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So what does "punch" mean, anyway?
- Thread starter darwin-bass
- Start date
I always love the use of meaningless terms to describe sounds in pickup marketing. Everyone claims to deliver “shimmering highs,” “smooth, glassy mids” and “thundering lows.” Ok... sign me up.
Sure, if that's what it sounds like to you. Perception of tone is entirely subjective. All our ears (and brains) are different.
Punch. Slap. Tap. I think those actually describe the sound produced pretty well. I can slap pretty darn hard, but it doesn't have the same power as playing over the pup for a hard punch.
Huh, I think of low mids and/or upper bass when I hear 'punch.' Yes to fast attack, too, and I'll add fast stops as well, if we're talking amps and speakers.
It's like the supreme court judge who said, "I can't tell the difference between art and pornography, but I know it when I see it".
I know growl and bite when I hear it. It's like the famous saying about it's more HOW you say it than what you're saying.
I know growl and bite when I hear it. It's like the famous saying about it's more HOW you say it than what you're saying.
Naw, this is not really real "punchy". Just wanted to inject this clip somewhere.
To me, punch is when the audience feels their sternums moving in and out with each note of the bass.
Unfortunately punch means a lot of different things to different people. To me, punch mostly means a bit of emphasis in the low mids, but the sound must remain tight, focused, clear, and fairly dry...so it's a bit more complicated than simply turning up the low mids.
Conversely, you can have strong lows and low mids without punch if the sound is woolly and loose
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Punch comes from the amp and speaker, but is also very much impacted by the acoustic environment. You could have a super punchy rig, but if there is a strong diffuse reverberant field with a long decay time, it's generally not possible to produce a punchy sound over any significant distance. The lows tend to bounce around then mush together, so that the sound is essentially incoherent.
See definition of diffuse sound field and critical distance on this page: sound fields - acoustic glossary
Conversely, you can have strong lows and low mids without punch if the sound is woolly and loose
. Punch comes from the amp and speaker, but is also very much impacted by the acoustic environment. You could have a super punchy rig, but if there is a strong diffuse reverberant field with a long decay time, it's generally not possible to produce a punchy sound over any significant distance. The lows tend to bounce around then mush together, so that the sound is essentially incoherent.
See definition of diffuse sound field and critical distance on this page: sound fields - acoustic glossary
fast attack right? that punch on the front end that cuts through the mix and then kind of decays...almost like a kick drum but fatter.
Yes IMHO the transient response is definitely another part of it. Perhaps this is why some people say a compressor makes the sound more punchy. The front end of the note can pass before the compressor clamps down.
To me, punch is in the high mids, hard initial attack, felt as well as heard. I tend to bump ~1000 Hz when I want more punch.
Optimal sensitivity of Pacinian corpuscles are 250hz
So that's where you'd feel it most.
Leads to the question is Punch in sound, or vibration? Can you experience it with only headphones, or do you need speakers?
So that's where you'd feel it most.
Leads to the question is Punch in sound, or vibration? Can you experience it with only headphones, or do you need speakers?
But you see that is the problem. True communication relies on words having consistent meanings. We can’t define them however we like and have a meaningful conversation.
To me you get thump/thud when you have low mid emphasis without enough mids and highs to give a sense of clarity and focus.
However, I can understand why someone would say punch comes more from the high mids. The tone I use when I am on the band stand is much brighter than the tone I use to practice alone. This has to do with the build up of the diffuse field and masking. Masking results from both the diffuse field and other instruments competing in the same frequency band as the bass. So if you key into the bass's mids and highs like I do, you need to turn those frequencies up on stage or you will not be able to hear them. But I think this is getting somewhat into psychoacoustics and how our perceptions change in different playing environments.
We may need to call in the International English Language Police and get a ruling.
