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Will bassists soon no longer be needed?
- Thread starter SlapPopBass
- Start date
First off - my opinion is that no bit of technology can come even close to the awesomeness of the electric bass.
That said, there are now sequencers that do a fairly passable job of it. Technology has developed a lot in the last 30 years.
Consider that most of the examples cited here are older bands and/or players. Those examples don't seem to apply towards the future.
With that in mind, I can see artists using that technology in place of a bass player for economic reasons. And given most people's general tolerance for cheap substitutes over quality substance, I can't say for certain that the bass doesn't face at least a bit of a challenge in the future.
I guess you have to ask how the general listening public perceives bass and whether or not they'd recognize a sample from the real thing.
Again, I'm not advocating the end of the bass.
This is all just food for thought.
That said, there are now sequencers that do a fairly passable job of it. Technology has developed a lot in the last 30 years.
Consider that most of the examples cited here are older bands and/or players. Those examples don't seem to apply towards the future.
With that in mind, I can see artists using that technology in place of a bass player for economic reasons. And given most people's general tolerance for cheap substitutes over quality substance, I can't say for certain that the bass doesn't face at least a bit of a challenge in the future.
I guess you have to ask how the general listening public perceives bass and whether or not they'd recognize a sample from the real thing.
Again, I'm not advocating the end of the bass.
This is all just food for thought.
Roy Vogt
Supporting Member
- Sep 20, 2000
- 4,433
- 537
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Kiesel Basses, Ampeg Amplification, Hotone Ampero II effects
On the other hand you have bands like Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers, Muse, Imagine Dragons and The Alabama Shakes as well as Neo Soul like Mayer Hawthorne where not only is the bass guitar important, but the double bass is as well. Granted, a lot of Hip-Hop/Rap/Contemporary R and B bands I've seen lately have a keyboard bass, but that's a very specific genre-typically a really underdressed attractive young lady singing into a Melodyne/Autotune while a corps of dancers busts a move around her.....
Want to not be obsolete? Play bass guitar, double bass and synth bass.
Want to not be obsolete? Play bass guitar, double bass and synth bass.
....and sing well doing it.
LOL! That's an awesome description Roy!
That sort of "music" makes me do a face-palm and groan.
FWIW, I generally like to give some consideration to an idea before scrapping it. That's why I wanted to exlpore the "no bass" idea.
One thing that I've noticed is a diminished role of guitar in a lot of popular music. What I mean is that with many "rock" bands, the vocals have complete dominance in the sound and the guitar is farther back and more limited than in the past.
I'm a bass player for a Country cover band. I play drums for a couple songs so the [DEL]dumber[/DEL] drummer can get up and sing a few songs. On one song in particular (Country boy can Survive - Hank Jr.), the keyboardist plays a synth bass line. It's super simple and I think it sounds really good. But I think it's safe to say that I won't ever get replaced as bass player by a synth as long as I play country.
i'm sorry, but for me a band without a bassist is like alcohol free beer, nicotine free ciggies, descaffe,condoms(there are exceptions for these)and anything else you can think of with the BEST INGREDIENTS taken out. the bass is the base. without it all things crumble. imo
Every role can be replaced by machines, but youre not likely to see a band of robots any time soon.
Why? One can do a whole lot with a synthesizer. One can also do a whole lot with a bass. One could easily replace the other in various settings if you know how to use either one well.
I think you're just at a bad school. There are quite a few bands at my school, and only three bassists.
There's me, another that I don't know, and my friend Zach. And Zach is the guitarist of the band I'm in.
Although I still get a lot of BS about people thinking bass is useless.
There's me, another that I don't know, and my friend Zach. And Zach is the guitarist of the band I'm in.
Although I still get a lot of BS about people thinking bass is useless.
forgive them for they know not what they say.
then tell em to shut up or FLEA will come round and chin em.
My friend told me he thinks bass is useless and that he can never hear it in music.
I asked him what his favorite band is, and he said The Who.
I think John Entwistle is rolling in his grave.
Yeah, no doubt. I'm glad my 35 year bass playing career is starting to wind down....But you guys that have only been playing since the 90s are, indeed, screwed.
drones are just large remote control weapons etc. they are not sentient(yet)and its gonna be a long time before anything can recreate the sensitivity, feeling , and just plain ole human instinct that the human brain is capable of ( thats without bringing the human mind into the equation)so stop worrying. i will still play my bass even if i am the last person on earth to do so.
Maybe playing bass will become edgy, like Civil War re-enactments. People collecting old instruments, hunting down all original parts, trying to recreate that classic sound....
"And here we have the last bass player of the 21st century"(at the museum of musical history). j/k
I think the ability to "ape" a machine playing bass is what's keeping a lot of bassists working.
