When bass and drums are doing it all (or mostly)

[escaraBAJO]

I looked for it, didn't find it. If it's there please point me in the right direction. Also, this is a transversal question involving amps, cabs, effects, bass but I didn't find a transversal subforum.

When bass is the thing that's making most of the sound/melody/harmony in a band, what equipement do you use? How do you make it do the job?

I'm in a three piece band (drums, vocals and bass) and I have to make the majority of the noise/sound. The singer can make some weird noises and use some iphone apps in the middle but I'm responsible for "filling the room with music" really.

My setup is:
Warwick corvette proline 5 - boss MB-50b - boss RC-20XL - Gallien Krueger 1001 rbII - Shroeder 1212R
It is a loud rig but it is "boxy".

The music is, well, anything from bossanova to straight doom-metal-from-atonal-hell

So, if you are in a bass-drums duo or something like that I'd like to see how do you do it.

Thanks a lot.

[Calaverasgrande]

I did this as both a solo act (Noncompliance) and in the early incarnation of my earlier band Lungbutter.
When I was playing with a drummer and vocalist I used just distortion and an envelope filter. Later cutting it down to just distortion.
In the solo act I used a footpedal controlled drum machine (stop and start) along with distortion and some modulation effects.
In both bands I also would rig a cassette deck as a poor mans sampler.
It is pretty easy. Just open up the cassette deck (with the power disconnected from the wall!) and wire the cassette motor to the headphone jack so that there must be a closed circuit on the headphone jack for the motor to get current.
This only works on cassette decks with mechanical logic, the soft touch button ones will freak out when you mess with the motor and the tension mechanism.
Then I would just plug a regular amp footswitch into the cassette deck and use it to fire off various loop tapes. Loops on cassettes are a whole other topic.

[Hobobob]

LeScrawl
Sordo
Just a couple off the top of my head. Lots of distortion.

[Calaverasgrande]

have you checked out Man is the Bastard?
It is technically 2 bassists and a drummer but there are whole parts of songs that are just one or the other.

[escaraBAJO]

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

I did this as both a solo act (Noncompliance) and in the early incarnation of my earlier band Lungbutter.
When I was playing with a drummer and vocalist I used just distortion and an envelope filter. Later cutting it down to just distortion.
In the solo act I used a footpedal controlled drum machine (stop and start) along with distortion and some modulation effects.
In both bands I also would rig a cassette deck as a poor mans sampler.
It is pretty easy. Just open up the cassette deck (with the power disconnected from the wall!) and wire the cassette motor to the headphone jack so that there must be a closed circuit on the headphone jack for the motor to get current.
This only works on cassette decks with mechanical logic, the soft touch button ones will freak out when you mess with the motor and the tension mechanism.
Then I would just plug a regular amp footswitch into the cassette deck and use it to fire off various loop tapes. Loops on cassettes are a whole other topic.

That is crazy!
How about the rig? I figure you had a bass rig and a powered mixer for the tape samples right?
I'll check the references you're giving.

[Calaverasgrande]

I would usually run out to a DI if there was a PA or beg borrow and steal a guitar amp. I really liked running samples/loops into Fenders with that marvelous reverb. We had one song that was basically a jazz-punk build up and breakdown built around a recording of a train starting up, slowing down and taking off. Steam whistle part was always a kicker.

[elgranluis]

dont want to be a smart a-- here.. but have you considered getting another band member? I'd say 99% of the people who do the "1-man-band-bassplayer" or the "bass+drums band" thing is because they choose to do so, they already have something in mind or want to achieve a specific goal in going that route. I'd say that if you have been "pushed" into this situation and you dont know how to fill the void, then maybe you should reconsider where your band is heading.

[Sartori]

Yes, elgranluis brings up an important point. Unless you're really itching to do this type of band, it's kind of an odd thing to be doing.


As for rig advice... lots of speakers. And going into them, overdrive. Doesn't have to be ridiculous distortion, but some is good. You could also run a stereo rig, one clean, one dirty.

One of the bands I'm doing right now, it's sorta like that, but with two bassists. I run overdriven, and the other bassist runs clean.

[Metal Matt]

My band Mors is just drums and bass only. I'm running...

Bass - octave up/ring mod, octave down, wah, overdrive, distortion, fuzz, delay and reverb - 3 200 watt amps - 2 2x15's, a 4x12 and a 1x18. No splitting signals to run clean and dirty to different amps, just one straight signal.

I don't really try to make my bass sound like a guitar. I use lots of power chords for some stuff but that's about it. The octave up/ring mod pedal will make my highest notes very guitar like, but that's about it. Otherwise it just sounds like super fuzzed out bass. For the most part, there's not a lot of depth to our sound the way there is when guitars are involved, which is fine for this music.

[escaraBAJO]

Originally Posted by elgranluis

dont want to be a smart a-- here.. but have you considered getting another band member? I'd say 99% of the people who do the "1-man-band-bassplayer" or the "bass+drums band" thing is because they choose to do so, they already have something in mind or want to achieve a specific goal in going that route. I'd say that if you have been "pushed" into this situation and you dont know how to fill the void, then maybe you should reconsider where your band is heading.

Yeah, I have considered that but we've had some bad experiences and we find difficult to find someone that is commited. Also, me and the singer are paying the drummer to play with us so we don't have more money for a fourth.


On the other side, we really like the project as it is. The singer makes some weird noises and has a looper (jamman) and fills the room a bit but he doesn't know much about interpretation (say guitar o keyboards).

I liked the suggestion about a stereo rig. Can you do that with two small (2X10 for example) cabs?. If I had the two cabs would it be better if I put them close together? Is it different from putting them on opposite sides of the stage?. In terms of "amount of sound", i mean.
And finally, Is there a rig that is more resistant to the abuse that effects suppose to the speakers/amp?

A lot of subjects, i know. Thank you for your comments

PS: I don't want the bass to sound like a guitar either, but of course I'm exploring the treble side.

[greenboy]

google CLATTER. Amy has a dual rig and effects and thing going. If you hear their material that's part of it, but a lot of it is good skills and good tune writing.

I do it through a single rig, but I use a lot of the Roland V-Bass's internal routing tricks to get a similar sound, which is often like having an octave up cloud of distortion going on to give the sense of a rhythm guitar, and using a lot of open string and ghost note stuff in conjunction with double or triple stops against a pedaling anchor tone, and power chords, and some hammer-ons/offs to keep some density and complexity.

Other effect like flanging and phasing and layered resonant filters and octave up delay can be cool too, to get more variety, but in many styles it seems like distortion and layering through multiple rigs or signal paths is a good boost.

But good material really means A LOT.

[greenboy]

Here's a pretty good photstream of Clatter: Clatter - Justin Easley set on Flickr

[Gearhead17]

Sounds "boxy"? I am assuming too much midrange? The Schroeder 1212R is not strong in the low end below 100hz at all. It's a very midrangey sounding cabinet and designed to sound loud on stage and push sound throughout the room, but if you want to fill more sonic space with the bass, you need to consider different cab options to capture the low end.

[Sartori]

Originally Posted by escaraBAJO

Yeah, I have considered that but we've had some bad experiences and we find difficult to find someone that is commited. Also, me and the singer are paying the drummer to play with us so we don't have more money for a fourth.


On the other side, we really like the project as it is. The singer makes some weird noises and has a looper (jamman) and fills the room a bit but he doesn't know much about interpretation (say guitar o keyboards).

I liked the suggestion about a stereo rig. Can you do that with two small (2X10 for example) cabs?. If I had the two cabs would it be better if I put them close together? Is it different from putting them on opposite sides of the stage?. In terms of "amount of sound", i mean.
And finally, Is there a rig that is more resistant to the abuse that effects suppose to the speakers/amp?

A lot of subjects, i know. Thank you for your comments

PS: I don't want the bass to sound like a guitar either, but of course I'm exploring the treble side.

Depends how loud you want the band to be. I would use more than four 10"s, but then again, I like being really loud.

[escaraBAJO]

Originally Posted by greenboy

Here's a pretty good photstream of Clatter: Clatter - Justin Easley set on Flickr

Wow! I found this video:
YouTube - Amy's Bass World (Clatter) - Rickenbacker and Rig (Part 3)

She talks about the setup she uses. Excuse my lack of experience but I didn't consider using more than one amp.
I liked how she had the effected signal through a separate rig (the redhead + boss VF-1) which let her have control over the amount of noise.

Nice!

[behndy]

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

I did this as both a solo act (Noncompliance) and in the early incarnation of my earlier band Lungbutter.
When I was playing with a drummer and vocalist I used just distortion and an envelope filter. Later cutting it down to just distortion.
In the solo act I used a footpedal controlled drum machine (stop and start) along with distortion and some modulation effects.
In both bands I also would rig a cassette deck as a poor mans sampler.
It is pretty easy. Just open up the cassette deck (with the power disconnected from the wall!) and wire the cassette motor to the headphone jack so that there must be a closed circuit on the headphone jack for the motor to get current.
This only works on cassette decks with mechanical logic, the soft touch button ones will freak out when you mess with the motor and the tension mechanism.
Then I would just plug a regular amp footswitch into the cassette deck and use it to fire off various loop tapes. Loops on cassettes are a whole other topic.

not even gonna read through the rest of the thread, because HOLY ****. MAN i had some fun times at Lungbutter shows. i've seen y'all at the Omni WAY too many times. Pyschofunkapus, Fungo Mungo.... y'all just SLAYED back during the times before Red Hots gentrified wacky funk exploration bands. good god i miss that scene.

hah! my band's actually playing a 4/20 show (i don't smoke, but i think it's HILARIOUS that it's on April 22nd.... so that all the stoner's can make it) with Brandon from Fungo's new band, kBrandow.

AWESOME! you just put a big ass smile on my face for the rest of the day homie!

[knappymer]

Check out Lightning Bolt and Death from Above 1979. Good distortion and when to use it is key.

[dmrogers]

I agree with Greenboy, if you want to pursue this route, I suggest you check out Clatter.
Clatter Youtube Channel

Amy has it figured out. Of course, as Greenboy alluded to, great material. Plus Amy and her husband Joe work great together. They support each other. Plus, she has such a unique style.

She has several videos (as does Joe) describing her setup and how it works.

Such talent!

[selftitled907]

Man after watching those Clatter videos with my wife just now.....we are going to start our own drum/bass/vocals band. Sounds like those will send anyone looking to do this kind of group in the right direction.

[greenboy]

Originally Posted by behndy

-- Pyschofunkapus --

Ah, these nuts?



I saw them up in Seattle in 91 or 92, and snagged that album back then. Great variety, intense performers with a sense of fun. Just seeing the name again reminded me I need to play the suckah. Hillbilly Happy Smash, check...