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Benefits of a lighter touch!

#41
I think it's sort of like comparing apples to oranges. I think touch, and the associated tones that go along with it, is very subjective.

I generally play with a very heavy touch, but I also play in a Rush tribute band. I'm also very controlled. Whacking at the strings like a mental patient is one thing. Being able to play heavy, controlled, fast AND clean is a technique all in it's own and it takes quite a bit of practice and endurance to be able to do it well. I also ALWAYS get questions about how I "get my bass to sound like that".

If I sat in with my old classic rock band and played "Wonderful Tonight" by Clapton, I wouldn't play that way. But there are plenty of songs I would dig in for that's for sure (since I personally dig that tone). I prefer the tone I have with the Rush band, you definately can't do it all the time though if you're playing a wide range of music, or jazz or something like that. I think being able to be versatile in your playing and being able to adapt makes you a much better bass player all together.
 
#43
Well, I can play heavy thick quick raw azz lines with a light touch. So?????

I dig the headroom man. I still unmute one of those 5 strings once in a while, but as a non professional that is sometiems asked to behave like a pro and 'run' for 2-3 hours straight, light touch saves the day. It's about fatigue. If I play too hard, at the end of the 2nd hour I'll start losing my impeccible timing AND sometimes I'll send a command down to my hands that they cannot execute. additionally, if I dont have the headroom dialed into the signal chain, it is nearly impossible to be subtle, use harmonics, a few bars of slap for emphasis behind a vocal line, etc, which I do actually quite a bit of. It must be why they call me!

if any of you ever mix slap into rock and roll, you know what I mean. To get the right volume consistency, you almost need to play with a light touch and have ample headroom in the signal chain.

Like 90% of the threads around here, YMMV, it works for me, and there is no RIGHT answer. BUT, a heavy touch may limit you technically in some cases. Maybe. Not for sure. This is art ,remember! ;)
 
#45
a couple of lessons w/Robin Zielhorst has gotten me using a much lighter touch on a lot of parts. Its really increased my speed, precision and articulation. I boosted my mids a little bit more to accommodate the new technique and the parts still sound super metal if you ask me.
 
#49
My whole bass playing life changed when I stopped having the amp and bass control set at where it fit in the mix when I played reasonably aggressively and started putting them at twice that volume and then playing with a lighter touch. For me it's all about control and being in the driver's seat. When I play hard, which I sometimes do, I can feel the upper limit of every aspect of the sound hitting a ceiling, being limited, even though I don't play through a limiter. It's a lessening of the range not only of volume but of articulation and tone. Not a lessening of them, just that instead of going from A to Z I get from F to W at the same volume.
 
#50
I agree with the above. Last rehearsal with my tech-death band I decided to try out GW's advice and turn up my amp, and play lighter. Wow, it changed everything immediately. It felt kind of awkward at first, but it gave me so much control over the sound. My playing tends to flow back and forth between supportive and lead style, this allowed me to really control how much the guitars were in the forefront at any given time, while allowing me to bring out my lead parts when I needed.
 
#53
selowitch said:
Exactly. A good bassist doesn't employ a hard/soft/medium touch exclusively, but rather plays with a sense of dynamics so the touch varies appropriately as the music changes.
Click to expand...

Just like other musicians. A too hard touch means you don't have enough low dynamic. You have to be able to go from pp to ff to make your music breathe.
 
#54
^^^^ +1
Unlike some posters here, IME if I turn my volume DOWN, control, punch and headroom get BETTER. I definitely don't wanna be too loud. It's no problem for me, at low volume, to hit harder. But with a light touch, at high volume, it isn't easy to play even lighter and harder create a workable volume range. So I use a decisive touch at standard volume that allows me to go both up and down on the volume.
On top of that, I agree with those who say that tone is in the hands. There are many ways to pluck (tip or pad of the finger, puli or hit, fast or slow), different spots closer to the bridge or farther away from it, all with their own characteristics: punchy, snappy, fat, soft etc. And different types of strings require a different touch.
 
#55
Depends what I'm playing really, from breathy light to - wrench the strings off - grind, which I don't do that often anymore, I've snapped a few strings in my time. Lighter is about control and fluidity.
 
#57
rockosocko said:
A lighter touch gives you increased speed (you can set your action much lower) and better control over your dynamics.
Click to expand...

+1
, though it is hard to say what a light touch really is. My action is super low as it is, but I don't think I play very lightly and I use heavy gauge steel strings. A few posters mentioned a connection between action and touch. IME a firm touch can be combined with low action, on the condition that you move from the middle joints of your fingers, which is also said to be the 'proper' way by many. It will cause the string to vibrate sideways instead of to and from the fretboard.

My regular touch is pretty stiff, pulling (not striking) the string with the very tips of my fingers (1&2), somewhere between the p-ups,

To get louder, I may either
  1. strike instead of pull or
  2. keep my fingers a bit more straight (at the risk of some buzz :D) + move more from the first joint (at the hand palm)+ touch a bit further away from the finger tip, or
  3. play further away from the bridge
 

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