Tone or Technique : most important for you?

[mrcbass]

I was waiting this answer
"I know the tone is linked to technique and technique linked to tone , but be serious "

Yes but not at 100%
Tone can came mostly from gear for example
But yeah it could be coming from technique, for sure !

Technique includes knowing how to pick the right gear IMO.

Technique first, tone will come - and you can't buy all the tone.....

I can't believe the poll is anywhere near even...

 

[Clemouze]

At last year's Bass Boot Camp (put on by Gerald Veasley), Victor Wooten was on stage taking questions from the student, and he addressed this exact same question.

His answer was that only your technique matters, and to illustrate it, he adjusted the tone controls on his bass to make it sound as pathetic as possible (cut out the bass and mids, and boosted the highs), then told the drummer to play a beat, and he jammed to it, playing both a groove and a solo. Despite the very unconventional tone, everyone in the audience agreed that it was an awesome performance, and it still sounded great and was extremely enjoyable to listen to.

Then to finish the demonstration, he switched back to his normal tone and played something awkward to the same drum beat. It sounded like a beginning middle school bass player, and was completely uninteresting and uninspiring. It did not matter one bit that he had a killer tone. It was not at all pleasing to listen to.

Based on that graphic demonstration, the answer to this question is very clear to me.

Cool, nice trivia

 

[SteveCS]

I was waiting this answer
"I know the tone is linked to technique and technique linked to tone , but be serious "

Yes but not at 100%
Tone can came mostly from gear for example
But yeah it could be coming from technique, for sure !

Gear doesn't create sound, it just transforms, by degree, what appears at the input jack. Which is not much if you don't hit the strings, which requires some type of technique...

 

[Clemouze]

Gear doesn't create sound, it just transforms, by degree, what appears at the input jack. Which is not much if you don't hit the strings, which requires some type of technique...

Yes , but we are ( well I tried to ) talking about normal playing and tone research vs super playing but no specific tone research

 

[BioDriver]

You can't have a good tone without proper technique.

 

[Clemouze]

You can't have a good tone without proper technique.

Yes but that s not the point.

You CAN have a good tone with proper technique. But you don't need to have SUPER technique.

No point of doing a poll with a comparison like : " someone who don't know how to play but have a super good tone on his Open E String vs A Normal player ". That's not that !

 

[SteveCS]

Yes , but we are ( well I tried to ) talking about normal playing and tone research vs super playing but no specific tone research

How do you define playing as super if the tone is dreadful?

 

[BioDriver]

How do you define playing as super if the tone is dreadful?

You actually know how to play the instrument

 

[SteveCS]

Yes but that s not the point.

You CAN have a good tone with proper technique. But you don't need to have SUPER technique.

No point of doing a poll with a comparison like : " someone who don't know how to play but have a super good tone on his Open E String vs A Normal player ". That's not that !

Surely a technique that produces poor tone cannot, by definition, be considered good?

 

[Kmonk]

With good technique comes great tone

Not always. I have heard some very good bass players who had terrible tone and some average bass players who had good tone. I think Tom Hamilton is very underrated but his tone, especially on the first 5 Aerosmith albums is terrible. No punch, clarity or fullness to it at all.

 

[Clemouze]

Surely a technique that produces poor tone cannot, by definition, be considered good?

Well we could consider someone playing super great super groove but , let's say, doesnt know how to EQ and has muddy bass tone , or too much High treble, or maybe who isn't even concerned about how he sounds ?
I v seen that a lot on crappy YouTube/facebook videos
Lot of skills , but 0 effort in tone

 

[sikamikanico]

Ok I made some edit to clarify what I call tone and what I call technique

The choice is in fact Great tone vs Impressive technique

As an example
I prefer spending time and effort crafting a tone through pedals and researchs and way of playing than spending time learning how to noodle as super fast slapitislapito pop or horse run as 180 bpm

Thanks for clarifying. I suspected that it was a difference in terminology - what you seem to be calling “technique” is what might be seen as “chops,” as someone else put it.

To me technique is a more fundamental (or narrow) concept, basically HOW you play, not WHAT or HOW FAST you play. Things like plucking hard vs soft, above the fretboard vs at the bridge, with our without muting, using the fleshy finger part vs nails etc... And then there are of course the larger technique categories of fingerstyle, pick, slap, tapping...

So while, say, slapping IS a question of technique, slapping FAST isn’t. Slapping fast IMO gets into the territory of WHAT you play (i.e., more notes/beat). Of course it all maters for music...

This is why I don’t see a separation between technique and tone. We vary the technique to produce different tones. The gear is important, yeah, but mainly because it imposes the limits on what you can do with technique.

 

[pappabass]

At last year's Bass Boot Camp (put on by Gerald Veasley), Victor Wooten was on stage taking questions from the students, and he addressed this exact same question.

His answer was that only your technique matters, and to illustrate it, he adjusted the tone controls on his bass to make it sound as pathetic as possible (cut out the bass and mids, and boosted the highs). He asked for, and received confirmation from everyone that the tone sounded terrible. Then he asked the drummer to play a beat, and he jammed to it, playing some grooves and a solo. Despite the very unconventional tone, everyone in the audience agreed that it was an awesome performance, and it still sounded great and was extremely enjoyable to listen to, because it grooved.

Then to finish the demonstration, he switched back to his normal tone and played something awkward to the same drum beat. It sounded like a beginning middle school bass player, and was completely uninteresting and uninspiring. It did not matter one bit that he had a killer tone. It was not at all pleasing to listen to.

Based on that graphic demonstration, the answer to this question is very clear to me.

Good point!

 

[And I]

i voted tone, because i don't care how it's achieved as long as it sounds good. but to parrot what others have said, technique is not about playing fast, but about achieving great tone at whatever speed you play at. Most important technical change I have made in my playing in the past few years is the right hand "floating thumb" technique. It has helped me as much with tone as playing proficiency. I can mute the strings easily with my right hand and don't have to always rely on the left. Not having extra strings ringing out / making noise is a huge part of good tone. I also have my right wrist more or less straight which alleviates carpal tunnel symptoms, increases endurance, and allows me to play some things faster without strain.

if we're talking chops vs tone... tone, every time. the most impressive bassists i've seen have abundances of both. but the chops are used tastefully in small doses for huge effect, and the tone is there with every note.

 

[TheDominoKid]

Great technique with crap tone sounds awful no matter what 10 finger tap style slap thing you're doing... Great tone with crap technique still sounds great no matter how you hit the strings. And considering we play an instrument, which is all about what people hear, I'd say tone wins out.

 

[SteveCS]

Well we could consider someone playing super great super groove but , let's say, doesnt know how to EQ and has muddy bass tone , or too much High treble, or maybe who isn't even concerned about how he sounds ?
I v seen that a lot on crappy YouTube/facebook videos
Lot of skills , but 0 effort in tone

Let them eat cake!

 

[dBChad]

I chose technique, but caveat that by saying that the two aren't mutually exclusive.

I tend to be a technical player, as it makes the 3 piece I play with sound bigger. I would probably simplify for a larger project. However, impressive technique for the sake of showing off is useless, I work on techniques to serve the song. If I can cause a mood shift, build or resolve tension at the right moment of the song, cover rhythm as the guitarist plays a solo, then I help make the song a more immersive listening experience.

Most of my tone is still carefully thought out, but from the standpoint of "how can I mix well with everyone else?" The gear I use to make that happen is partially based on personal preference on what I'm familiar with and know how to dial in, but given some time with just about any rig I could probably find a tone that I like enough to play a full show with.

 

[jharms80439]

Technique begets tone? I tend to agree, but the OP's description of technique (and yes, I voted technique) isn't what I'm after. For me groove, then note choice in context of the song, is more important than flash, the newest blazing technique or slap/pop/double thump/pop, etc.

That said, I'd rather be in the groove as a player and propel a song with mediocre tone, then the obverse. Good technique begets good tone? IMHO, yes.

Over the weekend I was watching some old(er) movies/TV detective shows (it was snowy and cold here in CO) and I started practicing the 2-4 note runs I was commonly hearing in those soundtracks. I noticed that the tone was full and fat and the stop of the note was just as important to the start of the run. No buzz, not really "muted" but instead a dead stop on the note. I ended up practicing note stops in the vein of those movies/shows for a full hour - no drum machine, just a metronome. By the end of the session, I could start and stop a note at will - no fret buzz, or other unwanted sounds. Just clear and clean. Oh, and the tone was there in spades whether I used my Jazz with rounds, a Precision with flats or even my fretless Precision also with flats. Fretless was tough to get a clean/clear stop - but I got it with practice.

Just MHO of course...

John

 

[DavC]

whilst i practice and work on whatever 'technique' ... i'm always listening to , and tweaking my Tone ..

i think the answer is a moving target .. when you start playing , probably technique is foremost in your mind ...
then later on your hear bits and pieces of other folks tone that you might enjoy and admire ... and then we might strive to incorporate that tone into our playing ... similar to the way we store various musical ideas and use them to gain our own style ..!??!

but for me , after 45 years of playing .... Feel , style and a nice tone are what i'm working on ... i will work on whatever exercises i need to , to be able to play the things i feel ...

another , not so concrete answer ...

 

[Joebone]

Boycott polls offering false dichotomies!