I figured this forum was the best for this discussion, even though this thread is bass-centric. Of course the search for tone is a musicians journey, regardless of instruments, but for now i'd like to stick to the electric bass. At this point in my search I have learned a lot (and a
ton from TB), and i'm going to fish for some more info from all you tone freaks like me.
I'm largely contemplating three areas of bass tone and sound at the moment, and i'm mostly concerned with live and rehearsal sound, although I do record and have interest in recording the bass too.
The first is:
Bass/Amp and Strings.
Since this is such a potentially varied and complex realm, and also well covered in many areas here on TB, i'm going to avoid getting into this for the moment. If our discussion leads us here, as it may, then so be it. But for now I want to focus on two other areas.
#2
Tone and the mix.
When I first started reading about this phenomenon and experiencing it, I was somewhat stymied, mostly because as a guitarist it was not something i'd ever really considered. (uh oh, i'm setting myself up there...) Now I view this as a very important issue for us bassists, but dealing with bass tone/frequencies has proven to be a complex equation in my mind. As a sound engineer and recording engineer i've done a fair bit of research on sound and hearing, which has helped a lot in understanding how bass waves work, as well as sound in general, but really figuring out how the bass fits in the mix best is something i'm working towards. I'm not displeased with the sounds and results i'm getting, but I know I want to come closer to my ideals. I've read here that there is a difference between 'bedroom tone' and good tone within the context of the whole band, and that often the presence of the low and higher mids help determine this. My personal experience has corroborated this. One of the hardest parts about all of this is when i'm playing on stage with a band is that I can try to listen to my sound in the whole context, but it is so hard to be objective, and also there is what seems to be a major factor at play in that the mix sounds different from a distance as well.
So one thing I would like to ask is: how do we figure out how we sound with the band? Recordings? Other musicians? I suppose all of this can help, although most of the videos and audio i've had from live shows haven't been too revealing. I have only played probably fifty shows on the bass and i'm still young in this process, however. But i'll ask again; how do you decide what works best for you in any given band situation, with your tone goals, and mix goals?
Another thing I learn, time after time, is that the room is absolutely foundational in how the bass sounds. I suppose this is not specific only to how the mix and the bass relates, but it affects those things so much I want to mention it anyhow. I'm not quite experienced with the process yet to
really know how to eq my bass for different rooms (I do pretty good, I think!), and rarely have the sound check time to play with it extensively and from enough locations. Nor have I had the luck to work with really good engineers and to have any advice, but I have gained some insight from being a foh engineer, and in the past couple years have found better mixes from that position, especially with the bass.
#3
It's in the fingers.
This is another thing I read long before I really had any real understanding of it as a player. Although I had this process in some forms with the guitar as well, the bass to me is so much more dynamically responsive to the ways it can be attacked with the fingers, even with just plucking techniques, that only recently have I realized that the sound I want
is in my hands. The story of Jaco and his expression of this comes to mind. I get it. I think it is true to a very important and significant level. On the physical level, the subtleties of the sound and all the relative factors; attack, decay, note length, tone, ect..., are comprehensible and varied, but I will also say that I think there are other major factors here that can't quite be translated into the physical experience. Our
groove, our
feel. I think these are expressions of something else also, and though they might not be directly related to tone or tone goals in some regards, I still consider them fundamental in defining the actual sound that comes out of our instrument.
As a player realizing that my hands hold the secret inspires me to play more, and to try to expand my abilities through technique, styles and also a general attempt to embody the characteristics of what I am trying to express, if that makes sense. In time it leads me back to the first thoughts as well; wondering about gear and those parameters. Mostly I just try to get the sounds out of what I have, but you know, there's a lot of different things to go for, and in the long run I can envision having multiple rigs for different sounding tone goals for myself. Oh yeah, and having the bands to put that stuff to work!
I'm having fun with it all. Being a TB'er, I know i'm not alone in this.
