[Hellbound]

This is going to sound stupid but I've never been in a band so I really don't know. How much difference in sound does it make when you have a drum player and bass guitar backing you up. The reason I'm asking is because I was just watching that video with the guitar player from Meshuggah playing his seven string guitar with that jazzy drum player and holy shit it sounds large as hell. Right now playing my 6505 and mesa cab is fun but gets old quickly not having a band backing me up....almost like it doesn't sound that powerful by itself anymore you all know what I mean?

[Leon]

find at least a drummer to jam with. that's the only way to tell

[HotRodded7321]

It actually adds alot to your sound. The drums accent the notes/chords alot better and actually help add some power to your sound. Try playing Fear Factory with no drums and you'll get the idea. Bass isn't all that important if you tune low, honestly. But drums do tend to make a big difference.

[Hellbound]

Originally Posted by HotRodded7321

It actually adds alot to your sound. The drums accent the notes/chords alot better and actually help add some power to your sound. Try playing Fear Factory with no drums and you'll get the idea. Bass isn't all that important if you tune low, honestly. But drums do tend to make a big difference.

well hopefully this new band in my area looking for a new guitarists lets me in at least to jam with them and learn new stuff. I need to get in a band bad. It would definately without a doubt improve my overall playing as a whole as well as writing skills....this playing all by myself gets a little old.

[Leon]

they say playing a perfect bassline is a lot like peeing your pants. you get that warm feeling, and no one else seems to notice

[HotRodded7321]

yeah, it gets you a little more amped up when you hear your stuff with a band behind it. makes things alot more interesting. but in your down time, I recommend getting fruity loops so you can make drum tracks and jam out with them...it makes practicing alot more fun.

[Naren]

Drums make a HUUUUGE world of difference. I was playing this one riff for one of my songs with no drums and was thinking, "This tone sounds pretty cool." When I played it with a drummer and bass player, I was like , "Woah. This tone sounds amazing!" Part of it was how it sat in the "mix." Also, the bass player's low notes really accentuated what I was playing.

Sometimes you'll hear a song playing where it's just guitar, then other instruments come in and it sounds like it just got a lot bigger, heavier, and more aggressive. You might think the guitarist turned the distortion up or pushed some pedal, but if you actually check it out, the guitar hasn't changed at all. The guitarist is playing everything exactly the same way as before. Just the bass came in behind the guitar and made it sound bigger, stronger and heavier. The drums that came in could have made it sound more active and lively.

I can't overexpress the importance of other members in the band. Some guys might tell you that the bass player is not important, but that's not true at all. My uncle once told me, "The bass player is the type of guy that if you're listening to a live performance and he's hitting every note right, you won't even notice him. But, if he plays anything wrong, boy does everybody notice!" And I thought that, for a lot of bands, that's very true. You might not notice the bass when you're listening to a song, but if you removed it, you'd instantly notice.

[All_¥our_Bass]

Originally Posted by HotRodded7321

It actually adds alot to your sound. The drums accent the notes/chords alot better and actually help add some power to your sound. Try playing Fear Factory with no drums and you'll get the idea. Bass isn't all that important if you tune low, honestly. But drums do tend to make a big difference.

Bass is very important even if it not audible (even though I despise this ). Get someone you know to record a quick 30 second-minute long "song", have him/her give you one with bass and one without. I garantee you that the one lacking bass will sound very thin and somewhat bad even if your guitars are tuned to in the F-G# area.

However since tone is subjective IMO .

[Naren]

Originally Posted by All_¥our_Bass

Bass is very important even if it not audible (even though I despise this ). Get someone you know to record a quick 30 second-minute long "song", have him/her give you one with bass and one without. I garantee you that the one lacking bass will sound very thin and somewhat bad even if your guitars are tuned to in the F-G# area.

Like what I just said.

[NegaTiveXero]

Bass is very important to make you sound heavier, or rather just to make you sound fuller. Whenever I'm at practice and we're playing a song, you can't really tell that the bass is there cause it's all mixed and everyone is playing together, but once my bassist stops playing, you know. The sound instantly becomes thinner and lacking punch. And obviously, a drummer is important too. I used to record songs without drums, and they just lacked a good sound. I use Fruity Loops when I record (and a real drummer at practice) and it helps a lot.