Why is Bass underestimated?

[Dodg3r]

Why do so many people think that bass is useless?

[elavate7]

1. cause it sometimes gets lost in the mix and never heard anyway
2. most pple cant hear it cause they dont know what they are listening for
2 only have 4 strings, so pple THINK its easy

[FunkyMan]

Are you serious? USELESS?? ok, let's make music without bass to see what result gives.. Nah.. i think people today no longer think this very often.. who thinks so, definitely isn't in the game!

[waleross]

Economics, why pay a bass player when you can have a keyboard fill in the parts with a synth, etc."We can't afford a bass player" For this reason that is why heavy metal,funk and even Hip Hop are my fav.
..Bass Player Friendly.....................

[Daveomd]

I think that it's kind of a residual effect of the 80's hair metal scene where alot of bass players were $hi!tty guitards that wanted to be in bands so you had root riding morons posing around inaudibly in the mix. Now it's kind of come back around where there are people who are playing interesting lines like there were in the late 60s and 70s that stand out in the mix.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Since the introduction of commercially available synths in the 80's, a stringed bass guitar has actually been a kind of an useless instrument in certain genres.

When Steppenwolf played here in late 90's, they didn't have a string bass player at all. While most rock bands do have a string bass player, there's a few that don't.

On pop-music, most of the bass-lines are done with synths. The general public, ie. non musicians, ie. THE TARGET CONSUMERS, don't usually know that, nor do they care. And why should they know or care?
They want to buy the "disposable package" and using computers and synths are way more cost effective means to produce such a product than a band.

A bass may be a somewhat "obsolete" instrument to some, but WHY SHOULD WE CARE? It's an instrument we love, or at least like quite a bit. And it's not like the stringed bass guitars will dissappear anytime soon .


Under-appreciated might be more appropriate word.

Regards
Sam

[ridgeback]

lots of bass players found it hard to get into bands early 80s when the keyboard became more mainstream so quit or took up something else(not sure about the usa,maybe someone can answer) ..keyboards were all the rage and bass players were just not needed.it was just easier and cheaper to use a sequencer.one band i played with used a sequencer to fill out the sound with strings and brass and in fairness the lads said the band sounded better with a live bass.drummer played with a clic all the time..
i got so much work late 80s early 90s because there were just so few bass players about..it was all lead guitar and keyboards.. with the "rap/hiphop" thing started it was more a studio production so again keyboard bass is used to keep the cost down...as to why its underestimated i dont think it is,its still in all music but bass players are a different matter..i dont even think about it.i do it cause it love it and it drives the neighbours and girlfriend mad!!

[Meatrus]

It definitely seems under appreciated here. If you tell someone your a guitarist they will ask all types of questions about it. Tell them your a bass player and they start talking to someone else, or change the subject.

A lot of people dont realise just how versatile a bass can be, which could be why some people dont give you any credit. Thats the way it seems to me anyway. I have changed a few peoples mind by playing a Victor Wooten CD, or similar. Some people are suprised at how melodic it can be rather than just being a back ground noise.

[twbassman]

Funny, in my band if some of the other players don't show up, we still have practice.

If I can't make it (bass), practice is cancelled.

[DanRJBrasil]

maybe in rock music where guitar is king and that on the 80's forward, when most of the bassists was actually guitards that couldn't get to play guitar and was forced to stick to the bass guitar.
back in the 70's and late 60's the rock bass was pretty powerful just listen to late 60's and early 70's rock music , look at hip hop where the main beat is the bass a key one, but is a bass noneless.
In popular music in funk and soul, bass is the king, in jazz bass is also pretty important maybe no so much as the horns but is there and there's not jazz without a good bassist

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Dodg3r

Why do so many people think that bass is useless?

I've never heard anyone seriously say that.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by Dodg3r

Why do so many people think that bass is useless?

I don't think of 2 people as "so many".

[john turner]

probably because some bass players often cannot follow simple instructions.

like "post in the correct forum" for instance.

[Mrdak]

Underestimated was a bad choice of words, really. And useless? Never heard that one before.

[YoMomma]

Originally Posted by twbassman

Funny, in my band if some of the other players don't show up, we still have practice.

If I can't make it (bass), practice is cancelled.

Yup! An dats da troof!

[kidcharlemagne]

I've come to the conclusion that the majority of the general public really don't know what a bass is/does/sounds like. I play in a busy wedding band, and we offer clients the choice of line-up to fit their budget and tastes. Ideally we go out as a six-piece (drums, bass, keys, sax, guitar, vocal). However, in these recession-hit times, we are being asked more and more to go out as a five- or even four-piece. And the first instrument to be dropped from the line-up is, of course, the bass. And it's simply because the client looks at the line-up and says something like 'drums - yes, we need those; keys - yes, we'll want a bit of piano; guitar - of course we want that; sax - yes, we want a bit of jazz; vocals - can't have a song without vocals!; that other guitar, the long one - not really sure we need that, to be honest - one guitar's enough.'

[sarcastro83]

I think people make these kinds of bold claims because it's really funny to watch some bass players get all defensive and huffy... it's like getting a nerds obsession wrong... the results are never less than comical.

[Akshat]

Originally Posted by waleross

Economics, why pay a bass player when you can have a keyboard fill in the parts with a synth, etc."We can't afford a bass player" For this reason that is why heavy metal,funk and even Hip Hop are my fav.
..Bass Player Friendly.....................

word.

+ jazz

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by sarcastro83

I think people make these kinds of bold claims because it's really funny to watch some bass players get all defensive and huffy... it's like getting a nerds obsession wrong... the results are never less than comical.

It's called "trolling".

[kreider204]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

I've never heard anyone seriously say that.

Ditto. I always hear people complaining that people say / think that, but I've never had anyone seriously say anything like that to me, or in any way treat me like a second-class member of a band.