Making the band sound more "complete"

LivetoStrive · 03-06-2006, 10:47 PM

Hey guys, the band we have at our church consists of an acoustic-electric guitar, a keyboard, and drums. So far it sound alright, but i was wondering what the next step would be in making the band sound more complete, because so far it doesnt really sound.."full". Do we need a bass and electric guitar? If so, would the electric guitar be playing the same chords as the acoustic but just with distortions and/or effects?

MikeyMan · 03-06-2006, 10:51 PM

My suggestion is to add a bass player. That will definitely make your group sound more "full".

Nate · 03-06-2006, 10:53 PM

That's exactly the setup we usually have for our band. I would almost kill for a bass player now and then.

The low-end is the most important part of the sound, both harmonically and aurally. It fills out the space.

guitarfreak217 · 03-06-2006, 11:36 PM

One thing that can help is for the keyboardist, if the keyboard is capable, is to use lots of pads and organs played lower on the scale, in more of a bass's range. I've found that this helps out a lot when that's all that you have for a band.

**Rainer.** · 03-07-2006, 12:46 AM

A bassist wold be great. You generally want to fill a chordal instrument first, guitar or piano/keys, then add percussion, then bass, then other stuff.

At least, IMO. Sonically, having nothing in thew low register makes for a very thin, weak sound, people tend to like to listen to deep, warm sounds rather than shrill, top heavy sounds.

Anderich · 03-07-2006, 01:31 AM

I would also agree with bassist > electric guitarist for your band.

When I play keyboard and there is a bassist, I try not to play what he/she is playing with my left hand and say stick to simple chord inversions using pads for that full/sustained sound. Without a bass, it then becomes the job of the keyboard to fill that role by playing a strong "bass line" with the left hand at the least.

Personally, I don't really like it when the lead/electric guitarist plays full on distorted chords. It tends to really drown out the acoustic and doesn't really add to the "fullness" of sound. I'm not an expert in lead playing but the lead guitarist on my team sticks to simple improvised riffs during the verse/chorus and then plays out for fills. Very rarely will he hammer out chords.

Dave H · 03-07-2006, 05:08 AM

For a while we didn't have a bass player either so our keyboard player "played" bass on the keyboard. It definately wasn't the same as having a real bass guitar but it was sufficient and really helped the sound.

gtrdave · 03-07-2006, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave H

For a while we didn't have a bass player either so our keyboard player "played" bass on the keyboard. It definately wasn't the same as having a real bass guitar but it was sufficient and really helped the sound.

I agree with all the above and especially Dave H.
A bassist should be the next addition but if one isn't available then have the keyboardist play 'left hand bass'.
I've done pro gigs with no bassist and the keyboardist covered the missing bassist's parts on the keys.
It's not exactly the same (depends on the keyboardist and the complexity of songs) but the low end of the keys can fill in that frequency really well.

psalm63adam · 03-07-2006, 07:54 AM

I think the next step is to have a flute player that can shoot flames out of his flute.

Nate · 03-07-2006, 09:58 AM

If you don't end up with a bass player, a great way to help the whole band (as opposed to just the keyboard player) fill out that end of the spectrum is to choose chord voicings wisely. A progression like D A Bm A G D A D (I just made that up, by the way) wouldn't sound all that exciting on its own, but mess with those voicings to give you a nice walking bass line D A/C# Bm A G D/F# A/E D or something like that, and it's a heck of a lot more interesting. Even if the guitar and the keys don't always play the inversions exactly as listed, as long as someone attempts to follow the bass line implied by the inversions when choosing their chord voicings, it will really help to give the impression that there's a bass instrument in the mix (these instruments usually move by step instead of leaping around; they use a lot of passing tones, too, so try some chord voicings that have dissonant bass notes [maybe D-D/C# Bm7 A-A/G D/F# instead of something like D Bm7 A D]). Try it.

nate95366 · 03-07-2006, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave H

For a while we didn't have a bass player either so our keyboard player "played" bass on the keyboard. It definately wasn't the same as having a real bass guitar but it was sufficient and really helped the sound.

Our bass player is a military officer who deploys for about a month every other month or so. In order to "fill the gap" on a temporary basis, our keyboard player has taught himself to play basic bass guitar and often he'll just pick up the bass and play when the normal bassist is not in town. Other times, especially on songs where the keyboard line is deemed more important to the feel of the song, he'll do the bass patch left-hand thing.

Nate