

another one is that while guitars give you the treble feeling, it just doesnt sound right wihtout the bass bringing in the bottom end

Well, when you listen to something, you tend to recognize the lowest notes easily, which is why bass is so important. However, many people don't believe that, but I disagree completely. The bass can create another sound to the song, make it sound fuller, more complete, and compliment the guitar. The only reason why it's so hard is because the guitars are loud also, and usually there are 2 guitarists, not 1.

Nevermore' bassist J. Sheppard is really good, as well as Blotted Science/Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster. Listen to any CC song, you can almost always hear the bass.

Edit: Check out Spiral Architect, there bassist is very good, it's audible and pushes the band forward.

Though CC is much more popular, his bass playing is certainly at a much higher level in Blotted Science, though the nature of the band is much more oriented towards displaying their musicianship than CC.

i have been lately interested in bands with more bass in it (sorry for the bad wording), such as TDM bands like cryptopsy. do you know any other bands with a bass like cryptopsy? thanks!

Listen to Gorguts - A path beyond premonition, 2:55.

I won't bother reading all posts now, but:
Bass is always important. Even if you don't hear it, you might hear if there wouldn't be a bass. If you specially want more bare and raw sound, you might not need bass.

When you play riff higher the bass will sound more clearly.

Sometimes it's cool to be very loud, some Death Metal for example.

hmm... so then bass is in a way like eyebrows? you never really notice them unless they're absent, and they serve an important purpose.

Yea, this is quite true. The bass really pulls the range of the music down more, even though u usually cant hear it it adds alot of character just to have those bottom notes

I'd never say that. The only time he is audible is when he has little breaks in the 'clean' songs. Not to mention the fact that he is a pick player... and he plays a 4 string when it would be a lot better to play a 5 string.

He plays on a 5-string on songs. The Heart Collector is on a 5-string, it's hard to hear and I wish they turned his bass up but that's like a lot of bands. Nevermore is more about Jeff Loomis and Warrel though.

It doesnt how matter how many strings you have, its how well you utilize them.

He's always audible. If he was absent, it'd be very very noticeable. Who cares if he's a pick player? It gives a different tone than fingers. And why does he need to play a 5 string specifically? Plenty of bass players use down-tuned 4s.

For my bass playing I just use different influences from other genres. It might be black metal but I might decide to throw in some jazz or funk bass into it just to mess things around a little, makes the bass more interesting and adds different things to a song then what could be a boring root note pattern. Sometimes it works but sometimes you need to follow the guitar to add that low end heaviness. Depends on what the song is like.
Sucks to be a bass player when people don't think it's important especially sound engineers!