How do they get that sound?

DDR4LYF

There are a few bass players that get a certain "growl". Some bands that do it:
He is Legend
Closure in Moscow
Justin Chancellor from Tool gets that sound in most of the songs on 10 000 days.
Zao kind of does it and the guy from alexisonfire gets a kind of subdued version of it.
Is it just drop tuning with a pick or is there some kind of distortion that those guys use? I just have no idea! Any wisdom on the topic of this 'mysterious' bass tone would be appreciated

LFH

DDR4LYF wrote: Justin Chancellor from Tool gets that sound in most of the songs on 10 000 days.
Is it just drop tuning with a pick or is there some kind of distortion that those guys use? I just have no idea! Any wisdom on the topic of this 'mysterious' bass tone would be appreciated

I'm not too sure about the other bands, but perhaps I can shed some light on Chancellor.

It's a combination of bass, amp, a solid understanding of effects and the way that he (they) plays.

My opinion, anyways.

AlanRatcliffe

Don't know any of the bassists mentioned, but the "growl" from a bass comes largely from the player's fingers - playing a little harder and a little closer to the bridge. It tends to be easier to get with brighter basses though - specifically maple boards and ash bodies (or maple bodies - like the Rics). I like growlier basses - I play a maple neck and body Hohner with humbucker pickups that growls very nicely.

Growl can also be accentuated by a bit of distortion - one of the reasons Ampegs are so popular is the way they have an upper mid focused distortion that really pops the growl.

Malkav

=

?

LFH

Chad Adam Browne wrote: =

?

? ??? ☹

DDR4LYF

Justin Chancellor's rig looks so awesome!

Here are some songs from my first post.

This is the link to a Closure in Moscow

=

A He is Legend song...

=

Is growl the right word for these kind of tones?

@Alan: is this the "growl" that you were talking about?

AlanRatcliffe

The Closure in Moscow doesn't growl, but has a big low end. Nice stuff, BTW and new to me - reminds me a bit of the Mars Volta.

The Legend track growls from distortion and a bit of fret buzz (which I forgot to mention as a factor, but adds some definition to a good bass track).

I define growl as anything with a Ric or a maple board Fender. ? Entwistle, Harris, Glover, Fraser, et. al. all growl, regardless what they play.

21Fretter

Can the effect also not be achieved through a very light fuzz maybe?

DDR4LYF

I get what you mean by growl now!
How much of that growl tone do you guys think comes from the amp?

@Alan: When I first heard Closure in Moscow, I immediately thought this fits right inbetween The Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria, and Circa Survive. One of my favorites at the moment!

@21Fretter: I don't know if fuzz is the right effect... its too much of a 'buzzy'. If fuzz is like a formula one engine then this growl is like a Mustang Engine, if that helps at all.

All this talk of sounds reminds me of the Frank Zappa quote, "Talking about music is like dancing about economics" ? ?

PS Entwistle's tone is fantastic!