Distortion on bass: 5 reasons why you need to do it.

Here are five reasons why you should consider introducing distortion to your bass playing, no matter the genre



1: It gives you another flavor



Many bass players use one sound and one sound only. This can become boring for both the player and the listener, especially after a while. Of course, the bass has one primary role to fulfill. It needs to keep the music groovin’ in cooperation with the drummer. But this does not mean to sound boring, or the same for the whole night, or does it? Just the right amount of drive on a bass guitar can make any groove feel a tad more different and unique, no matter the genre







2: Distortion makes bass sound more even



A distortion is a form of compression. As anyone who regularly records or edits distorted guitars surely knows, the soundwave of a clean and a distorted guitar looks very far apart. And the same goes for a distorted bass. Overdriving a bass guitar makes it less dynamically unpredictable. It brings down the more aggressive transients. That way, the bass sounds more balanced, and it can be easier to work with even for the sound engineer!







3: Helps you to get out of a rut



As musicians, we often fall in patterns and ruts with our playing. Do you know that feeling when you just don’t know how to make your playing different and exciting again? Trying a new technique or hearing an inspiring sound can work miracles in this scenario. Distortion affects both real projection and our perception of different harmonics in the sound. Thus, it makes us hear the same notes differently – with a different color. This can be hugely inspiring.







4: Cut better through a mix



Distortion on bass attracts attention, isn’t this some kind of a rule? If not, I think it should be from now on