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Do you practice plugged in?
- Thread starter adudenamedruby
- Start date
Sometimes playing unplugged you do things that it as an acoustic instrument can do that you wouldn’t do plugged in. Like strums and percussive stuff. Then I find it transfers to live plugged in playing.
At a minimum it helps with your dynamics.
Like anything some of everything is good practice. Full roar rig is fun.
At a minimum it helps with your dynamics.
Like anything some of everything is good practice. Full roar rig is fun.
I used to plug in all the time to practice, but since I got a sub short scale acoustic bass I find I can get a lot of practice in just on the couch watching TV. It's a great way to learn new songs.
When I was young, and no headphone amps or computers existed, I wanted to play bass guitar. I finally got one, and an amp. My parents had rules. Both worked 3rd shift, and me playin my bass amplified bugged em, to say the least. To avoid Imperial Entanglements, I started playing unplugged.
Many, MANY pros wrote and said in magazines that they also preferred to play unplugged. For many physical and psychological reasons. For me, it gets me in touch with the bass at a deeper level. I end up hearing it so well I know what I want it to sound like thru my amplification system.
It also strengthens my hands, teaches them more about dynamic control. And, my ears are phenomenal. It was a huge help in my ear training, to have to listen that closely when rehearsing, or learning my heroes lines. If you put the upper horn on your chest at a certain place, then turn your head a certain way, you can hear your bass in your ears as if it were amplified.
To this day I learn and rehearse songs with music in my headphones, low, and just my bass on my lap. I learn and rehearse a TON of tunes yearly. And, to this day, taking my bass out on my porch early on Sunday mornings, just me and my bass, and playing for hours. Writing, rehearsing, exercising. I love playin my bass acoustically. For a ton of reasons!
Many, MANY pros wrote and said in magazines that they also preferred to play unplugged. For many physical and psychological reasons. For me, it gets me in touch with the bass at a deeper level. I end up hearing it so well I know what I want it to sound like thru my amplification system.
It also strengthens my hands, teaches them more about dynamic control. And, my ears are phenomenal. It was a huge help in my ear training, to have to listen that closely when rehearsing, or learning my heroes lines. If you put the upper horn on your chest at a certain place, then turn your head a certain way, you can hear your bass in your ears as if it were amplified.
To this day I learn and rehearse songs with music in my headphones, low, and just my bass on my lap. I learn and rehearse a TON of tunes yearly. And, to this day, taking my bass out on my porch early on Sunday mornings, just me and my bass, and playing for hours. Writing, rehearsing, exercising. I love playin my bass acoustically. For a ton of reasons!
I do both according to my needs. It is not necessary to be plugged to work on scales, a bass line or things like that. You need to be plugged to work on your sound, obviously.
But it's a good idea to practice unplugged to know how your instrument sounds acoustically, how it vibrates against your body, how it reacts to your touch. You can hear all the fret buzz, all the little noises that will be covered up by the amplified sound. If you can get a clean and consistent sound when playing unplugged, it will be clean and consistent amplified.
I used to lean my chin on the body while playing. It creates another level of connection with your bass, you bond with it a little bit more and you know better how it works.
But it's a good idea to practice unplugged to know how your instrument sounds acoustically, how it vibrates against your body, how it reacts to your touch. You can hear all the fret buzz, all the little noises that will be covered up by the amplified sound. If you can get a clean and consistent sound when playing unplugged, it will be clean and consistent amplified.
I used to lean my chin on the body while playing. It creates another level of connection with your bass, you bond with it a little bit more and you know better how it works.
I agree with all these folks: Practicing unplugged is potentially bad for your technique because it encourages your to pluck/pick more aggressively to be able to hear yourself. I'm a firm believer in the idea of plucking/picking softly and letting the amp do the work. When I want to practice "unplugged" For "unplugged practicing" I use an ABG.
Same as you, I couldn't have said it better.
I've always practiced plugged into an amp - sometimes with headphones, but mostly without. The only bass I've played unplugged with any regularity is this old MIJ Epiphone EA-260. It's a hollow body, and loud enough acoustically that, if I lived in an apartment, I could annoy the neighbors with it. However, after reading ^this^, I'm willing to give unplugged practice a serious try. I make no promises, though... 
In general, I play more heavily when I gig, because of group energy, excitement, etc. Conversely, I play more calmly when I'm alone without noise around me, I do not need to accentuate my attacks. Playing unplugged has greatly improved my technique, so what you and others say is not always true, at least not for everyone.
Both. Unplugged works for certain things like ergonomics and position. But the final indicator of whether I have control over my dynamics and technique, and the only way I can hear the nuances and check for any potential dissonance, unpleasant harmonics, spikes, etc., is to hear it amplified.
Nothing worse than thinking you've got a line down nice and clean with quiet home practice just to hear it all noisy and sloppy at stage volume.
Nothing worse than thinking you've got a line down nice and clean with quiet home practice just to hear it all noisy and sloppy at stage volume.
Yeah, I am trying to lighten my touch, it is a hard habit to break. I recently started playing a sterling ray 4. It is very unforgiving. Seems it sounds better with a little lighter touch with me. Hard part is being consistant
Primarily I've gone to playing through headphone amp for normal practicing. Generally I only play though my amp on the weekend or when I get home earlier than downstairs neighbor (already complained about washer can't imagine what they would think about slappa 'da bass). I do use the pedalboard with the headphones although sometime it is a little bit of a pain to stretch the cord than to just go direct on the bass.
View attachment 3586498 I've always practiced plugged into an amp - sometimes with headphones, but mostly without. The only bass I've played unplugged with any regularity is this old MIJ Epiphone EA-260. It's a hollow body, and loud enough acoustically that, if I lived in an apartment, I could annoy the neighbors with it. However, after reading ^this^, I'm willing to give unplugged practice a serious try. I make no promises, though...
Man... I can't tell you how much it improves certain aspects of my playing. There are better times to do this. During the day with the Cacophony of the city around me? Harder to hear my bass as I wish. But early mornings and late nights? I can hear my bass, and every nuance my playing upon it holds. My confidence improved, too. I don't need to hear myself when I play live. I can feel me playing. Subsequently, I use no monitors live. My ears got that good. To sing and play. This helps immensely. And endears me to sound techs big time. I'm easy. So they take care of me. Recording is easy, too. I show up, I play, I go home. Cans, monitors, More-Me devices? Unecessary.
My tone and control improved, too. I can tell if I own a line without an amp. You can tell, more easily and accurately. I do run my setlists a TON. Repetition, not the sound of the amp, gets you where you wanna be performance wise. I do, on occasion, plug my rig in. To work on aspects of my tone. But, I alternately have volume up, then down, to see if my amp changes interfere with the acoustic sound of my instrument. The acoustic sound of my bass is what I want in my amp. I get a new bass? Of course I check it out Get levels right between my instruments. Then I turn my amp off and go to work. Heh.
My hands are strong, too. Back when I was learning, I came from upright in school. Those basses had high action, and you had to work to get a tone. My electric bass' action was high, too. A cheap copy of a P, and I knew nuttin about setup. I wanted to play. So I did. I was playing very advanced material and I had to work to get those tones. That shows up today. I can use a passive bass, a tiny amp, and get all I need in any room. It gives me independence from gear. I sound like me in every rig, as it should be. My strong hands let me play 6 to 8 hours on events, as sometimes I have to. And playing acoustically will tell you if you're accurate or not. It made me far more accurate, more quickly. And I can learn tunes in parking lots when a hundred dollar bill shows up for a request. Ha!
I find it rewarding and liberating. No gear defeats me. No room or recording interface. I don't need compressors, filters, none of that stuff matters. My hands are in control. It will take you some time to tune your ears to it. That's why I'd suggest my upper horn on chest trick, or? Put yer chin on your upper horn. You will hear your bass as if it's amplified. Then remove your chin. And play. You'll soon find you can hear exactly what your bass sounds like, right off the board. Even hand position changes are perceptible. Changes from tones of different string types are perceptible.
I love my amps. But they are only there to represent what I do upon my basses accurately. I do rehearse on my amp, when I get a new one or when I have a specific type of date to perform on. But to learn technique, tunes or licks, or any practice for the playing itself? Unplugged. Porch. Coffee. Early mornings. Before the light, if possible. I love those days.
Perhaps you missed the logic of my post. If you can practice unplugged with good technique, then you are likely to be happier performing at lower volume levels, because you have not cultivated an expectation or need to hear yourself clearly. So practicing unplugged properly could be beneficial.
I started on string bass and I generally could not hear myself at all in a larger symphonic settings. I was expected to be able to just know how to play in tune and with proper touch and dynamics without actually hearing the bass. In discussing this matter with people who play acoustic instruments, the question becomes do you practice in a room that is flattering and sounds great, or do you play in a room that is harsh and unflattering?
I like to practice in room that is flattering and sounds great, because it inspires me and makes me happy. But some people think you should play in an awful room. The idea is that if you can make your instrument sound good in a harsh and unflattering acoustic environment, you have actually achieved good tone.
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Point taken: If you intend to pluck/pick hard on stage, then practicing unplugged will be fine -- you ought to practice the way you intend to play. Personally, though, I'm a believer in the idea that plucking/picking more softly enables you to play with more speed, accuracy and nuance, and so the goal should be to do that despite the "group, energy, excitement, etc." that you feel on stage, you should try to maintain a gentler touch. From that perspective, it's better to practice with an amp -- turned way up to force you to play softly -- than to play unplugged. Of course, YMMV.
As a side note, I feel like this has been a successful post. Thanks everyone for being awesome, considerate, and, most importantly, informative. It's been really interesting to hear these various perspectives across the spectrum.
