Death metal bass tone

anonymous278347457 · #1 06-19-2006, 01:18 PM

I was listening to some in flames, i really like their music, but ive noticed that their bass sounds a bit like a chainsaw.

It seems common in a lot of death metal bands to detune the bass so much and make it sound chainsaw like.

The particular song im talking about is "dead end", but there are others

also, the "clicking" tone seems to be quite popular aswell, like coal chamber for example

Im not saying this is bad, i guess it suits the music, but how could someone actually come up with the idea of having a bass that sounds like a chainsaw?

Poop-Loops · #2 06-19-2006, 01:28 PM

Wow, I've never heard something like that before. Probably some sort of effect, but there are so many of those that I have no idea. :P

sickest beast · #3 06-19-2006, 06:20 PM

well in the case of coal chamber they detune to drop A or B and use no mid, so the bass is soooooooo lost in the mix that all your hear is click click click.

MaskedJackal · #4 06-19-2006, 07:31 PM

And uh.

Neither of those bands are death metal (In Flames used to be...).

Death metal tone comes in many different varities. A bigtime favorite around here and huge DM session man is Steve Digiorgio, who has crazy chops a very well-mixed fretless tone. Check out Death's "Individual Thought Patterns" record.

sickest beast · #5 06-19-2006, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaskedJackal

And uh.

Neither of those bands are death metal (In Flames used to be...).

Death metal tone comes in many different varities. A bigtime favorite around here and huge DM session man is Steve Digiorgio, who has crazy chops a very well-mixed fretless tone. Check out Death's "Individual Thought Patterns" record.

although what qualifies as death metal i think is besides the point, you should take into account that there really shouldn't be a tone that is genre specific. i believe that whats important is finding a tone that you are happy with that compliments your band situation. alot of your tone is in your playing.

the music world would be terribly dull if every bassist or guitarist emulated eachothers tones... oh wait, that already happened. damn!

vashts80 · #6 06-20-2006, 08:59 PM

The In Flames bassist (can't remember his name) has a distorted/overdriven tone I believe, and I think he uses a 5 or a 6 string tuned down to F# on the thickest string. Don't quote me on the tuning, but I think that's what he tunes to, hence why he gets that "clicky" type tone.

The tone I love for death metal is the tone of Steve DiGiorgio on Quo Vadis's "Defiant Imagination"..very nice tone. A lot of death metal bassists just root note with some distortion on or a very low-mid type EQing, I'd assume.

Caeros · #7 06-20-2006, 09:07 PM

Check out Suffocation's Pierced From Within...Chris Richards has insane tone.

Matt Till · #8 06-21-2006, 11:34 AM

Even though it's a big status thing among metal bassists (you have to play fingerstyle or you suck), the best way to get chainsaw esque tone, get a great amp, slight overdrive, a great bass, and play hard with a pick.

MaskedJackal · #9 06-21-2006, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sickest beast

although what qualifies as death metal i think is besides the point, you should take into account that there really shouldn't be a tone that is genre specific. i believe that whats important is finding a tone that you are happy with that compliments your band situation. alot of your tone is in your playing.

In abbreviated form, I did mention variety. I said the tone comes in many varieties. Never said anything about specific tones only used for the genre.

And then I mentioned SDG because unlike many other prolific DM bassists, he's AUDIBLE.

songwriter21 · #10 06-21-2006, 12:23 PM

I wouldn't say they're Death Metal at all, but brutal, nonetheless. I'm talking about one of the great pioneers of thrash metal, Megadeth. David Ellefson is one the most precise, badass, and in-the-pocket metal bassists, who plays with a pick. Everyone can listen to Rust in Peace, or some tunes from Countdown to Extinction (Ashes in Your Mouth, Skin O' My Teeth), and realize pick players like this do not suck. A pick gives you much more volume and cutting qualities in fast metal, anyway. I can keep up to speed, fingerstyle, but the level just isn't up enough due to your fingers' subtleness, compared to a pick. There are some great fingerstyle metal players, but they'd have much more volume with a pick. Try using one at your next rehearsal, and watch the drummer flip out, like you got a new bass or amp. My was knocked out by the improvement. Fingerstyle has it's place, definitely, but the pick rules in metal, hands-down.

songwriter21 · #11 06-21-2006, 12:26 PM

Oh, and if many bassists in this type of music would have proper tension on their strings, and there was enough mid in the mix (makes ALL the difference), then you'd actually here their lines, without all the clackiness.

xvertirx · #12 06-21-2006, 12:29 PM

In my not so humble opinion--Death metal bassists GENERALLY have bad tone or they're so lost in the mix that you can't hear them. Sometimes when I listen to death metal and regular metal I wonder why they even have a bass player at all when I can't even hear the bass.

MaskedJackal · #13 06-21-2006, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by songwriter21

Fingerstyle has it's place, definitely, but the pick rules in metal, hands-down.

Meh. You should see Steve Digiorgio live with Sadus. He cut through more than any pickstylist I've heard live.

Dan Molina · #14 06-21-2006, 12:38 PM

I can hear bass in death metal just fine. I can't hear it in thrash though. I love that low end rumble and that high end clack.

vashts80 · #15 06-21-2006, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by songwriter21

Oh, and if many bassists in this type of music would have proper tension on their strings, and there was enough mid in the mix (makes ALL the difference), then you'd actually here their lines, without all the clackiness.

Steve DiGiorgio has the clickiest fretless tone I've ever heard, bar none. Guess what? He still cuts through perfectly fine, and he's still highly audible.

MaskedJackal · #16 06-22-2006, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vashts80

Steve DiGiorgio has the clickiest fretless tone I've ever heard, bar none. Guess what? He still cuts through perfectly fine, and he's still highly audible.

+100. He digs that click in his sound, too, it's a purposeful thing.

vashts80 · #17 06-22-2006, 11:51 AM

Are you on his forum, MaskedJackal? I'm NicholasDWolfwood on there

I actually kinda like that clicky sound, so I've tried to emulate it on my fretless. The only thing that bugs me about it is I absolutely can't stand a clicky/floppy low B, so I might actually tune my fretless tenor with new strings and keep my 4-string fretted in BEAD.

DaemonBass · #18 06-23-2006, 03:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by songwriter21

A pick gives you much more volume and cutting qualities in fast metal, anyway.

+1, in my experience

Quote:

Originally Posted by songwriter21

Fingerstyle has it's place, definitely, but the pick rules in metal, hands-down.

Don't agree on this one. Neither one "rules", it depends on the bassist. Fingerstyle can work extremely well, but at some times the band must give a little space to allow these lines to really come out. Note Death and Cryptopsy, for example. Both bands tend to drop out the shredding for a bit to let the bass line come through, which really enhances the song, and they know it. If everyone is trying to go all out all the time, then the bass lines like that will not shine through as much, IMO.

DaemonBass · #19 06-23-2006, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyboy15

I can hear bass in death metal just fine. I can't hear it in thrash though. I love that low end rumble and that high end clack.

+1

In death metal I can also hear the bass clearly, I dig the phat low end and the high treble clickies. For example, Cryptopsy's bassist Eric Langlois (he's french), keeps the low end phat while using the clickies to accent the chords being played. Then when he wants to bust out a sick slap line, or a riff that will serve as the motif for the song, the band will stop shredding for a sec to allow it to come through.

Some bands understand the importance of good bass tone, some don't.

Grimlock · #20 06-23-2006, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xvertirx

In my not so humble opinion--Death metal bassists GENERALLY have bad tone or they're so lost in the mix that you can't hear them. Sometimes when I listen to death metal and regular metal I wonder why they even have a bass player at all when I can't even hear the bass.

I agree 100%. The biggest problem is that most Death Metal bands have 2 guitarists, which are usually detuned and just SMOTHER the bass. Bands like Death, Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Nile....I think every Death Metal band I can think of have 2 guitarists.

The only 3 that come to mind that have a single guitarist are Brutal Truth and Napalm Death (Since Jesse Pintado left), and Pig Destroyer (but they don't have a bassist).

Check out some Brutal Truth:
http://youtube.com/results?search=br...&search=Search

They are cool, and Danny Lilker is seriously underrated! Wasn't he booted from Anthrax?