Pete Academy Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 We can all recognise bass sounds from famous players. But has everything been done? Are there any new players out there that still have a recognisable signature sound these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319570250' post='1415998'] We can all recognise bass sounds from famous players. But has everything been done? Are there any new players out there that still have a recognisable signature sound these days? [/quote] I don't know the answer to your question but then again I can't even recognise bass sounds from famous players because most of the bassists who get mentioned in these threads I've never heard of or even knowingly heard. Edited October 25, 2011 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Jaco, Marcus Miller, Flea, Victor Wooten, Bernard Edwards, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Bootsy, Burnel, Louis Johnson, Stanley Clarke, etc... I think that, over the decades, every sound has been done. But saying that, you often recognise a sound by its player Apologies if I've missed out rock and other genre players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 [quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319571096' post='1416018'] Jaco, Marcus Miller, Flea, Victor Wooten, Bernard Edwards, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Bootsy, Burnel, Louis Johnson, Stanley Clarke, etc... I think that, over the decades, every sound has been done. But saying that, you often recognise a sound by its player [/quote] But wouldn't Jaco still be recognisable if he was playing Geddy Lees bass? It might be a the technique that you recognise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Academy Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 [quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1319571333' post='1416024'] But wouldn't Jaco still be recognisable if he was playing Geddy Lees bass? It might be a the technique that you recognise? [/quote] You're probably right. But I'm discussing actual bass sounds rather than players' techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Mick Khan - identifiable in seconds..but what about genre?? can you tell the difference between the bass players from ABC/Hue & Cry/ Haircut 100?? What about Metal bassists - "it all sounds the same to me" - can you really tell who's playing just from their tone?? I've just realised that there are some people who may never have heard of these bands..I'm showing my age aren't I?? Edited October 25, 2011 by TheGreek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 As well as JJ Burnell, probably the only current bassist whose tone I`m fairly confident of recognising is Duf McKagan. And possibly, Mike Dirnt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1319576630' post='1416094'] As well as JJ Burnell, probably the only current bassist whose tone I`m fairly confident of recognising is Duf McKagan. And possibly, Mike Dirnt. [/quote] I'd be confident of spotting Matt Freeman from Rancid too. Very distinctive sound/feel/style for a punk bassist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I would argue that making a 'signature' sound for yourself isn't very creative. I'd rather listen to a bassist who makes lots of different noises. Preferably on different instruments. Actually I'd buy a sousaphone myself if three-valve brass made any sense to me at all but I'm firmly entrenched in the world of strings unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroman Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Not really a totally original tone, as he does sound a little bit like Geezer Butler in the early Sabbath days, But Scott Reeder of Kyuss fame. Very under rated player, with a very distinctive tone. Would also put forward Dave Sherman from the days of the mighty Spirit Caravan for the huge wall of woolyness, courtesy of a Gibson EB2. Check out the album "Jug Fulla Sun" for some bowel loosening low end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 [quote name='retroman' timestamp='1319581039' post='1416143'] Not really a totally original tone, as he does sound a little bit like Geezer Butler in the early Sabbath days, But Scott Reeder of Kyuss fame. Very under rated player, with a very distinctive tone. [/quote] I second that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo0tsy Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Talking funk, the most immediately recognisable bassists I know are Bootsy (whether he uses effect pedals or not) and the originator of slap: Larry Graham. With Bootsy, even if you listen to James Brown, Deee-Lite, Parliament, Funkadelic, Brides of Funkenstein, Sweat Band, Xavier, & solo works by George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, etc, you can usually immediately tell if its Bootsy on the bass or not either from the sound and the depth of the groove. Likewise, with Larry Graham check out some of his work with Betty Davis, instantly recognisable to his sound with Sly and Grahm Central Station. The latter Sly & the Family Stone stuff (after Graham left) has a distinctly different sound. The late Mark Adams (Slave) has a pretty recognisable sound and groove too, and was massively underrated in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Maybe Justin Chancellor from Tool? He's been around for a while though, not sure about 'new' players... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroman Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Michael Manring comes up with some pretty intersting tones. "Adhan" springs to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Are we not in danger of identifying bassists not only because of tone/style/sound etc but by the song. To prove the fact I think a blind audition of recordings of all the above playing the same songs in a variety of genres. Then we'd know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algmusic Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I think it's a very hard to tell on recordings especially these days, after the producer has mixed, compressed, filltered, re-amped, and mastered a P bass could sound like a J or a ray could sound like a Ricky.. The same could be said for live.. I know I'm generalising a bit, but the differences become minimal.. but the player has more say in this over the instrument I'm not sure people could tell the difference between nathan east and marcus miller on the same session and they both play different basses. They only was is if the bass player is the producer or part of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Vincent Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 [quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319570250' post='1415998'] We can all recognise bass sounds from famous players. But has everything been done? Are there any new players out there that still have a recognisable signature sound these days? [/quote] Yup.All been done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) You've got to play in an ensemble where you can hear the bass as a separate sound before you can indentify if the sound is any different or has any 'signature'. That happens less nowdays because making a feature of the bass is well and truly out of fashion compared to an era like the eighties. The other reason why it's less likely to happen is the proliferation of 5 string basses. Rumbling away on a heavy B-string cable might make your band sound good but is unlikely to get you noticed as an individual (as much as a traditional 4-string). 5 - string playing is good deal more anonymous for that reason hence there are less 'signature' sounds. It's no accident that the players that [i]have [/i]attracted more attention recently have a habit of playing on high tuned 6 strings where they're poking in to the guitar area (Squarepusher, etc)- or piccolo tuning 4 -strings (like M. Manring, etc). The innovations are unlikely to happen in the sub bass, IMO, and the anonymity is likely to persist for the foreseeable. Edited October 26, 2011 by Spoombung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowdownRumble Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Ryan Martinie from Mudvayne has a very distinct sound. I could tell if its him playing in a song or on its own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Nick Seymour from Crowded House is instantly recognisable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 [quote name='Spoombung' timestamp='1319642126' post='1416802']You've got to play in an ensemble where you can hear the bass as a separate sound before you can indentify if the sound is any different or has any 'signature'. That happens less nowdays because making a feature of the bass is well and truly out of fashion compared to an era like the eighties. The other reason why it's less likely to happen is the proliferation of 5 string basses. Rumbling away on a heavy B-string cable might make your band sound good but is unlikely to get you noticed as an individual (as much as a traditional 4-string). 5 - string playing is good deal more anonymous for that reason hence there are less 'signature' sounds. It's no accident that the players that [i]have [/i]attracted more attention recently have a habit of playing on high tuned 6 strings where they're poking in to the guitar area (Squarepusher, etc)- or piccolo tuning 4 -strings (like M. Manring, etc). The innovations are unlikely to happen in the sub bass, IMO, and the anonymity is likely to persist for the foreseeable.[/quote] Interesting points,but I don't think that 5/6 string players are any less individual than 4 string players. Players like Nathan East and Anthony Jackson and Michael Rhodes do a lot of work in the lower register and sound very different from each other. However I will agree that there are a number of players who do 'rumble away' on the B string and sound very much like each other-although I think that this is mostly(but not exclusively) within the various genres of metal. The guys playing in the upper range obviously get attention,but there are still a lot of great players who have developed their 'voice' in the lower ranges of the instrument. Then you get players like Jaquo III-X who are experimenting with extending the range of the instrument well into the sub bass range-you might not dig the music,but it's an interesting concept and approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmachine2112 Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Maybe it,s producers that are making their job easy with a one sound fits all on one or two channels-formula. As has been pointed out excessive compressing,amp farming and all the other studio tricks. It could be a symptom of the universal record everything as loud as you can for a CD. I had a conversation with a producer and he would love to record things at lower levels to get a better overall sound when you listen to it but the public would react at having to turn up the volume on their stereo/sound source for the same apparent volume.Seems that volume is deemed to be good sound by the duped public. We,ll just blame producers-easy. Any producers want to contribute,Iwould be interested in any answers/opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Changing the context of the instrument in the musical arrangement is (nearly always) a far more powerful way of attracting attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 The guy who first got me into bass when i was a nipper. Duff McKagen. The aggressive compressed chorus sound. still love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamd Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 The new Thundercat album 'Golden age of Apocalypse' has a very distinct sound (think he plays an MTD), loads of FX but great tone too, and some stunning fusion playing. He likes the upper register though where its easier to be more distinct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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