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no bassists? :L


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Re: no bassists? :L

A bassist isn't necessary' date=' in all honestly. There are plenty of bands that have no bassist and just a guitarist in his place. Just drop the tuning of your guitar(s) if you feel the bottom end missing.[/quote'] I swear that's what Nevermore does.
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Re: no bassists? :L

The trouble with a band like Nevermore or At the Gates is that they tune so low the bass blends with everything. Humans can only hear so much, mostly mid-range, and going beneath that causes us to miss out. Also, since the bass in said bands typically follows the guitars it gets buried in the mix. We made a point on our last album to make the bass audible. He does his own thing most of the time and would've been discernible regardless, we just made it easier.
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Re: no bassists? :L

If you really mean that you dont need bass in music' date=' you're either too guitar focused, or just ignorant, Take your pic, bro! I mean, go back in time. Since the dawn of music, bass has been a central thing in music.[/quote'] Neither actually. It's a fact. You can get heavy sounds w/ out bass. Not using it doesn't make someone "guitar minded", its just making music in a different and original way. Not everything has to conform to the same sound you know. Thinking as much is ignorant and unfocused.
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Re: no bassists? :L To what are you referring? Bass or bassline? If you are talking about merely bass then Apoc's definitely wrong since the electric bass was only invented in this century and music's lasted longer than that. On the other hand, it sounds like Apoc might be referring to the concept of a bass line, in which case neither of you has reason to argue. Both of you agree on the concept of a bass line, perhaps disagreeing on its implementation.

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Re: no bassists? :L

To what are you referring? Bass or bassline? If you are talking about merely bass then Apoc's definitely wrong since the electric bass was only invented in this century and music's lasted longer than that. On the other hand, it sounds like Apoc might be referring to the concept of a bass line, in which case neither of you has reason to argue. Both of you agree on the concept of a bass line, perhaps disagreeing on its implementation.
I'm not talking about the electric bass alone, i'm also talking about the Doublebass in classical and jazz.
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Re: no bassists? :L

I'm not saying that you cant make cool music without bass. But i'm saying that bass is necesarry. And you cant argue with that.
Ummm...necessary for what? If you can make cool music (and I assume metal qualifies as cool music) without bass...then how is bass necessary? If it is possible to make music, good music, without bass, then it is most definitely not necessary. In addition, you specifically stated that you were not just referring to the electric bass - you were talking about bass older than that. That means that you are willing to accept the idea that it is the concept of a bassline that is necessary, not an actual bass.
I just did. :D
Sure, but what were you arguing about? You are saying that an electric bass is not necessary to fill in the music, but that you can replace the bassline with a low-tuned guitar riff. So, in sum... Both of you agree on the idea that a bassline, however it is constructed, by electric bass, or low-tuned guitar, is necessary. Feel free to correct me, this argument is getting pretty murky. :|
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Re: no bassists? :L Bass in general. You can use it but again it isn't necessary. Another band that didn't have one was Thergothon, widely considered the fathers of Funeral Doom. I've written plenty of music without bass because I can. I was going to use an upright bass for my more Funeral-esq projects but I would've had to have tuned to C and I prefer playing in B, so that didn't happen. Never say never though. ;)

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Re: no bassists? :L

Bass in general. You can use it but again it isn't necessary. Another band that didn't have one was Thergothon' date=' widely considered the fathers of Funeral Doom. I've written plenty of music without bass because I can. I was going to use an upright bass for my more Funeral-esq projects but I would've had to have tuned to C and I prefer playing in B, so that didn't happen. Never say never though. ;)[/quote'] OK, well in that case I misunderstood this. Thank you for clearing it up.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: no bassists? :L you know what i've noticed most since joining this sight? hardly anyone ever stays on topic. I like that anyway I know a couple bass players but they really aren't into metal I think I'm really gonna struggle putting a band together since for starters my vision requires someone with a similar vocal range to Rob Halford and most metal vocalists in my state are only interested in sucking at death growls, plus there isn't much of a metal scene in my state anyway, and there's a shortage of bass players pretty much everywhere. on the plus side finding a second guitarist and a drummer shouldn't be too difficult

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  • 1 month later...

Re: no bassists? :L

you know what i've noticed most since joining this sight? hardly anyone ever stays on topic. I like that anyway I know a couple bass players but they really aren't into metal I think I'm really gonna struggle putting a band together since for starters my vision requires someone with a similar vocal range to Rob Halford and most metal vocalists in my state are only interested in sucking at death growls, plus there isn't much of a metal scene in my state anyway, and there's a shortage of bass players pretty much everywhere. on the plus side finding a second guitarist and a drummer shouldn't be too difficult
Staying on topic is important enough I suppose, but going off topic is fine. That's where most of the conversations take place. Making a band modeled after your vision is REALLY fucking hard, no matter where you are. I spent most of my musical life trying to do it and after 15 years I FINALLY got what I was looking for. I hope your dream doesn't take as long.
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I'm just beginning to play bass (or learn to). I have a bass and amp an really enjoy it. I play mostly blues at this point to get my timing and finger plucking down. I am finding out that there are not a lot of people who set out to say I want to play bass. Most are guitarists who are in a band and they need a bassist so they begin to oplay bass. For me I love guitars but my passion is bass. My good friend plays guitar and cant wait for me to improve my chops. He listens to alot of music like I do but mostly old school metal and rock. I cant wait for the chance to jam with him. One day I'd like to play in a band. Not necessarily metal but just have fun with whatever I'm playing. Does anyone have any good tips on improving? It's a slow learning process and I am doing it online at www.studbass.com

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A bassist isn't necessary' date=' in all honestly. There are plenty of bands that have no bassist and just a guitarist in his place. Just drop the tuning of your guitar(s) if you feel the bottom end missing.[/quote'] There are some things you can't fix no matter how hard you try...:D To be fair he's got a point, especially with some of those new "djent" kids like Glasscloud - fucking 9 string guitars tuned to something below where a rock bass would be. Ugh. And you've got bands like Discordance Axis and Oxes that didn't use a bass and sounded fine. Or just listen to And Justice For All, still a classic...:D But the whole thing is silly hair-splitting anyway. A lot of the bands I've seen that don't have a bass player would need a lot more than a bass player to save their music.
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  • 2 months later...

i dont know much abt band setups, but imo bass is equally important like a rhythm guitarist, since it gives a steady base to the songs being played. i know rhythm guitar dominates the song, but bass is what makes the song. listen to some of the famous bassists like steve harris, the late cliff burton, ian hill. they take songs to the next level. its like having bullets without a gun if u get what i mean....hahaha!

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