# What do you guys make of this dude's tone? (Sick bass playing inside....)



## Ramsay777 (Jun 11, 2009)

It's the dude from "Soreption" - Who I've fallen in love with recently, fucking awesome band 

Personally, I find the tone horrible, which is a shame really. I think most death metal bands would benefit from a cleaner sounding bass imo.


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## leftyguitarjoe (Jun 12, 2009)

I like a percussive bass tone like that.


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## PeteyG (Jun 12, 2009)

I can see that working great in the mix, but a bass tone like that only works well when the bassist has what it takes to deliver the same punch every note, and to not have any horrible clicking in between notes, this guy obviously has what it takes


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## All_¥our_Bass (Jun 12, 2009)

I really love clanky bass tones. So I think this is badass.

If you do it with looser strings (like I do) and pick hard you can get a sound that is (sorta) reminiscent of slap.



PeteyG said:


> I can see that working great in the mix, but a bass tone like that only works well when the bassist has what it takes to deliver the same punch every note, and to not have any horrible clicking in between notes, this guy obviously has what it takes



It takes a lot of effort to put enough punch into every note to make this style work.
Plus it gets harder to do this well the faster and more technical the playing gets, which he also seems to excel at.
But this guy knows how it should be done *AND* has the skills to pull it off. 

I must check out this band now!!  That sounded really sick.


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## Ruins (Jun 12, 2009)

Ramsay777 said:


> [
> Personally, I find the tone horrible, which is a shame really. I think most death metal bands would benefit from a cleaner sounding bass imo.


well i do agree with you when we are talkinga but solo sound but when it is in band or live situation this is the SOUND to use if you want to be noticed or even heard.


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## caughtinamosh (Jun 12, 2009)

While his playing is great, I'm clined to agree with you, Ramsay. His tone = 

My favourite bassist as far as tone is concerned is Steve Harris. He gets that wonderful clank that cuts through the mix, but not to the degree that it's painful to the ears. Geddy Lee is another, especially on the "Rush in Rio" DVD.


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## PeteyG (Jun 12, 2009)

Yeah what I didn't touch on in my tired state is that I don't care much for that tone on it's own, and for my own mixes I tend to go for a bass tone that is a good grounding for the music, and is obviously there, but doesn't jump out at the listener like this obviously would. But then again, something I've learnt is that a good solo tone may not sound so good in a mix, and in fact it's the tone that, while doesn't sound great on its own, sits in the mix in just the right place.


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## cycloptopus (Jun 12, 2009)

I like it. Very defined sound with alot of throat and attack.


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## Unknown Doodl3.2 (Jun 12, 2009)

you know who does the percussive bass tone really well? Steve Cloutier ex-Gorguts 

I don't like the soreption guy's tone. Sounds chocked at fake to my ears.


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## Apophis (Jun 12, 2009)

Nice vid, playing is great, but as said before tone could be a little better


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## Scarpie (Jun 12, 2009)

i thought that sounded fucking amazing, the tone despite possible suckage on it's own. 
really accentuated the fast palm muting of the chords. it worked very well with the guitars.


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## drmosh (Jun 14, 2009)

perfect tone for what they are going for. may not sound amazing on it's own but in the mix it was perfect


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## Ramsay777 (Jun 14, 2009)

Yeah the more I watch this, it really does fit well into the mix, but I don't like it by itself.

And holy moly, what a player! Really looking forward to their album


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## Setnakt (Jun 14, 2009)

He's not really displaying any amazing technique here. Finger picking (with what looks like 3 fingers I think?) to keep up with the rhythm guitar is something you should be able to do once you've learned the basics of how to play the instrument. He's clean and on beat though which is very important and it sounds like cool music. 

It sounds like he's favoring the bridge pickup. I've been doing that a bit lately, though I like a bit of neck pup warmth. It seems like it works for their mix, though all of this is subjective being that it's made with a handheld camera uploaded to youtube.


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## Brendan G (Jun 14, 2009)

The tone was bearable when it was with the whole band, but horrid on its own. It could probably benefit with some lows, to fill up some space in the mix if you know what I mean.


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## polydeathsphere (Jun 14, 2009)

i love that crunchy ass tone, fucking Alex Webster style bass just chomping through the song


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## Ramsay777 (Jun 15, 2009)

Setnakt said:


> He's not really displaying any amazing technique here. Finger picking (with what looks like 3 fingers I think?) to keep up with the rhythm guitar is something you should be able to do once you've learned the basics of how to play the instrument. He's clean and on beat though which is very important and it sounds like cool music.
> 
> It sounds like he's favoring the bridge pickup. I've been doing that a bit lately, though I like a bit of neck pup warmth. It seems like it works for their mix, though all of this is subjective being that it's made with a handheld camera uploaded to youtube.



True, finger picking as a technique isn't particularly "hard". But it's the sheer speed he's playing at. A few string skips in there that I would find very awkward at that speed, hence why he impressed me.

Not to mention, his left hand pulls off some damn impressive finger-work at that pace.

Aaah, one day..... ONE day! 

The comment about it being youtube's true also, but you get the basic idea of what I was getting at.

EDIT: I just checked out the link in yer signiture there, are you by any chance the bassist? If you are, from what I can hear, no wonder you don't seem as impressed as the rest of us!


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## HumanFuseBen (Jun 16, 2009)

hey, i have that same shirt!


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## Gwarthman (Jun 18, 2009)

polydeathsphere said:


> i love that crunchy ass tone, fucking Alex Webster style bass just chomping through the song



Dude totally! Alex's tone is my dream sound, especially the sound he gets with his side project band Blotted Science!


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## Bo Millward (Jun 24, 2009)

I'm not that into his tone, all I see that kind of tone being good for is filling frequency space in a mix with a bass heavy guitar tone. I prefer quite a throaty tone with a lot of emphasis on the low mids say round 230Hz and the range for a good harmonic responce.
Don't get me wrong i'm not slating him or out. I think his approch and tone work well for his music, i just think a lot of metal bassplayers approch their playing that way and i think that its a waste. I mean, there's so much more that could be done with metal bass and I think more of a jazz/funk approch to the tone and the composition of the bass parts would expand metal genres in a very positive way. 
You know bring some emphasis back to the bass instead of metal and its off shoots being heavly guitar led. Here's two guys worth checking out if you think i'm talking sence; Arif Mirabdolbaghi - Portest the Hero and Luke Williams - The Arusha Accord


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## MF_Kitten (Jun 24, 2009)

if you listen to the interaction between the bass and guitar tracks, you notice there's alot more low mids and bass than it sounds like in the video, because each note is "backed up" to get that octaves-sound (that i love). the tone could be a bit less peaky in the treble, but when played with the guitars, the timbre of each note/string really translates and mixes well.


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## Sepultorture (Jun 29, 2009)

i like the twangier sounds of bass for my style of playing, works great with my heavier guitar work, gives it a nice low end PLUS it's own separate kinda sound.


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## Ckackley (Jun 29, 2009)

Keep in mind it sounded like it was the camera mic picking up a set of studio monitors and a fair amount of clacking from the bass itself. That tone put into the mix with proper eq and played on a stereo probably thunders ..


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## larry (Jul 5, 2009)

i looooove that tone.
there's a local bassist where i live that no longer
plays in bands, but if i had the money to bribe him with,
i'd do it in a minute. he utilizes that tone with a very
fast percussive funk style of playing--
ala bill dickens/gianni serino. 

except he's not quite as fast as them.

i wouldn't mind learning to play bass like that. 
looks & sounds like alot of fun.


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## Ruins (Jul 5, 2009)

^ i can also confirm to you that yes it is


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 13, 2009)

Let me give you another one, Michael Manring:


Rather dig the majority of what he's able to get tonally, though the string buzz on his fretless bass is a little off, for my personal taste. Love his harmonic work in this tune, too. The other thing about this piece is that you get to see lots of different types of tapping and slapping styles in one piece (another thing I always dig about his music). 

This is more of a solo thing vs. a band, but I've seen him do some similiar work with Michael Hedges back in the day.


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## phantom911 (Jul 14, 2009)

phaeded0ut said:


> Let me give you another one, Michael Manring:




That little move at 18 seconds is very tasty


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## All_¥our_Bass (Jul 15, 2009)

Whoa!!!! That Manring vid is sweet!


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## Stealthdjentstic (Jul 15, 2009)

I liked that tone


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## Esp Griffyn (Jul 15, 2009)

Michael Manring has bottom end in his tone. That guy in the first video had horrendous tone, painful to listen to. I prefer to hear the notes, rather than just the CLANK CLICK CLACK of the strings hitting the frets.


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## Ruins (Jul 15, 2009)

Esp Griffyn said:


> Michael Manring has bottom end in his tone. That guy in the first video had horrendous tone, painful to listen to. I prefer to hear the notes, rather than just the CLANK CLICK CLACK of the strings hitting the frets.


i think we all do but as it was already mentioned before this sound is very useful in band context it works well in mix rather then solo.


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## MerlinTKD (Jul 19, 2009)

THe tone on the MySpace recordings are better, much less clanky/top-ended... well, when you can hear them 

This is my main issue with DM-influenced music... so much of it totally strips the low frequencies as a way of cleaning up the mix. With the constant 32nd kicks and bass-heavy guitars, it's easy for it to get all muddy... but it seems like instead of working the mix to get that low end clean, the bottom is just stripped out of the kick and bass. What's left is all mids and treble, with no dynamic differentiation. Personally, I hate that. 

But! That bassist has absolutely sick technique (don't let anybody fool ya, playing that fast and clean and relaxed is _hard!_), and it sounds like the rest of the band is just as talented. In fact, I was impressed by the songwriting, reminded me a bit of Gojira


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## stuh84 (Jul 19, 2009)

I've spent time looking into metal bass tones before, and the ones which cut through the mix tend to sound like that, unless your band isn't as dense.

Band's where a clear tone works are ones like Zero Hour, Spiral Architect, and other highly technical, non-chord based bands, but when you are doing lots of tremolo picking, low chords and massive dense music, that kind of tone is almost the only way to hear any bass at all.

Great playing too, I like it.


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## Scarpie (Jul 22, 2009)

i haven't decided what serves my taste better, the articulation of the playing or how the tone of the first video REALLY accentuates the guitar playing and makes it sound so much heavier.


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## Metal Ken (Jul 22, 2009)

I think the thing a lot of people are missing is that its a "Shitty cam vid". if you notice, the drum tracks and clicks he's playing along with sound really bad, too. I'm inclined to think he'd probably have pretty good tone if it werent through a shitty mic.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 23, 2009)

Ruins said:


> i think we all do but as it was already mentioned before this sound is very useful in band context it works well in mix rather then solo.



I would guess on this one it depends on what you as a player like/enjoy, with what instrumentation (both for yourself and for others) and in what context. Not a fan of when it sounds like all someone is doing is getting fret or fingerboard noise instead of a particular note/harmonic or overtone. 
In the context of the original video, he's playing some very interesting stuff, just a shame that he's using so much attack with his right hand that the fret noise is overwhelming. 



Shows a little bit more of what I'm talking about, where the attack is extremely quick per note, but there is a longer fade per note. Again, I understand that the first player is going for much more speed in what he's doing.



Metal Ken said:


> I think the thing a lot of people are missing is that its a "Shitty cam vid". if you notice, the drum tracks and clicks he's playing along with sound really bad, too. I'm inclined to think he'd probably have pretty good tone if it werent through a shitty mic.



Have to agree with Legion's post to an extent. Hate to say it, but I think that the player was going more for the "sound" that Korn (sorry, it's the one band I know of that does this extensively) uses where the listener hears more of a fret slap sound and less of what note is being played.


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