Is bass your priority?

[BrunoBass]

Basschat is, obviously, populated by bass players, but there seems to be several drummers on here that play bass, guitarists that play bass etc. I play bass in a band but I also do my own acoustic Singer-Songwriter thing. How many of you do other musical activities, and are your extra curricular adventures just a sideline where your bass playing takes priority or is bass itself just a minor part of your activity?

[paul h]

I'm currently concentrating on guitar but only because I can't find a guitarist I want to work with

I will always be a bass player first a foremost though

[Coilte]

Perhaps you should create a poll.

[discreet]

I play lots of other instruments, but none that I'd want to appear in public with. When people ask me what I do, I tell them I'm a bass player. That may of course be gross misrepresentation and tantamount to a terminological inexactitude, but that's what I say nevertheless.

Edited June 17, 2016 by discreet

[Earbrass]

Bass guitar is just one instrument that I play. There have been periods in my life when I would have regarded it as my primary instrument, mostly when playing bass in a band, but these days it has slipped down the pecking order. I would probably say it was my 4th instrument, after keys, nyckelharpa and melodeon.

[RhysP]

The last time I played bass "properly" was on a recording project & a one-off gig for somebody & that was about three years ago. Since then I've only played guitar, and for the last nine months or so I've played nothing at all.

Edited June 17, 2016 by RhysP

[CamdenRob]

I'm a bass player through and through... Had a go at guitar last year because I couldn't find a band doing what I wanted to do on bass, wrote a bunch of tracks and got a band going but as soon as a bass project came up I lost interest.

[BigRedX]

As well as bass, I've also played guitar and synth in various bands over the years.

I see myself first and foremost as a composer who like to play bass.

[ubit]

I probably spend an equal time playing guitar as bass although in the band, I am the bass player. I go for guitar lessons and find both instruments give pleasure depending on how I'm feeling.

[Dad3353]

I've played drums far more than bass. Nowadays things are much more calm and I'd take BRX's expression; I compose, and play bass for my compositions when it's required.

[Fionn]

Interesting question. As a priority, I suppose it comes and goes, depending on what my focus is at the time. Bass is the instrument which I'm most familiar with, by far, and it was also the first instrument I learned, so it has that over other instruments. I was playing percussion more than anything for the last year or so though. Totally absorbed in it, and not thinking a great deal about bass (hence my hiatus from Basschat), so I guess that percussion was my priority. However, a new project has got me back on bass, so, aye, the low end has become my priority again. Subjective, I know, but it's like the weather. It changes, and it's good to just go with the flow and not get too hung up on what we are. That said, when we're in it, it can become all-encompassing. It's a mindset. I'm thinking like a bass player, rather than a singer, or a percussionist (both of which I also do). A side effect is that I'm also thinking about bass, and gassing for bass stuff that wouldn't have even occurred to me 6 months ago. In the future, other things will become my priority, but bass is always there to take its rightful crown.

[ubit]

Trouble is, when you are in to playing other instruments, your GAS is expanded tenfold!

[gary mac]

Bass is my thing really, certainly the only instrument I'm confident/good enough to play in public. At home though I like to play acoustic guitar and mandolin.

[Painy]

I play guitar, keys and drums to a passable standard largely now just for fun and jamming purposes but all were learnt initially as a means to improve my bass playing.
I guess I could therefore technically class myself as a multi instrumentalist but to be honest I'd actually consider myself to be a bassist/vocalist in fairly equal measure (although I reckon bass would edge it if I was pushed).

[neepheid]

Bass is my number one priority when it comes to musical instruments because it's the only instrument I play. I have no inclination to play any other instrument.

[Guest MoJo]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1466177379' post='3073922']
Bass is my number one priority when it comes to musical instruments because it's the only instrument I play. I have no inclination to play any other instrument.
[/quote]

+1

[Number6]

Bass foremost but I can play the drums (ish) if i had to and Synth / Keys at a very rudimentary level.

I just remembered i sing (ish) too.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Number6

[Musashimonkey]

Bass only for me thanks.

[Rich]

I sing too, but I will always be a singing bassist rather than a bass-playing singer. If you see what I mean.

[Roger2611]

I play guitar and keys and do a bit of vocals but I tend to write around a bassline more than anything else

[neilp]

I'm a bass player - classical and otherwise - first and foremost, but I also play cello, guitar and mandolin. They are sideshows though. I'm a bass player

[Passinwind]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1466168380' post='3073821']
Basschat is, obviously, populated by bass players, but there seems to be several drummers on here that play bass, guitarists that play bass etc. I play bass in a band but I also do my own acoustic Singer-Songwriter thing. How many of you do other musical activities, and are your extra curricular adventures just a sideline where your bass playing takes priority or is bass itself just a minor part of your activity?
[/quote]

Playing music has always just been peripheral to my involvement in it. I've always preferred working in live sound production (from which I retired a few years ago) and musical electronics repair/mods/building to playing bass, guitar, or keys, all of which I do enjoy too. I used to alternate for years at a time between concentrating on bass or guitar, but for the last decade it's been all bass. Might be time to finally buy a nice keyboard and shed on that for while soon though. But with all that said, I still consider my self a tech first and a bass player next.

Edited June 18, 2016 by Passinwind

[Bassassin]

Although I'm the main composer in an original progressive rock band, I'd still say bass first - and it's the only instrument I'd take onto a stage with me. Also the first instrument I learned to play and the only one I pick up & play for the joy of it.

However for me it's not the best compositional tool, and through necessity I'm a reasonably competent guitarist. At times when I haven't been in a band, I've predominantly played guitar and really only picked up the bass when a recording needed it.

In the past I've dabbled with keys but not really in the last 15 years or so. I can drum a little, which is useful when writing but my recorded drum parts are all sequenced. I've fronted bands before, but singing these days is all just backing vocals - I can hold a tune, but my voice redefines "unremarkable"!

Jon.

[FuNkShUi]

I play guitar in two bands and bass in one.
But I'd consider myself a bass player.
I had lessons on the bass, so I'm "further along" compared to guitar playing.
Probably go that reason I feel much more at home on bass too

[Cato]

I've played more guitar in bands than I have bass,always thought of myself as a bass player though, I just sort of ended up getting drafted to do vocals and I can't play bass and sing at the same time and I feel naked unless I'm holding something.