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Please define “slam”

I’ve seen the term “slam” used fairly regularly and was curious if it is well defined. How do you define it?

Guitar and drums have been my primary instruments but changing to bass due to hand issues. I use Mesa D800+ as primary and Mark Bass LM3 as backup into Ampeg Pro Neo 1x15 cabs. Not sure if I’m achieving slam with this gear.
As a kid of the 80s and 90s this is how I define it.
 
verb
  1. shut (a door, window, or lid) forcefully and loudly.
    "he slams the door behind him as he leaves"













    Similar:
    bang

    shut/close with a bang
    shut/close noisily
    shut/close with a crash
    shut/close with force
    fling shut

    • noun
      1. 1.
        a loud bang caused by the forceful shutting of something such as a door.
        "the back door closed with a slam"

      2. 2.
        INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
        prison.
        "if he challenged the judge, he was definitely going to the slam"
 
an oldschool term for of inner city youth dance, depending on style

Punk2.jpg
 
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I’ve seen the term “slam” used fairly regularly and was curious if it is well defined. How do you define it?

Guitar and drums have been my primary instruments but changing to bass due to hand issues. I use Mesa D800+ as primary and Mark Bass LM3 as backup into Ampeg Pro Neo 1x15 cabs. Not sure if I’m achieving slam with this gear.
Like many others here have said, I have never in all my years on the planet heard anyone in any capacity use the term "slam" to describe anything bass, amp, or tone related. So I'm curious as to where you've "seen the term “slam” used fairly regularly". I'm guessing maybe one of two things: 1) you have a friend who said it and he's isolated from the rest of the world...or 2) you made up the term. Either way I'm guessing you're referring to what is commonly referred to as "punch". And it's found in the mid to lower-mid frequencies.
 
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Like many others here have said, I have never in all my years on the planet heard anyone in any capacity use the term "slam" to describe anything bass, amp, or tone related. So I'm curious as to where you've "seen the term “slam” used fairly regularly". I'm guessing maybe one of two things: 1) you have a friend who said it and he's isolated from the rest of the world...or 2) you made up the term. Either way I'm guessing you're referring to what is commonly referred to as "punch". And it's found in the mid to lower-mid frequencies.

I’ve seen it used several times in recent threads like the G-K club thread and others. My thinking was it was equivalent to punch but as you can see in this thread there are a multitude of different definitions. I’m kind of surprised the thread took off like it has. Have a great day!
 
... someone went there... lol

I love "your mom" jokes. We have a guy at work that a few years ago, we'll call him Tom, declared that we should just pick one person's mom and tell jokes about her. That was not wise because now we tell "Tom's mom jokes". One day Tom's mom was in the office and "Tom" introduced a coworker to his mother. "Oh, I've heard so many things about you." without missing a beat.
 
The word "slam" is sometimes used in mastering music. It usually describes a sound that's highly compressed with a fast attack.

I've experimented with large amounts of compression when mastering my own projects, and at extreme levels, the sound is like a punch in the chest and is most noticeable with the kick drum.


This mastering processor is found in many high end studios:

620912000000000-00-500x500.jpg
 
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Not having read most of the responses...

OP...

Listen to the live version of "Give Blood" by Pete Townsends Low End Band, featuring David Gilmore on lead guitar. The Bass player (whom I don't know) is playing a fretless Steinberger L-2/XL-2 into a Trace Elliot rig with four (4) cabinets. Use headphones...that is SLAM when a fretless Bass sounds like that in a rock context in a full band...!
 
Listen to the live version of "Give Blood" by Pete Townsends Low End Band, featuring David Gilmore on lead guitar. The Bass player (whom I don't know) is playing a fretless Steinberger L-2/XL-2 into a Trace Elliot rig with four (4) cabinets. Use headphones...that is SLAM when a fretless Bass sounds like that in a rock context in a full band...!


Bass player is Pino Palladino.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pino_Palladino