Heavy. It's not about volume, tuning, death grunts, tempo, blast beats or Fieldy's stupid sounding bass. It's about an artist being able to convey a sense of emotion to the listener. Conveying that sense of emotion is the reason that Esperanz Spalding is much heavier than Korn. That's coming from a guy that cut his teeth on metal. Earth. Very heavy.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Perfect Fieldy quote
- Thread starter dougjwray
- Start date
Master of Reality through Sabotage or so was all in C#. They now play in Eb, I think. I know the Dio albums were in Eb, as was 13.
Sounds to me from recordings I heard on Youtube that they're tuned down to D now. And I thought it was because of Ozzy losing range.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
You are aware Tony Iommi tuned to C standard at times, right?
How much money, fame and fun are people generally acquiring by playing better or the "right" way?
If I were Fieldy I would laugh at the scorn, all the way to the bank.
Fieldy definitely does not care and is laughing all the way to the bank. I grew up in the 90's so I had a lot of friends who listened to that ****, one of them bought Fieldy's rap record. You think he is a ****** bassist, listen to him rap. The album starts with a beat made from gunfire shots and he goes on to rap about how he could care less about this album being a flop because he has Korn money.
You are aware that I made no reference to what Black Sabbath tunes to, right? Read my post again VERY CAREFULLY....
I think it makes sense that bassists get bent out of shape...guitars in drop tuning make the bass guitar redundant and approaching uselessness because of the frequency range the guitars inhabit. At least Fieldy has no delusions about his role. In this particular context, its largely rhythmic and that works for the song.
An its all about what works for the song
An its all about what works for the song
There's a way to be heard through heavily detuned guitars....more wattage! I played in a metal band that tuned to drop C. I had to use a QSC PLX3102 with an Ashdown preamp. I was running with 2 Ampeg PR410HLF cabs and was putting approximately 1000 watts into each cab. I took the ultra low frequencies, scooped out the low mids that the guitars were in and pumped high mids and a little treble.
You have to adjust your approach as a bassist in that kind of band. My rig was a slow evolution over several years, but I found my frequency space and realized that I needed a hell if a lot of watts to compete, but I was always heard and got plenty of compliments on the simple fact that the bass could be heard and felt in that kind of metal band.
You have to adjust your approach as a bassist in that kind of band. My rig was a slow evolution over several years, but I found my frequency space and realized that I needed a hell if a lot of watts to compete, but I was always heard and got plenty of compliments on the simple fact that the bass could be heard and felt in that kind of metal band.
What he said about the guitars not leaving any room for the bass is a really valid point. I've been in bands before with similar issues, so I just turned my mids up. There' a band called Spiral Architect (or it might be Spastic Ink, I forget), and their bass player plays a fretless with lots of mids, underneath guitars with lots of low-end and gain. It works beautifully, and there's almost never a moment when he can't be heard. It fits the music too, because it's a bit avante-garde.
The point is that you have to think outside of the box, and the box in question has been constructed based on the guitar, not the bass. We're told to play the same notes, only an octave lower, and make our tone diametric to theirs (which often doesn't work in heavy music, because guitar tone is frequently counter-intuitive to the concept of being the instrument in the higher register). This gets worse when down-tuning is involved, especially with 7-string guitars and 5-string basses.
In a situation with the aforementioned additional lower strings, plus down-tuning, I think ghosting the guitar is sonic suicide. YOU WILL NOT BE HEARD IN THE MIX. Some bassists start slapping, and generate high-end click that cuts through, but fail to notice the tonally contextual correlation that results. In "Jambi" by Tool, the bass plays a mini-solo while the drums and guitar maintain the rhythm. The rhythm doesn't suffer because they're in drop-D, and Adam's guitar tone has plenty of bass. This same idea of the guitar playing low and the bass playing high, while counter-intuitive, is the best way to resolve the tonal balance. It beats the hell out of hours of knob-fiddling for hours, and is more reliable because tone changes with different venues. That extra low-end that you dialed in to sound heavier than the guitarist can turn into a boomy mess, in certain venues.
Regarding Fieldy, I'm not a huge fan, but you can't impeach the success of a man who has more threads about him on a musician's website than almost any other bass player, even if they are pejorative. His tone works too, because he's playing with drop-tuned 7-string guitars and is often audible. I would never encourage any budding bass player to use him as a model for development, though. I also find it ironic that his signature Ibanez bass has a three-band EQ (including mid-range), and a frequency control for that mid-range. As if he'd EVER use it.
The point is that you have to think outside of the box, and the box in question has been constructed based on the guitar, not the bass. We're told to play the same notes, only an octave lower, and make our tone diametric to theirs (which often doesn't work in heavy music, because guitar tone is frequently counter-intuitive to the concept of being the instrument in the higher register). This gets worse when down-tuning is involved, especially with 7-string guitars and 5-string basses.
In a situation with the aforementioned additional lower strings, plus down-tuning, I think ghosting the guitar is sonic suicide. YOU WILL NOT BE HEARD IN THE MIX. Some bassists start slapping, and generate high-end click that cuts through, but fail to notice the tonally contextual correlation that results. In "Jambi" by Tool, the bass plays a mini-solo while the drums and guitar maintain the rhythm. The rhythm doesn't suffer because they're in drop-D, and Adam's guitar tone has plenty of bass. This same idea of the guitar playing low and the bass playing high, while counter-intuitive, is the best way to resolve the tonal balance. It beats the hell out of hours of knob-fiddling for hours, and is more reliable because tone changes with different venues. That extra low-end that you dialed in to sound heavier than the guitarist can turn into a boomy mess, in certain venues.
Regarding Fieldy, I'm not a huge fan, but you can't impeach the success of a man who has more threads about him on a musician's website than almost any other bass player, even if they are pejorative. His tone works too, because he's playing with drop-tuned 7-string guitars and is often audible. I would never encourage any budding bass player to use him as a model for development, though. I also find it ironic that his signature Ibanez bass has a three-band EQ (including mid-range), and a frequency control for that mid-range. As if he'd EVER use it.
I agree, my band uses Eb which is still downtuned by it's not drop A downtuned.
And I think Feildys sound words for Korn it gives the songs a certain kind of sound.
Back in the day I was a fan of the band, I was 13 when they released their first album and I remember that for the first time I heard slap bass and something different for everything else. I stopped following them after their 3rd album and at that time, he was easily heard on the CD and sometime he brings somekind of melody higher between the slap part. He was my original interest for the 5 strings bass and I remember that I thought about slapping every bass line that I know and it did help getting some fluidity and use slap differently than a funk/groove thing.
Maybe now he can't be heard anymore but there is always a way to work things but it seems hard to get for some people.
Maybe now he can't be heard anymore but there is always a way to work things but it seems hard to get for some people.
Ugh, this is reminding me of the old days of Talkbass when it seemed like every other thread was about Fieldy and whether he was a genius or basically worse than Hitler 
Anyway Fieldy plays the bass differently from how most people do it, you may or may not enjoy that.
Anyway Fieldy plays the bass differently from how most people do it, you may or may not enjoy that.
This post got me thinking about influences. There was a time when I first started playing that I used to listen to and go to a lot of Dave Matthews (I know) and whether I care to admit it or not, Steffan Lessard was a massive influence on my playing. It may not be apparent in my playing, but there are definitely lines I play that conjure his approach. It hurts to be honest.
How old are you? This whole post is a trainwreck.
Alice in Chains the heavist band ever?
More trolling? Heaviest mainstream radio band... right up there with Mudvayne. Right up there with 'Break the Cycle' by Staind. That album is so much heavier than any of that campy death/doom/core bands as well.
How old are you? This whole post is a trainwreck.
Alice in Chains the heavist band ever?
I don't see where he said AIC is the heaviest band ever.
I have friends who make their living producing national/global metal bands, and most of these bands are tuning lower and lower.
So many variables in how you cut through. The reality is that the bass still plays a huge roll in doubling the riffs and making them heavier. Playing something different can work out, but many times that is not what the song requires.
We get a lot of success with a Jazz bass with booth pickups dimed. It frees up lower mids for the guitars and lets you focus on distorting the upper mids for clarity. Just something to consider if you are in a low tuning band - you want to get those upper mids ringing through.
So many variables in how you cut through. The reality is that the bass still plays a huge roll in doubling the riffs and making them heavier. Playing something different can work out, but many times that is not what the song requires.
We get a lot of success with a Jazz bass with booth pickups dimed. It frees up lower mids for the guitars and lets you focus on distorting the upper mids for clarity. Just something to consider if you are in a low tuning band - you want to get those upper mids ringing through.
Ugh, this is reminding me of the old days of Talkbass when it seemed like every other thread was about Fieldy and whether he was a genius or basically worse than Hitler
Hi everyone. This is the OP speaking.
I just wanted to mention that I really have no opinion on Fieldy, or on Korn... I just figured I'd post his quote because it's the first time I've ever seen the man himself comment on his sound and approach, which has been (as you point out) covered thoroughly here on Talkbass.
