Modus Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 I was reading articles today about Pendulum and how to achieve their bass sound when I came across a certain side comment an author made... He said that you may not want to replicate their bass because it sounds inorganic and surgical. Well I didn't really get that. It's true their bass sound is completely unnatural, but that sound is absolute sex to me. Then I started thinking.. is that why Pendulum never caught on in a truly en masse fashion? They're too "electronic"? I always felt surprised Pendulum didn't drop a bomb on popular music, but I guess that's just my potentially bad taste. Do you think unyielding, unnatural, brickwalled bass is bad in some way? Even if it's just your taste, I'm curious as to why or why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnappleMan Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Whatever works for the song is the best bass you can use. If you get hung up on other peoples principles you'll never make music that means something to you. I mean yeah, if you're gonna be doing some jazz fusion trio where all you have is a clean electric guitar, drumkit, and fretless bass, you'll most likely want a dynamic and clean bass sound... but for most applications a brickwalled bass is a decent idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Pendulum sounds great on low-power earbuds, tho they lose appeal with every step up in listening gear. I've mostly been bothered by how bright they sound, their bass mixing hasn't bothered me. Have tried a few times to mix my stuff that loud. Link to the articles? Maybe ppl should start selling double versions of their music, earbud-mastered and dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 What I don't understand is how you can be asking if an electronica band's bass is too electronic. *face palm* Why it isn't popular is because mainstream prefers songs strong in sub-bass kicks and rapping. Or, something super duper catchy and simple like Katy Perry. Pendulum music is a little more complex, and the fact that pure techno doesn't dominate the mainstream market has something to do with it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygecko Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Pendulum are the most successful DnB act outside of Europe, because they market themselves more as a rock band. They're still not that big in the pop realm simply because the US mass market never swallowed electronic music. That was prior to Dubstep though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Link to the articles?Maybe ppl should start selling double versions of their music, earbud-mastered and dynamic. http://productionadvice.co.uk/deep-bass-sound/ That's the article that made the comment. Your point about it sounding worse on higher end gear.. I haven't felt the same. The headphones I have, ATH-M50s, bring out every nuance of their bass mixing and I love it to death. That's pretty much why I made this thread.. because there seem to be people, people I respect a lot, that don't find their heavy bass mixing appealing. Whatever works for the song is the best bass you can use. If you get hung up on other peoples principles you'll never make music that means something to you.I mean yeah, if you're gonna be doing some jazz fusion trio where all you have is a clean electric guitar, drumkit, and fretless bass, you'll most likely want a dynamic and clean bass sound... but for most applications a brickwalled bass is a decent idea. True enough, but I'm looking at it from an overall style sort of perspective where that heavy bass defines the artist. You're right about how I worry too much of what other people think though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PROTO·DOME Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I've heard they're one of the easier to catch, especially with live bait. Ohohoho, I'll be here all evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 I've heard they're one of the easier to catch, especially with live bait.Ohohoho, I'll be here all evening. My life experience confirms this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorax Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 My life experience confirms this. what's sad is that there is more detail in that little fish then there is on the figure that caught it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 http://productionadvice.co.uk/deep-bass-sound/That's the article that made the comment. Your point about it sounding worse on higher end gear.. I haven't felt the same. The headphones I have, ATH-M50s, bring out every nuance of their bass mixing and I love it to death. That's pretty much why I made this thread.. because there seem to be people, people I respect a lot, that don't find their heavy bass mixing appealing. ATH M50s are bass enhancing headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 ATH M50s are bass enhancing headphones. Most indeededly they are, but they aren't the only high-end system I've listened to Pendulum on. With our home theater the majority of songs have a clean, tight bass. Some songs didn't though. Some songs sounded kind of terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I think when Rozovian says high end listening, he means gear intended for monitoring/mixing. Flat response, non-colored etc. Home theater doesn't fit that bill at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorax Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I think when Rozovian says high end listening, he means gear intended for monitoring/mixing. Flat response, non-colored etc.Home theater doesn't fit that bill at all. Unless of course your home theater equipment is built of flat-response equipment and/or custom-tailored to counteract the natural resonance of whatever room it's installed in, but that's very unlikely. now as to what the article says, it's true, the Pendulum bass is very (VERY) inorganic and surgical, but it's also somewhat trademark in the way they do it (frequency-sculpting-wise). It’s a highly distinctive sound, and the danger of copying something this specialised is that you end up just sounding like a bad parody. I read through this and I realize it doesn't say what I'm trying to say, but I can't figure out how to say it. Whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argle Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I was reading articles today about Pendulum and how to achieve their bass sound when I came across a certain side comment an author made...He said that you may not want to replicate their bass because it sounds inorganic and surgical. Well I didn't really get that. It's true their bass sound is completely unnatural, but that sound is absolute sex to me. Then I started thinking.. is that why Pendulum never caught on in a truly en masse fashion? They're too "electronic"? I always felt surprised Pendulum didn't drop a bomb on popular music, but I guess that's just my potentially bad taste. Do you think unyielding, unnatural, brickwalled bass is bad in some way? Even if it's just your taste, I'm curious as to why or why not. It sounds like Pendulum is having a bit of a joke on people, trying to prevent them from copying their bass sound in a self-effacing way. "Oh, our bass sound sucks, don't bother trying to copy it. *snicker*" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 I think when Rozovian says high end listening, he means gear intended for monitoring/mixing. Flat response, non-colored etc. Home theater doesn't fit that bill at all. *10 second sigh* ok. It sounds like Pendulum is having a bit of a joke on people, trying to prevent them from copying their bass sound in a self-effacing way. "Oh, our bass sound sucks, don't bother trying to copy it. *snicker*" I don't think they've called their own bass sound crappy but whatever they're doing, there haven't been many soundalikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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