2022, now mainstream pop songs go well below open B string!

[two fingers]

Here's the current No. 1 song:



LOL...quick, let me go grab my bass and learn this! Come on...seriously...

You're thinking as an old bass player. What did your parents/grandparents think of your music? Did millions of your generation liking your music make YOU "right" and your parents/grandparents "wrong"?

 

[AlexanderB]

Because you are asking more of a stayed rig than they are designed for. They aren't designed to produce the fundamental of a low F#. If you out a high pass filter between the synth amd stayed rig, you could get by hearing the first or second harmonics. But you would not want to simply run a synth (being deployed for the specific purpose of producing very low notes) into a traditional bass rig. If you need stage monitoring, your best bet would literally be a PA stack. In other words, you would need a top and a sub, similar to what a small band would use as their mains. For years, drum monitors on larger stages looked like this.

You seem to be getting a little bit of a chip on your shoulder toward people who are trying to help you.

The simple fact if the matter is what you're wanting to do is impractical given today's tech.

Want a simple solution? Go in-ears. Good in-ear buds would allow you to put whatever you want in your monitors in a tiny package.

But, to stick to the way you want to do things, you will need a bass rig and bass, a synth, and a PA top cab and sub for your synth stage monitor. That seems like a lot to haul around. Maybe if you got a small mixer and a preamp for bass you could send both your bass and the synth through your PA stick stage monitor. But I bet you would then get into volume wars on stage quickly. Never mind that producing those very low notes and having them blast all over the stage (rather than simply out of the PA mains) would've for a miserable, muddy, stage volume situation.

But what do I know? I only have 35 years of experience playing bass live and running sound. You might be "different", or not "typical", but the laws of physics still apply to you.


Either way, I'm tapping out of this discussion. Best of luck with finding a solution.

As mentioned above, reading comprehension is sometimes in somewhat short supply here...
I have already said I need no tips, and want to hear the observations by various members. You prefer writing to reading, and also chose to reply to my rhetorical questions...
Thanks for leaving the thread.

 

[AlexanderB]

I had the idea that during Covid lockdown, some producers decided to arrange, mix and master without consideration for club rigs or large venue PAs, just addressing people using headphones, and really wide range hifi/monitor rigs. Thus, even the "smart" 35-ish Hertz cutoff was no longer needed. It is at least an idea.

 

[LBS-bass]

Regardless, what rig should I use for the synth???

Sounds like you're asking for tips, to me. But I guess it's fun to troll, right? You can thank me too, I've got stuff to do and this level of amusement isn't working for me today.

 

[Vooter]

You're thinking as an old bass player. What did your parents/grandparents think of your music? Did millions of your generation liking your music make YOU "right" and your parents/grandparents "wrong"?

No, I'm not...I'm thinking simply as a bass player and a musician who likes good music. But of course, I also realize that I'm now dealing with two generations of people who believe that things can't be objectively good or bad. For your benefit, then, I'd like to inform you that the No. 1 song that I just posted (and I've heard of Drake, but I had literally never listened to a note of his music), is objectively AWFUL. Painfully boring, hookless, droning pablum. I wouldn't take the time to "learn this" anymore than I'd take the time to learn "My Sharona." Now, of course, that doesn't mean that millions of people won't like it and buy it, but that doesn't mean that it's good music, either. The bottom line is, it's okay to call a spade a spade, no matter how many idiots try to "cancel" you for doing it...

 

[AlexanderB]

Sounds like you're asking for tips, to me. But I guess it's fun to troll, right? You can thank me too, I've got stuff to do and this level of amusement isn't working for me today.

He acted like there was a difference between 30Hz, depending on the source. Which anyways was not in my original question. No trolling.

 

[AlexanderB]

No, I'm not...I'm thinking simply as a bass player and a musician who likes good music. But of course, I also realize that I'm now dealing with two generations of people who believe that things can't be objectively good or bad. For your benefit, then, I'd like to inform you that the No. 1 song that I just posted (and I've heard of Drake, but I had literally never listened to a note of his music), is objectively AWFUL. Painfully boring, hookless, droning pablum. I wouldn't take the time to "learn this" anymore than I'd take the time to learn "My Sharona." Now, of course, that doesn't mean that millions of people won't like it and buy it, but that doesn't mean that it's good music, either. The bottom line is, it's okay to call a spade a spade, no matter how many idiots try to "cancel" you for doing it...

Great! The omission of comparative quality measures is definitely something that hurts western civilization enormously! Add to that, the cancel culture!

 

[Titanium]

No, I'm not...I'm thinking simply as a bass player and a musician who likes good music. But of course, I also realize that I'm now dealing with two generations of people who believe that things can't be objectively good or bad. For your benefit, then, I'd like to inform you that the No. 1 song that I just posted (and I've heard of Drake, but I had literally never listened to a note of his music), is objectively AWFUL. Painfully boring, hookless, droning pablum. I wouldn't take the time to "learn this" anymore than I'd take the time to learn "My Sharona." Now, of course, that doesn't mean that millions of people won't like it and buy it, but that doesn't mean that it's good music, either. The bottom line is, it's okay to call a spade a spade, no matter how many idiots try to "cancel" you for doing it...

I’m sorry to chime in, but I must. Please look up the definitions of Objective and Subjective. A huge portion of TB could use a refresher on it. Saying anything is “objectively good” is a complete contradiction. Good, in the context of evaluating music, is a subjective term. You are 100% entitled to your opinion on any type of music, we all are. But those opinions will never be objective.

 

[AlexanderB]

I’m sorry to chime in, but I must. Please look up the definitions of Objective and Subjective. A huge portion of TB could use a refresher on it. Saying anything is “objectively good” is a complete contradiction. Good, in the context of evaluating music, is a subjective term. You are 100% entitled to your opinion on any type of music, we all are. But those opinions will never be objective.

In general, things and actions can be objectively good and bad (evil). Rape, murder, use of unprovoced force and violence are all bad.

 

[5StringBlues]

Sounds like you're asking for tips, to me. But I guess it's fun to troll, right? You can thank me too, I've got stuff to do and this level of amusement isn't working for me today.

 

[Anders Barfod]

one that i noticed when i heard it on the radio was Dua lipas don't start know.. It has that low B in the chorus. A tight sound so you need a good 5 string bass to pull that off.
But I find no need for anything lower in any genre..
Madonnas just like a prayer utilizes a octave pedal to play that low C on a four string but the nice thing is that you have the higher C of the natural string blended in to give definition.
Even Snarky puppies bassist plays a four string with an octave pedal and says he rarely goes below the D when using an octaver..

 

[AlexanderB]

I just heard Lady Gaga, Hold my hand, which has a big low G sustaining repeatedly. Not much fundamental energy, but it is there.
I know one sort of unexpected example from long ago. Sting, hardly known for extended low end, used an octave pedal frequently in the song "Something the boy said" back in 1993. Dropping down to a low A in the break.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Stevie Wonder would play a note or four that was lower than the bass at the time.

 

[AlexanderB]

Just wanted to add another couple of examples, the first being "Roar" by Katy Perry, with a low G# drone, the second being swedish national EDM act Molly Sandén, "Nån annan nu" also a (faint) G#.
Then another Ed Sheeran song to G, and a couple of popular swedish pop songs reaching G# or G.
Once you hear it, it gets very obvious. Time to get that Warwick Vampire Dark Lord...

 

[AlexanderB]

one that i noticed when i heard it on the radio was Dua lipas don't start know.. It has that low B in the chorus. A tight sound so you need a good 5 string bass to pull that off.
But I find no need for anything lower in any genre..
Madonnas just like a prayer utilizes a octave pedal to play that low C on a four string but the nice thing is that you have the higher C of the natural string blended in to give definition.
Even Snarky puppies bassist plays a four string with an octave pedal and says he rarely goes below the D when using an octaver..

Guy Pratt on bass in Like a prayer? He used octave pedal a LOT in recordings. He talks about planting that big, fat low A in Michael Jackson's "Earth song".

 

[Lenny JG]

Yes I've been playing in Drop EA for a while (EAEADG) and before that drop G#. It's not going to ruin your speakers, and you don't need a synth that low. People just don't go lower than B because they don't try new stuff. Lol

 

[AlexanderB]

Yes I've been playing in Drop EA for a while (EAEADG) and before that drop G#. It's not going to ruin your speakers, and you don't need a synth that low. People just don't go lower than B because they don't try new stuff. Lol

Yeah, so we had (mainly) rock and pop on four string bass for 30 years, mid 50s to mid 80s. Then we have had five string range mid 80s to 2020 or so, another 35 years. With modern digital storing, decent headphones / earbuds, and powerful car stereos, another "string" below B is not pointless at all, and producers are using the opportunity.