Writing Bass parts

[abt]

In the beginning I was writing bass guitar parts that just followed the guitar and kick but after a while I noticed that it sounded better to simplify the bass as much as possible. So if I had a guitar playing the same 8th note 8 times the bass would just play one whole note.

As style and fidelity in my recordings change, I'm starting to play with the idea of the bass going back to playing more technical bass parts and following the guitar more closely with isolated licks here and there for flavour.

My biggest concern is guitar, kick, and bass attack all happening at once.

Opinions, thoughts, shared knowledge appreciated.

 

[shred101]

I try to work a comprimize between following the guitar and following the kick but really I dont have any hard fast rules, its about what sounds good. Don't worry about intense guitar/bass/drum parts all in the same parts I would say... just write the bass to fit the guitar/kick and dont go ott.

 

[AerialThesis]

Throw the 3 of them on an aux with a compressor. Blend the signal in till you hear enough punch. careful for phase issue

 

[ahjteam]

Throw the 3 of them on an aux with a compressor. Blend the signal in till you hear enough punch. careful for phase issue

this comment makes no sense.

 

[sprack]

IMHO bass is trickier than people give it credit for. You're trying to play a bit of counterpoint between the main riff and the drums while not getting lost in the low end mud. I usually take the fundamental and move up either a 5th or sometimes an octave to stand out. B0 gets lost in the mush too often. Be there on the root when the groove hits hard. Don't get greedy and fill open air, the less notes the better.

I ignore all that is ignored if I'm playing the fretless, hit notes a 1-2 semitones off just to make the guitarist recheck his tuning. Noodle needlessly. Do as much sliding as you can to get the glorious mwaaaaah. And alternate between speed runs and half tempo grooves just to be a dick. Pretend you ARE Les Claypool in your head.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Throw the 3 of them on an aux with a compressor. Blend the signal in till you hear enough punch. careful for phase issue

Also, make sure to check the plugs at each oil change :Spin:

 

[AntonioPetrole]

this comment makes no sense.

haha i had to go back and reread the original post like 3 times cause i thought the same thing lol

 

[AntonioPetrole]

In the beginning I was writing bass guitar parts that just followed the guitar and kick but after a while I noticed that it sounded better to simplify the bass as much as possible. So if I had a guitar playing the same 8th note 8 times the bass would just play one whole note.

As style and fidelity in my recordings change, I'm starting to play with the idea of the bass going back to playing more technical bass parts and following the guitar more closely with isolated licks here and there for flavour.

My biggest concern is guitar, kick, and bass attack all happening at once.

Opinions, thoughts, shared knowledge appreciated.

and about that whole play one whole not over 8 8th notes, i think its way better to follow guitar and bass drum, but you have to play tight enough to make it sound good, just like any other instrument in a mix

 

[abt]

haha i had to go back and reread the original post like 3 times cause i thought the same thing lol

I think it was my "guitar, kick, and bass attack all happening at once" comment that has caused some confusion.

 

[Skinny Viking]

bass is not guitar and should not be approached as such. You should really be trying to create something independent of the guitars (for the most part) that tends to float rhythmically between the drums and guitars. Bass will stand out on its own that way and still fill out the rest of the sound. Of course this can really depend on the style of music you're playing but for more progressive types its the way to approach. There are no real rules and you should always do what sounds best but this approach has always worked for almost anything I've ever written.

Think of the bass more like the low parts of a complex piano piece

 

[agentmetal]

This is an open question and I believe there is no right way... but as a bass player and composer I think it's better to kind of "forget" the guitars when writing the bass parts, and focus on the drums instead (here I assume you write the bass parts once the guitars and drums are written --- that's what I also do).

When writing bass parts, I usually consider the guitar parts as a mere indication of the chords/scales I should use, and write something that sticks to the drum parts as much as possible while fitting the song's style and harmony (ie. you're not gonna have the same kind of bass parts for punk rock or for technical metal !)

I often try to be complementary to the guitars instead of following them. This means that, when the guitars are playing technical riffs or complex harmonized melodies, I will usually keep it simple on the bass and stick to a basic "groove" (ie. the root note of the chord that "should be there", and possibly the 5th above, on a rhythm figure that follows the drums). This way, you can provide a solid basis for the guitar melodies. On the other hand, when the guitars play simple power chords or single-note riffs, there's more space for the bass to do different things... Not everyone is obliged to agree with this, of course

 

[Skinny Viking]

^^^ Right ... kinda like exactly what I said