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11-12-2006, 06:31 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northampton, MA | | | Writing an "Epic" bassline
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Hey guys, I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on how to write a bassline with a sort of Epic feel.
I guess a way to describe would be basslines that build up and generally give you the feeling like you're on the edge. Um, I think the kind of music that would be an example would be found in movie trailers haha. Or more conventionally bands like Coheed and Cambria and some of today's "alternative" music. Thanks a lot for any insight 
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Originally Posted by Ostinato The 62 is warm, inviting, classic, like a sexy brunette in a alpaca sweater holding a strong Belgian ale. | Fender MIM Club Member #10
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11-12-2006, 06:42 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Urbana, IL | | | It all depends on feel. You have to just feel the song and push it along with your playing. Also, check out a band called dredg.
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11-12-2006, 06:47 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: northern illinois | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Trevorus Also, check out a band called dredg. | that just reminded me... i need a speak n' spell for my pedalboard  |
11-12-2006, 06:48 PM
| | Registered User
Endorsing: Ampeg | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Apopka, FL | | | You have to play like a novel reads. It starts off with a little background, then an incident happens and sets the story in motion, and it builds and builds and builds to a dramatic conclusion. You need to construct your bass parts like you're writing a book. Start off with setting the pace for the song, then try to bring the chorus up a little, then have a moment in the song where everything builds to a glorious conclusion. Tension and release are extremely important concepts in this way of playing.
If you want dramatic bass parts, you have to think drama.
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11-12-2006, 06:52 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northampton, MA | | | Awesome thanks guys. I was wondering if different type of scales would apply to helping the sound at all? Or am I trying to apply something that wouldn't really fit?
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Originally Posted by Ostinato The 62 is warm, inviting, classic, like a sexy brunette in a alpaca sweater holding a strong Belgian ale. | Fender MIM Club Member #10
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11-12-2006, 06:59 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Urbana, IL | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by FrigginChris that just reminded me... i need a speak n' spell for my pedalboard | I have one. Haven't circuit bent it yet...
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11-13-2006, 03:27 AM
| | gone to Longstanton Spice Museum | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK | | when I think of what 'epic' in rock/pop sounds to me, I think of things like Pink Floyd's 'In The Flesh' or the riff to Baba O Riley by The Who.... and that new My Chemical Romance tune... take inspiration from Copland's 'Fanfare For The Common Man' or Strauss's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra'
you won't go wrong with slow tempo, major key and all 'obvious' notes in the bass... in 'epic' sounding stuff your harmony isn't all knotty and dense with 7ths, flat 9's etc.. it's usually very open... big stacks of 5ths, suspended 4ths etc
and try it with everyone in the band playing the same riff/melody... if you have two guitarists get them to play the melody harmonised in 3rds there are loads of things you can try
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Last edited by cowsgomoo : 11-13-2006 at 03:33 AM.
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11-13-2006, 10:39 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: St. Louis // St. Charles, MO | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by cowsgomoo ... take inspiration from Copland's 'Fanfare For The Common Man' or Strauss's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' | I agree! Looking to classical composers for examples of epic composition is a great way to go. Copland, Bizet, Mussorgsky - These composers offered up some pretty epic pieces and they did not shy away from using their contra-basses.
I had a hard time NOT writing "epic" lines for a while. These classical pieces were so stuck in my head from when I played in my high school and college orchestras that I felt I needed a strong dose of PUNK to get away from always writing epic stuff. |
11-13-2006, 01:06 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Northampton, MA | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by tZer I agree! Looking to classical composers for examples of epic composition is a great way to go. Copland, Bizet, Mussorgsky - These composers offered up some pretty epic pieces and they did not shy away from using their contra-basses.
I had a hard time NOT writing "epic" lines for a while. These classical pieces were so stuck in my head from when I played in my high school and college orchestras that I felt I needed a strong dose of PUNK to get away from always writing epic stuff. |
Funny, I think the collaberation of PUNK (power chords, repetitive chord structure) and this Epic deal is mainly the sound my band is shooting for. So far I think my one addition to the chorus of one song that mainly consists of playing the root is when I played a different octave at the end to give it a higher peak, then it went back to the beginning and I felt like it was a pretty good build up.
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Originally Posted by Ostinato The 62 is warm, inviting, classic, like a sexy brunette in a alpaca sweater holding a strong Belgian ale. | Fender MIM Club Member #10
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11-13-2006, 08:18 PM
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Endorsing: Ampeg | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Apopka, FL | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Kickin'Fruit Awesome thanks guys. I was wondering if different type of scales would apply to helping the sound at all? Or am I trying to apply something that wouldn't really fit? | It depends. Knowing scales is very important and will contribute to your playing. But even more important to me are chord tones. With using chord tones, your parts won't sound like you're running scales.
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11-14-2006, 07:59 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: London, England | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Trevorus It all depends on feel. You have to just feel the song and push it along with your playing. Also, check out a band called dredg. | Yay, someone mentioned Dredg. Prop++!  |
11-14-2006, 12:19 PM
|  | My favorite songs were never heard on the radio | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tulsa, OK | | | +1 on the composer pieces. Also check out Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky film score (YES, I said FILM SCORE). B&W movie from 1939 I believe. Marvellous use of melodic figures and themes.
ALSO keep in mind that the bass lines we would consider EPIC now were probably not written with that intention. It just fit the song at the time and became epic. |
11-14-2006, 11:59 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada | | | Try pedaling notes under chord changes
ex) playing a change from G to C, stick with playing a low G |
11-15-2006, 03:59 AM
| | | | Listen to Dream Theater. Best epic band I've heard. |
11-15-2006, 02:24 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: I don't | | | I get a lot of influence from usual suspects, like Bach, and Beethoven, and Chopin. Hoffmeister and Shostakovich offers up a lot of influence to my bass playing. |
11-15-2006, 04:43 PM
|  | Knowledge is Good - Emile Faber | | Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pleasant Hill, CA | | | Epic? Anything in an A minor progression. Gives things that "Stairway to Heaven" flavor. Wear a Viking helmet while you are at it. Or be an insane clown.
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11-16-2006, 10:51 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: On the Jersey Shore, NJ | | | Gary Tallant of the E Street Band, on Bruce Springsteens' first 3 albums. Anytime I'm looking for some inspiration for dramatic emotional basslines, fitting with Bruce's epic lyric style. |
11-17-2006, 10:34 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Austin, Texas | | | Chromaticisms
I've always felt when i play chromatic licks or riffs, they end up sounding epic. Repetition helps too.
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11-17-2006, 02:25 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: 97465 | | To write an Epic bassline you must first be signed by Sony? http://www.sonymusic.com/labels/index.html
forgive me ...... that was terrible
Listen to JPJ. He wrote a lot of epic basslines.
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11-17-2006, 02:35 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Traverse City, MI | | | I thought you meant epic, like the song by Faith No More. In which case you would just hit the same note super hard with a pick and a syncopated rhythm
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