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DOES THE AUDIENCE REALLY CARE ABOUT OUR TONE?

#21
It seems like anymore, most people want/expect to hear drums first, vocals second and guitar third. Everything else is considered nice but not necessary. This is for rock/pop/country -- it may be different for jazz and maybe blues. In "contemporary worship" situations it's probably more like vocals first, guitar/keyboard second and drums third with everything else optional.

If the kick drum is loud as a cannon a lot of people assume they are also hearing bass guitar even if there is no real tonality due to the bass being buried in the mix (as too often happens).

When I do have people comment on the mix it's usually more general (i.e. a particular instrument is too loud or too soft), vs. getting as specific as analyzing tone. Most of the comments on my tone come from other musicians (either that I'm playing with or are in the audience) and that's fine with me.
 
#23
As always, I think it really depends on the type of music being played. With the type of stuff I play, I prefer my tone to sit back "in the mix"....more old school bass sounds with rhythm - no need to cut through the band. I think it sounds good within our band. I'm sure someone that is into Tool, or Rage would think my tone sucks. They would of course be, wrong!
 
#25
Really stimulating.

I am sure that the audience would miss it if the bass was not there, and also Jazz listeners are quite aware of the bass and the notes, the lines, etc.

However, if Jaco had played a Ric or an EBO would it still be only us players that would notice and discuss his actual tone quality? Would anyone in the audience think "He's really good, but he should be playing a Fender" ?
 
#26
Largedon said:
I think the audience knows, they just don't really understand what they know. Kind of a "I don't know how to describe it, but I know it doesn't/does sound good" type of thing. I've found people who are paying attention to the music will notice a well played bass and comment on it.
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snip


I agree with this point, I remember hearing a conversation at GC where a couple was buying a bass as a gift for some one who was not there. The salesman played two basses an Aerodyne Jazz Bass & a standard American Jazz bass & asked the couple which one they preferred , she chose the Aerodyne but could not put into words why she preferred that one. Seems that most non musicians are in the same boat. They lack a vocabulary of musical terms to use in describing various tones.
 
#27
Gio S said:
However, if Jaco had played a Ric or an EBO would it still be only us players that would notice and discuss his actual tone quality? Would anyone in the audience think "He's really good, but he should be playing a Fender" ?
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Jaco is an example of perfect bass, perfect player, AND in the perfect context.

Sometimes a given bass tone and technique absolutely NAILS a tune and makes it stand out.
 
#29
Most audience members wouldn't really notice if the bass had good tone... if the bass had bad tone and sat in the mix like a dumptruck at a tea party, then they would notice.

That said, I've had a few compliments about my tone from non-musical members of the audience :)
 
#30
For the most part, the only time I've gotten specific comments on my bass tone, they came from other musicians in the audience. Everyone else, well they know that it sounds good, but what makes it sound good? No clue.

We as musicians tend to pick up on things and nit-pick but for the most part (IME) people have little to no idea what it is specifically about a band/mix that makes them like one tone or another.
 
#33
Tone needs to be 'good enough' to get the point across. Beyond that the average crowd does not give a rats ass.

In a concert type seated situation maybe... in a typical show/bar/gig type scenario people have way more to concern themselves with than debating bass guitar tone.


Good enough = Does what it needs to do. More then good enough is entirely for the bass players personal satisfaction and peace of mind.
 
#34
Every instrument in the group has a "contributing" factor to the ultimate sound (unless it completely drops out or the sound man sucks), so no to perhaps an "untrained ear", unless you use so many effects, that you're far off from a bass sound, you will not be singled out on tone or sound, unless it's one of us out there watching you, I'm a tough critic ;)
 
#36
stflbn said:
Heh... like well agreed upon bass tone buzz words like 'growl' 'burp' 'butter' etc?


Bassist's can't even agree and put into words so that everyone can speak on the same level.
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+1,
We need a thread, a poll, a decider (to do the deciderin'. Possibly a Mod), then a stickie.
Who's with me here? A standard of tone acronyms.
 
#37
w33nie said:
Would the audience notice if the bass wasn't there?
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Last year I was at a Broken Social scene show, The bass player had a problem and the bass completly cut out. It was like half the presence of the song was removed, everybody in the band turned towards the bass player to see what was happening. If you don't know BSS I must tell you that on stage there can be 10 people at the same time sometimes more. and even with all those instrument going on at the same time when the bass dropped everything sounded bad.

Everybody around me noticed too it wasn't only the band.

So I guess, yes bass is a pretty noticable instrument live.
 

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