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Two Bassists in a band--thoughts?

T

Trancedelicflow

Sep 7, 2019
7
4
#1
Not a common scenario, as we all know. Does anybody have any experience with this situation?

I mean, in an orchestra there is a whole bass section, multiple basses in the same low end tonal range and the sound is really awesome.

But they aren't all playing through loud powerful amps, so I'm thinking if there were two bass guitars on a stage both players should turn it down a few notches. More than a few. Some players might be reluctant, but hey, we're all adults, right?

Also it seems kind of obvious that our hypothetical bass guitar duo shouldn't always play in unison (although that is what orchestra basses do). One guy could be playing the root while the other plays power chords an octave above; they could play harmony bass lines; they could alternate playing fills while the other holds down the root. There are lots of possibilities.

The band or project wouldn't need a rhythm guitarist (sorry, guitar players) maybe one lead player and keys to round out the ensemble.

Plus, bass players more than other musicians tend to be multi-instrumentalists, so both musicians wouldn't have to play bg all the time. I for one would like to play organ sometimes just for example.

So anyway this is something I would really like to try some time. Have any of you done this?
 
#2
I was in a band years ago that had two bassists. The idea arose from the audition process. The band was started by the guitarist and the drummer, and one of the bassists they auditioned was super funky, but totally traditionalist: 4-string, flats, foam mute, strictly fingerstyle... you get the idea. The other guy was me, a six-string bassist with a pedalboard, stainless steel roundwounds, and a willingness to do anything to make any kind of sound out of the instrument. I have a feeling what happened was the drummer wanted me, and the guitarist wanted the other guy. In either event, they decided to try a band with both of us. The idea was to have the other guy play "bass bass", and I would play a role more like a guitar or keyboard. As the band evolved, those roles loosened up somewhat.

We never doubled each other. It seemed like a pointless thing to do. We found that it helped if only one bass was in the low register. The other player could play chords, melodies, textures, whatever. If we were both in the lower register, we would sort of dance around each other, interweaving both instruments into one intricate bass part. Using radically different tones from each other was a big help too. One thing is for sure: it really helped when he and I would meet separately from the rest of the band to work out our parts.

The interesting thing for me, from a creative standpoint, was this: I know my role in 99% of all musical situations. I play the bass line. But what if somebody's already doing that? What else can a bass guitar do? Thanks to four years in that band, I have a lot of answers to that question.
 
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#6
I haven't been in a band with 2 bassists. I have, however, been in one with 8. It was a one off Christmas show thing at my work - 8 bassists and one drummer. The trick is that the parts you play have to be coordinated - you can't just wing whatever and expect it to work. Stanley Clarke, Victor Wooten, and Either Steve Bailey or Marcus Miller have done it rather successfully with 3. It's quite doable, you just have to work on parts that separate the instruments spectrally - one high, one low.
 
#9
dramatwist said:
...never understood more than one drummer... more than one bassist? Now I've got a headache...
Click to expand...
OK i've done the two drummer thing, but even there it's the same principle where you had one guy playing "drums" and the other playing "percussion", sort of a "rhythm/lead" division of labor.

playing bass with two guys behind you doing that well is an absolute blast! you have to try and sync yourself with the whole thing, like pretend it's one giant 4-armed drummer behind you and groove with it.

it makes a lot more musical sense than trying to have two bass players
 
#11
Trancedelicflow said:
Not a common scenario, as we all know. Does anybody have any experience with this situation?
Click to expand...
Tons, and I've also seen a number of pro touring acts do it very effectively. It's the most fun I've ever had in a working band situation, and also probably the least. Maybe even on the same gig...
Yel_wink.gif


Right now it's a reality of my weekly Friday night Americana/Bluegrass jam. When one of us doesn't feel like showing (or can't) no one else suffers. Both of us can and do take a turn on guitar occasionally, or just take a turn on lead vocals.

The one bedrock truth I've observed is that both players have to be all-in on making it work. Otherwise the fun factor just isn't going to be there, IME.
 
#14
Trancedelicflow said:
Not a common scenario, as we all know. Does anybody have any experience with this situation?

I mean, in an orchestra there is a whole bass section, multiple basses in the same low end tonal range and the sound is really awesome.

But they aren't all playing through loud powerful amps, so I'm thinking if there were two bass guitars on a stage both players should turn it down a few notches. More than a few. Some players might be reluctant, but hey, we're all adults, right?

Also it seems kind of obvious that our hypothetical bass guitar duo shouldn't always play in unison (although that is what orchestra basses do). One guy could be playing the root while the other plays power chords an octave above; they could play harmony bass lines; they could alternate playing fills while the other holds down the root. There are lots of possibilities.

The band or project wouldn't need a rhythm guitarist (sorry, guitar players) maybe one lead player and keys to round out the ensemble.

Plus, bass players more than other musicians tend to be multi-instrumentalists, so both musicians wouldn't have to play bg all the time. I for one would like to play organ sometimes just for example.

So anyway this is something I would really like to try some time. Have any of you done this?
Click to expand...
I have seen it done twice live. SMV and Omnific. The bass players have to be outstanding and able to play with different techniques. The band arrangements have to be open enough to let them do their thing. It won't work well in a "traditional" pop music band. Showcase it, or don't bother.
 
#15
Thorny1 said:
The Melvins did a show like this a time or two. Sounded like total mud to me, but there is definitely a right and a wrong way to approach this. I enjoyed bands like Omnific rather more.
Click to expand...

I really like the album they made with Jeff Pinkus and the other guy (sorry, forget his name) on basses.

what was interesting to me was, for some of the time both bassists played different lines in the usual / low bass register, and it still sounded good (instead of doing the usual high/low split). YMMV of course. and i never saw them live.

other good bands that used 2 (or more) basses:

James Brown
Cop Shoot Cop
Evil Blizzard (4 basses...)
Mogwai, on a few songs
Pale Horse
Gnod
Taman Shud

EDIT forgot Girls vs Boys
 
#16
Trancedelicflow said:
Not a common scenario, as we all know. Does anybody have any experience with this situation?

I mean, in an orchestra there is a whole bass section, multiple basses in the same low end tonal range and the sound is really awesome.

But they aren't all playing through loud powerful amps, so I'm thinking if there were two bass guitars on a stage both players should turn it down a few notches. More than a few. Some players might be reluctant, but hey, we're all adults, right?

Also it seems kind of obvious that our hypothetical bass guitar duo shouldn't always play in unison (although that is what orchestra basses do). One guy could be playing the root while the other plays power chords an octave above; they could play harmony bass lines; they could alternate playing fills while the other holds down the root. There are lots of possibilities.

The band or project wouldn't need a rhythm guitarist (sorry, guitar players) maybe one lead player and keys to round out the ensemble.

Plus, bass players more than other musicians tend to be multi-instrumentalists, so both musicians wouldn't have to play bg all the time. I for one would like to play organ sometimes just for example.

So anyway this is something I would really like to try some time. Have any of you done this?
Click to expand...
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the reason you have a row of bassists at the back of an orchestra is volume and fullness. One bass isn't going to stand a chance at keeping up with multiple string sections in higher registers. With amps this isn't much of an issue.

That said, there's a bunch of good advice before my little addition.
 
#19
I play in a project that is a combination of two corporate events bands that gig independently. It's a big, expensive band of 18 so, predictably enough, we don't play very often. Two drum kits, two guitars, two basses, keyboards, five horns and five singers - plus sequences. It's a dense mix and my biggest concern is being able to have a clear enough in-ear monitor balance. On the last gig we played I was placed right in front of one of the drummers (who was on a riser) so his kick was muddying up my mix a bit. Other than that I actually quite enjoy the dynamics of playing with the other bassist. Part of the reason I think it works with us is that neither I nor the other bassist is particularly ego-driven. Each of us is happy to step back and let the other one play. A lot of how we share duties is improvised. One of us will play the main line while the other sits out or plays in the higher register. Then we'll signal each other and switch roles. Sometimes one of us will play a line high up like a guitarist would (or double a part higher up) but it's important not to get in the way of the two guitarists (and keyboardist) who are already likely occupying that space to some degree. Ears and common sense...
 
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#20
knumbskull said:
other good bands that used 2 (or more) basses:

James Brown
Cop Shoot Cop
Evil Blizzard (4 basses...)
Mogwai, on a few songs
Pale Horse
Gnod
Taman Shud

EDIT forgot Girls vs Boys
Click to expand...

Add a few of my favorites:

Miles Davis
Willie Nelson
Talking Heads
Ornette Coleman
Pharoah Sanders
Sun Ra
Vic Wooten Band
Jack DeJohnette (upright + tuba)
Gary Burton
 
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