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Is there demand for a "synth bass only" player in live bands?

dnp41

dnp41

May 10, 2016
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Netherlands
#1
Hi Guys, I've been away for some time from the forum. The main reason is that I was having some issues with my neck that radiates out to my wrist and it has been hindering my ability to play the actual bass guitar. I've now come to the conclusion that it's just not wise to try to play bass in a band. I however would still like to play bass in a band. So here is my real question. Do you think I could land gigs as a "synth only" bass player. Not playing bass guitar, not taking on the full keyboard player job, but being a bass player with a synth bass. And off course I can bring an additional keyboard to add some minor things, but the main focus would be bass. Looking forward to hear some advice from this great community!
 
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#23
I probably performed more and had better gigs after I had an accident that wrecked my neck and left arm. I can still play bass but not well enough to gig. Instead I've been working on synths and samplers and finding more unconventional artsy applications. You might need to change direction but there are opportunities.
 
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#24
Upright electric bass - yeah!
Here's a handsome guy playing an EUB at a 'real' gig (link below)

I also perform in a duo (wine bars and holiday parks).

And… if you get strings that feel good to you, it is really really fun.

When I first started I thought it was a 'poor excuse for a double bass' but that's very snobby and very wrong. It's amplified sound beats a double bass in most real world live settings. And it's a LOT easier to travel with!

My point is, you can make legit music being a bass player without needing to be on electric bass guitar.

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#26
Can you sing? Could you teach yourself to program a drum machine or play MPU drums? A lot of bands need multitasking even when hiring a bass guitarist. You will face the same thing when playing key bass.
The most money in my market these days is being made by soloists and duos. If you can find a singing guitar player, you could probably get some work. If you have your heart set on rocking out with a drummer in a band setting, you might need to sell yourself a little more (and work very hard at copping a bg feel on the keys), but it's probably doable.
 
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#28
pb9717 said:
I saw Steve Miller recently on Austin City limits. No bass player. Keyboard is covering it. I was saddened actually.
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Interesting! I looked up some live Steve Miller clips on YT, and found an Austin City Limits video as you mentioned with the keys covering bass, but others with a bass guitar player and the keys player. I wonder if that was a one-off or an experiment. I think the specifics relate to the discussion here.

The keys player in the video when covering bass was playing two keyboards at once, and it didn't seem optimized to match the bass guitar sound you might expect for Steve Miller. When SM had a bass guitar player, the keys player was not doubling up. This is just a small sample of a few videos…

Using a synth to sub for bass guitar is probably not the hard question. The "key" is likely the overall approach, including mastering a new instrument and working through the creative choices about replicating "bass guitar" or delving into other synth capabilities.
 
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#29
dnp41 said:
Hi Guys, I've been away for some time from the forum. The main reason is that I was having some issues with my neck that radiates out to my wrist and it has been hindering my ability to play the actual bass guitar. I've now come to the conclusion that it's just not wise to try to play bass in a band. I however would still like to play bass in a band. So here is my real question. Do you think I could land gigs as a "synth only" bass player. Not playing bass guitar, not taking on the full keyboard player job, but being a bass player with a synth bass. And off course I can bring an additional keyboard to add some minor things, but the main focus would be bass. Looking forward to hear some advice from this great community!
Click to expand...
I am a gigging keyboard/bass player. I don't know about "demand". What I can say is being able to play left hand keyboard bass, no matter what sound is chosen is a useful skill, especially if you can also play some right hand "non-bass" keyboard parts like pianos, organs, ambient sounds, banjos, bagpipes and whatnot. I started in this particular band playing 100% bass which was what I auditioned to do but "hey I can also play keys" means at least 40% of my time now in this (Country, Classic Rock and Pop) band is spent playing keyboard bass and keys, and often, that ratio is 60%, and to be honest, with so many of the songs having things other than acoustic guitar, electric guitars, drums and vocals, makes all the "other" in my wheelhouse and occasionally due to the orchestration, well beyond what I can play with only two hands where one is always playing bass parts, so that ratio if I tried to play keyboard on EVERYTHING that has keyboard on the recording would be about 80%. I wouldn't be surprised if late this year with developing and learning new parts and new songs coming on board, 70% of my time could be keyboard-oriented.

I think you could have an advantage for playing keyboard bass if you can play well enough wherein the lines you might play as a keyboard bass player might sound like an electric bass player would have played the lines. AKA- idiomatic playing and approach. In so many songs, there is not much interpretive/creative daylight between parts I played on electric bass, and ones that are now played on keyboard.

All this premised on everyone else's acceptance of, or willingness to let you try to develop playing keyboard bass. If they don't like that visual, it won't matter enough for them to allow it visually, let alone sonically, no matter how good you get or are. I hope people will give you an opportunity to do it, and an opportunity to improve, and not preemptively listen with their eyes so much. Good luck with it.
 
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#31
I've done lots of synth bass since the 80's in pop and dance/electronic music, but not trying to mimic a BG per se. And vice-versa, if I want a synth bass sound I use a synth, not pedals on a BG. But to hear keys bass that feels like a bass guitar go straight to Stevie playing the bass on "Superstition". Lots of other examples, but that's one of the best IMO.
 
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#36
It would depend on the band and the gig(s).

I play bass and am a long-time keyboard player. I have occasionally doubled in bands and I found . . . .

Generally, keyboard or synth bass tends to work in tunes that had it originally, say if you were doing Peter Cetera covers that David Foster played keyboard bass or the like. Not going to be much call for it in mainstream rock or country, and . . . .

Unless you have VERY good sampler of upright and electric, the more 'synth'-sounding bass patches are MUCH fatter and denser than a bass guitar could ever sound, so again, it all depends on the music and band involved.
 
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#37
When I doubled on synth and guitar in a original trio I would often play bass synth sounds in unison with guitar chords or leads. Roland PK-5 pedals with a moog little Phatty. This worked well in that band because the bassist/singer played a lot of the melody lines and tended to play in higher octaves frequently (thus leaving a big lane for me!).

I'd keep that patches reasonably lean, as we played a lot of smaller, stage amps cover the house venues and my powered PA/compact sub synth rig would run out of headroom if i was too exuberant down low.
 
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#38
pb9717 said:
Ironically, I'm in an 80's band and am tasked with multiple bass synth tunes. But i do not play keyboards. The OP may find luck in an 80's focused act, as there was a plethora of bass synth tunes in the pop charts during that time.
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That's the first thing that came to my mind too. The question is: Do those bands already have a keys player abd not want to hire/pay another member? Or would you be taking the position of bass player?
 
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#39
Bob Coldwell said:
That's the first thing that came to my mind too. The question is: Do those bands already have a keys player abd not want to hire/pay another member? Or would you be taking the position of bass player?
Click to expand...
My band has a keyboard player. He handles all the top end stuff. I handle ALL the bass freq stuff. And theres plenty. Depeche Mode, A-ha, Eurythmics, Hip Hop stuff, Bowie, amongst others. I recently upgraded from a Future Impact V3 to a V4 to get better latency, and more accurate synth reproduction. yea, the material is there for a keyboard bassplayer.
 
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