Metal bass playing

[Dexterecus]

Hey everyone.

For the past two years I've been playing bass in a thrash metal band (in the Slayer, Dark Angel, Sodom, Kreator vein). Alot of the times I'm just following the guitars, which sounds good, but this limits me. I'm trying to write more original basslines but nearly anything I write turns out to be pretty funky or too 'happy'.

Do you guys have any tips for metal songwriting on bass?

Also, I played fingerstyle on our first demos but when we recorded our debut album the producer suggested that I tried playing my parts with a pick for a more agressive tone. Ever since then I've been playing with a pick in that band, which sound good, but I don't have the flexibility of my fingerstyle playing. Is there a way to get the tone of picked bass through some sort of stomp box or eq-ing?

Thanks

 

[Skepticismistic]

If the song sounds serious, but your bassline doesn't, you could try using a different approach to note selection. You can play chord tones that fit, even if the band is playing just power chords. You can also experiement with the more dissonant tones, but they really have to fit. And don't overuse the pentatonic scale.. even if it's minor, it sounds a lot happier than the actual minor scale.

It doesn't have to be complex, usually it sounds better to simplify things. If the band plays a single note a dozen times, u can play just a few, but in a more interesting, rhythmic way.

I didn't consider the style you want to play though.. but this stuff isn't that different with different styles. There were good tips that Steve wrote somewhere here...

 

[Bassbait]

Well, I'm a guitar player. I know how the bass works, and I listen to a lot of Digiorgio's work in order to write my own basslines, and after listening to bassists such as him, Eric Langlois, Steve Harris, and Roger Patterson, I've come up with a few basic ideas to writing very interesting bass lines -

1.Understand what scale the guitars are playing, and related scales.

Sometimes a band will play, for example, the Phrygian Mode (Death, for example). It sounds really interesting for a bassist to differentiate the scale, but play in a scale that sounds vaguely similar. For example, playing in Pentatonic Minor would sound great. The guitars would sound metal, but the bass would sound bluesy. It could also work vice versa too, with the guitars sounding bluesy but the bass sounding metal. And neither scale would clash notes, so it would work really well.

2.Create roots that might not exist, but sound good.

One thing that I've always seen in Steve Harris's writing is that he can take a guitar riff that doesn't have a progression, but is just the same notes played over and over (22 Acacia Avenue, towards the end, after the first solo is an example). Harris forms the progression on his own, while the guitars follow a simple structure that repeats. I always prefer bands where the bassist and guitarists are doing different things. But if the roots sound like crap, it won't work. Harris's simple "Hot Cross Buns" bass progressions sound great with leads such as "The Trooper", "The Clairvoyant", and the aforementioned "22 Acacia Avenue"

3.Know when the bass should be a lead and a rhythm instrument.

For example, a bass solo should have the bass be a lead instrument. Songs like "Orion" and "Jealousy", by Metallica and Death respectively, have great alternation between the bass being a lead and rhythm instrument. Going back to the guitars, when the guitars are playing something simple, I think it sounds better when the bass plays something complex (for example, a simple palm muted riff like in "Master of Puppets" would sound better with the bass having a more active role). But the bass has a better passive role when the guitars are more complex, like the tapping guitar section in "Crystal Mountain".

Since I love the sound of the bass, but personally have trouble playing the instrument, I like it when the guitars and bass share equal duties, neither being strictly the lead or rhythm instrument. Death and Iron Maiden are two perfect examples, as well as Atheist and Obscura.

That's just my input.

 

[Corrda00]

As far as getting a good thrash tone with fingerstyle, it is difficult, but it can be done.

You first need massive finger strength and control. Practice attacking hard and consistant. When I play thrash I usualy play flat EQ, maybe a little trebble but not much. I hear steve harris does the same thing.