Whether people like to think about it or not, much of the more sexy aspects of modern dance music belongs to the bass instruments, not the guitar or vocals. In some forms, like reggae and its cousin song styles, the bass is pretty much the lead instrument. In many modern pop tunes, you can almost just play the bass line, and people will recognize the song. This is why so many song styles start with a good bass groove, add in a few good drum loops, and the rest is just so much gravy. In many groove bands, the bass and drums are about all you hear, and, if you make it interesting enough, all you really need it the occasional accent by other instruments and a solid melody/vocal line. Have some fun jamming out bass notes with your drum machine or favorite drummer and see what you come up with—if it has your bandmates and/or friends and family members bouncing around the room, you’ve got a good start to your next song. If it helps, dance around a little, yourself, and try to come up with a bass part that mirrors what you feel when you strut your stuff. People should feel the need to dance when your groove kicks in, or you need to work it until it finally comes up with that needed sound. Try it out on a few friends, too, that like the dance club scene, and see if it’s something that they want to hoof to—their input could be really valuable. If it brings a smile to a lot of faces and gets them up to swing their hips, you are on to something.
THE NEW IDEA
Many a new genre has been spawned by a bass player willing to come up with an odd way of cranking out his or her part. Much of heavy metal and hard rock music wouldn’t have worked if the bass player hadn’t been willing to fill in the musical gaps left open by a lack of a rhythm guitarist. Besides reggae and modern dance music styles, many genre forms can be determined by the style of bass line they employ—that is yet another reason why it is so important to study this type of instrument—your chances of getting a song chosen by a rep may lie heavily on how well you follow that style’s bass form (or not). If you break these rules, and it still sounds excellent, you may at the very least have a song that is memorable—get it to catch on, and you may start a trend. Many musicians, too, have had fun adding effects to their bass instruments to give them a new sound or added dimension (distortion, chorus, phlange effects, and so on). It never hurts to use the bass as a lead instrument, either, and see how melodic you can get with it, and play with how up front or back it is in your particular mix. There is such a wide range of instruments that can come up with low notes, too—try playing around with different ones to add to your music, especially those on your keyboard, or instruments common to your style of music. There are so many fun ones, especially in ethnic music, that can be easily emulated by a computerized piano, or can be played by a studio musician well-versed in that instrument, and they can add that perfect bit of flavor your song needed to sound authentic to some region, or give that special signature sound to the new style you are inventing. Get brave and try a few new twists out, and see how original you can get without turning away an audience. You can always edit later.
