The popular sounds of that time coincided with the wider use of drum machines, synthesizers and the advancement of digital recording technology. Crisper and brighter sounds in production overall compared to the 70’s.
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Just how bright were the 80s?
- Thread starter Just Wrong
- Start date
We all don’t have to agree on anything, and we all definitely do not necessarily agree on what we consider to be good equipment
I am certainly not saying that we need to agree on what is good music, not at all. I’m simply saying that to shut out decades of music because it wasn’t recorded in the time period that you decree as the only “good” era of music seems, sadly, closed minded.
Lots of great music, and not so great music, from any decade.
No actually I mentioned my music was that time in music history that I like to listen to. I have listened to many types of music and just do not care for many of them to continue to listen to on a daily basis.
Big difference - now at this point in y my life I now understand what my dad was saying way back when I was younger when I lived at home.
I remember listening to Level 42 when I first got into slapping years ago and even learning a song or two. Great song, but that tone... He sure didn't have any FOMO about P basses with flats.
Not sure what all the negativity is about. We're talking about bright tones and the 1980s. Your dislike for any music that came after the 1970s has nothing to do with the topic.
Ah what a great decade for bassists, especially the latter half of it. It was the era of aural exciters, BBA Sonic Maximizers, 4x10 cabs with tweeters, and SWR amps with tone-suck knobs. I used (overused) all of it. What a great time to be a bass player!
Maybe it was the "if you remember the 80's for the music- who cares." part of your comment.
Smooth_bass88
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trends in gear also reflect this. Bright and infamously mid-scooped. Huge cabinets with 15" and 18" speakers, tweeters, active EMG pickups, roundwound strings, playing with a pick. Can't forget slapping & popping. You better have a ton of treble to make those plucked notes on the G string poke through!
The bass is bright, but it isn't terribly bright. Everything else sure is, though. I guess @ad9000 and @bassfran are onto something about those bright reverbs, synths and guitars. Maybe that's what John was referring to. Although, I have say, I find Marcus Miller's tone to be a bit too bright for my tastes at times.
Also, that's quite a good song. I'd only heard "Hungry like the Wolf" and "Ordinary World," which I never cared for. But now I might have to listen to some more Duran Duran.
How dare you lol...
Check out "Rio", monster bassline through the whole song....
Joy Division / New Order Peter Hook comes to mind for me :
My guess, tweeters and active preamps boosting highs.
Tweeters started appearing in bass cabinets around the late 1970s to early 1980s, as bass players—especially those in jazz, funk, and fusion—began demanding a clearer, more articulate high end for slap bass, harmonics, and extended-range instruments.
Tweeters started appearing in bass cabinets around the late 1970s to early 1980s, as bass players—especially those in jazz, funk, and fusion—began demanding a clearer, more articulate high end for slap bass, harmonics, and extended-range instruments.
I think it's just because you kind of came out of left field with something negative.
I think I actually can outdo you: after the '60s went down in flames -- no more Beatles, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Cream, Duane Allman -- I completely turned my back on rock music and delved into jazz. Aside from the genius stuff by Stevie Wonder and the original Allman Brothers Band, and some things by Chic and Steely Dan, I heard nothing that I liked in the '70s. I played in cover bands, Top 40 bands and wedding bands, so I *did* hear what was out there... and nothing truly appealed to me.
When I worked in a record store in '83-'84, I couldn't avoid hearing that new music, and I started to like some of it. Prince really killed me.
There *are* different eras in music, and there's nothing wrong with disliking an era, in my opinion.
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Andy Rourke another favorite of mine and quite bright indeed :
It was the dawn of hifi bass, and I think among those who could afford something other than a Peavey, there may have been some overcompensation for the previous generation of amps that lacked sparkly highs and deep lows.
I know I went kind of nutty building a rig from PA components, including a folded horn 15 sub, 2x12 mids and a compression horn for highs. And like everybody else I knew, I played rotosounds, so yeah, kinda bright!
I think at that that same there was a lot of smooth jazz/fusion stuff going on with that kinda "pewpew" sound of fretless played up the neck behind something like steel drums, deep in a pasteurized soul drum pocket.
I know I went kind of nutty building a rig from PA components, including a folded horn 15 sub, 2x12 mids and a compression horn for highs. And like everybody else I knew, I played rotosounds, so yeah, kinda bright!
I think at that that same there was a lot of smooth jazz/fusion stuff going on with that kinda "pewpew" sound of fretless played up the neck behind something like steel drums, deep in a pasteurized soul drum pocket.
It was an era in which technology finally enabled people to hear the upper range of the instrument and people, naturally, took advantage of it.
Active pickups and/or preamps, hi-fi bass amps and much better cabinets all turned the bass into a full-range instrument. The trend at the time was direct recording, which can be pretty bright to begin with, but the other advances I listed meant people were getting used to hearing more full-range bass tones live so that worked its way into recorded tones, too.
Let’s also remember that bass was competing with an awful lot of keyboard bass at the time so it had to adapt. Digital recording also set the stage for bright tones.
All that said, you’ll hear some really bright bass tones on some Smiths records and some stuff mentioned earlier in this thread but a lot of the established mixing engineers at the time were veterans of the sixties and seventies and they still knew how to place bass in the mix.
For me, the eighties was a renaissance for fretless bass and I love a lot of music from that era.
Eighties bright? Listen to Chris Squire’s tracks from the seventies! He sounds brighter than almost anything recorded in the eighties.
Active pickups and/or preamps, hi-fi bass amps and much better cabinets all turned the bass into a full-range instrument. The trend at the time was direct recording, which can be pretty bright to begin with, but the other advances I listed meant people were getting used to hearing more full-range bass tones live so that worked its way into recorded tones, too.
Let’s also remember that bass was competing with an awful lot of keyboard bass at the time so it had to adapt. Digital recording also set the stage for bright tones.
All that said, you’ll hear some really bright bass tones on some Smiths records and some stuff mentioned earlier in this thread but a lot of the established mixing engineers at the time were veterans of the sixties and seventies and they still knew how to place bass in the mix.
For me, the eighties was a renaissance for fretless bass and I love a lot of music from that era.
Eighties bright? Listen to Chris Squire’s tracks from the seventies! He sounds brighter than almost anything recorded in the eighties.
Yeah, if all you did was listen to radio, you missed a lot of good stuff. Just like now, the good stuff is not on broadcast programmed radio or broadcast TV.
