Gentle or hard??

Gman

Gman

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I tend to 'dig in' when playing fingerstyle and find that playing harder tends to get a more barpy and punchy sound. However that's with my Yamaha (my Warwick is due Sept/Oct)...

Just wondering whether you guys tend to play hard or gentle? My fingers would definitely prefer me to play softer!!

G
 
I've got a very hard playing style, because I always played like this, don't know why. I aggree with you, playing hard gives me just the sound I want, a soft touch can't do the job.
 
with my old bass i used to pluck as hell.
That gave me a pretty percussive sound and i liked it a lot.

With my $$ i got difficulties doing like that. The strings use to snap on the polepieces - resulting in pretty loud and noisy "clack" sounds. Tried to adjust the space between string and PU but i found out for myself that with just a little gentlier touch i still got enough punch but also a lot more of growl and bonus: No noise.
 
boebl said:
with my old bass i used to pluck as hell.
That gave me a pretty percussive sound and i liked it a lot.

With my $$ i got difficulties doing like that. The strings use to snap on the polepieces - resulting in pretty loud and noisy "clack" sounds. Tried to adjust the space between string and PU but i found out for myself that with just a little gentlier touch i still got enough punch but also a lot more of growl and bonus: No noise.
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i love a little bit of "clank" from the frets in my tone. but it can get a bit too full on when its starts hitting the poles of the pickups. im going to set up my bass really well and get a compressor too, this should even out all my tone.
 
Depends on what sound is required. Most of the time I play reasonably hard with a pic which gives me good punch and growl, but I don't get the clank off the pick ups thankfuly. For softer sound I'll play near the neck and pick gently. I'll also do that if I need more sustain as that seems to work quite well.
 
I find that to get the growl I want and like out of my SS2, I have to dig in hard. however, I would like to have a light touch and retain my growl. I have to start by changing my old strings and possibly investing in a preamp to fatten up my signal.
 
I like playing hard, but sometimes it's nice to be gentle on the bass, it all depends on the style of music.
 
I prefer light touch, that gives cleaner sound. I used to pluck/slap really hard and it took me a good few months to learn how to not to do it. With gentle touch recording is a breeze...
 
Depends upon the situation. Sometimes hard and sometimes soft. Kinda like Yin and Yang . . .
 
I generally play on the soft side because it's easier to have more control and precision on your playing. Hard and precise is tough, you have to work hard on developing it and it can be tiring especially in live situations. People tend to resort to this when things get loud. You can always crank up the volume and play lighter. (provided you have the right wattage) :D

Of course it also depends on what you want to play. When playing rock you just have to play a bit hard. You get this loud attack with the sound decaying fast after that, gives out aggression and that "BAW!" sound. On the other hand you lose fullness of sound because the string decays fast to a narrower vibration. When you pluck lighter (with the volume cranked up to get the same loudness at the time of attack) the string begins its vibration in its narrower comfort zone and stays there for longer. Better sustain, fuller sound. (blame Gary Willis for all of this) :D

Another thing, I think ligher playing gives you more control over the "character" of your attack. I can't put this in words accurately. Especially regarding a low B string I find myself getting a much tighter sound when playing light on it and nearer the bridge pickup. I play all of the rest strings closer to the neck pickup. Just my 2 cents.

Take care!
 
I find playing bass is like making love,sometimes ya gotta go hard,sometimes soft.
 
thumperton said:
I find playing bass is like making love,sometimes ya gotta go hard,sometimes soft.
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:lol:

i play softly most of the time, hate the clank of frets when not slapping and on fretless playing hard gets a nasty woody clicky noise. I get enough punch or subtlety as i want though...easier on string and fingers...but i do enjoy slapping hard.
 
Better sustain, fuller sound. (blame Gary Willis for all of this)
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Ahh, that's interesting - I've just been listening to some Dennis Chambers and Gary Willis plays on a couple of tracks and I really like his sound...kind of a bubbling Rocco Prestia sort of sound.

Hopefully when my FB turns up I'll be able to play a bit softer and still get the barpy punch I like :-)
 
Some of the words we use to describe tone are a bit subjective, but I don't think you'll have a problem getting barpy punch with your new Warwick :wink:
 
I love the sound when playing my Thumb hard, but (of course), most of the time I play soft. :wink:
 
TK276 said:
I tend to 'dig in' when playing fingerstyle and find that playing harder tends to get a more barpy and punchy sound. However that's with my Yamaha (my Warwick is due Sept/Oct)...

Just wondering whether you guys tend to play hard or gentle? My fingers would definitely prefer me to play softer!!

G
Click to expand...

Gentle touch will give more sustain, a better controlled technique, and enough "space" for accents, dynamics. If you play hard, is difficult to accentuate specific notes, your dynamic range will be " on/ off"

I've noticed that BO basses tend to react better to gentle playing, while NT sounds better when dig in ( this is just for my personal taste)

If you want FAT, LOW, and sustained sound, gentle playing is the way IMHO. If you are looking for funky sound, with rests, and short notes, where the sustain is not that important, than you can dig in too.

This is just my 2 cents
 
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I say: it depends on what the song is asking for and that how hard you strike the notes is just as important as which notes you play and when you play them.

Therefor I regard "always playing hard" as bad musicianship. Learn to play properly. What would Chopin sound like when you hit every note hard on the piano? Exactly. You're killing the song.
 
Cool Zombie Thread Alert!! :cool:


I like to dig in when playing. But lately I tend to play softer and have a more overdriven, aggressive, sound. Depends on the song, too. I don´t play the same on Queen's 'Crazy Little Thing Calles Love' than on Thin Lizzy's 'Rosalie', for example.
 
DiMarco said:
Wow this is almost 10 years ago. Do you still feel the same @Florin ?
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Let's see :-)))
Florin said:
Gentle touch will give more sustain, a better controlled technique, and enough "space" for accents, dynamics. If you play hard, is difficult to accentuate specific notes, your dynamic range will be " on/ off"
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Yup, I still think this is true. However, I guess I've always been an "On/Off" kinda player :-)
I've noticed that BO basses tend to react better to gentle playing, while NT sounds better when dig in ( this is just for my personal taste)
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Nope, who wrote this bullshit? :-)))
I think this applies somehow to BO and NT Warwicks. A streamer LX reacts great with a light touch, and I feel like a SSII asks me to dig in. I also like do really dig in a Fender P or Jazz.
If you want FAT, LOW, and sustained sound, gentle playing is the way IMHO. If you are looking for funky sound, with rests, and short notes, where the sustain is not that important, than you can dig in too.
Click to expand...

Yup, I think this is true. If you don't over compress or use high distortion ofc. When playing hard, the sound has a different envelope, with faster decay (is this the right term?)

Nice necrothread :-)
 
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