How hard do you play and why?

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by Bear_Bass

So im just wondering how everyone plays with there right hand?

i ..pluck as hard as hard as i can...and when you're all 15-16 years old you need to give the best impression possible.

So, based on your post, plucking as hard as you can is related to age and has something to do with giving the best impression to whom? The audience? your band members?

And you do this for every song?

I suggest you do some rehearsal/gig recordings to see if your methods have merit and enhance the final product.

Seems to me that it's part of the gig show you put on and not possibly not related to the overall sound of the band. I've been a funk fan since it started and seen the bands that you mention. None of the bass players put on a "plucking as hard as I can" show and they sounded fine.

Just a few days ago I jammed with a few friends at a rent-a-studio. The backline had an SVT 350h and an HK 8x10 cab. The other studio we usually rent has a SWR King Henry 8x8 and a head I can't recall the name on.

The 8x8 had it's own thud going and I plucked most of the time. With the SVT I played with a pick and hand-muted a lot to get the thud I wanted. I wanted more note to note definition with little sustain. Neither of which required any "hard as I can" anything. I did pluck a bit harder when I needed some pop/snap tone but overall, I played with a light to medium touch. I also had the amp turned up more than I needed so I could use my bass' active eq./vol control to get what I wanted out of it.

If your style works for you great. Go for it. Just don't hurt yourself.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by Bear_Bass

i personally have a J bass, both pick-ups on full and pluck as hard as hard as i can. My band is a funk band from stuff like Brothers Johnson to Chic so having that sort of tone fits nicely......and when you're all 15-16 years old you need to give the best impression possible.

I've said it practically every time before when a noob tries to equate physical force with musicianship. I'll say it again: Music isn't a sports competition. It isn't a test of your physical stamina, nor of your "manliness".

Music is an art form. Finesse counts. Subtlety counts. Musical dynamics counts.

I learned a valuable lesson by reading Jeff Berlin's former columns in the pages of Bass Player magazine: Repeatedly, Jeff would urge players - especially brand new players who didn't know any better - to 1) turn up the amp, 2) lower the playing action on the instrument, 3) learn to play with a lighter touch.

Some of the rationale is counter-intuitive - especially for young noobs. Some of it is perfectly sensible. Adjusting volume, action and technique in this way puts maximum control over the instrument right where it belongs - at the fingertips of the player. He/she can then transition from the most quiet, serene ballad, to all-out hard rock bombast - all in a fraction of a moment, merely by the way in which she/he caresses or attacks the strings.

Think about it...

MM

[Buxtehude]

I play dynamically. They even have signs for it in music like f and pp. when the music is soft I hit softer and when it's louder.......well you get the idea.

[Epitaph04]

Depends. If im playing Pantera illgo for a loud, buzzy sound by digging in. If im playing some bach ill keep a light touch. I have my action set low for the most part on all of my basses, so when i want an aggressie fret buzz sound, i really dont have to dig in all that much.

Like someone said, i play dynamically.

[dvlmusic]

Lets be honest: it's hard to NOT get excited, play faster and pluck really hard at a good gig. We've all been there: the band is kicking a**, the audience is dancing, the hotties are looking at <gasp> the BASSIST... So you go a bit nuts and all of your intentions go out the window. You're 15 again and plucking as hard as you can to make a good impression. However, what you can strive for is a lighter touch. It's easier on your body (uses less effort and you can play better longer), it gives you more dynamic range, richer tonal variety, more finesse. We live at a time when technology is cheap and readily available: most of us aren't playing upright in a big band and having to be heard I unamplified next to 15 horns... Let your equipment do some of the work and you'll discover a whole world of nuance that you never knew existed.

[4001]

For the most part, I hammer into it. When I need to mellow it out, I do just that.

[steelin4u]

I love a low setup and a very light/medium touch for dynamic range. It's funny when I get a sub at church, etc. that uses my rig and says, "I played the first note and almost crumbled the building down. Why is your volume up so high?" Because I have a light touch, low action and appropriate pickup height (3mm-4mm). The combo of the string being the proper distance from the pickup, low action and higher volume makes for some very expressive playing.

One negative for playing light and without compression is when, for whatever reason, you hit a note louder than you mean to...but that's pretty rare, right?

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by steelin4u

I love a low setup and a very light/medium touch for dynamic range. It's funny when I get a sub at church, etc. that uses my rig and says, "I played the first note and almost crumbled the building down. Why is your volume up so high?" Because I have a light touch, low action and appropriate pickup height (3mm-4mm). The combo of the string being the proper distance from the pickup, low action and higher volume makes for some very expressive playing.

Bingo!

Originally Posted by steelin4u

One negative for playing light and without compression is when, for whatever reason, you hit a note louder than you mean to...but that's pretty rare, right?

That's the downside. If ya want all that control available at your fingertips, ya gotta be prepared to exercise control - at all times...

(Of course, a little compression ain't a bad thing either...)

MM

[dvlmusic]

Originally Posted by steelin4u

One negative for playing light and without compression is when, for whatever reason, you hit a note louder than you mean to...but that's pretty rare, right?

C'mon, even Victor Wooten makes mistakes! You can't rule out a technique because you might screw it up once and a while.

[Phalex]

I have no finesse whatsoever. I drop bombs.

[COOL AND DEADLY]

Originally Posted by henry2513

As soft as I can, I turn up the amp and have created my rig around playing this way. I can still sound really aggressive.

I learned this from a book by Gary Willis, and I see his sig bass on your avatar!

[kraigo]

I have always played bass acoustically a LOT, so I've got a fairly heavy touch. It limits my speed and accuracy quite a bit, I think. I'm learning to lighten up.

KO

[steelin4u]

I wonder how much the genre effects this decision of right hand intensity and instrument setup. I use the same setup/pickup height on all of my instruments, and can rotate from (rock/pop) band rehearsal on sat night to church on Sunday morning with no change in technique, although the louder the situation, the more I'm tempted to dig in.

I know this shouldn't be a factor, but if your band mates see you turn around and turn your amp up so you can keep playing lighter to match a new volume, it cam start the 'rise in volume' epidemic that plagues rehearsals and gigs with no sound engineer.

[henry2513]

Originally Posted by COOL AND DEADLY

I learned this from a book by Gary Willis, and I see his sig bass on your avatar!

Yeah! He's a huge influence. Playing light has really saved me, I don't have any more wrist problems and I can play for hours without getting tired.

[Ronbassman]

I found that the more time goes by, the less hard I hit it. Mostly because I can get the intended sound with less force as I develop better technique.

[TDSLaBassiste]

Depends. Light gauge rounds: throw down my fingers like the hammer of Thor. Heavy flats: tender like a fine lady.

[BassPlayer900]

Sometimes I play hard when I want a sharp, crunchy growl. But I usually just pluck around the bridge pickup and ease up a bit to get a good growl without beating on my strings.

[Profania_bass]

I have the action set really, really low and the tension quite high, I play in a metal band and I love that Alex Webster-esque click sound on each note. But I don't dig in as much as it sounds like I do

There are some songs (Like a cover of Slayer or something) where I'll literally be beating the crap out of the strings with three of my fingers, usually for that "angry metaller stage effect" but it works well musically too.

And for the softer passages/songs I play softer. And have a lovely sounding phase effect going on too, so it is more obvious..

[Sinomis666]

I tend to play quite hard, but I have my action set quite high as my band plays a form of hyperactive glam/ punk rock ! I brought a RW 57 last year & initially I liked the low action but slowly but surely I have moved the action higher & higher!mostly due to listerning to live recordings & realising that high action means big punchy tone!

[kevteop]

I mostly pick quite softly, because I pick further towards the neck to get a bassier sound, and because it helps my pitch-tracking pedals work better.

I used to put my thumb on the bridge pickup and pick way too hard but that was because I had a lousy amp and I couldn't hear myself properly on stage. Broke strings all the time back then, but haven't broken any since I got rid of that amp.