Does playing bass softer make you sound better?!

#bass #bassguitar

[MatejErjavec]

i think the lack of high end makes the low end more present

[BillytheT]

The softer playing loses the punch but gains more pitch clarity. There's definitely something to it

[Wagwan]

Play soft to be felt, play hard to be heard! 😂

[JanilGarciaJr]

He actually goes deeper into this: by playing soft you produce less attack, which means you can increase the volume without clipping which in turns means that what you're playing is more audible.

[CrazyLife]

Some people: Playing softer makes you sound better.
Geddy Lee: Hold my beer eh.

[JokersSmile]

Playing harder gives u more volume, but playing lighter does make you more fluent

[KSDAY]

Soft touch with flats gets me the exact tone I like. Smooth and boomy.

[aaronhernandez]

I'd say that when you play harder, it's definitely crisp or sharp. But when playing softer, it's totally a fuller sound.

[thebestofbass]

If you wanna play more jazzy on an electric, it helps to play closer to the neck. When I wanna sound as jazzy as possible I’m playing on the fretboard.

[audeeophile]

it does sound lower, but you can get further by playing towards the neck - it brings out the lower frequencies even more and doesn't have the high end of playing by the bridge (which thus makes the lower frequencies sound more)

[qriofficial]

Steely Dan is one of my favorite bands of all time 😊

[stryfer]

Less aggression means less high end, thereby the low end being more prominent. When turned up to equal volume, that's what you get.

[aaronmetz]

It all comes down to the waveform generated by each attack. Hard attacks generate a waveform that has a loud transient (attack phase) and a shorter decay of the note. This gives you a more energetic and tight sound. Softer attacks have more of a balance between the attack and decay and because of this the whole note sounds thicker and more naturally compressed.

[ej_drew]

harder adds more attack and treble in a way so i think softer with the right tone can be more bass forward

[bucks]

IMO it goes back to: everything is "taste." Playing harder, especially without cutting your fingernails accentuates the high mids. While playing softer, even with a pick(?), accentuates the low mids.

There's more to it that others have mentioned, such as neck placement, volume, agility & accentuation, attack ratio?

[trappenweisseguy]

Playing softer allows the note to “bloom” and be more complex. It also gives you headroom for when you want a little bit extra on one or two notes. A hard attack gives you mainly the fundamental of the note . This is how Geddy Lee can sound the same across different manufacturers basses. It’s Because he has a hard attack plucking style.

[conorreedRC]

It absolutely makes a difference. I used to slam my strings like Geddy, Larry Graham, and Stanley Clarke all the time, but listening to guys like Pino and Michael League mellowed me out. The low end develops better when you aren't burying it in high-end attack from hard hitting.

[RoderikvanReekum]

Some things you play soft others hard to create dynamics, although soft/medium playing has my preference, let the amp do the work it is an electric instrument. There is a sweet spot and dial in the volume with the amp, if this makes sense.

[albreal]

I think the theory is that plucking the string harder accents a different area of the bell curve is the note rhythm. So softer play starts at a lower register

[daretheghost]

I think it's purely the attack. Without the aggression from the harder playing, more bass is heard. But that slight mid sound you get from the aggression is what makes metal/punk sound so good 🤘