Experiments in silence

schmig · #1 05-20-2010, 08:34 AM

I play with a reputable act in my local city, lately however myself and a drummer friend have started jamming with another few guys. Most of them have never gigged with a band, but as you can imagine, are experts in their field (music).

Last couple of nights I notice that the rhythm guitarist is intent on drowning out the bass; when the bass is audible, up he goes, stands on his crunch pedal or whatever the hell he has attached to his amp.

So I try an experiment. The drummer was on to me straight away, but I noticed without surprise that the guitarists and singer noticed nothing.

- turn volume to nothing
- play along without making any sound
- amazed at hearing no comments (we're playing zz-top-ish blues, so the bass is prominent enough)
- start playing slap, still at zero volume
- start running around the neck like crazy
- ask the singer, "is the bass sounding OK?"
- to which he responds "yes".

Ah, the joys of being a bassist, expect to have some guy whose prior experience is singing into a hairbrush look down on you.

*vent ended*

kesslari · #2 05-20-2010, 08:56 AM

I think you forgot the appropriate "sarcasm" smiley when saying they are experts in their field...

Yeah, playing with people who aren't listening - sucks. IMO, that's a sign that it's time to find new folks to play with.

Steve · #3 05-20-2010, 08:57 AM

What you just did is the single quickest way to identify the players that don't listen to what's going on around them, will never be worth a **** musically and will do nothing but waste your time.

IMHO

The real issue is: What are you going to do about it?

snyderz · #4 05-20-2010, 09:06 AM

My guitar player played bass for 20 years. He wants my extension cab directly behind him so he can hear the basslines clearly, sometimes telling me to 'turn up'. I love it.

GregDunn · #5 05-20-2010, 09:31 AM

Until I gained more confidence in my playing, our guitarist (who started out on bass) was constantly asking me to turn up. Of course, there are only three of us, so he wants some low end support to fill out the sound a bit.

Erik Schieffer · #6 05-20-2010, 09:38 AM

You're not looking at the bright side. Load-in will be much easier if you don't need your rig!

pklima · #7 05-20-2010, 09:56 AM

Exactly. I'd love to be in a band like that (except that it's probably pretty damn loud). Easy work, and you can probably keep going for years before anybody figures it out. I can imagine telling a sound tech "I'm gonna set my volume at zero so don't worry that there's no sound coming from the bass, just don't tell the rest of the band - they don't know".

Rojo Grande · #8 05-20-2010, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmig

Last couple of nights I notice that the rhythm guitarist is intent on drowning out the bass; when the bass is audible, up he goes, stands on his crunch pedal or whatever the hell he has attached to his amp.

Man do I feel this.... I play in a relatively popular local reggae band, with a pretty seasoned line up. After playing for years in a 6-8 man fusion band with a horn section, it was nice to have so much room, and to get to carry the melody here and there. Well, new guitar player comes along. And don't get me wrong, this guy really is technically talented, but he's taken to doubling ALL of the bass lines on wide open, envelope and chorus effected strings, through two 35 watt blended rigs. It doesn't help that he sometimes has issues with hearing the correct 3rd in the chord, not to mention this all happens on a 7 string, so you can imagine the down low dissonance when were crossing the streams (Never cross the streams!)

lancimouspitt · #9 05-20-2010, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pklima

Exactly. I'd love to be in a band like that (except that it's probably pretty damn loud). Easy work, and you can probably keep going for years before anybody figures it out. I can imagine telling a sound tech "I'm gonna set my volume at zero so don't worry that there's no sound coming from the bass, just don't tell the rest of the band - they don't know".

I was thinking the same thing. Jamming with people that guitarded could be fun if you took if for what it was. Imagine walking into a GC with guys like that? Oh god I would love that. I'm not sure how long I could keep a straight face though.

MikeyFingers · #10 05-20-2010, 10:25 AM

I have done the exact same thing in the past. It really is beyond frustrating sometimes.