The role of bass guitar in future music

[escaraBAJO]

I love bass guitar. I've been playing it for 12 years now and I can't get enough already.

But I also like music and I think music has to evolve.
Bass guitar has a place in traditional blues/jazz/rock music but what is coming?

I can see electronic music is a truly important way of exploring new sounds but the bass frecuencies are made by sythesizers and I'm getting the feeling that maybe the bass guitar won't have an important role in future music.
I find myself trying to get new sound out of it by using effects but orthodox players will say "why don't you play a keyboard then?"

What do you think? Do you think the instrument we all love will have anything to say in the future? (besides doing the same thing it does right now?

With all due respect, of course

EDIT
I have to clarify a couple of misunderstandings in my first post to keep the discussion a useful one:
This post is about innovation and the creation of new kinds or styles of music and the role of bass guitar in that.

First of all, I'm not afraid of the future for the instrument. There will always be blues and rock bands, but in the future they will be playing music from the past (please see the definitions below), just as Bach is played right now.

My definitions:
Future music: I mean to say NEW (as in original, new styles) music. Of course people will still be playing blues and country but if you compose a song on these styles it will not be really new music. It will have subtle variatios (you don't want to innovate too much because you would be then playing anything else).

Electronic music: Music generated by manipulating electronics. From the Theremin, Farfisa, Moog, to the Soft Synths we have now.

Bass guitar: The stringed instrument, beggining with the Fenders or before and going on through the eleven string midi capable instruments or subcontrabass that some of our fellow tabbers play and develope.

[LowendinFL]

Oh dear. It seems we have lost another one to the unfortunate brainwashing of mainstream music as we know it...

[ThatBassistDude]

Originally Posted by LowendinFL

Oh dear. It seems we have lost another one to the unfortunate brainwashing of mainstream music as we know it...

+1

[leegreenman]

Unfortunately, I think you are probably at least partly correct. I tend to miss it when a song lacks a bass guitar line, but I'm not sure if the average music fan does. As long as that frequency range is covered, most people do not care what instrument is playing the part.

[ProgRocker]

Electronic music dominated 80's music, & bass survived that. I'm not worried. Look around this site, as long as the people here (& others like us) exist, bass isn't going anywhere but forward into the future.

[Bloodhammer]

Originally Posted by ProgRocker

Electronic music dominated 80's music, & bass survived that. I'm not worried.

Nuff said

[escaraBAJO]

Thanks for the replies

I know bass guitar have survived but that's because there's still a lot of people playing rock/blues/etc music.

But I feel that is not the music we will be hearing in the future.

And also, you are refering to popular electronic music. Listen to Lutz Glandien and you'll see that there's much room for bass in that kind of music but there is no bass guitar in there.

Unless you say that the future of music is in the blues area. It would be your opinion which is what I was looking for.

Thanks again

[champbassist]

There are so many kinds of music where you just cannot replace a bass with a synthesizer. As such, I'm not really worried. Rock music (and the family of associated genres) isn't going extinct anytime soon, neither is the bass.

[snyderz]

Gimme a break.

[chicago_mike]

our role wont change..the physical instrument will..at some point. no biggie. we'll still do what we do.... post funny pics and photochop Atozz.

[hrodbert696]

Well, obviously on a bass forum, you're not going to have a lot of people agreeing that bass has no future...

I think there's a common fallacy of saying that X kind of new music is getting popular at the moment, so that's going to take over everything and no one is going to want the older music any more. People still play piano even though there are synthesizers. People still play acoustic guitar even though there are electric guitars. Sometimes what used to be the dominant popular music steps back from the limelight, but it never disappears - jazz, classical, and folk music are still around, after all. While they're not as popular as they once were, they're not going away, and sometimes they'll have revivals where the culture pays more attention to them for a while.

So bands and music driven by guitars and bass may not always be the prime money-makers that they've been in the past; but I don't think they're headed for extinction either.

[TheMutt]

I feel that you're thinking that "in the future" nobody is going to make or listen to music in any way other than if it were purely electronic in nature. Sure, electro, techno, trance, and all of those other sub-genres are gaining popularity right now amongst the teenie bopper and drugged out raver crowds (the latter have been into it for too long and it totally shows, but that's another story...). However, you are completely ignoring the fact that there are artists out there in every genre who are making new music as we speak. Country, rock, jazz, blues, and hell even classical music have new songs being written today. While they may not be wildly popular in regards to what music producers are telling us should be popular (perhaps because today is not Friday, yesterday isn't Thursday, nor is tomorrow Saturday; but I digress....), nor are they expanding at an alarming rate like electronic music is (right now, but that too will change.).

What am I saying then?

Yes, my band has a synth player. But she doesn't try to takeover the bass parts as a sign of the times. She understands that her role is just as foundational as mine is and so we both play our different parts so that everyone else is able to do what they do.

Do I think that music today, tomorrow, or anytime in the future is going to wipe out bass guitar as we know it? In a word, no. In two words, hell no. Even if all music that was being written in the future was synthesizer-based, there would still be people who played cover songs from older bands (this sounds suspiciously like something that happens even now as we speak!). Due to this, I am sure that those same people who were playing in cover bands would eventually write their own songs, gain popularity, and some would get record deals. Unless the producers wanted to then take this new material and churn out some evil electronic muzak loosely based on these new songs (which would be HILARIOUS), bass guitar isn't going anywhere.

[cnltb]

Aa long as good music is being written, I really don't mind what it is being played on.
As long as people want to play in I am sure the "bass guitar" will be around in music tho.

[escaraBAJO]

Originally Posted by cnltb

Aa long as good music is being written, I really don't mind what it is being played on.
As long as people want to play in I am sure the "bass guitar" will be around in music tho.

I think the same way, but I recognize the first post wasn't clear enough so I'm giving a couple of clarifications and definitions (mine, obviously):

First of all, I'm not afraid of the future for the instrument. There will always be blues and rock bands, but in the future they will be playing music from the past, just as Bach is played right now.

On the other hand, just look at the extended range basses, incorporation of midi, etc. Bass IS evolving for those who want to explore in music and hence do something new.

My definitions:
Future music: I meant to say NEW (as in original, new styles) music. Of course people will still be playing blues and country but if you compose a song on these styles it will not be really new music. It will have subtle variatios (you don't want to innovate too much because you would be then playing anything else).

Electronic music: Music generated by manipulating electronics. From the Theremin, Farfisa, Moog, to the Soft Synths we have now.

Bass guitar: Already defined, The stringed instrument, beggining with the Fenders or before and going on through the eleven string midi capable instruments or subcontrabass that some of our fellow tabbers play and develope.

I will post this as an EDIT so everything is more clear. Keep the comments coming. I think is a great topic but It is difficult to define
Thanks

[Nev375]

Theres a lot of ways music can develop from here and it's not all going to be electronic.
Bass will certainly be involved in some of the new genres.

Mumford and Sons is bringing bluegrass back, but with a more aggressive edge.. this could turn into a trend.

Microtonal music has been around a while, but it just never broke through, maybe it will.

Some rap acts are becoming more band oriented and some of the lows are being provided by down-tuned bass guitars now.

What is interesting is the level of musicianship is going up thanks to the internet and the availability of good lessons. Kids are learning fast these days.

[GODSBASSMAN]

Interconnected being music will use the brain waves of those involved through pure thought waves. No instruments at all. BUT someone will be thinking bass in there somewhere.

[Russell L]

It's like asking how long will the snare drum continue to hit on 2 and 4, or how long will the typical ensemble of bass, guitar, keys, drums, and horns last, or when will stringed instruments die out. I dunno. But it's interesting to contemplate. I really don't think bass will go away anytime soon. I bet it will be going strong 500 years more, and beyond. I'll be playin' the Big Gig by then, I reckon.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

The one thing that I'm hoping for is that more people will recognize that there is no defined role for bass guitar. The more music that is made using bass guitar in a different manner than it is currently commonly used, the more people will open up to the idea that it is a versatile instrument. Violin, guitar, piano- people don't define roles for those instruments because they may be vastly different from genre to genre- that's the future I hope to see for bass guitar.

[Skitch it!]

Squarepusher/Tom Jenkinson is slightly ahead you could say, if you wanted the underestimation of the century

[Elrend]

If you think about how classical (or rather, western art music) developed, as in where everything next was a reaction to the preceeding era, I believe we'll actually humanize more.

...unfortunately