Band with two bass players

[interp]

It’s possible, if you’re both exceptional players and have a clear sense of your respective roles in the arrangements. If not, it’s a recipe for disaster.

 

[Kriegs]

Without reading through all the posts (sorry, I'm being lazy ) and with apologies if this duo has been mentioned/posted:

 

[Nephilymbass]

Vanilla Ice went a metal phase and had two bass players. I saw the show at a country bar. It was actually pretty decent. And it was fun to have a mosh pit in a country bar.

I got to open for him like 10 years ago. Lol

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

I’m sure it could be interesting on some levels and I guess it depends on how many other musicians are in the band. If you’re talking about three , four or five players , I’d much rather hear a guitar or piano fleshing out the arrangements. Good luck.

 

[vegas532]

I almost forgot to mention Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society.

 

[saabfender]

The Roots have two bass players: a wind bass (tuba) and electric bass. Sorry if someone else mentioned them already.

 

[oZZma]

I'd add Morkobot to the list, they use tons of spacey effects which makes it easier to make the two basses not redundant. They sound as if they were bass + synth.

 

[NoSlapForYou]

I've been working on an all bass project and have recorded songs with as many as eight bass tracks. You just need to write parts in different melodic ranges and with different rhythms. I think it works better if you're not also adding a bunch of other instruments to the mix though.

 

[flojob]

Dumpstaphunk!

 

[Maxime1980]

Also, the great, late Ornette Coleman did a few double quartets recordings with 2 bass players, 2 drummers, 2 saxophones that are really exciting!

 

[ardgedee]

Many of Brokeback's compositions have a leading bass plus one or more backing basses.

 

[Jebberz]

The Band Overbass has 2 bass players:

Best Of Overbass 1990-2004, by Overbass

 

[Jigmay]

This was posted in the recent thread "Favorite Slap Tunes". If anyone has any info about this band with Pino Palladino and another bass player backing up John Mayer I'm curious to know more.

 

[TheDominoKid]

My buddies are called faceKILLER. Two basses and a baritone guitar.

 

[BklynKen]

Check out Mike Watt and Kira Roessler. 2 basses and the occasional vocals.

Yes! Definitely love me some Mike Watt and Kira Roessler.

If you ever end up playing a show in NYC, post about it here! I'd love to come check it out. One thing to keep in mind is that most practice spaces in Manhattan & Brooklyn -- at least all the ones I've been to -- only have one bass amp & cab in each room. You can always run one bass through one of the many guitar amps they'll have or the PA.

Thanks, will do. We share a practice space in Brooklyn for other bands we have/had. There's a communal bass rig and then some others have their own in there. She has her own, but since the head on the communal one is GK, I just use that since I love GK.

That's really cool! I'd never heard of that before.

 

[wmhill]

I have done a couple of gigs with 2 bassist. One was great fun, one was kind of abysmal.... Both bass players have to play in a fashion that leaves room for the other. Otherwise you have a lowend pi$$ing match.

 

[BklynKen]

I have done a couple of gigs with 2 bassist. One was great fun, one was kind of abysmal.... Both bass players have to play in a fashion that leaves room for the other. Otherwise you have a lowend pi$$ing match.

Makes sense. Mike Watt and Kira Roessler do a nice job in the style they're playing.

 

[Slevage]

All the good examples mentioed here follow the same rule: as long as you don't try to play the same thing it might work.

It works if you’re reading parts.

Orchestras have many instruments including double basses playing in unison.

I do big band stuff where the left hand of the piano and my part are in unison.

 

[stretch80]

These are both great examples of both players moving around. What I've found is that both of you have to be willing to listen. Have fun. Also, the Omnific make you want to get a Bongo!

 

[mrjim123]

If you’re a country band, one of you could play the I and the other could play the V.

Or, if you're backing rap one of you could play the I, and the other could either play the I an octave higher or get shot and simply not show up.