Do you ever feel you sound like cr*p?!

[Bassmidget209]

Hey guys and gals,

Do you ever feel like all of a sudden you sound like utter garbage? It's something that pops up for me from time to time. A few years back I played in a hardcore/punk/more or less metal band Where I would honestly say I was the weak link in the chain. Each member was stellar in their field, bar me. I wasn't awful it certainly didnt live up to the abilities in the rest of the band. I got those moments from time to time but out it down to my lowly status in the band at the time.

 

I'm now in a band where I'm in the strange position of probably being the most knowledgeable music-wise. Now I have worked to improve on both my theory knowledge as well as my technical ability but the dynamic is definitely different. However I still have these times where I feel I sound like utter shite. Most recent example being a recent recording session. Our drummer struggled playing to a clickon the day and so we had to play with him. I played all morning no problems but as soon as it was time to record me my wrist started acting weird, freezing up and all sorts. Once I was over that and recorded, listening back to me I felt I was playing through treacle. It was just this lumbering noise! It was a relatively fast paced song but I just didn't sound good. In the end the song sounds decent to my ear, once the guitars were on top. Is this just a bass thing? Is it me? Does anyone else have this problem? Or do I need to get over myself and stop posting late night rants on the internet 6 beers in?

 

[FinnDave]

Only about 15 times per gig. Other than that, I'm fine.

[Bassmidget209]

Oh Jesus I didn't even get on to gig nights....thank chirst I don't do solos....

[4000]

Yeah, all the time. I think most musicians - in fact most creative types - suffer from this to some degree, i.e. suffer massive self-doubt.

Edited September 28, 2019 by 4000

[Maude]

Quite often, but at least it's justified where I'm concerned. 

[chris_b]

I didn't like my sound tonight. I was using the TH500 which is usually the backup amp. Tried both basses but just couldn't get it right. Then 10 mins into the first set the drummer leaned over and said; "F**ing great bass sound from over here!" I didn't touch the amp after that.

[Ricky 4000]

Sound like crap or play like crap? Yes and yes, and sometimes both together! 😬

[dmccombe7]

Most times i think i'm ok within the genres that i play but then i hear someone doing an amazing bass solo like Manring, Berlin or Caron and i slide back into being a 3rd class bassist.

I get plenty of compliments from bands i play in but its when i compare against people that can truly play i don't match up.

When it comes to sound at a gig i regularly think my bass sounds off but then i see the bass Vids that people post and i think it sound great. Obviously the FOH guy is doing a better job than i am on stage regards bass tone 

Dave

[Pseudonym]

5 hours ago, 4000 said:

Yeah, all the time. I think most musicians - in fact most creative types - suffer from this to some degree, i.e. suffer massive self-doubt.

I recently finished recording my first album and released it online. Most of the way through the process, I was satisfied with the general quality and pleased with the high points. Two weeks after I had agreed with my collaborator to release it, I developed profound doubts about all the tracks but one. Was my guitar sound just that little bit too slicing? Were my keyboard parts annoyingly (rather than usefully) repetitive? Would I release it only to discover that it was aesthetically invalid, a complete disappointment to me and to anyone who heard it?

I climbed down after a few days when I got some particularly generous comments from one of the handful of people to whom I had sent the album. I'm happy with it. It isn't close to perfect but it's a decent first effort. I can stand by it. Ultimately, however, only by releasing it could I calibrate my self-doubt.

Over the course of more than twenty years as a writer, I cannot think of a single thing I have published that I did not, at some stage or another, regard as wrong-headed and fatally flawed drivel. At some point in every project, I am briefly certain that I should simply quit writing. Even though I know the finished work is always successful, I invariably have those episodes of corrosive doubt. I simply have to trust my processes and accept that self-doubt, like stage-fright for an actor, can be a necessary ingredient.

Writers can see every shortcut and shaky construction. Musicians can hear every muffled tone and misplaced harmonic. First-hand experience of assembling something can make you second-guess everything. There is a huge difference between doing something badly and not doing it as well as you know you can.

[lurksalot]

I can jam or busk along to a song at a jam night without a care in the world , I can record my own stuff at home with as many takes as I feel I neeed or have time for .....but in a studio with a time limit with the band, I feel waaaaay out of my comfort zone and really don’t like it at all. 

[mep]

I'm fine with how I'm playing and can brush off the odd mistakes. What I do suffer with at times is how I sound. Even though we only play a few places regularly I don't always sound the same if that makes sense. Usually the on stage sound is cracking and I can really get in to it.  It's the FOH sound that I can worry about. When I see other bands I feel they quite often have a letter bass sound than me. I've had good comments about my sound from fellow musicians at times and always go out front to sound check but sometimes I'm not always 100% happy. 

[Phil Starr]

Ha ha recording studios, it's like stnding in front of all of your friends with no clothes on. I hate the sound of my bass playing on recordings, you can hear everything completely unvarnished, Every undamped note, timing error, squeaks on the string, irregularities in volume etc etc. It's all very humbling. Then the recording engineer says; "bass and drums are OK, let's go again with guitar and vocals". At gigs I'm expecting someone to come along and tap me on the shoulder and say "come on now, you don't really play bass do you?"

 

We've all been there.

[gjones]

I think it's good to be critical of your own playing.

When I listen back to a recording of my band live, I can usually identify areas that I can improve on;  Things like overplaying, when the song needs a simpler line or a lack of energy, when the bassline needs more urgency, for example.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

When you get better at any skilled activity, increase in skill level also increases your sensitivity to errors - you just have to keep putting in the work in your practice and learn to not dwell on the mistakes (it is quite possible that no-one else is noticing them or being affected negatively by them in the same way that you are).

It is good to be critical of your own playing after the fact, but it isn't helpful to be listening critically while you are creating/performing, as you will get better results the more "in the moment" you are.

[Lozz196]

I don`t want to appear big-headed but no, I never think that I sound like crap, however balancing that out I never think wow I`m great either. 

[BigRedX]

No.

I don't always play particularly well, but my bass sound is always exactly what is need for the song.

[cheddatom]

Bass is very difficult to record, you have to be very precise. A lot of the bassists who come through my studio are often surprised to find that they can't actually play the riffs they thought they'd been playing live. It's quite easy to get away with just making a low end rumble live, but you can't really do that in the studio

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by cheddatom

[Bleat]

Thanks to the likes of YouTube and seeing how many excellent players there really are out there, most of which have barely learnt not to sh*t in their nappies, I find it depressing how good I should be for someone who has played close to 30 years , but how lacking I actually am in terms of technical ability.... the actual *sound* of me playing?.... well bass to my ears just generally goes boom boom  boom  , so nah dun really give a feck about that bit.. 🤪

[Muzz]

20 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I don`t want to appear big-headed but no, I never think that I sound like crap, however balancing that out I never think wow I`m great either. 

 

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

No.

I don't always play particularly well, but my bass sound is always exactly what is need for the song.

Yup, these. Took me a wee while to get to the point where I'm (almost always) happy with my contribution to a song. It possibly helps that I don't like solo bass, and I long since lost any inclination towards wide-eyed intimidation by virtuosity. There'll always be someone better...than everyone 🙂

[chris_b]

5 hours ago, Bleat said:

. . . . I find it depressing how good I should be for someone who has played close to 30 years , but how lacking I actually am in terms of technical ability.... the actual *sound* of me playing?. . . .

I know what you mean. I thought I'd be a much better player after this amount of time!

I see a few bass players out of college with a technique that I'd die for, but there is another side to that coin. Too many of them can't play a simple groove. They don't seem to lock in with the drums and sit back on it like us oldies do.

One of the drummers I play with tells me he dreads playing some numbers with these guys, because while they can play Jaco and Stanly Clarke with their eyes shut, they can struggle to play a simple shuffle.

So guys like us can still be very effective players in our bands.

Edited September 30, 2019 by chris_b

[AndyTravis]

Nope I always sound awesome.

 

🥴 (no tongue in cheek emoji)

[AndyTravis]

There are some times we rehearse in a dampened live room and I never ever like the in room sound.

The little zoom recorder always says otherwise though the next day.

I’ve chopped and changed basses a few times this year and the only time I really didn’t have much confidence in the sound was when I had an EMG p/j set in an Attitude bass. Needed a preamp I suppose, sounded beautiful in isolation but didn’t seem to push for the band.

Some days, even after 22 years I feel like my hands are on wrong and I need to practice more - and others I feel like the second coming of Bobby Vega. 

Oh well.

[Muzz]

35 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I know what you mean. I thought I'd be a much better player after this amount of time!

I see a few bass players out of college with a technique that I'd die for, but there is another side to that coin. Too many of them can't play a simple groove. They don't seem to lock in with the drums and sit back on it like us oldies do.

One of the drummers I play with tells me he dreads playing some numbers with these guys, because while they can play Jaco and Stanly Clarke with their eyes shut, they can struggle to play a simple shuffle.

So guys like us can still be very effective players in our bands.

All this +1: I play with a few younger deps (drummers especially) and the amount of overplaying can be bizarre. I think it's an age/confidence thing. I can barely manage just 'playing', so overplaying isn't a problem for me...

[Bassmidget209]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm glad I'm not the only one in this boat! It can be frustrating when it feels like something's given up on me, but I feel it is happening less and less now and my current band situation is forcing me to take a bit more responsibility as there's no where to hide! If I work out the secret I'll let you guys know!

[Pseudonym]

1 hour ago, Bassmidget209 said:

It can be frustrating when it feels like something's given up on me, but I feel it is happening less and less now and my current band situation is forcing me to take a bit more responsibility as there's no where to hide!

I think you have a solid attitude to the situation and every reason to feel confident about whatever comes along. There's no harm in having the occasional crisis of confidence, especially if you come out of it feeling reinvigorated. Thanks for raising a useful question. Best of luck to you.