Bass guitars (also called an electric bass, electric bass guitar,
or simply bass) are electric string instruments similar in appearance
to the guitar, but with a larger body, commonly four strings, a
longer scale neck and tuned an octave lower in pitch than a guitar.
There are also acoustic bass guitars. The instrument is a variant of the electric guitar, and is used to play the low notes in many types of music. Since the 1950s it has largely replaced the double bass in popular music, no doubt because bass guitars are easier to amplify, record, and transport than its predecessor. Nonetheless, the double bass is still used in some types of music such as jazz, bluegrass, rockabilly, and traditional blues. Electric bass guitars may be fretted or fretless, although fretted basses are far more common in most popular music settings. Fretless basses, which produce a distinctive and expressive tone, are more common in jazz-fusion music. The first bass guitars had four strings (tuned E-A-D-G, from lowest to highest), a form that is still prevalent several decades later. However, in the 1980's and 1990's, as performers sought to expand the range of their instruments, bass guitars with five, six, or even seven strings became widely available. Five-string basses typically have a low "B" string, and six-string basses usually have both a low "B" string and a high "C" string. Other variations on the four string bass are eight string (with four sets of two strings; one tuned to the root note and one an octave higher) and twelve string (with four sets of three strings; one tuned to the root and two tuned an octave above). Bass guitars, in contrast to the upright bass (or double bass), is played in a similar position to the guitar, held horizontally across the body. Notes are usually produced by plucking with the fingers or with a plectrum (pick). In the 1970s and 1980s, another style of playing called "slapping" became prominent in funk and some genres of pop music. In this style of playing, the performer slaps the low strings with the thumb and "pops" the high strings with the fingers, creating a percussive effect that is often considered to be imitative of the role played by a drummer. The vibrations of the instrument's metal strings within the magnetic field of the permanent magnets in the pickups (pickups), produce small variations in the magnetic flux threading the coils of the pickups. This in turn produces small electrical voltages in the coils. These low-level signals are then amplified and played through a speaker. A less common variant of pickup uses one or more piezoelectric elements usually in the bridge assembly directly to sense the mechanical vibrations of the strings. Different equipment is used to amplify the bass guitars, depending on the musical setting. For rehearsals, recording sessions, or small clubs, bass guitars players will typically use a "combo" amplifier, so-named because it incorporates an amplifier and a speaker in a single cabinet. Combo amplifiers usually have a modestly-powered amplifer (50 to 200 watts) and a single speaker. For larger venues, bass guitars players will often use a more powerful amplifier (300 to 1000 watts) and separate speaker cabinets in various combinations. Various electronic components such as preamplifiers and signal processors, and the configuration of the amplifier and speaker, can be used to alter the basic sound of the instrument.In the 1990's and early 2000's, signal processors such as equalizers, distortion devices, and compressors or limiters became increasingly popular additions to many bass guitars players' gear, because these processors give players additional tonal options. Bass guitars are the standard bass instrument in many musical genres, including modern country, post-1970's-style jazz, many variants of rock and roll, metal, punk, reggae, soul, and funk. Even though the double bass is still the standard bass instrument in orchestral settings, some late-20th-century composers have used the bass guitars in an orchestral setting. |
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