What does BASS mean to you?

seonnthaproducer · February 2021

Alright, here we go again. Here's some dude posting random stuff late at night.

GO TO SLEEP, SEONN

Nah, who am I kidding? I've been thinking about what makes a song a song. Vocals, Melody, Drums, and Davie504

But for real. Bass is the subtle, yet important spice in the food called music. What does bass mean to you?

Here's a short video on how I use bass on iOS and Android.

The real question is...what do you use for bass sounds?

P.S: Experimented a little bit with the editing on this, so it wasn't too tutorial heavy.

wim · February 2021

Telstar5 · February 2021

audiobussy · February 2021

@wim said:

This was very informative. Thank you

seonnthaproducer · February 2021

@wim That's a nice looking set of bass.

echoopera · February 2021

https://media.giphy.com/media/14u9f5BG1jiXiU/source.gif

Daveypoo · February 2021

ruggedsmooth · February 2021

tput73 · February 2021

Mike Watt is what bass means to me

Gravitas · February 2021

The bridge between rhythm and melody

lsd87 · February 2021

@Telstar5 said:

Wow...Jaco and a very young Pat Metheny....what a band!

celtic_elk · February 2021

The Artist’s all-time biggest hit, "When Doves Cry" [Purple Rain], is most distinctive because of its lack of a bass line. The song had one but it was pulled at the last minute. "They were almost done editing the movie," he explains, referring to his big-screen debut in Purple Rain. "‘When Doves Cry’ was the last song to be mixed, and it just wasn’t sounding right." Prince was sitting with his head on the console listening to a rough mix when one of his singers, Jill Jones, walked in and asked what was wrong. "It was just sounding too conventional, like every other song with drums and bass and keyboards. So I said, ‘If I could have it my way it would sound like this,’ and I pulled the bass out of the mix. She said, ‘Why don’t you have it your way?’" From the beginning Prince had an inkling the tune would be better bass-free, even though he hated to see the part go. "Sometimes your brain kind of splits in two -- your ego tells you one thing, and the rest of you says something else. You have to go with what you know is right."

So bass can work against a song then? "Not necessarily. ‘When Doves Cry’ does have bass in it -- the bass is in the kick drum. It’s the same with ‘Kiss’ [Parade]: The bass is in the tone of the reverb on the kick. Bass is a lot more than that instrument over there. Bass to me means B-A-S-E. B-A-S-S is a fish."

https://sites.google.com/site/themusicinterviewarchive/prince/prince-1999-bass-player-magazine-interview

McD · February 2021

I had to find something to share and landed in this:

Time to load that into Koala and see what I can chop out of it.

echoopera · February 2021

But in all seriousness:

ChancedMusic · February 2021

I come from two worlds. I’m a bass player, mostly rock. For me, that means I’m that critical point where melody meets rhythm. I’m the filler between the guitars and the drums. You may not know I’m there but you’ll sure as shit know if I’m not.

On the other side, bass is such a focal point in modern EDM and Hip-Hop. Its where a lot of the movement comes from for me. The synths and drums are all interesting and add flavor, but bass is what gets you moving.

I think my favorite quote comes from Suzi Quatro: Guitar is for the head, drums are for the chest, but bass gets you in the groin.

ChancedMusic · February 2021

@Gravitas said:
The bridge between rhythm and melody

Boom. Said it before I could.

@echoopera said:
But in all seriousness:

Haha yes. My dad actually asked me to make this meme for him. I was so proud.

Fingolfinzz · February 2021

I usually build everything up from the bass, it’s the most important piece to me. As for bass sounds, I really like upright samples a lot. I’ll also use a bass guitar a lot or my Model D, I really enjoy the crazy fat bass I can get out of the D. The M1 organ is always a blast too and I like using the 303 sounds but with a slower tempo so it gets really funky. Slap bass is awesome too. Funk is the best and funk is the bass. I really like bass.

shinyisshiny · February 2021

808s

Samu · February 2021

Clueless · February 2021

Octobass all the way.

Spidericemidas · February 2021

I think Bass is the thing you feel the most physically when listening to music. It grounds a mix and provides groove and enhances rhythm. You don’t tend to feel mid-higher frequencies, and when they get too much they just hurt your ears. But bass at higher levels is almost like a nice body massage!