Best way to tame bass fingered.
- Thread starter xmortumx
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::XeS::
Member
Only great bassists sound good with fingestyle...if a bassist sucks and he's not very polished with his technique, the bass track will sound like shit.
It depends on the genre....if you need a heavy distorted bass sound, it can sounds like shit if the bass was recorded with fingers
It depends on the genre....if you need a heavy distorted bass sound, it can sounds like shit if the bass was recorded with fingers
Yeah I have yet to get a bass player using fingers that sounded anywhere near as good as all the others I have worked with that used a pick. Everytime they use fingers, it has sounded like fucking garbage, just awful. I'm sorry, but you cannot beat the consistency of a pick on bass. It is pretty uncommon to find someone that plays with their fingers and can deliver, the friend that I borrow a Warwick from can play extremely well with fingers, but he's just about the only bassist that can in this city methinks.
Wow, it's funny that this popped up here. I am tracking my first finger picked bassist and I immediately noticed much larger dynamic swings and blurriness then with a pick player. I'm a bit stressed as this is going to end up being a pretty dense mix and I want the bass to have the nice growl and crunch that helps it sit in the mix. I have gotten pretty good results so far with smashing the lows and de-essing the clicks with a multiband while adding a good deal of distortion to the high mids on a separate track. I think I will probably end up doing some buss comp or limiting as well.
Just slam that limiter. If he's really that bad, low pass the fuck out of it until there's only low end rumble. I think a few of you guys are a little ridiculous saying that picked bass sounds like shit, I'd prefer a good finger player before a good pick player any day, it's just the way the instrument is supposed to be played.
::XeS::
Member
Yeah, you spoke about good finger player..........but if he's not a good player, it's better if he uses a pick
Harry Hughes
âââ¬â¬
- Apr 25, 2009
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The instrument can be played however you want.
That's just absurdly closed minded to say it should only be played fingerstyle.
I guess because I use a pick means I don't "play the instrument the way it's supposed to be played", right?
xFkx
gain induction
Derp derp. This ain't double bass, and the guy ain't playing jazz. I think that electric bass guitar within metal music should be played with a pick, otherwise you're making your life and others a lot harder. Or do you tell your drummer to use felt beaters w/o triggers and go with the traditional grip while doing gravity blasts ?
DanLights
Santa Hat Forever
This is exactly my opinion and that's why I am a 50% pick 50% finger bassist. Pick playing is more for rhythmic lines and not going to complex or melodic, while fingers seem to work best for the melodies and intricate lines.
I have to say I disagree totally with this, a good bassist be it pick or finger (and I've seen many of both) will lock in with the drums and make shit heavy and groovy, in fact "heavy and groovy" is more an adjective I give to pick bass playing, of course there are many finger bass players (Alex webster is God, as many have mentioned) who also achieve ultimate groove and heaviness with his fingers, heel you could give Alex Webster or Ryan Martinie a Fisher Price bass with a 20 watt harleybenton amp and it would sound fucking heavy and tight.
Personally I think the whole "no pick is better, no finger is better" battle to be childish and pathetic, when there is audio proof that both methods can give world-class tone when mastered
John_C
formerly Skeksis268
If you don't think this then you're wrong
Overall though, most of the worst bass playing is due to poor fingers technique, pick is a safer option.
Jackal_Strain
Sigurd Løberg
I agree that both finger and pick players can be "heavy and groovy", but my experience is that those few finger players that really knows what they do, do this more often and better than most pick players.
This is probably due to the fact that mastering finger style playing for metal takes more dedication and practice than playing with a pick.
I also agree that it's stupid to argue, or say that one style is better than the other. I only wanted to say that finger style can sound really good in metal.
Morgan C
MAX LOUD PRESETS¯\(°_o)/¯
Post some clips man.. I don't know why everyone has such trouble with fingered bass? Here's a clip of the first band I ever recorded (mine), where the bassist was COMPLETE SHIT. He played about twice in the entire year before recording this, most riffs I had to help out with getting the frets right, the battery was running out on a shitty bass, and every note was quantized. But it still sounds damn good imo, no popping, nice sick distorted bass sound.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/324723/Ascendancy - 03 - Four.mp3 [can hear without guitars at ;24]
Clips of what you're currently getting would help a ton..
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/324723/Ascendancy - 03 - Four.mp3 [can hear without guitars at ;24]
Clips of what you're currently getting would help a ton..
DanLights
Santa Hat Forever
The instrument can be played however you want.
That's just absurdly closed minded to say it should only be played fingerstyle.
I guess because I use a pick means I don't "play the instrument the way it's supposed to be played", right?
I said before that it was my preference. How is my post any more close minded than saying that fingerpick sounds like shit?
Josh Burgess
Member
Stuff like this is why I've decided to use both picking and finger style when I track bass parts for my stuff. I think for the really heavy/techical/groove shit, using a pick just sounds more clean and aggressive... but I still like to mix in some tapping/touch style & finger style playing for clean melodic sections.
But like everyone else said, if you have to deal with 100% fingerstyle, use a lot of compression and limiting. The point is to try to get rid of all of the dynamics of the bass pretty much. You want the tone and volume of the bass to be even and consistent. It sounds like the wrong thing to do, but for heavy/distorted sections, it's the right thing to do, IMO. You can always play with more dynamics for cleaner/melodic sections. There's nothing stopping people from playing bass live like this either... I don't know why more people don't use both styles. If I ever played bass live in a band (I'm mainly a guitarist) I'd use both pick and finger style playing... just depends on the type of music or part of the song...
But like everyone else said, if you have to deal with 100% fingerstyle, use a lot of compression and limiting. The point is to try to get rid of all of the dynamics of the bass pretty much. You want the tone and volume of the bass to be even and consistent. It sounds like the wrong thing to do, but for heavy/distorted sections, it's the right thing to do, IMO. You can always play with more dynamics for cleaner/melodic sections. There's nothing stopping people from playing bass live like this either... I don't know why more people don't use both styles. If I ever played bass live in a band (I'm mainly a guitarist) I'd use both pick and finger style playing... just depends on the type of music or part of the song...
egan.
daylightdies.com
A big trick is that fingerstyle doesn't and will not sound like a picked bass and the biggest issues are when the player and/or engineer are trying to make it sound like it is. I've never had any complaints about my tone as a fingerstyle player but it's also understood that it isn't going to (or suppose to) sound like exodus. Fixing playing inconsistency is the same whether it's picked or plucked bass or even clean guitar - compress alot and copy/paste the best played parts.
For me it is all about the part. I am mainly a guitar player but do stints playing bass in bands, best thing I have ever done. But I tried really hard to approach it like a bass player and it taught me a lot about the foundation of music.
Anyway I much prefer finger players that do it right. Or hell even better, fretless players that do it right. Think Death's Human, or Individual Thought Patterns, or Cynic, Obscura, Cannibal Corpse, Spastik Ink/Blotted Science, Dream Theater, Opeth, and the like.
So then it becomes also not how you play, but what you play. If what you are doing sounds like shit, then do something else, maybe simplify, or a different octave, or lock in more with the drums.
All that said, some styles and such call for a pick. Sometimes I want that sound. I even use different picks for different sounds. Or throw some distortion on there or an octaver.
Anyway to the OP. As many others have said, limiter for sure, I like the TBT Tube limiter I got for free somewhere. Adds a some tubular fatness that is sweet. Multi-band comp. I have also used a transient designer (Dominion or the one in Cubase), parallel compression, parallel distortion (aux the track to a guitar amp sim/distortion and blend). Distortion is a limiter with grit and cuts off the right lows. Can be just right.
Another more pop trick is to sidechain the bass from the kickdrum. Emphasizes the attack and mimics more clarity. With fast double kicks though, things can get ugly and you want a really fast compressor.
Or just bury it in the mix. If the player is that bad anyway, why let his poo be all over the place.
Anyway I much prefer finger players that do it right. Or hell even better, fretless players that do it right. Think Death's Human, or Individual Thought Patterns, or Cynic, Obscura, Cannibal Corpse, Spastik Ink/Blotted Science, Dream Theater, Opeth, and the like.
So then it becomes also not how you play, but what you play. If what you are doing sounds like shit, then do something else, maybe simplify, or a different octave, or lock in more with the drums.
All that said, some styles and such call for a pick. Sometimes I want that sound. I even use different picks for different sounds. Or throw some distortion on there or an octaver.
Anyway to the OP. As many others have said, limiter for sure, I like the TBT Tube limiter I got for free somewhere. Adds a some tubular fatness that is sweet. Multi-band comp. I have also used a transient designer (Dominion or the one in Cubase), parallel compression, parallel distortion (aux the track to a guitar amp sim/distortion and blend). Distortion is a limiter with grit and cuts off the right lows. Can be just right.
Another more pop trick is to sidechain the bass from the kickdrum. Emphasizes the attack and mimics more clarity. With fast double kicks though, things can get ugly and you want a really fast compressor.
Or just bury it in the mix. If the player is that bad anyway, why let his poo be all over the place.
Paulie!
¯\(°_o)/¯ How Do Trigger?
- Apr 29, 2010
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The instrument can be played however you want.
That's just absurdly closed minded to say it should only be played fingerstyle.
I guess because I use a pick means I don't "play the instrument the way it's supposed to be played", right?
+1.. you're not supposed to play a guitar with a violin bow either.. but then we wouldn't have Dazed and Confused...
-Paul
DanLights
Santa Hat Forever
@ this thread
And I thought us guitarists were bitchy with things like "fast picking" sucks and takes no talent or you cant play real guitar if you cant play fast.
Actually what I find most retarded about the whole "pick or fingers" subject is that I've seen too many guitarists simply say "bass with a pick is shit".
I once saw in another forum, one guitarist who I know is of a pretty good level of musicianship, who saw a pic of a dude playing bass with a pick (I think he played like punkish grindcore or something, which is totally what you'd play with a pick) and said "oh you play with a pick? you suck?" and the dude was like "wut" and the guy went on RANTING (yes, it was an honest rant) about how every single bassist that plays with a pick sounds like shit. Now that pisses me off totally, and it's just plain retarded to say that every bass played with a pick sounds like shit cause you would be dismissing like a million professional albums with Pro sound that have picked bass
