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brother hates my tone
- Thread starter iamchance
- Start date
Exactly. Don't be childish. Listen carefully to what the guitarist has to say, take it all under careful evaluation and decide in your own mind what the music as a whole needs from you as the bassist. And then tell him pound salt.
But the point is valid. From the clip you've got a wonderful "modern" tone! But does that fit the music, is the real question? Music is joint cooperative venture. You all need to be on the same page to make it work. There are lots of ways to get on the same page. One is for you all to agree on what's needed. Another is for someone to supply money for you all to go onto HIS page whether you agree with it or not. Another is the arguing and backstabbing common in bands. Best is when you all agree, because that is when magic can happen!
But that said, let me also say that even though I play guitar I tend to not take guitard advice too seriously. Hey, these are often guys who wouldn't play through a clean channel if their lives depended on it! They think that kind of insulation in the POWER transformer affects your tone! YOU are the bass player. YOU are the artist. That means YOUR opinion is the one that finally counts. And if you can't get in agreement with the rest of the band, well then you have to stay true to yourself and it's time to start looking for a new brother!
Hendrix...ruined a whole generation of guitar players.
Set up your rig with a footswitch and a couple different channels/tones, etc...
In a lot of songs, the bass tone needs to change to fill space or sit back to provide more bottom. It can vary quite a bit depending on how you want the particular song to come across. However, in this case, it sounds like your just jamming together. So try the two channel thing and allow him to have his moments of glory and you can have yours - from time to time. But remember, you're the bass player, your brother is not. You have to take a more mature attitude about the music.
In a lot of songs, the bass tone needs to change to fill space or sit back to provide more bottom. It can vary quite a bit depending on how you want the particular song to come across. However, in this case, it sounds like your just jamming together. So try the two channel thing and allow him to have his moments of glory and you can have yours - from time to time. But remember, you're the bass player, your brother is not. You have to take a more mature attitude about the music.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
From your mp3, your tone sounds pretty middle of the road to me. Like a tone that would work in a wide variety of situations. Unless it sounds awful with his guitar tone, I don't see a reason to change it.
It's a decent tone. Tell him Munji has spoken and no further conversation is necessary re: your tone.
This. What is it, exactly, that he doesn't like? "Too clear" doesn't cut it- we need a better explanation. 'The Mix' is key- does your sound obscure his sound? You do need your instruments to sound 'different enough' from each other so that they are each heard clearly, without one blurring the other. This can be tricky to do, but not usually. I personally thought your posted example sounded pretty good. But perhaps the "trebel" in your tone sounds similar to his- in this case I would suggest reducing trebel a bit, and increasing low midrange a little, so that you still have presence, but in a different 'place.'... Makes sense?
And....That.
You have to be careful with the whole 'cutting through' idea. This often ends up being 'I'm louder than everybody else.' It's MUCH more important to 'fit into' the mix.
Your tone as recorded didn't sound particularly mid-rich to me. In fact, I thought it was a little light in the mids.
I agree that the most important thing is how your tone sounds in the mix. But, just by chance, is your brother playing a bass boosted/mid-scooped guitar tone? If so, that's the real problem.
IMhO, that's the problem. Sometimes you need to cut thru but at all times you need to work the song. Period.
Just to make your brother hate you more why not make it more dirty sounding either with fuzz or a sansamp bddi?
He dislikes your tone?
So, what.
Why would that matter?
Do the people you play with also have a problem with it?
If you are OK with your tone but your brother hates it, why are YOU considering buying things to change it? His taste = his responsibility = his $$$.
After he (presumably) decides he doesn't want to put his money where his mouth is, I'd try to evolve the topic into 'the band's sound' & how the different voices fit into it. Listen to recordings of the whole band & go from there.
Playing to an audience doesn't matter- yet. Have you played with a drummer and other instruments? That's the only way you'll find out if your sound is good, bad or indifferent.
