What is a dark sound?

[itu]

Dark sound emits under 20 lumens to a surface that receives less than 5 lux.

[Jackroadkill]

For me it would be a fat bottom, a tight-ish waist and a rounded top half.

[crazycloud]

On 20/10/2023 at 22:54, tauzero said:

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

It's nebulous and means whatever you want it to mean. The only way I've ever been able to understand another person when they use these sort of descriptors is to be in the room and listen to what they play or change to know what it means to them. And even then, not always.

[OliverBlackman]

18 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

So faint, dull, and lacklustre.

Many describe Pino’s P bass sound as dark. I don’t think anyone would use faint, dull or lacklustre. If they did, surely it’d result in a trip to BC jail.

[T-Bay]

Do you feel it (physically not emotionally) as much as hear it? That’s dark. Bright is the opposite….. At least that’s what it means to me.

[Chienmortbb]

14 hours ago, itu said:

Dark sound emits under 20 lumens to a surface that receives less than 5 lux.

I think you are being a little light-hearted.

 

#Seriously though, your humour is even more impressive as English is not your first language

[shoulderpet]

For me this epitomises the term dark

https://youtu.be/yCd1vXsvkV4?si=HjmTdyQUaLG_SXHk

 

Kings of Leon charmer for anyone that doesn't want to click on the link

Edited October 22, 2023 by shoulderpet

[neepheid]

I don't think it matters.  I'll take whatever you think "dark" means with regard to sound and disregard it because it is unlikely to tally with what I think it means.  Which is fine.

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

For me this epitomises the term dark

https://youtu.be/yCd1vXsvkV4?si=HjmTdyQUaLG_SXHk

 

Kings of Leon charmer for anyone that doesn't want to click on the link

 

How can I tell what the pickup sounds like with all that distortion over the top of it?

[Cosmo Valdemar]

7 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

For me this epitomises the term dark

https://youtu.be/yCd1vXsvkV4?si=HjmTdyQUaLG_SXHk

 

Kings of Leon charmer for anyone that doesn't want to click on the link

The current Gibson Thunderbird pickups (well, 80s onwards) are the epitome of dark tone IMHO. 

[fleabag]

Possibly dark  , but not lacking in tone.  Certainly not woolly

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5_2s_giF_U

[NancyJohnson]

It's extremely difficult to quantify the nuances of tone by application of verbs; somewhat akin to trying to describe colour to a blind person.

 

Interesting an earlier post alluded to Alice In Chains.  I remember listening to Dirt years ago and thinking (at the time) that Mike Starr's tone was quite dark, without any context as to what dark actually means.  I suppose it's simply heavy on bass frequencies, plus a bit of overdrive.  In truth it's really not that different to the tone Steve Priest was using during the golden era of The Sweet (Sweet F*nny Adams/Desolation Boulevard), 20 years earlier.

 

As time has gone on - and given how businesses like Darkglass have curated and developed circuitry to create extremely 'dark' tones - Starr's tone has become less dark.  This is much like how what passed for heavy metal in the 1970s could now pass as radio friendly pop/rock.

 

About the only terminology that hits home for me is something I started using a few years ago.  Ponk.  It just seems to sum up the burpy/muted tone that extends from Motown through The Carpenters and even the baritone of Wichita Lineman.

 

 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 It just seems to sum up the burpy/muted tone that extends from Motown through The Carpenters and even the bass of Wichita Lineman.

 

 

FTFY 😁

[Mykesbass]

For those getting caught up on the semantics of this, bright has no dictionary definition when it comes to sound.

 

Dark is the new heft.

[NancyJohnson]

11 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

FTFY 😁

 

Oooh.  I honestly thought he'd used a baritone guitar on that.  So there's two channels of bass, then.  The ponk on the intro/left channel is Campbell playing Danelectro Longhorn (apparently).  Carol Kaye played a regular Precision on it.

 

This is quite beautiful:

 

[chris_b]

Give me dark, warm and punchy every time. Just like the original Bartolini pickups and preamp I put in my Precision in the late 80's. Lovely sound.

[rushbo]

On 21/10/2023 at 16:30, tauzero said:

 

https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-opposite-of/bright.html

 

dim, faint, unbright, unbrilliant, dull, lacklustre

 

So faint, dull, and lacklustre.

I'd love to see the sales assistant's face if you went in to a guitar shop and after trying out a bass you said, "That's OK, but have you got something a bit more faint, dull, and lacklustre."

 

...to be honest, every time I've ever seen the term "dark" being used to describe bass tone, I've scratched my head. And yet I know what a bright tone is. Hey ho.

Edited October 23, 2023 by rushbo

[shoulderpet]

On 22/10/2023 at 13:48, tauzero said:

 

How can I tell what the pickup sounds like with all that distortion over the top of it?

Ok, try the below video but basically an Epiphone Thunderbird https://youtu.be/EdI6EU-gYd8?si=ENCJpE81--hqrOFy

[Cosmo Valdemar]

6 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Oooh.  I honestly thought he'd used a baritone guitar on that.  So there's two channels of bass, then.  The ponk on the intro/left channel is Campbell playing Danelectro Longhorn (apparently).  Carol Kaye played a regular Precision on it.

 

This is quite beautiful:

 

That bass solo doesn't sound like a standard Dano Longhorn to me, definitely a 6 string bass variant to my ears. My Squier VI sounds very similar, but I have read Glenn Campbell borrowed Carol Kay's 6 string Dano bass for that solo. It could have been one of these.

 

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

The sound of the angels blowing the trumpets that heralds the apocalypse?  

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

The sound of the angels blowing the trumpets that heralds the apocalypse?  

 

[ead]

The sound of Suella's soul.

 

Apologies, politics.  Will get my coat.

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 21/10/2023 at 17:30, tauzero said:

 

https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-opposite-of/bright.html

 

dim, faint, unbright, unbrilliant, dull, lacklustre

 

So faint, dull, and lacklustre.

Context matters, in this context sound.

 

And as someone pointed out it is very much like explaining color to a blind person, just in this case deaf.

 

Painters actually know what they are talking about, it isn't just the fancy bull crap it might sound to an ignorant. 

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[tauzero]

28 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Context matters, in this context sound.

 

And as some pointed out it is very much like explaining color to a blind person, just in this case deaf.

 

Painters actually know what they are talking about, it isn't just the fancy bull crap it might sound to an ignorant. 

 

So I'm deaf and ignorant?

 

Or is it that you are incapable of a definition so you're chucking out insults?

[Baloney Balderdash]

40 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

So I'm deaf and ignorant?

 

Or is it that you are incapable of a definition so you're chucking out insults?

Yes, that's exactly what I am saying!