I began writing this as a response to the thread about why bass is important in a song, but it seemed to be addressing a different issue, as well as being semi-technical. I should also note that I am primarily a metal guitarist and play bass from time to time, mainly for jazz/blues and occasionally for rock/metal, but I try to understand how to use the bass guitar very effectively in my songs. This hasn’t been revised so it isn’t something I would publish, but I feel these are valuable and coherent thoughts.

At times, the bass sound is lost in metal. At times it is at a low volume in comparison to everything else (i.e. And Justice For All), sometimes it simply follows the guitar and fills in the low end of the sound (a good use in many cases), sometimes the tone is very soft which takes any prominence from it when played under an aggressive guitar sound, and some bassists are just plain boring and do nothing to break out of confines which limit their role.

Likely the most prolific method rising in newer heavy music which makes bass inaudible/irrelevant is extreme downtuning. When the guitar is tuned lower, the tone starts to lose its edge (mainly below D) and other qualities are more prominent, specifically a lower end punch and very bass heavy sound. A lot of producers simply suck at producing, their methods reducing the dynamic range of the recording, which combined with lower tunings cut out a lot of the low/high range of the sound.

On the extreme end of this downtuning, some bands are using 8 string guitars with a low F#, some even tune those down so the lowest string is a full octave below a standard guitar. If you have heard these bands, you know that their guitar tone on these low notes is terrible, it is muddy and blunt, the distortion gives no edge to the sound and it is fuzzy, in a bad way, at best. I don't hear any musical advantage to downtuning this much, if you want your guitar an octave lower, take after [i]Man Is The Bastard[/B] and use the bass as your main instrument, adding distortion, playing chords and scales and otherwise borrowing some technique from guitars but retaining much from bass playing.

Some bassists simply don't do much, or anything, with their bass other than filling in the low end of the guitar sound. Tom Araya plays the root note of the rhythm guitar part almost (entirely?) 100% of the time, but he still functions to fill in the low end of the sound, and this function especially functional on Slayer's most popular works, tuned to standard or half a step down. This is a great example to use in contrast with bands who tune down heavily - Slayer's heaviness originates in heavy riffs, while a band like Emmure tune down to drop A# and chug on low power chords, using the extreme downtuning to create a feeling of heaviness.

Other bassists tend to follow the guitar and don't take the spotlight much, one of the most notable being John Myung. Myung is one of the most technically proficient bassists out there, yet he rarely comes even close to showing off, he mainly follows the guitar. At times it feels like the nature of this type of music, making the guitar a very prominent instrument, really takes away from the bass. Still, the function of the bass as a counterpoint to the guitar is one utilized very well in jazz and blues, but not often in metal.

Bass tones in metal often don’t serve the bass as well as they could. The difference in sound between playing with fingers and with a pick is very obvious, and the tone needs to be suited to that, and suited to fit in with the guitars and drums. Some bassists have really punchy high treble tones and play with a pick, and they play the root note of the rhythm guitar part, which doesn’t differentiate the bass from the guitar at all. On the other end, I (don’t) hear bassists who are proficient and play with their fingers, but play with a softer tone that ends up being nearly inaudible on recordings. Usually, bass tones fall somewhere between these, but those both serve as examples of ways that bass tones reduce their audibility.

After all of this rambling, I think it is important to note and differentiate a few types of bass playing which serve different purposes and are not mutually exclusive:
-Bass as a melodic device
-Bass a low end sound fill
-Bass playing/noisemaking to create atmosphere (such as the “chainsaw” sound) – clipping is a legit part of sound!
-Bass playing as a percussive technique
-Bass guitar as a counterpoint to guitar melody

Likely the most important thing that I have learned about bass playing was a simple method of playing under guitar solos: “walk” the bassline up and down octaves and strings as you want to change the feeling and mood of the song. This technique is great outside of solos, and it serves very effectively as a way of transitioning riffs into leads/solos. I can play a static note on the A or D string on guitar and alternate that with higher notes, but I can maintain a heavier feeling with the bass playing a low E. If the bass starts to move up towards the note I am playing, it can stop an octave lower as the bass often is, or it can even come up another octave to be playing the same note as the guitar, or higher if I want the bass to take the primary melody for a short time, something useful when you want a quick guitar break before a solo. The interval between guitar and bass doesn’t always need to be an octave as some players stick to 95% of the time, and controlling this is something very important. I like being able to use the bass to shift the atmosphere/feeling of a song, and I usually do this with ascending bass notes and a relaxed feel, then go into a solo, lead, or crushing riff with the bass and rhythm guitar hitting a low note in unison as percussive instruments and also functioning to an extent melodically at the same time. Most importantly, I don’t want the bass to serve only a single function, especially a boring one like playing the root of the rhythm guitar part an octave lower!

How do you feel about these practices which marginalize the bass within metal rather than embracing it and utilizing it to its full potential? What are your preferences for the bass’ use in metal?

A breathtaking post and one that I very much agree with, so I don't have much to comment. One thing I might add is that (too) many extreme metal bassists (black, death metal) seem to be obsessed with distortion effects, even when they don't serve any purpose. Unless the sound engineer has some good skills, adding a huge distortion sound to the bass is a potential way to muddify the overall sound of the band without bringing anything new to the table. Even in live situations, where the bass is usually louder and more powerful than on record, I haven't heard that many cool-sounding distorted basses. In the worst cases, it sounds like the band has no bass player at all.

Well said!

Part of the problem has to do with who typically becomes bassists and guitarists in metal bands. Guitarists typically have a huge over inflated ego since they seem themselves as the "point" of the band, and have an internal vision of being on stage and getting all the attention. Bassists typically play bass either because they genuinely appreciate the instrument or because they failed at guitar and switched to something simpler. Of course these stereotypes are just that, stereotypes, and many exceptions exist.

So you have the ego-driven guitarist competing for space with the music-minded bassist. The bassist will probably give in before the guitarist does. So the music becomes heavily guitar favored instead of bass favored or even balanced.

Also, for whatever reason, most bassists I know do not like to write songs, whereas the guitarists do. When a typical guitarist writes a song, he doesn't often think "Hey this is a sweet place for a bass fill/interlude". He thinks "Time for a harmony/guitar solo".

I tried using a bass with heavy distortion to work somewhat as a third guitar, but it took away from clarity and didn't really add anything. I agree that distortion on bass is overrated and makes the sound muddy, the only example of a heavily distorted bass that works well is Dan Lilker's bass in Nuclear Assault, which is copied poorly too often.



I do notice that there are a lot of mediocre bassists who are willing to let the guitar take prominence, but there are also a lot of guitarists who aren't good at all and still think the guitar is more important as an instrument and try to tone down the bass, and this largely happens because they are not good musicians and they don't know what they are doing. There are some bassists who write songs, but there are also guitarists who don't know how a bass works and they don't write anything interesting for bass into songs. There are very few individuals who can write everything and do a great job of everything, and often there are talented songwriters who try to do something they can't do well because they don't have a creative/proficient musician on another instrument.

Currently listening to "Activation Synthesis Theory" by Blotted Science - the guitar is great, but the song has much more depth, atmosphere, and a great feeling, because the bass doesn't follow the guitar for the whole song, but it also doesn't serve a single confined function through the whole song.

Obviously you only listen to crappy mainstream bands. Listen to Cannibal Corpse, Spiral Architect, Blotted Science, Spastik Ink. They have excellent bassists that do tons of other stuff, and with Spiral Architect, the bass is always audible.



Again, this usually isn't the case. If you actually explore metal, you will find that bass players usually play something other then the root note. I only do it when I have to, but I don't go "well I love playing the root notes to chords!". You have a great argument, but you are not looking for different bands. I prefer the guitar over the bass, but I LOVE the bass. It's sound is completely different from a guitar and it can be fun to play. I think if people learned to play the bass better, and they tried new things with it, it can be the new guitar, but that won't happen.

I honestly dont get why people say Bass guitar is useless or unnessary. Every instrument has its own purpose. Every instrument will be played to different extents of technicality. It all depends on the genre, artist, musician to wich the level of 'show casing' it will recieve. Its the same way for any instrument.

For metal Listen to Atheist, Iron Maiden, Death, Sadus, etc. Take away the bass guitar and it wont be the same sound or even the same band. For guitar, Take Eddie Van Halens crazy technique out of Van Halen and then what are they? Listen to the simplicity of an Acid Bath song and then listen to the crazy technicality of an Origin song. Again, the showcasing of the instrument all depends on the genre, artist, musician.

Good work, missing the point of the post and flaming me on a point that you would know is invalid if you had even read my second post. This is meant to address the role of bass in metal, and methods which marginalize it or utilize it. I used Blotted Science as an example in the third post in the thread, and I also noted techniques which make these bands with superb bassists stand out.
I do explore metal, and I prefer to discuss it intelligently rather than reading predictable flaming about "only listening to crappy mainstream bands" from someone who clearly didn't even read my posts. Don't bother posting if you aren't going to be civilized, it isn't worth reading.



I don't think it is a common thought that bass is useless or unnecessary, but as a result of whatever reason, it ends up playing a relatively minor role sometimes, especially compared to what it is capable of contributing. The contributions don't need to always be over the top, but it certainly shouldn't be minimized. I think very simple bass playing has become the norm in guitar-intensive bands, but certain nuances, which both emphasize the guitar and greatly add to the music overall, are neglected.

The one bass technique that I rarely if ever hear in metal is "walking" the bass line up/down octaves and strings during guitar solos, it isn't very common but it is great when it is used.

Roger Patterson did a lot of great things for Atheist, as well as more basic techniques, he would play the main melody, or provide a melodic counterpoint to a guitar riff, and he did a great job of using higher fills to provide a bit of a mood change for songs. It is very unfortunate that we don't have another decade of works from him, because he was one of the best.

Something that makes basses interesting is the high accessibility of fretless basses. Steve Digiorgio uses one, and so do many noted metal bassists. One can slide in and out of chords and harmonies, which sounds very peculiar and interesting.

In concern with ego-driven guitarists, talented bassists tend to make them realize the potential of the instrument. Ihsahn of Emperor realized this when he worked with Lars Norberg (Spiral Architect) on his latest album, and even brought it up multiple times in an interview how thrilled he was to work with such a talented bassist.

Most of the metal music, being guitar-driven, is not "designed" to have bass playing any major part in it. There is not enough of creative space for bass players within the Thrash Metal or Heavy Metal, for example. I am not talking about the exclusions, I am talking in general.

The other question is : Does there exist a need in expanding the role of bass in metal in general ? Don't get me wrong, I want bass to be as audible as guitar but I do not see any possibility to bring the bass to the fore plan without sacrificing some of the qualities.

if you like bass guitars then you might wanna switch the genre.
of course there are some bands with good bass but overall metal isnt the best genre to search for that.

you will have it easier in prog rock/avant-garde/jazz and such.
there you can find amazing things

Two of the greatest bass players metal has ever known came out of these 2 genres. Listen to Steve Digiorgio's work in Sadus and Testament, and Steve Harris's work in Iron Maiden.

I don't know, I think it just takes creativity on the bassist's part. Bass has always played a prominent role in metal. From the earlier heavy metal bands like Dio and Black Sabbath, to death metal bands such as Death and Cannibal Corpse. Thrash metal has had some great bassists. So has black metal. I dunno about power metal, never been much of a fan, but I'm sure it has its own set of skilled bassists. Doom metal... I haven't heard a doom metal band without skilled, creative, roaming bass lines and fills.

Progressive metal has never been without talented bassists. And folk metal is filled with them. As is avant garde. So I dunno what "role" or "creative space" you guys are talking about. Bassists have just as much creative space as guitarists. In fact, a lot of them write the music for their bands, and it's presumptuous to assume that all the music is written by a band's guitarist. Metal is a genre that has very few limitations and is very diverse, and there is room for a bassist to be creative within it. And I can provide plenty of examples.

I don't think there's ever been a "role" for bassists. They're musicians, they create art, and whether or not they do something interesting and prevalent with the sound they create is completely a matter of choice. You see, art is not like sports. On a sports team, you have team members filling roles that have been laid out for them by the rules and laws of the sport. In a band, you have multiple artists collaborating. If a drummer mixes something up, there is no referee to call a foul. He's just being a musician and coloring the music with his individuality. The same goes for a guitarist and a bass guitarist, and a vocalist.

Very nice read, as a bassist, it interested me.

Also, what's some examples of the 'chainsaw' bass sound you mentioned in the OP. I'd really like to hear what that sounds like.

I am talking about more general things than you are. Take an average metal album and compare to an average jazz / blues album. The average jazz / blues album will be far ahead in terms of creative space for bass player, hence the bass player will shine more (but not necessarily).

If musicians in metal are pushing for standards as great as average then it's definitely stagnating and we should expect to see it decay into nonexistence. I haven't listened to an average metal band in some years now. Isn't the whole point of metal to be extreme and push it to the limits? Those seem to be a few of the values we've based the genre on.

I don't think is a lack of creative space in metal, I think there is a lack of creativity in the use of bass, and even the best bassists aren't always doing the most that they can for the music.



Napalm Death - Scum (specifically the song, though it is like that throughout the album)
Repulsion - Acid Bath

Distorted/clipping bass sound.

Oh, thanks..yes, I can hear it now. It sounds a lot better on it's own than behind the guitars and drums. Though, it does make the music sound more 'full' in the mix. Specifically speaking for 'Scum' by Napalm Death.

The sound is pretty much created through the bass signal clipping one or more times between the strings and the final recordings. It does add a lot more sound in general to low-fi recordings when the guitar tone comes out as thin and the drums aren't providing a clear and full punch. Low-fi guitar recordings generally end up either very thin/high treble or very fuzzy/bass-mid heavy, and the chainsaw bass sound goes well with a thin guitar tone.

The feeling is also less distorted but still there in better produced recordings such as most of Nasum's music, or in anything Mortician have done - Mortician tune down to A and G on different albums, and when you tune this low, it is very difficult to get a clear tone, though they don't try to make it clear, and their bass is very effective at creating a pummeling sound, especially when they play live.