The Death of the Bass Guitar

[beerdragon]

Silly article on the bands such as the White Stripes who don't bother with a bass player and maybe others will follow suit,

[url="http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/29/Floridian/The_Death_of_the_Bass.shtml"]http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/29/Floridia..._the_Bass.shtml[/url]

[charic]

Interesting but kinda pointless article in the end rele

[Kaiu]

[quote name='beerdragon' post='57451' date='Sep 8 2007, 06:02 PM']Silly article on the bands such as the White Stripes who don't bother with a bass player and maybe others will follow suit,

[url="http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/29/Floridian/The_Death_of_the_Bass.shtml"]http://www.sptimes.com/2003/06/29/Floridia..._the_Bass.shtml[/url][/quote]


It is silly at times, although I think it leaves on a good point, arguing that its just a 'fad'. It's a style of music, some people are into, some aren't. It will pass, and if not, there is always room for a bassist in other styles of music.

Thanks for the link though, made my day just that little bit more interesting.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Kaiu

[DirkThrust]

It must be a very slow news day. Interesting angle but just another underemployed hack trying to justify his salary.

[EdwardHimself]

well i don't think we really have to worry 'cos at the end of the day more people are buying basses than ever before and i think that if you don't just stick to root thumping then it does entirley have a point.

But i think it's frankly a bit unfair really. I mean there are a lot of bassless bands these days but what about guitarless bands? I mean what's to say you can't make just as good song without a guitar then without a bass?

[LukeFRC]

why are they using a singular to talk about bands? Slater Kinnie is..... is that a quirk of american grammar? we would use the they, are.

plus its daft, if bass guitar has a threat of death i would expect it to be from synths able to make deeper basslines than a guitar can actually use like on hip-hop/US pop dance tunes.....

[d-basser]

the rest of the music world ahould feel threatened by ERBs. we will keep adding more strings till they are all obsolete mwahahahahahahahaha...ok I am done

[bnt]

I don't have much time for this kind of nonsense. Some of my favourite bands from the 80s are those which [i]could[/i] have done without bassists, but were all the better for having them: Ultravox, OMD, Tears For Fears, and the like.

That's not to say I expect to have things my own way, but I do know that I will be doing the bass in any band I'm in - sequenced, synthesised, sampled, or slapped, it's me or nothing.

[Bassassin]

Interesting they didn't mention the Dresden Dolls - about the only bass-free band I've heard that [i]wouldn't[/i] sound immensely better if they had one! But they don't have - or need - a guitarist, either.

Jon.

[Paul Cooke]

that's weird... he's claiming The Gossip don't have a Bass player... actually Nathan is listed as Guitarist/Bassist. I've seen him playing both Guitar and Bass on stage, using whichever instrument best fits the song. They usually run a backing track with the missing instrument. You can definitely hear both Guitar AND Bass on the records... he just lays down one part and then lays down the other...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KSfdD8q2y0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KSfdD8q2y0[/url]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poBPu8quCkk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poBPu8quCkk[/url]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sAHqg_uys"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sAHqg_uys[/url]

what's he playing in all three??? yes Basses... so that interview is a load of bovine excreta... Bassless my *&*&

That article is 4 years old... did you guys check the date???

What's frightening is these "bedroom" artists using software packages to simulate instruments for their multitrack extravaganzas...

[url="http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/StudioInstruments/overview.asp"]http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/StudioIns...ts/overview.asp[/url]

"Can't play bass, drums, piano, or violin? No problem! Just point and click and you are making music. It's that easy!"

[url="http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/StudioInstruments/bass.asp"]http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/StudioInstruments/bass.asp[/url]

"Highlights
* Load presets for multiple electric bass sounds from classic to modern
* Play essential bass lines in a variety of styles and easily transpose them to the key of your song
* Includes patterns in a variety of styles: Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Jazz, Blues, Funk, and more
* You can also drag patterns into your recording software to make variations
* Get bass sounds ranging from aggressive to smooth with control over Bass, Mid, Treble, Drive, and Compression
* Select Pick-ups and Slide between notes for even more realistic sounds
* Use your MIDI controller, computer keyboard, or interactive fretboard to play
* Strings strum in time with the music
* Load and trigger multiple bass lines for different sections of your song
"
now that's scary...

[beerdragon]

It was only after i posted it i noticed the date, I saw the gossip on T in the Park and they did have a bass player. i would have liked to have seen the Doors live without a bass player.

[Musky]

It's all swings and roundabouts. In the nineties there was a similar fad for multi bass player bands, so it all evens out in the end.

So I shan't be losing any sleep over it.

[bass_ferret]

Then of course there is Keane, who dont have a bass player but you can hear it. I used to play spot the bass player when I saw them on the telly and he was usually standing in the shadows somewhere; but I could not see him at all last time so he was either backstage with a monitor or pre-recorded/sequenced.

[punksoul257]

Its all good, i don't like the WS so if more people want to sound as bad as them then go ahead, i won't waste my money on their music.

[stingrayfan]

In the piece, it says about the White Strips that:[i]"On the radio, you'd swear that those creepy, low-register notes were played on a four-string. But White, through crafty detunings and effects pedals, compensates for the band's lack of a bass guitar player."[/i]

Detunings...? What, tuning a guitar down so it sounds like a bass? Er.... That's just trying to copy the sound of a bass. You might as well just plug a 4-string in.

Actually, I noticed that Jack White from the White Stripes has now started plaing bass on some of the terrible songs they do. They still sound awful (a bit like the sixth-form band I was once in), but he obviously couldn't ignore the draw of the low end.

[Paul Cooke]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='57659' date='Sep 9 2007, 10:56 AM']Actually, I noticed that Jack White from the White Stripes has now started plaing bass on some of the terrible songs they do. They still sound awful (a bit like the sixth-form band I was once in), but he obviously couldn't ignore the draw of the low end.[/quote]

oh yes... very seductive the bottom end is... it's what really gets the crowd moving... guitars just melt faces, basses shake things up and get your feet moving...

ps, I think the one armed drummer from Def Leppard plays a better beat than Meg White...

[ARGH]

Curveball.


The Bass guitar as a '4' string instrument WILL be obsolete in 40-60 years.

Diversification is the means for our instruments survival,Im not saying 'MULTISTRING ERB NOW!!' but alot more music or paid work is needing a low B (even lower in some cases) and to be honest if I feel they can cope,I recommend to young players,depending on their favourite style ATM,"Get a 5...trust me get used to it....your gonna need it".

The 4s sonic limits are obvious,as are its faults,Great music is still being created on them,great players still use them AND great instruments are still being made by great makers,but to deny the progress and demands upon it in the last 10 years,and the eventual death of retroism (for every 7 theres a Hofner Beatle right now) and the need for cleaner,clearer signals and tone....or dirt and distortion in my case.

The Bass guitar will IMHO not 'die' in my eyes,but in its present guise.......its end is visible.

Edited September 9, 2007 by ARGH

[Super_Mario_Bass]

Just as you can use a pedal to emulate the bass, you can use a pedal/rackmounted effect to emulate the guitar.

[punksoul257]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='57675' date='Sep 9 2007, 11:31 AM']ps, I think the one armed drummer from Def Leppard plays a better beat than Meg White...[/quote]

I think a drummer with no limbs could play better then her.

I can't play drums but could probably pull off what she plays.
To me it always seems very clumsey, out of time. It really annoys me.

Btw i don't see why the 4 string bass should die. Most of the time (for example with dodgy metal bands) most players just use the 5th string as a low end rumble & nothing more. I'm not saying the 5th string is useless just useless to some people. If that makes any sence at all. Right i'm confused.

PS, yeah i am a 4 string player, & i don't think i'll ever use 5 strings.

Edited September 9, 2007 by punksoul257

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Anyone who thinks the sh1te whipes are blueprint for the the future of rock n roll should be given the opportunity to listen to Clatter. Some bands have guitar and no bass and some have bass and no guitar. I remember the 80s when drum machines heralded the death of the drummer. Lazy and stupid journalism just makes the journalist look lazy and stupid.

[d-basser]

I quite like the white stripes

*ducks*

[BigRedX]

You can make do without any instrument you choose just so long as you craft the arrangement well enough. The bass guitar as an instrument in 'popular music' has had people writting it off since the early eighties - and yet it's still here being used as much as ever. Just pick the right instruments to make the right sounds for the kind of music you want to create.

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='57572' date='Sep 8 2007, 10:38 PM'][url="http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/StudioInstruments/bass.asp"]http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/StudioInstruments/bass.asp[/url]

"Highlights
* Load presets for multiple electric bass sounds from classic to modern
* Play essential bass lines in a variety of styles and easily transpose them to the key of your song
* Includes patterns in a variety of styles: Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Jazz, Blues, Funk, and more
* You can also drag patterns into your recording software to make variations
* Get bass sounds ranging from aggressive to smooth with control over Bass, Mid, Treble, Drive, and Compression
* Select Pick-ups and Slide between notes for even more realistic sounds
* Use your MIDI controller, computer keyboard, or interactive fretboard to play
* Strings strum in time with the music
* Load and trigger multiple bass lines for different sections of your song
"
now that's scary...[/quote]

to be honest though mate, that bass doesn't really sound much better than what you'd find on a cheap keyboard.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='ARGH' post='57720' date='Sep 9 2007, 01:44 PM']Curveball.
The Bass guitar as a '4' string instrument WILL be obsolete in 40-60 years.[/quote]

aye like the double bass was made completely obsolete by Leo's electric bass? You never see a double bass anywhere these days. :S
So you go down to the low B on a 5 string, then where? due to the physics of vibrating strings it gets impractical to go much lower, at that point a good synth bassline is way easier. anyway im happy with my 4 string!

and surely to slag of Meg White's drumming misses part of the point of the white stripes?

[Cantdosleepy]

1) I think the Whites Stripes are super-fabbo.

2) I think that a bassy synth can replace a bass guitar in a lot of instances.

3) The Leo Fender bass isn't going anywhere.

4) Five strings will never quite replace four strings as the standard, although they might become common enough that you see the two styles equally prevalent.

5) ERBs will always be a novelty because, truth be told, they sound a bit rubbish.

Controversy!