I am still working on creating a Visual Kei metal song with a focus on technical skill. Yet I still have a problem with doubling the riffs on bass I come up for the guitar (I use a VST for guitar I only play bass guitar).
bass guitar has longer freets which means you have to move bigger for playing the same riff as a guitar, and you also need a lot more strenght on your plugging hand and not just speed.
so, it definitely would make sense to claim that playing arpegios and fast (16th and 32th) are harder on bass guitar than guitar, YET, how would fans of technical metal view this? is it expected that the bassist can double all the riffs of the guitarist, or is it accepted for the bassist in the scene to simplify the riff to make it easier playable on his instrument?
knowing this definitely would help me a lot, so that I can know how much I can make the guitar VST help me out to make the song sound more impressive than my playing and when it would get shameful for the actual fans of the genre
Honestly, when I listen to technical metal I can hardly ever hear the bass, so this isn’t something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. I could see the point behind your argument and concede, since I can barely play arpeggios on regular guitar. But you should play whatever serves the music best. If the bass sounds too busy double tracking arpeggios, maybe simplifying it is best.
I would be willing to listen and give you some more concrete thoughts! But my personal thoughts without listening is that not everything has to be technical 100% of the time in order to be considered technical metal. If the simplicity of the bass allows the guitar to be more complex, and it sounds good to the ear, then that could be a worthy substitution.
I think this depends a lot on the genre - in my photography career i’ve done jobs for black churches whose bassists are just running arps up and down the neck like it’s second nature. Not presented as “technical” per see just full of energy and serving the music.
I definitely agree w/ what y’all say tho about easily getting too busy.
I think that in this sorta church music, bass plays a lot more leading / motivating role while guitars fill in, add texture and sparkle - so the bass can get away with a lot more business as we pass all its mid and high frequencies through the mix
Whereas in metal/rock/punk/vkei kinda guitars music, the bass usually plays a more harmonic-establishing role, save for some parts eg Mucc Yukke plays highlighting the bass melodies (as the rest of the band calms down to give him space).
Anecdotal and maybe unrelated but one of my favorite things is when guitars repeat or vamp in one place and the bass runs around to make the same guitar notes end up becoming different chords each time. So even when the bass is in that harmonic role, def doesn’t mean there’s no room to show off and go heavy on theory