Play Better Bass : The Relationship Between Bass And Drums

As bassists, it is essential that we learn to trust and openly communicate with our comrades on the drums. Bassists and drummers should have a healthy, honest and trusting relationship. Below, I have outlined several key points that you should consider when working and locking in with your drummer.

Both the bass Player and the drummer are responsible for keeping the rhythm section together. Nothing drives a song like the bass and the kick working together. Even if the bass is playing a cool groove or some kind of slapping pattern, it should still be locked in with the kick so that they are hitting the major “groove points” together.

Most professional bass and drum masters understand the subtleties of “beat placement.” Essentially there are three ways of playing “time” in any musical situation:

1) On TOP of the beat (slightly ahead of the metronome Click)

2) In the MIDDLE of the beat (dead center with the metronome click)

3) BEHIND the beat (slightly behind the metronome click)

It is not always that bass and kick need to hit every note together. Each instrument may add independent 8th or 16th notes, but as a general rule the quarter, half and whole notes should be locked together. Sometimes there is a need for space in the music; it sounds better if the drums and bass parts are not both busy at the same time. However, if the bass player tends to keep a very steady low end (less busy) feel free to “play around the beat” more. You do not want to have the bass and drums going in different directions wildly.

Listen to bass players like Rocco Prestia, Jaco Pastorius, Flea and Mark King for bass lines that are busy but perfectly locking in with the Drums.

Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare

In a lot of rock classics the kick drum plays on every second quarter note, while the bass lines are straight 8th notes or in a shuffle swinging 8th. In rock and pop styles of music, the solid relationship between the bass drum and snare drum is vital to a deep groove and feel; the dependence of keeping time on the hi-hat or ride cymbal. Good drummers take the dependence of right hand (or left) as time-keeper, and apply it to the bass drum and snare drum where it belongs, thus freeing up the right hand to play more interesting patterns on the cymbals.

The legendary Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare combination is a wonderful example of how drum and bass can sound as one unit. They are Jamaica’s most prolific drum and bass duo: since they started working together in 1975, they have played on more tracks than any drum and bass partnership I know of. They have backed and produced virtually everyone on Jamaica, from Peter Tosh to Sean Paul.

Besides the music the sound (tone) also plays a very important role, both for live playing, and in a recording context. The key to EQ’ing drum and bass tracks is to contain each track in its own space to keep your tracks from competing for the same frequencies. It’s important to remember to do this all in moderation if you want a natural sound, but the rules are always different depending on the genre and the sound you’re going for.

To highlight “snap”, “attack” or a “plucked” sound, make gradual tweaks of the frequencies between 800 Hertz and 2 Kilohertz. Just make small adjustments, listening carefully and checking how your bass and kick reacts to moderate increases or decreases in each of these frequencies. This is a way of finding where a particular sound “lives.” In other words, the main frequencies that give this sound its main “colour.”

If you boost a frequency in the kick it could be a good idea to cut the same frequency in the bass. If you boost the same frequency in both instruments you might get an artificially hot mix that does not sound as loud as it should.

This Image Shows How EQ Could Be Used To Create Space in The Mix.

DYNAMICS—Soft, loud and all points in-between. The bass and drums should aspire and utilize dynamics as a rhythm section, thus propelling and lifting the musical ensemble to higher levels of tension and release. When there are moments of opportunities to rise and fall with the music, define these sections and work them out dynamically. Oftentimes, this will expose how well you and the drummer are locking in and how much you are really listening to each other. This seems like a given, yet dynamics are often overlooked by many performers. Try just getting together with your drummer and have a bass/drum rehearsal. Find the moments in the song that you can add dynamics.

Till Next Time, Let There Be Bass!!!

Written   By   :   Alistair Andrews