• 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.

Playing metal on bass. Right or Wrong?

#42
Metal is a legit form of music. I don't play metal and I use a distortion pedal. I play with my fingers, however, one of my favorite bass players, Mike Gordon of Phish, plays with a pick. Oh yea, gotta mention Phill Lesh of the Dead; he plays with a pick too. There are also metal bassist who use their fingers. Do and play what feels good and if metal is your thing so be it no matter what anyone else tells you. Any bass player in any type of music can use whatever and as many pedals as he or she wants. I use a bunch of pedals and I play instrumental jazz/rock/fusion/funk. However, I will tell you this . . . unless you are in a band that "makes it" . . at least somewhat, you will have a very slim chance of making a living playing metal. But you will always have fun doing what is you like to do.
 
#44
when I read this thread I though of the band Beyond Creation... Their bassist plays a Fretless for metal I bet some people gave him some **** when he was playing a fretless compared to a fretted, but he's really good!

 
#45
Benberg said:
when I read this thread I though of the band Beyond Creation... Their bassist plays a Fretless for metal I bet some people gave him some **** when he was playing a fretless compared to a fretted, but he's really good!

Click to expand...


Steve Digorgio used a fretless in Death didn't he? Honestly I thought extreme metal was the most accepting of the fretless bass outside of the jazz world. Also a finger player.

I personally don't listen to much extreme metal my cousin just dated Gene Hoglan so I know some Death.
 
#47
I think I see real underlying problem:

Canada is totally not metal. It's never gonna work oot fer ya.


I can't really add anything else to what's been said. I play original Celtic rock with metal, prog, funk, folk, classical and world-beat influences. And I'm currently shopping for a better fuzz pedal to go with my overdrive(s), phaser and wahs. My point? - Anything goes. It's your music, your vision. Be true to it and yourself, and enjoy the ever-loving f**k out of it every day.
 
#50
ctrotier said:
I think I see real underlying problem:

Canada is totally not metal. It's never gonna work oot fer ya.


I can't really add anything else to what's been said. I play original Celtic rock with metal, prog, funk, folk, classical and world-beat influences. And I'm currently shopping for a better fuzz pedal to go with my overdrive(s), phaser and wahs. My point? - Anything goes. It's your music, your vision. Be true to it and yourself, and enjoy the ever-loving f**k out of it every day.
Click to expand...



Canada's pretty metal ;)

I'm seeing In Flames here tonight with Battlecross, Demon Hunter, and All Shall Perish. Should be a great show. :bassist:
 
#56
Nothing wrong at all :) Metal is metal the way you make it.

One of my favorite bass players, Oliver Riedel, bass player from Rammstein, is a pickplayer for about 80 % of their songs. This is because the kind of music Rammstein makes, determines this.

Some other bass players use to play with fingers only and / or with extended range basses. John Myung (Dream Theater), Franck Hermanny (Adagio), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corps) and Jeroen Paul Thesseling (ex-bassist Obscura), are a few bass players that play with their hands exclusively and play with extended range basses.

I don't play with a pick, simply because I cant ;) However, I really like it when a bass player uses a pick. You get a fuller and harder sound than when you play with your fingers. Also the notes / bass line become more ''agressive''.

So it's all up to you what you play and how your play it :) For those who disagree : Lay down the bass guitar and start playing the triangle :) :D
 
#57
I've been playing metal/rock bass for 10 years or more, I play thumb, finger, pick and Lemmy-style. All have value in a band. Also bare in mind you can get a pick like tone finger picking as well - Steve Harris for example. Play what you want I say, there is room for everything in music.
 
#59
Start a metal band with no guitar player. Seriously, with how low some bands tune they're already halfway there (or 5/6 of they way there--Meshuggah drops to F# standard). And with your stated love of distortion pedals you should have no problem filling up enough sonic space to carry metal riffage on your own. Hint for solos: stack distortion pedals. I've used Boss metalzone plus DS-1 (both cranked to Valhalla) for some fantastic aural mayhem, and individual notes stay more distinct than you would think.

"Bass solo, take one". You know what I'm talking about.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back