- Thread starter HEWLIO
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Jimmyb
Well-known member
adouglas
Well-known member
The only effect I need is my Bongo.
K.I.S.S.
Well, a touch of compression, maybe, but that's it. A good rig won't need anything.
Here's a tip gained from playing bass for longer than you've probably been alive if you're still in school (not that I'm any GOOD, mind you, but I've been there and done that a few times over).
Effects can sound great IF you're playing by yourself.
But the fact is that except for practice, you're never playing alone.
You are part of a team. How YOU sound does not matter to the audience or to the other musicians. How the BAND sounds is all-important. When you listen, do you listen only to yourself or do you listen to the whole thing? The latter is what counts.
It's all about the music and serving the song, not just your tone.
A school jazz band is going to be big. There's a great deal of sonic information coming out of a group like that...lots going on. So the more you do to muddle your sound (and all effects do that to one degree or another) the worse the final product will be.
If multiple musicians are competing for the same sonic space, the result is more noise than music. You have to make room for each other. Adding effects to the bass gives it overtones that crowd in on the melody instruments.
In my band (a five-piece soul/Motown/old-school R&B band) the keyboard player and I are always talking about this... working together to give each other room to be heard. And we're both messing with our dynamics to let the singer stand out.
Keep it pure, keep it clean, EQ it right (mids are your friend, avoid "smiley face" EQ curves) and let your fingers do the talking. Less really is more. Being exactly on time and carrying the groove will get you a lot farther than any effect ever invented.
But if you must...
Go pick up a BassPODxt or whatever the current equivalent is, and put in the time and knob-twiddling to really figure out how it works. It'll keep you busy for years. At the end of that journey, chances are pretty good you'll realize (like most of us geezers) that a plain, unadulterated bass sound really does work better after all.
But at least you'll have gotten it out of your system.
K.I.S.S.
Well, a touch of compression, maybe, but that's it. A good rig won't need anything.
Here's a tip gained from playing bass for longer than you've probably been alive if you're still in school (not that I'm any GOOD, mind you, but I've been there and done that a few times over).
Effects can sound great IF you're playing by yourself.
But the fact is that except for practice, you're never playing alone.
You are part of a team. How YOU sound does not matter to the audience or to the other musicians. How the BAND sounds is all-important. When you listen, do you listen only to yourself or do you listen to the whole thing? The latter is what counts.
It's all about the music and serving the song, not just your tone.
A school jazz band is going to be big. There's a great deal of sonic information coming out of a group like that...lots going on. So the more you do to muddle your sound (and all effects do that to one degree or another) the worse the final product will be.
If multiple musicians are competing for the same sonic space, the result is more noise than music. You have to make room for each other. Adding effects to the bass gives it overtones that crowd in on the melody instruments.
In my band (a five-piece soul/Motown/old-school R&B band) the keyboard player and I are always talking about this... working together to give each other room to be heard. And we're both messing with our dynamics to let the singer stand out.
Keep it pure, keep it clean, EQ it right (mids are your friend, avoid "smiley face" EQ curves) and let your fingers do the talking. Less really is more. Being exactly on time and carrying the groove will get you a lot farther than any effect ever invented.
But if you must...
Go pick up a BassPODxt or whatever the current equivalent is, and put in the time and knob-twiddling to really figure out how it works. It'll keep you busy for years. At the end of that journey, chances are pretty good you'll realize (like most of us geezers) that a plain, unadulterated bass sound really does work better after all.
But at least you'll have gotten it out of your system.
mynan
Well-known member
+1 ad
I had a BassPODxt Live for a while because I was using a PA amp to power my cabs. I played around with the effects and it was fun. I really liked the Phase90, so when I went to my Markbass rig and ditched the POD I bought an MXR Phase90 pedal and, again, really liked it. Then I started listening to recordings of our rehearsals. On the recordings, whenever the Phase90 was on, my SR5 lost its balls. The volume was there, but it wasn't cutting through the mix.
I use some overdrive now and then when I play at my church and there isn't a guitar player...and sometimes just to intimidate guitar players during rehearsals, but for the most part I'd say clean is the way to go for bass.
I had a BassPODxt Live for a while because I was using a PA amp to power my cabs. I played around with the effects and it was fun. I really liked the Phase90, so when I went to my Markbass rig and ditched the POD I bought an MXR Phase90 pedal and, again, really liked it. Then I started listening to recordings of our rehearsals. On the recordings, whenever the Phase90 was on, my SR5 lost its balls. The volume was there, but it wasn't cutting through the mix.
I use some overdrive now and then when I play at my church and there isn't a guitar player...and sometimes just to intimidate guitar players during rehearsals, but for the most part I'd say clean is the way to go for bass.
adouglas
Well-known member
Me too. In my other band (currently on hiatus due to the singer having cancer-related throat surgery), there is no lead guitarist, so I have to play the occasional distorted lead hook.
But it's off 99 percent of the time. I even take it out of the signal chain for sets when I'm not playing those specific songs.
when I was in my school jazz band we had to walk uphill both ways in cut time, and there were no effects, you young whipper-snapper......
All kidding aside, when it comes down to it - it is your art and your sound should be your own.
Having played in everything from 3 piece jazz cocktail trios to full 25+piece swing bands, though, I have to agree w/ ad that the bass needs to come through clear at the foundation, not adding mud to the mix. I have only ever found compression to add sustain when playing a lead melody to be useful. I have also found that the range of tone possible on the Bongo is a lot of fun to mess with.
Have fun with it, whatever you do!
All kidding aside, when it comes down to it - it is your art and your sound should be your own.
Having played in everything from 3 piece jazz cocktail trios to full 25+piece swing bands, though, I have to agree w/ ad that the bass needs to come through clear at the foundation, not adding mud to the mix. I have only ever found compression to add sustain when playing a lead melody to be useful. I have also found that the range of tone possible on the Bongo is a lot of fun to mess with.
Have fun with it, whatever you do!
HEWLIO
Active member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2008
- Messages
- 38
If you think im one of thoes ** bags that plays gay emo music i dont, i cannot stand new music im into 50's 60's and 70's stuff and most progressive/ fusion jazz. But most of the time i listen to frank zappa. im just lookin for a cool sound the alphonso johnson when he was with Billy Cobham George Duke Band
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