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Filling Out the Band's Sound

M

michaelkoss

Guest
Jul 10, 2011
77
0
Oklahoma City, OK
#1
My band has drums, one guitar, bass (me), and vocals. Sometimes we sound a little thin (see for an example--I placed the camera a little too close, so the audio clips sometimes, sorry).

I'm wondering if you guys have any advice on some techniques I could use to help us fill out a little. For example, I love playing staccato notes because I think they are punchy, but I usually hold the notes so we have some extra sound. Sometimes when a song doesn't have any bass for a section, I add some root whole notes.

Any other ideas of what I could do?
 
#2
maybe play with your fingers and use a slightly bitcrushed fuzz into a envelope filter into a di, sledgehammer city (this worked for me when recording last week, i'm not saying it will work for you or anybody else, just a sharing an experience)
 
#3
Your bass playing sounds fine. The bass part in that song is very simple anyway. What's missing are the vocal harmonies throughout the song. Work those up and I think it will make a big difference.

- Steve
 
#4
As mentioned, add harmonies in the chorus line, all through the song, and especially in the intro.

And your guitar player doesn't need that much distortion in the intro. He can play it cleaner, then later add distortion as the song builds. Good luck with that. Hopefully he's receptive to that sort of thing.

Listen to the original, and you'll see what I mean.

But overall, I thought it sounded really good man.
 
#5
My guitar player is a former bass player, so he knows what's up :) He's very receptive to criticism like that.

Yes, we understand vocal harmonies are missing. That is going to be the primary thing we look for when adding keys. I can't sing and play. Hell, I can hardly sing when I'm not playing. My guitarist can a little, but we need someone really strong.

I appreciate the advice. Keep it coming!
 
#6
Have you tried filling out the bass lines with chords, or just simple double stops? Playing two notes at a time - the root note and the fifth above it on the next string, two frets away - can help when the guitar is playing, say, a lead solo rather than chords. Just don't do it too low as the effect gets muddy.
 

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