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Do you sometimes hear a bass note as two notes or a chord?

#21
When a trumpet player plays a note, they only have 7 finger positions, the same for all brass. A Trombone player has seven points on the slide. But with their lips they force the vibrations to bring out the harmonics as the next note. so without moving there fingers they play root, fifth and octave
 
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#22
It can be a sensitivity in your ears and brain, it can be other sound generators near your listening room (fan, refrigerator, a neighbor's TV, etc.), and it can also be the quality of your playback device.
 
#24
MattZilla said:
It can be a sensitivity in your ears and brain, it can be other sound generators near your listening room (fan, refrigerator, a neighbor's TV, etc.), and it can also be the quality of your playback device.
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Most likely the first option bc I usually identify "object in the room' noise"
Also, its unlikely they're always in tune with the notes/cords
 
#25
La Faro said:
Also over driving the signal brings out odd and even harmonics, making the tomes brighter, so if you like a little drive, it's going to help you here the 3rd harmonic (fifth) and the 7th Harmonic (a 3rd)
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I have a rumble 30, but I like to play with the vox amplug. (Green mode)I like a "clean" sound, and asked in another thread how can I get the rumble to sound like the vox, but I understand its also the headphones, and distance from my ears to the amp, and other milion things that would effect the sound and the way I hear it, so I wouldnt know..
 
#26
THany said:
Ok. Strange questions maybe, but here it is: I always had a very good musical ear, since I was a child, with bass everything is different... first of all, I sometimes hear a note and I cant tell between 2 or 3 notes that are a part of a cord... its like my head is automaticly making a chord, its only with bass, not other instruments, also, sometimes the note is "changing in front of my ear" it starts as a certain note (attack?) Then goes up or down, sometimes its so bad, I feel everything is out of tune, but when I check, its ok. With the vox amplug and earphones it happens less. Sometimes I feel Im losing my hearing (and my mind) the changing pitch thing of the notes, I remember it happening to me as a teen. (When listen to reggae, for example, when the notes are slower and longer ...
Is it normal? (My father says the same thing happens to him )
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Only after about 4 or 5 stiff drinks.
 
#27
I often hear what I think of as "phantom" notes, chords, or even pieces of melodies that are not actually present in a song. Sometimes it is all imagination, but sometimes I do literally "hear" them, and often it is a combination of both. There have been many times when I listened back to a recording of a song and got a new idea of how to improve a bass or guitar part, add a vocal harmony, etc. this way. In fact, I wish I were more diligent about doing this frequently during the songwriting process as I have more than once "heard" an improvement in a part after my band had already recorded and released it.
 
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#31
Another interesting trick that works, to my ears: play a note (e.g. D on the 5th fret of the A string) and the note which is a fourth below it (e.g. A on the 5th fret of the E string) together at the same time (playing them precisely at the same time really helps) and it gives the illusion of the octave below the top note (e.g. D below low E on a 4-string bass). I don't normally play 5-strings, so this works in some cases to provide what sounds like a lower note than I actually have available on my fretboard. Not quite as good as an octave pedal, but works as an ok substitute.
 
#32
I don't hear it live, but on recordings of my playing - where I know I am doing an octave bounce - the tones sound much the same (higher octave). I'm sure it has something to do with where I'm plucking that makes the lower pitch generate the first harmonic.

I've never heard chords or multiple tones on a single plucked note, but the same concept for the higher harmonics is certainly probable.
 
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#33
I don't know if this is the same kind of thing, but it sounds like it. When I am learning a new line by ear sometimes I incorrectly get the wrong note and most often I pick the 5th rather than the real note and don't notice it until I am playing with other band members and notice one of us is off. Other times, it will be the 3rd, rather than the real note. Rarely is it something else, unless the bass line is buried in the mix, then all bets are off and I'm just making stuff up that sounds like it should go with it.
 
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#34
THany said:
Wow, I have no clue, I dont know theory and dont read notes ( dislexya) I only know the names of the intervals.
I would have to look into what you've wrote and try to understand it ( may take years) to answer that
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This clip explains it.



Chasarms said:
There are so many harmonics and overtones in an oscillating string. You likely are hearing those in a pronounced way for some reason.
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This.
 
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#36
I once thought I could barely differentiate 1/2 notes from the 55hz A string down until I got better guitars and strings then I thought oh that's why, then on high end basses instead of cheap muddy basses I think oh yea that's definitely it.
 
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#37
THany said:
I sometimes hear a note and I cant tell between 2 or 3 notes that are a part of a cord... its like my head is automaticly making a chord, its only with bass, not other instruments
Click to expand...

I can relate to this. 4ths and 5ths are sometimes hard for me to pick out for some reason.
Occasionally, there will be a note in a song and, no matter how many notes I play on my own bass, nothing sounds like the recording, which is in tune.
 
#39
Not sure your age, but, I remember always hearing further than what I was playing and that made me reach deeper, musically, than many other people I was playing with at the time. ... I'd think maybe you're allowing your ears, your mind to want to open more doors, ... because that's what it's really all about. ... We hear a sound and try to pursue it. ... Do we get it all? ... More often than not we just little bits and pieces but, enough to keep chasing it. ... Don't think there is anything wrong with what you do. ... It's not supposed to be anything but, what we make it.
 
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