I love Dianogah. Two bass guitars and drums. They recorded 4 albums between ‘97 and ‘08 and still play together at events to this day.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
Two Bassists in a band
- Thread starter Roy Blockowitch
- Start date
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,078
- 46,035
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
The answer being 'lots", of course.
Some I haven't seen mentioned yet in this thread:
Willie Nelson
Talking Heads
Pharoah Saunders
Ornette Coleman
Gary Burton
Wooten Family Band
Bootsy's Rubber Band
Every NAMM bass booth
And then of course many orchestral players might be likely to ask: "just two?"
I've done it in several bands myself and am all for it.
Last edited:
the omnific is a trio with two bassists. Interesting stuff.
Volta Do Mar was a quartet that had two bass players, Jeff Wojtsiak on 5-string and Mike Baldwin on 6-string and upright, plus Phil Taylor on guitar and Tony Ceraulo on drums. All four sing occasionally, but the focus seemed to be primarily instrumental rock. Few people I know seem to have heard (or heard of) them.
I own and like one of their albums, "At The Speed Of Light Or Day" (2001).
ProgArchives brief band write-up: Invalid Link Removed
YouTube video of the 2001 album cited above:
The YT link points to the second track, "7/1000," skipping the opening number because it is a slow-to-grow opener.
I own and like one of their albums, "At The Speed Of Light Or Day" (2001).
ProgArchives brief band write-up: Invalid Link Removed
YouTube video of the 2001 album cited above:
The YT link points to the second track, "7/1000," skipping the opening number because it is a slow-to-grow opener.
Jah Wobble and Bill Laswell also did some two bass albums and gigs. Wobble just did his big fatty dub thing and Laswell did some high neck, effects heavy fretless stuff. I like both of those guys but the albums they did in this configuration were disappointing. And live, it was cool but also felt like a bit of a stunt and not anything you'd want to build a lasting music project around.
As an occasional Bass VI player, I think the best two bass combo, at least for rock type, would be a normal four string coupled with a VI, given the latter's extended high end range.
As an occasional Bass VI player, I think the best two bass combo, at least for rock type, would be a normal four string coupled with a VI, given the latter's extended high end range.
If you study music, historically, including a good dose of musical acoustics/physics, you will understand why, generally speaking, there can and should be only one "bass voice" in a musical texture. I guess that doesn't mean there couldn't be two dudes holding basses at the same time though. It just might not "sound good" in the traditional sense of what sounds good. Usually. Generally. Most of the time. YMMV.
NB: Ever notice how piano music is written with a sizable space between the lowest left hand note and the next notes above it, then the higher up the keyboard you go notes can be as close together as possible? There are acoustical reasons for that which speak directly to this question.
NB: Ever notice how piano music is written with a sizable space between the lowest left hand note and the next notes above it, then the higher up the keyboard you go notes can be as close together as possible? There are acoustical reasons for that which speak directly to this question.
I play bass uke with a 40 person ukulele group, and another member also plays bass uke. We both started doing that in mid 2014, my first experience with bass, though for the almost 50 years I played rhythm guitar, I was often told I should play bass. We both took lessons from the same teacher, Denny Croy at McCabe's Guitar Shoppe. I believe because of that, when we do play at the same time, we blend together well.
The Melvins line up with Jeff Pinkus and Steve MacDonald on bass. I think Ned's Atomic dustbin is the best example of two basses in a band IMO.
Practically every band I've ever played in (with a few exceptions, and not including session work) has featured 2 basses.
I guess because when I started playing, several of my friends were also starting out on the bass, and most of the other musicians were other bassists, so it was just natural to write music that way - we were doing it before we actually formed proper bands.
My first band was 2 basses, a samplist / keyboards player, a singer, and a drum machine.
The next band ditched the drum machine, and recruited a real drummer.
It was a couple of bands later, before we decided having a guitarist might be agreeable.I
The next band was my first as the lone bassist, featuring a singer, a samplist, a guitarist, and a drum machine.
Eventually that band merged with another 3-piece rock band, and we were back to having 2 basses, and eventually whittled it down to 5 permanent members, after ditching the chaff.
All the early stuff was pretty noisy, and industrial. So it definitely had some overlap with Cop Shoot Cop, but with more of a Nine Inch Nails / Ministry sensibility.
Once the two bands merged (the other group weren't really listening to those sorts of influences) it became a bit more upbeat, less abrasive alt-rock - by coincidence, this was when Ned's Atomic Dustbin were making a name for themselves as a live act (just before their debut Ingredients E.P.).
At that time, I was the only member listening to Girls Against Boys, so that never really became an influence on the group (and they wouldn't have been capable of playing down a groove like GVSB).
Now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised we didn't draw from The Cure, as an influence. We were all fans, and I had even considered buying a Bass VI, to get past the occasional limitation of only having 20 frets on my bass, and to allow for My Bloody Valentine type pitch swells/wow (I'm actually thinking about going the Bass VI route at the moment, as it happens).
Anyway, that's my ridiculously long winded way of saying that I personally feel strange in situations where there's only 1 bass player.
It's not just an alt-rock thing.
Besides hugely popular records by The Beatles, and The Beach Boys, there's the whole tic-tac bass sound, on an entire era of country / Nashville recordings.
I guess because when I started playing, several of my friends were also starting out on the bass, and most of the other musicians were other bassists, so it was just natural to write music that way - we were doing it before we actually formed proper bands.
My first band was 2 basses, a samplist / keyboards player, a singer, and a drum machine.
The next band ditched the drum machine, and recruited a real drummer.
It was a couple of bands later, before we decided having a guitarist might be agreeable.I
The next band was my first as the lone bassist, featuring a singer, a samplist, a guitarist, and a drum machine.
Eventually that band merged with another 3-piece rock band, and we were back to having 2 basses, and eventually whittled it down to 5 permanent members, after ditching the chaff.
All the early stuff was pretty noisy, and industrial. So it definitely had some overlap with Cop Shoot Cop, but with more of a Nine Inch Nails / Ministry sensibility.
Once the two bands merged (the other group weren't really listening to those sorts of influences) it became a bit more upbeat, less abrasive alt-rock - by coincidence, this was when Ned's Atomic Dustbin were making a name for themselves as a live act (just before their debut Ingredients E.P.).
At that time, I was the only member listening to Girls Against Boys, so that never really became an influence on the group (and they wouldn't have been capable of playing down a groove like GVSB).
Now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised we didn't draw from The Cure, as an influence. We were all fans, and I had even considered buying a Bass VI, to get past the occasional limitation of only having 20 frets on my bass, and to allow for My Bloody Valentine type pitch swells/wow (I'm actually thinking about going the Bass VI route at the moment, as it happens).
Anyway, that's my ridiculously long winded way of saying that I personally feel strange in situations where there's only 1 bass player.
It's not just an alt-rock thing.
Besides hugely popular records by The Beatles, and The Beach Boys, there's the whole tic-tac bass sound, on an entire era of country / Nashville recordings.
Does King Crimson in the double trio era count?
Tony Levin on bass and Trey Gunn playing Chapman stick and Warr guitar; neither of those is really a bass, but are quite close related.
Tony Levin on bass and Trey Gunn playing Chapman stick and Warr guitar; neither of those is really a bass, but are quite close related.
Our band has two bass players:
Happy me and not so happy me.
Happy me and not so happy me.
I found myself a bit underwhelmed by them but those days were interesting enough a weird band like that could get on MTV. I think their drummer now plays in Swans.
Oooh, I forgot about Bert Kaempfert, whose recordings from the late 1950s and early 1960s would now probably be categorized as "easy listening" rather than as "space-age bachelor pad music" (like the recordings of Esquivel).
One of the signature features of his orchestral arrangements was using an electric bass guitar (apparently always played with a pick and muting the notes) in conjunction with a simpler low-end pulse on the upright bass. Acoustic guitar, humming, and handclaps were also common touches.
One of the signature features of his orchestral arrangements was using an electric bass guitar (apparently always played with a pick and muting the notes) in conjunction with a simpler low-end pulse on the upright bass. Acoustic guitar, humming, and handclaps were also common touches.
