Motown sound on demand, no mute

[alex1fly]

Want the motown muted sound on demand, but don't want to stick a mute in there? Here's a few ways to do it.

1. Rest your pinky lightly on the string that you're plucking, right next to the bridge. Pluck normally.

2. If you fret a note with your index finger, rest your middle finger lightly on the string just in front of your index finger.

3. Take a cue from guitarists and palm mute. Rest your plucking palm very lightly on the strings right next to the bridge (experiment with placement) and use your thumb and/or index finger to pluck. Bonus points for using a thick felt pick (yes they're worth the $4, you only need one)

These all take a bit of practice but can make a really convincing motown-esque muted sound when you get them down.

 

[mambo4]

I belive a PBass with flats will get you closer than muting tricks or devices.
(with maybe some dirt FX to emulate an over driven DI / board channel )
IMHO it's weird to hear the "Motown sound" and come away with "oh you just need to mute"

either approach is easier than the real truth: copy Jamerson

 

[alex1fly]

I belive a PBass with flats will get you closer than muting tricks or devices.
(with maybe some dirt FX to emulate an over driven DI / board channel )
IMHO it's weird to hear the "Motown sound" and come away with "oh you just need to mute"

I guess I should have expected criticism for suggesting anything beyond the purism of "P Bass with flats and play like Jamerson". How dare I lol

Just trying to help my bass community by sharing some tricks that I've come up with to get you a nice muted regardless of string type and without a string mute installed. They're fun to play with and in addition to getting you some different sounds, they force you to simplify and play differently which can be neat. The other neat thing about the muting techniques is you can vary the pressure and the amount of muting in such a way that it doesn't sound muted but actually adds some definition to the attack of the notes which is something I notice in motown. Of course motown isn't the only genre that utilizes a muted style bass guitar sound but its the one I most closely associate with that particular kind of muted thump. Use it in whatever genre or style you desire. I'll throw in some muted lines for contrast in rock and funk too.

 

[Les Fret]

Want the motown muted sound on demand, but don't want to stick a mute in there? Here's a few ways to do it.

1. Rest your pinky lightly on the string that you're plucking, right next to the bridge. Pluck normally.

2. If you fret a note with your index finger, rest your middle finger lightly on the string just in front of your index finger.

3. Take a cue from guitarists and palm mute. Rest your plucking palm very lightly on the strings right next to the bridge (experiment with placement) and use your thumb and/or index finger to pluck. Bonus points for using a thick felt pick (yes they're worth the $4, you only need one)

These all take a bit of practice but can make a really convincing motown-esque muted sound when you get them down.

Cool post! Isn’t option 1 just regular palm muting? Do you have an example?

Option 2 is the Rocco way.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I'm a practitioner of #3, palm mute with hand close to the bridge. And I use a thin pick which makes muting easier.

 

[MonetBass]

I always use the palm (well, technically the side or heel of my hand) mute technique, perhaps because I've been playing guitar almost as long as I've been playing bass.

 

[chris_b]

The right size lump of foam under the strings gets a great Motown tone with no messing with your technique.

 

[jj.833]

2. If you fret a note with your index finger, rest your middle finger lightly on the string just in front of your index finger.

3. Take a cue from guitarists and palm mute. Rest your plucking palm very lightly on the strings right next to the bridge (experiment with placement) and use your thumb and/or index finger to pluck. Bonus points for using a thick felt pick (yes they're worth the $4, you only need one)

I never tried #1, but the other two techniques are really fruitfull.
#2 works great on fast single tone lines, it changes the rock 'stream' to a percussive one, where every note counts. Doesn't have to be Rocco funk (though that's where it originated), it helps almost everywhere.
#3 will alter the clean bass sound for the deep sloped one, with instant ability to add bright pops to any common line without moving your right hand to slap position. Combined with free stroke it is really powerfull.

What's best is that you can interchange these techniques instantly whenever you wish, so you can significantly change the character of sound during a song, without need of stepping on a stompbox, or putting in(on) some foam(rubber band). You can freely focus on the music. Since I started using these, I'm often hearing things like: 'It doesn't sound like this usually, only with your bass.' The Motown sound is doable as well of course, but how often is there a demand for it.

 

[Les Fret]

I think you don’t need a P or flats. What is more important is the feel and note choices. The sound you can get out of almost any bass.

 

[alex1fly]

Cool post! Isn’t option 1 just regular palm muting? Do you have an example?

Option 2 is the Rocco way.

Option 1 is similar to palm muting, but you hold your hand in normal plucking position and literally just extend your pinky out to mute the string you're on. So palm muting but one string at a time!

I'm a practitioner of #3, palm mute with hand close to the bridge. And I use a thin pick which makes muting easier.

Try a felt pick too! It is a cool feel!

The right size lump of foam under the strings gets a great Motown tone with no messing with your technique.

Foam is great for set-and-forget, and using your normal techniques.

Issues with foam, though. It often affects the pitch of the string. Hard to adjust the foam in a way that doesn't affect the pitch of the string, but also provides the amount of muting you want. Also, you are stuck with one "amount" of muting. By using your hands and fingers to mute, you can customize it.

What's best is that you can interchange these techniques instantly whenever you wish, so you can significantly change the character of sound during a song, without need of stepping on a stompbox, or putting in(on) some foam(rubber band). You can freely focus on the music. Since I started using these, I'm often hearing things like: 'It doesn't sound like this usually, only with your bass.' The Motown sound is doable as well of course, but how often is there a demand for it.

Totally! That's the fun part. Throwing it in there when the music calls for it. Bass guitar has a huge influence over the feel of the tune and having some mute techniques in your arsenal make your music that much more dynamic and interesting.

I think you don’t need a P or flats. What is more important is the feel and note choices. The sound you can get out of almost any bass.

This is my experience as well. Flats do a great thing but the three sets I've tried over the last 6 years have been limited tonally (Chromes, DTF, GHS). These days I'm digging the gold and white la bella tapewounds because they give me enough of what I like from both flats and rounds. Cool thing about the muting techniques is they work on any kind of string!