# Thoughts on playing the bass



## Zeetwig (Nov 4, 2012)

Hi everyone!  I have a question regarding playing bass.
How does one really play the bass? I'm mainly a guitarist and drummer, but I've got the basic and intermediate technique and enough skill to play the bass for the songs I make, but I've always wondered how to really "play" the bass.

What I mean with "play" is how bassists play the bass, instead of how guitarists and drummers play the bass. I play it like the latter two, but would like to play it like the former (when I say guitarists that play bass I mean that the player uses guitar-based techniques and plays the bass like they would play a 4-string guitar tuned an octave lower, and with drummer I mean focusing on root accents, accents, percussive techniques, etc).

Example: I wouldn't claim that tremolo picking or matching the guitar melody or harmonizing a lead all the way through it, etc, is playing the bass like a bassist would.

So... What separates a pure bassist playing the bass from a guitarist/other musician playing the bass? How does a bassist think regarding theory, technique, applying that theory and technique to the bass, etc?

All thoughts and opinions are appreciated 


(I know, now you are all thinking "This is a ridiculous thread! There's no hard and straight rules about this, and everybody is unique". Yes I know that, but the reason for this thread is not the get a straight answer that will be 100% correct and is applicable to every aspect of the world etc etc etc. What I want is thoughts and opinions on the subject. I want to know what people think! Preferably, I would like to know what pure guitarists think, what pure bassist think, what people that consider themselves mainly guitarists but also bassists think (and vice versa), what people what consider themselves equally a guitarist and bassist think, etc. Please, share your thoughts and views on this matter. Thank you!)


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## StewartEhoff (Nov 4, 2012)

Quite interested to hear a response on this. I'm in an identical situation to the OP. Sometimes I think it's beneficial for a bassist not to think like a bassist, but, then again, what does a bassist really think like? (inb4 John Myung jokes)


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 4, 2012)

I've played bass longer than guitar, and I still approach the instrument the same way as I would the guitar. It's all about finding your space in the mix, and when you're playing bass it's a little harder to find that sweet spot while still playing compelling parts, thanks mainly to the low end of the instrument itself. 

Look at a lot of the players in bands of similar generas you'll be playing. 

Theory wise, everything is the same. Notes are notes. The biggest difference is going to be how those notes are conveyed. The lower pitch (starting a full octave lower essentially) combined with the huge amount of fundamental opposed to overtones is a different dynamic to digest for a lot of already-guitar players. 

Get comfortable with the instrument, and play with others. You'll get the hang of it.


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## jeleopard (Nov 4, 2012)

Groove groove groove groove groove groove groove groove and a touch of funk. Maybe. But more groove.


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## Leuchty (Nov 4, 2012)

Remember, BASS is the solid foundation for drums and guitars.

It will give a bass drum melody and a guitar the fullness in tone.


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## Ckackley (Nov 4, 2012)

I used to play bass in a cover band and actually started out musically as the bass player in my school jazz band. I've always seen the bass as a "bridge" . It is the tie-in between the drums and the guitars or whatever other mid range instruments you're playing with. I try to make my bass lines a mix of the kick drum pattern and the guitar riffs. I also try to find holes in the mix to pop through and fill in.


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## iron blast (Nov 4, 2012)

Root notes are a good guide line for the bass. Locking in with the kick drum is also beneficial. Filling in melodic parts that the guitar leaves open is good when used flavor fully. As a bassist its easier to overplay. Sometimes less is more.


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## T-e-r-r-y (Nov 4, 2012)

Make the band sound good.


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## Zeetwig (Nov 5, 2012)

First of all: thanks for the input 

I have tried to listen to the bass in the music that I like, but it is often very "invisible"... you only hear the bass when the bassist stops playing (if you know what I mean), and when the guitars stop playing. The bass is also often locked in with the kick, but so are the guitars. I agree with the idea that the bass is like the mortar that glues the bricks together in a song, but IMO the tone is more important than the actual playing when it comes to gluing the mix together. I've also thought about the "filling" role of the bass (that the bass glues a song together by doing some minor flourishes where there's room between the guitars and drums). Great! Then I'm on the "right" track at least 

However the thing is, sometimes it feels like the bass has a bigger role in straight forward rock and hard rock than it has in metal genres. If you listen to lets say Foo Fighters the bass is much more audible and plays a more "active" roll in the band, while the bass in Dark Tranquillity is more "passive", i.e. you really don't hear it, but if you were to remove it then the music would sound thin and lame. I play mostly metal, and I think that I've got the hang of recording metal bass, but sometimes I feel like the bass is too passive, and that I would like a more active bass in my songs...

Thus, what would you say is the difference between a metal bass and a rock bass (the bassist's style in the respective genres)?


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## Overtone (Nov 5, 2012)

Playing with your fingers instead of a pick can be a big part of it. That's not a universal thing, but I would say that you are a more complete bassist if you can put in the articulation and dynamics with your fingers. Slap and pop is like the next level of that, but can easily be overused or out of place. There are less who play without a pick in thrash, MDM, etc. because speed + timing + consistency is so important but in progressive metal and some subgenres of death the bass can be much more dynamic and feature more finger playing. 

For the bass to be present in metal I think a big part of it is the writing. Some room has to be left for it. The first few bands where the bass is actually noticeable that come to mind are Symphony X, Cynic, Tetrafusion, Scale the Summit, BTBAM and many Opeth sections. The mix is important too. If you are ok making the guitar sound a little bit tighter and smaller you can have some great counterpoint between the guitar and bass. If the bass just plays the guitar riffs it's almost always gonna be buried, but if they clash a bit you can make the bass guitar a much bigger part of the composition.


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## jeleopard (Nov 5, 2012)

Zeetwig said:


> Thus, what would you say is the difference between a metal bass and a rock bass (the bassist's style in the respective genres)?



Metal bass: 






Rock bass:





There's no real difference. Some use picks for the more punchy sound, but that's found in both genres. How you play and the tone you use is 100% up to you.

Some like it clean, some like it dirty. It's your call.


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## Lives Once Abstract (Nov 5, 2012)

I tend to look at bass almost as to give emphasis on certain parts of the song. (As has been said) emphasis on the kick drum even toms, and guitar melodies/rhythmic patterns. It gives a very "full" sound to the mix as well as more of an impact in some parts. 

I hear so many local metal bands show up without a bass player and expect to be just fine.  no.....

Something I've also noticed, is that when your playing with distorted guitars no matter how great equipment you have, the guitars are DISTORTED. And yes you can get a "cleaner/clearer" distortion from better equipment, but notes are not clear or clean because your playing with distortion, not on the clean channel. I've found that bass guitar tends to make notes more clear because most bassists play (for the most part) clean. 

I honestly think distorted bass sounds horrible in a metal mix. Unless your going for the way overdriven and insane amounts of gain sound....


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## danresn (Nov 5, 2012)

I disagree. Thats so generalised. It depends entirely on how the tone is made up.



My favourite guitar player turn bass player, Jon Stockman.


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## iron blast (Nov 5, 2012)

Sick bass tone man


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## Zeetwig (Nov 6, 2012)

Overtone said:


> Playing with your fingers instead of a pick can be a big part of it. That's not a universal thing, but I would say that you are a more complete bassist if you can put in the articulation and dynamics with your fingers. Slap and pop is like the next level of that, but can easily be overused or out of place. There are less who play without a pick in thrash, MDM, etc. because speed + timing + consistency is so important but in progressive metal and some subgenres of death the bass can be much more dynamic and feature more finger playing.
> 
> For the bass to be present in metal I think a big part of it is the writing. Some room has to be left for it. The first few bands where the bass is actually noticeable that come to mind are Symphony X, Cynic, Tetrafusion, Scale the Summit, BTBAM and many Opeth sections. The mix is important too. If you are ok making the guitar sound a little bit tighter and smaller you can have some great counterpoint between the guitar and bass. If the bass just plays the guitar riffs it's almost always gonna be buried, but if they clash a bit you can make the bass guitar a much bigger part of the composition.



I can play both with and without a pick (actually started out playing fingers-only), and yes that difference in articulation really gives the bass a whole new sound. Now I play mostly with a pick since, well consistency, speed, etc is important, but maybe I should vary myself a bit more. Play some parts with a pick and some without. 

And I agree about the clashing bit. To continue our usage of Foo Fighters; Nate often plays along with the kick and/or guitar, but sometimes "strays from the path" and adds a little something that contributes so much to the song. However I don't like it if the bass does that too much. Moderate use is enough.

And btw, what do you mean with "tighter and smaller"? Less distortion and volume?



Regarding bass tone: I like a little grit in the bass tone, so what I do is create two tracks (I record bass DI and use plugs). One track is cut in the mid section and has a clean amp, while the other is cut in the bass and treble section and is either distorted or very distorted. Then I lower the volume on the distorted track and set both to record at the same time. Sometimes I add even more clean, dirty and semi-dirty tracks, or tracks with effects to get the bass sound that I want. I can then vary the volume of each track as the song progresses, to get the perfect sound for each part.

Nothing revolutionary nor new, but it does the trick for me


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## cGoEcYk (Nov 6, 2012)

I think that the answer to your first main question lies more in actual doing than speculating about generalizations. Just get some experience, play in a group and find out how it works. Use your ears/brain/heart and figure out what role you want to have as a bassist and what sound you want to have. The only thing that separates a "bassist playing bass" from anyone else is experience.

One thing that you might find when you have more familiarity with bass is that it plays a big role in the overall punch and attack in a band's mix. Relatively, when I play guitar it feels like I am working with more of a texture.


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## Lives Once Abstract (Nov 6, 2012)

danresn said:


> I disagree. Thats so generalised. It depends entirely on how the tone is made up.
> 
> 
> 
> My favourite guitar player turn bass player, Jon Stockman.




Wow... I like it 

That is the second time I've ever enjoyed that much distortion to a bass. Flyleaf actually pulled it off not too bad.

And my earlier post was just my general opinion. I MYSELF would still never put that much on bass.


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## danresn (Nov 7, 2012)

Lives Once Abstract said:


> Wow... I like it
> 
> That is the second time I've ever enjoyed that much distortion to a bass. Flyleaf actually pulled it off not too bad.
> 
> And my earlier post was just my general opinion. I MYSELF would still never put that much on bass.



I think I got what you meant, this isn't a normal use of the bass really. He doesn't normally use much distortion when he's chugging along the same riffs as the guitars. Jon normally runs two amps live, one distorted one which is normally very nasally and midrangey and then a clean "meaty" clean one. Fantastic player though, I'm convinced he could make an ironing board with strings sound good.


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## wrongnote85 (Nov 7, 2012)

there's pretty good lesson called something like "a guitar players guide to bass playing" in this issue of GW.


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## Lives Once Abstract (Nov 7, 2012)

danresn said:


> I think I got what you meant, this isn't a normal use of the bass really. He doesn't normally use much distortion when he's chugging along the same riffs as the guitars. Jon normally runs two amps live, one distorted one which is normally very nasally and midrangey and then a clean "meaty" clean one. Fantastic player though, I'm convinced he could make an ironing board with strings sound good.



Ive always wanted to run to amps at the same time with different settings just to experiment. But I barely have the money for ONE good bass amp and cab


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## Zeetwig (Nov 7, 2012)

Played some bass today and recorded a prototype bass track to a new song that I've made, and tried to find a place in the mix for the bass, as well as places in the song where the bass could fill in some "holes". I fingerpicked the entire song instead of using a pick, and I tried to pick at different positions on the strings, and that really made the recording  I got much more attack than I normally do, and that unlocked something in the playing. Also, incorporating more dynamics, not always playing the root note in chords, and trying to act as both a rhythm and melody section at once made the bass much more interesting 

I guess that the best way to get a good sounding bass track is to experiment, and not just follow the good ol rules and get a descent track. Try different things, trying to find the place where the bass really does something beneficial for the song. 


I also noticed that gear really do impact on you playing. The song was in c-standard, and since I didn't want to retune my main bass I used the old crappy bass and detuned it to C, and the sound was much more "funky" than the more rock-like sound that I usually get from my main bass, and that too impacted my playing.


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## Lives Once Abstract (Nov 7, 2012)

Zeetwig said:


> ...not always playing the root note in chords, and trying to act as both a rhythm and melody section at once made the bass much more interesting



This.


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## Randy (Nov 7, 2012)

If you play the bass literally exactly the same way you play guitar, I'm going to find you and take your instrument away from you.


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## pawel (Nov 7, 2012)

I am also a guitar player that picked up the bass and tried _very hard_ to not make it sound like a guitarist playing bass. I found that starting simple really helped - trying to play a straight 12 bar blues for instance, but then you seem to be way beyond this stage already. 

As for technique, I find that trying to play with a traditional bass fingerpicking technique really helps in making you think like a bassist and gets you out of the guitar comfort zone. 

The best thing about picking up the bass is that even an absolute beginner like me, can lay down a very simple bass track on a recording and make it sound that much bigger. Sure, won't be as good as if a "real bassist" played it, but IMO it definitely beats trying to cover these frequencies in other ways. Very satisfying.


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## Lives Once Abstract (Nov 8, 2012)

I think that technique is technique, and "guitar" techniques can be transferred to bass and vise versa. I started playing bass because I had a 30" Agile Intrepid 8 string. so I got rid of that, got a bass guitar and a 27" 8. Toisn Abasi implements bass playing technique to guitar. And it sounds good, so the same can be applied to a guitarists approach to a bass guitar. but dont think of bass guitar as one dimensional like many people do. Thinking its a boring instrument that you cant have much versatility with. 
NO.
Bass is still a guitar. Play what you want, how you want. Thats why your a MUSICIAN.


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## Konfyouzd (Nov 8, 2012)

I'm a guitarist and I love playing the bass...

It's noteworthy that the bass guitar is much younger than the guitar and ass such it might be a bit natural to borrow things from the guitar. However, I play the bass by searching for what I feel to be missing in the frequency range it covers. Such an approach has led me to search for the same in all other instruments I play and I find my mixes becoming more and more coherent for it.

To be a bit more specific, I typically try to have the bass accent the kick and snare interactions in an attempt to help drive the song while supporting the lead melody without competing with it.

Retraint and timing...


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## facepalm66 (Nov 8, 2012)

I've also started off playing acoustic guitar, then moved to bass, and been playing it ever since, for about 6 years now. 

So the basics are very similair, but the bass playing is rather percussive, and it tends to mess around a lot, playing different stuff very often rather than playing absolutely the same as guitar.
It is more of a 'feel' based instrument, it doesn't rely on doing scales all the time etc.

Also, bass guitar has one best friend - drum kit. So they work together extremely well. 
And ofc it provides the low end, bla bla.. everyone knows that.

And as far as the tone goes, try listening to pantera or mashogah for instance, they're bass is as clear as it gets, and is heard very clearly in the mix. 
But in general, it's all based on the person playing it. If you are creative, your bass lines will not be boring, dull and unheard. Just be creative
Cheers and beers


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## Whammy (Nov 9, 2012)

I started playing bass before I picked up the guitar. Since then I play both (but do focus more on guitar).

Every element in a song has it's place and every genre focuses on that differently.
Then again bands of a similar genre can have different playing styles but that probably has more to do with skill and creativity.

From a general point of view if the guitarists are writing music and not taking into consideration what the drums, bass and even vocals may be going then there isn't doing to be much space left. And the bassist will have the hardest job trying to fill the gap. So in a lot of guitar based music the bass follows the root note.

If everyone has more of an input or if the main song writers are intentionally leaving space for the other instruments then the bass has more room to be creative without it cluttering up the song.

All that being said though, if the song is a healthy balance of elements then the bassist can really decide what's best for each section rather that what style he/she prefers best.
When an all out wall of sound is what you want for those super heavy bits, root notes are really the answer.
For areas where the guitars are good but just missing an extra layer doing harmonies, completely different lines or modulating between the vocal line and something else could really work.
For faster sections where root notes sounds, meh! Doing a slap style of bass can be great.
These are all generalistic examples though.

So many variations and so many options and all lead to a different flavor. But the main point is, if space isn't left for the bass you need a high level of skill and creativity to work it in.


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## Zeetwig (Nov 9, 2012)

Randy said:


> If you play the bass literally exactly the same way you play guitar, I'm going to find you and take your instrument away from you.



Haha well then I'd better watch myself 



pawel said:


> ...
> As for technique, I find that trying to play with a traditional bass fingerpicking technique really helps in making you think like a bassist and gets you out of the guitar comfort zone.
> 
> The best thing about picking up the bass is that even an absolute beginner like me, can lay down a very simple bass track on a recording and make it sound that much bigger. Sure, won't be as good as if a "real bassist" played it, but IMO it definitely beats trying to cover these frequencies in other ways. Very satisfying.



I totally agree with you  If I were to choose between a band with a drummer and either a bass or guitar player I would choose the former. The bass is really important to make the music sound good IMO. 



Whammy said:


> I started playing bass before I picked up the guitar. Since then I play both (but do focus more on guitar).
> ...
> From a general point of view if the guitarists are writing music and not taking into consideration what the drums, bass and even vocals may be going then there isn't doing to be much space left. And the bassist will have the hardest job trying to fill the gap. So in a lot of guitar based music the bass follows the root note.
> 
> ...



Actually, bass was the first instrument I started playing of the rock-instruments. Then it was kinda put aside when I started drumming and playing guitar... a shame that I didn't keep it up actually :/

Anyway, you just said something revolutionary to me! :O "To leave room for the other instruments/bass when writing the song". I focus a lot on getting my main rhythm guitar track perfect, and I often encounter problem with writing the second guitar track, bass track, keyboard track, etc. I have never understood why, until now. The main guitar tracks take up too much space as they do everything at once! I cannot believe I haven't figured that out :S Noob alert... -.- Thank you!


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## Whammy (Nov 9, 2012)

You're welcome man


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## Overtone (Nov 9, 2012)

Thats actually one of the best ways to have some baass parts that stand out! Same can be applied to vox, keys, etc... The guitar takes up a lot of space, and if your whole tune, every song, is huge riffs, you are limiting other instruments.
when i said tighter and smaller, volume is one way, and the arrangement is anotther, but i mostly meant playing a little more stacato in parts, and eq on the amp or board to cut some of the low mids. It doesnt have to be the whole guitar track, just here and there. Thats an approach at least.


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## Herrick (Nov 9, 2012)

It depends on the genre & how the song is written. Most bassists (heavier music) just play what the guitar plays and when you can actually *hear* the bass, this sounds very cool. Then there's bands like Zero Hour where Troy Tipton plays a lot of different things compared to the guitar. Sometimes he'll just pound on one note while the guitarist (his twin brother Jasun Tipton, a great guitar player) plays some melodic goodness. I really enjoy his playing. Fusion of complexity & simplicity at molecular-genetic level. Observe:



Some of my favorite bass playing is on Hammers Of Misfortune's The Bastard. Very foundational bass playing with some cool little embellishments.


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## Zeetwig (Nov 10, 2012)

I just thought of something, and would like some opinions on my idea 

Thanks to Whammy I now know that I shouldn't make my guitar tracks so "complete" and "big", as then I get problems with fitting additional guitars, keys and most importantly bass into the song. I spent some time on thinking how to solve this problem in an as effective manner as possible, and came up with an idea.

Up until now I have spent a lot of time on getting the rhythm guitar tracks as near perfect as I possibly can, and the result is that the rhythm guitar act as the "foundation" or "core" of the song at the same time as being the rhythm AND semi-melody part section. Basically, the guitar track does what the guitar, bass and drums are supposed to do, which leaves little room for the bass and additional guitars (the drums can always sync with the guitar rhythm so drums isn't as effected as the other instruments).

So, I thought: since the guitar track is more of a "core" and rhythm track than pure melody and harmony, why not play the guitar track on the bass instead (the parts that sound good), and then come up with proper guitar tracks to put on top of the bass track? This way the bass get the "core" and rhythm role that it is supposed to have, and the guitars can focus more on melody, harmonizing, and being more complex and "free" than they are if they take in the role of "core track". Trying to play more freely on the bass when the guitar track is very "core-esque" doesn't sound good, as the bass is supposed to have a more "core" role. Playing guitar more freely over a bass track that is "core-esque" is much easier (from a good-sounding point of view).


Maybe this is super-standard and I am just very late to pick up known methods, or this is a method that has been tried and scrapped since it doesn't work very well. Either way, I am going to try this and would very much like your opinions on it  What do you think? Is it a good idea and will it work?


Also, if you have other methods of writing songs where the bass gets an interesting role and the guitars doesn't take up too much space, please feel free to share it


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## Whammy (Nov 10, 2012)

Don't forget that it's metal music, right?
The guitar parts are inherently the core of the track.
But the question of whether they dictate to the other instruments what to play is very open ended.

For example if the guitars are using alternative picking at 32nds notes, the drums can easily follow suit with the kicks. May even a blast beat on the snare but it doesn't have to, they can hold back and only play on the quarters of the bar (Kick - Snare - Kick - Snare type vibe). It would give a completely different feel. And by doing so opens up the bass to explore the area in a different way. Follow the guitars, or the drums or do it's own thing.
And visa versa,
If the guitars are only hitting a low power chord on the quarters of the bar. Well the drums don't have to follow suit. They could play 32nd note kicks and build up anticipation to the next part of the song. Maybe even a blast beat on the snare. The bass can still explore the area to complement the guitars or the drums or maybe do it's own thing.

The above ideas are lame, it's just an example 

The guitars are the core of metal music, can't really get away from that.
But here are some ideas that also apply to the guitars as well as all the other instruments:
The other instruments can reinforce the guitars, make it more open, build up to the next riff, act as a counter point to the rhythm (syncopation), introduce polyrhythms, dim it down or build it up in the wrong direction to add surprise to the next riff, etc.

So many different options over one riff and these options may in turn influence changes to the guitar.

Maybe try these different ideas with the guitars you have already and in doing so you may find little things to change with the guitars to help facilitate the other ideas. Or maybe you might find that the guitar parts don't need changing.


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## Zeetwig (Nov 10, 2012)

Hmm maybe I was a bit vague in my explanation :S I'll try to clarify things

1. When writing songs I almost always play guitar, come up with riffs and fit them together to create the basic construction of the song.
2. Thus, I have guitar riffs through the entire song, and the majority of these could be classified as the "core" sound of the song
3. Many of these core riffs can be played on bass just as easily, while still providing the same feel and power as if the guitars played them
4. So, instead of playing them on guitar and then just doubling them with the bass, I play them on the bass instead
5. I then take up the guitar again, and see if I can play the riff that is now the bass riff on guitar, only slightly tweaked (or not tweaked at all for extra power). Or I come up with riffs that I can play on top of the bass riff.
Or both: double the bass riff with rhythm guitars/add rhythm guitars that are slightly tweaked, and then have a completely different riff/melody in the lead guitar.


However, when I put it this way... what's the difference between playing the original riff on bass and a tweaked version on guitar, and playing the original on guitar and a tweaked one on bass? Hmm... I'll have to do some more thinking and experimenting.


This whole bass-business is a bit complicated :S Compare these bands


The bassist in Quo Vadis is very bad-(b)ass, and I am not aiming for the level of technical playing he is on, but the bass in their music is really cool.


The bass is very invisible here, as it is matching the guitars or just playing root notes. It fills the right frequencies, but the playing is rather boring.

I think what I want is a combination of both, and the problem is that I do not know how to achieve that :S
Should I give you an example song and then you can tell me how you would play the bass for it, or is that a bit overambitious (I am not asking you to record the bass for me, just to get an idea of how other would play it so that I can widen my views)?


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## dax21 (Nov 10, 2012)

It's pretty difficult to come up with interesting bass stuff if a riff is holding that "core" on it's own and wasn't written with bass in mind. This is just my opinion though, as I prefer melodic metal to tech stuff and I don't like bass lines that consist of wide intervals jammed and squeezed over the riff just for the sake of bass not playing root notes. With that being said, if we are talking tech stuff, you can really get away with a lot of things.

Instead of editing bass lines just so they don't match the guitars, you should try writing additional parts in songs that revolve around bass and then add guitars over it for texture. Not only will you give bass some room to breathe in songs, but it will also make for a more complex arrangements. You should check out Ne Obliviscaris, their debut album is full of clever bass lines that fill things nicely yet don't feel over the top.


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## Metal_Webb (Nov 11, 2012)

Though not metal, this is an example of a simple but extremely effective bassline (plus it's fun as all heck to play!):


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## Zeetwig (Nov 12, 2012)

dax21 said:


> It's pretty difficult to come up with interesting bass stuff if a riff is holding that "core" on it's own and wasn't written with bass in mind. This is just my opinion though, as I prefer melodic metal to tech stuff and I don't like bass lines that consist of wide intervals jammed and squeezed over the riff just for the sake of bass not playing root notes. With that being said, if we are talking tech stuff, you can really get away with a lot of things.
> 
> Instead of editing bass lines just so they don't match the guitars, you should try writing additional parts in songs that revolve around bass and then add guitars over it for texture. Not only will you give bass some room to breathe in songs, but it will also make for a more complex arrangements. You should check out Ne Obliviscaris, their debut album is full of clever bass lines that fill things nicely yet don't feel over the top.



Very good point :y: I think I understand what you mean, especially when listening to the links

Btw, this band is awesome! :O  I love symphonic elements in metal, and this was super cool! The violin was very cool too. Now I HAVE to pick up my violin and start playing again (played for 7 years, but quit about 2-3 years ago). I have actually thought about adding violin for some songs, but I haven't tried it yet.


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## Murmel (Nov 12, 2012)

Metal_Webb said:


> Though not metal, this is an example of a simple but extremely effective bassline (plus it's fun as all heck to play!):



Be careful comparing mortals to Luna Sea. They're geniuses


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