I am going to make this band. Music lessons and courses with me! - benlevinmusicschool.com Thank you to my patrons for helping me continue my music career - / benlevin
I have my BassVI running through a guitar amp and bass amp at the same time, I am half a band. I also have a mute switch for the bass amp and a volume pedal for the guitar amp, in case I want to do just one
My friends were in a band a few years back called "The Mountain Chiefs" that was just 2 bass VIs and drums. Your vision is very different from theirs though. They just played a ton of riffs.
Why the hell dont more music channels talk about stuff like this? The “logistics” part is great, everybody is like “cool gear this, fancy pedalboard that” but never about how you would actually do stuff with it. Great video Ben.
The bass VI is all over The Cure's album Disintegration, playing some really lovely lead lines. The way it's recorded and played gives it such a nice, icy, almost twangy sound, I love it.
Your voice sounds great in this band! Brings out a punky/emo thing in your voice i hadnt noticed as much. Can't wait to see this band, come to Vancouver haha
20 years ago, when amp modeling was sci-fi, when digital recording would still sometimes get you looked at funny, I did something similar. Not out of artistic vision, mind. But just that I had no guitar. But I had a Fender Jazz with extra bright Bartolini pickups. And a Crate guitar head that was slowly burning a hole in the wooden salad bowl it sat in, in lieu of a case. The distortion, combined with the bite of the bridge pickup, made it fun to play like a big ol' electric guitar. (The Bass VI would have been better, but they were kinda rare in the early aughts.) But it was a great way to *not* do guitar things. And it shaped the way I wrote. Less strings. More emphasis on lines and motion. If I had to have a big complicated chord, I could split it across the bass bass and the guitar bass. Cool timbres were suddenly possible. So I made crappy bass-rock. And then I put down songwriting for a while. But during this February Album Writing Month, when stuck for ideas, i picked up my Jazz again. And played it like a big guitar again, just like I did before my hair went white. And it rocked. Glad to see I'm not the only one who feels this way.
That's an interesting band concept! The songs sound really cool. Makes me think of Jacob Collier's 5 string guitar, even if somewhat unrelated. I also loved the part about burnout and practicalities! Love your videos and music, Ben!
Guitars are already so mid-heavy, makes sense to drop them down a touch to the baritone range instead, to open up that middle. Great setup for vocal-centric compositions.
And yeah the burnout thing is so real. I've had some amazing opportunities to play shows with people, but it was always such a burden to travel and bring gear and all that, and we never lived near each other, so nothing came out of it. The worst example was when I tried to bring a big heavy large format modular synth and it wore me out immediately.
Years ago, I did solo gigs with a baritone guitar (tuned in B standard) because it got the guitar out of the way of the vocals. It was plenty lush sounding for coffee house gigs.
The Bass VI seems to be getting some much deserved recognition in recent years! I suck with mine but I love it and it's definitely my coolest instrument.
Love Bass VI and I'm happy to see it getting more attention. I'm still trying to throw mine into some projects! I never thought about tuning it to G, I might check that out.
I got a new band going last year or so in which our supposed bass player left early on, so instead of bringing a new one, I decided to use a baritone I had lying around and tune it like a bass VI (in my case, half step down in Eb1 standard) That way I can combine the existing guitar and bass parts I wrote into a single arrangement while the other guitar player in the band does his own thing with a regularly tuned guitar, and when we want, we switch instrument with each other. I feel like that's such a fun way to handle a trio, keeping the band compact and easy to manage while still having a wider sound. Nice to see other people taking a similar approach!
For those interested: I use a Hagstrom Viking baritone with two P90 pickups (playing mainly with the neck pickup on for that fat, metallic sound) into a bass amp, sometimes with a bit of overdrive. Despite having thinner strings compared to a regular bass, it sounds huge! The other guitar player uses whatever guitar he has at the moment, through a guitar amp. Combined with a drummer, it's a really fun dynamic to work with :)
Man, I need to revisit your vids. I believe I entertained a similar idea to this sometie in the past, but good to see others actually exploring it out and making good examples with it. May you continue to be the musical Frank Zappa/Alfred Jarry/Bob Ross of our time. It's heart-warming and refreshing. 😊
this is a brilliant concept, honestly. i've seen drums/bass/vocals work if the bass tone is gigantic, so using some of the space for a *second* low instrument instead feels inspired. would make mixing pretty simple from an engineering perspective as well. coming from the perspective of someone who plays guitar and bass but nothing in between the bass VI seems wonderfully flexible.
I absolutely love the closing song and I’m so excited to hear more dual-Bass VI arrangements. Also i love the new 2D versions of your Blender characters. Are you creating them in 2 dimensions or somehow rendering them from 3D models? The carrots in particular look so great 🙌🏼
I currently play in a very fun band with friends- our setup is this: Me on drums Bass VI thru guitar amp Traditional bass thru bass amp Lead bass with octave pedal usually engaged. A lot of fun!!
Yea this is a really good idea (and now I wanna get a bass VI), would absolutely listen if you make it. I know nobody asked but personally I'd go for one bass VI, one 8 string guitar, and a drummer, I'd absolutely go for ampsims too, it's just easier in every way, be it analog or digital sims with IRs, they're too good nowadays. Depending on the project, having a synth/keys guy could be cool
This is like type o negative without the type o negative... Peter the bass player and vocalist from the band was so big he could do all the chords people like to do on bass iv's on a long scale bass, and the guitarist played in baritone tuning to add lower midrange texture. Their secret weapon though is an incredible keyboardist, who could simultaneously double the bass parts to supplement low end, and provide melodic lines and atmosphere! They're my alltime favorite band! Check out the album October Rust!
I have been eyeballing a baritone guitar for a few months now. Your video just got me to grab one of these Bass VI things. These songs are great, and I want to be in this band. how do I audition? these songs really rock.
Two or more basses is kind of my ideal setup band-wise, but having at least one Bass VI or similar in such an arrangement would probably be ideal to get more of the guitar high range benefits while still making crunchy walls of low end highly feasible.
When I saw this, I immediately thought of Bell Witch, since I knew they only have a 6 string bass (and drums) and create some of the most massive doom metal. What I only just learned after some googling is that they use multiple amps.
Check out the german underground band OCTO. We shared a rehearsal room with them and they are really quite special with bass/bass/drums (normal basses and no vocals though)
Would love to hear some Sweeties&Cuties vocals harmonize with yours! Also how can I improve on falsetto? I used to be able to go high enough for my purposes, and now I sound like a blown tweeter in that range ;(
I love your Guitar style...but also things like "The Wave that got away"! That said, i would like to know if you know the band Echotest: Marco Machera and Julie Slick (both on bass: V , VI string in different combinations) they do Amazing things since the last decade (2015 or something like this), They go for sperimenting but also for more straight pop-indie compositions. Your Song with two bass reminds me of King Crimson background textures! And, look how It fits and we turn to the begin of my post, July also play in the Adrian Belew Trio and Marco in his solo works plays with Tony Levin (and Pat Mastelotto, Jakko Jakszick...). Check It out if you don't know them. And finnaly: i'm a big fan of the greatest art rock band of the last two decades...BENT KNEE! But also a true lover of your style and your composition. So i hardly wait for both. A new release from BK and a new release from @BenLevin ...two instead of One, It sounds good, Don't? Sorry for my band written English. Hi from Sicily (Italy).
I love this for you, Ben! Not just the music but the human element has been very healthily considered. Way to adult, dude. I've wanted a bass Vi for a long time, is there anything you DONT like about yours? I know you're a whammy bar player first and foremost but I didn't see much whammy baring.
Bass VIs are the best! Did you change the strings to make it play in G better? My only complaint about it is that the low E string is too floppy normally and doesn't intonate well. I imagine tuning everything up a third might help that. I'm looking forward to getting Guitrongus soon, can't wait for Bass Sixongus!
My friend helped me set it up and he put the strings he uses on his baritone guitar on the bass VI and tuned it up to G. I had never played Bass VI in G and after switching back to Bass VI strings and tuning in E standard, I can confirm that the G tuning with baritone strings is more stable.
My dream band is 3 keyboardists using guitar, bass and drum libraries. all you'd need for a gig is a couple laptops and 3 keyboard or keytars (for style.) and... I dunno if anyone would care for it but it'd certainly look cool on stage.
Hey man! Sick riffs, unreal vocal accuracy 🤘 I play a 30" scale baritone (Squier Vintage Modified, discontinued) and I love your voicings, tone, the mix of them together, too! People have been sleeping on how sick these sound. Love the feel of em! With this style of music, I was thinking I would love to hear it with uni-vibe & lightly old radio static effect on the vocals! Love the chorus-coloured chords throughout the video, too. Can't wait to hear about the potential band names!! Also, have you thought about finding a vocal coach (paid or youtube) who specializes in opening up for a greater variance in tone? I've known a lot of people who get stuck in what feels like the only tone they can speak with, and the only tone that to them feels like singing... meanwhile, i mean, you've heard Matilda by Alt-J? SOOOO much variance potential in us!! Pls dont write this off as toxic, lov u m'deud! (That falsetto part around the decomposer was genius, imo) ...duck masks for live show? 🦆 I feel like you would rock tf outta shaved sides of head, btw! May your quest be epic!!
@@BenLevin really? Wow.. that is insane! My “issue” is I don’t play drums, but can get away with most other rock instruments. Do you suggest learning to play drums or learning to program them?
My dream band is keyboard, keyboard, keyboard, and keyboard, maybe an extra keyboard or two. Bass: bass synth. Chords: piano. Vocals: vocoder. Drums: keyboard drums. Extra keyboards: organ, electric piano, other synth sounds
I think my dream setup for a band would be like The Doors, guitar, keys, drums. With the keys taking care of basslines as well, you get 4 sounds for the price of 3, and ideally we'd all be doing vocals too.
i've always thought how baritone guitars are on a superior league of their own for tons of reasons. always wanted to do this with someone else in a band situation but there's not much experimentation in my town. not 7 or 8 strings- just a baritone guitar.
I have my BassVI running through a guitar amp and bass amp at the same time, I am half a band. I also have a mute switch for the bass amp and a volume pedal for the guitar amp, in case I want to do just one
Whoa! That's awesome! I think I like that even better haha.
Are you based in TX? I know someone who runs this rig, and I'm recording my bands Bass VI through two amps based on their live rig.
@@dade1603 no, I'm in Maryland
@@HughMannFace what is your band?
I'm also a musician in maryland
If Royal Blood had more of a baritone angle
1. Bass six guitar
2. Second bass six guitar
3. ????
4. Profit
HEY Kevin, what was step 3 again? uhh Step 2 was Second bass six guitar.
My friends were in a band a few years back called "The Mountain Chiefs" that was just 2 bass VIs and drums. Your vision is very different from theirs though. They just played a ton of riffs.
MOAR RIFFS!
my dream band is one (1) bass saxophone, one (1) oboe, one (1) prepared steel drum two (2) EWIs and five (5) piccolo trumpets.
Just say you want to be in a big band but like sungazer lmao
I love it
Please make this band
I'm on it!
Why the hell dont more music channels talk about stuff like this? The “logistics” part is great, everybody is like “cool gear this, fancy pedalboard that” but never about how you would actually do stuff with it. Great video Ben.
The bass VI is all over The Cure's album Disintegration, playing some really lovely lead lines. The way it's recorded and played gives it such a nice, icy, almost twangy sound, I love it.
Your voice sounds great in this band! Brings out a punky/emo thing in your voice i hadnt noticed as much. Can't wait to see this band, come to Vancouver haha
I love how you play and I could easily imagine you getting along with Omar Rodriguez Lopez
Pretty sure Omar famously gets along with nobody ever lol
He got along with John Frusciante and Flea though
20 years ago, when amp modeling was sci-fi, when digital recording would still sometimes get you looked at funny, I did something similar. Not out of artistic vision, mind. But just that I had no guitar. But I had a Fender Jazz with extra bright Bartolini pickups. And a Crate guitar head that was slowly burning a hole in the wooden salad bowl it sat in, in lieu of a case. The distortion, combined with the bite of the bridge pickup, made it fun to play like a big ol' electric guitar. (The Bass VI would have been better, but they were kinda rare in the early aughts.)
But it was a great way to *not* do guitar things. And it shaped the way I wrote. Less strings. More emphasis on lines and motion. If I had to have a big complicated chord, I could split it across the bass bass and the guitar bass. Cool timbres were suddenly possible.
So I made crappy bass-rock. And then I put down songwriting for a while. But during this February Album Writing Month, when stuck for ideas, i picked up my Jazz again. And played it like a big guitar again, just like I did before my hair went white. And it rocked.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who feels this way.
With two Basses You're never Lost!!!
It worked amazingly for Animals as Leaders.
Love that last song
Bro the bug reaaaaally threw me 😂
he's the band's manager
@@supermanofficial XD
I love the new sound! You're a good boy!
Your a champion ben Levin. I love what youre doing!
The songs are incredible 🤯 especially the last one… the vocals are on. point.
That's an interesting band concept! The songs sound really cool.
Makes me think of Jacob Collier's 5 string guitar, even if somewhat unrelated.
I also loved the part about burnout and practicalities!
Love your videos and music, Ben!
Those screams at the end are so good!
thank you Ryan!
Guitars are already so mid-heavy, makes sense to drop them down a touch to the baritone range instead, to open up that middle. Great setup for vocal-centric compositions.
And yeah the burnout thing is so real. I've had some amazing opportunities to play shows with people, but it was always such a burden to travel and bring gear and all that, and we never lived near each other, so nothing came out of it. The worst example was when I tried to bring a big heavy large format modular synth and it wore me out immediately.
this is one of the best videos i've watched in all my life it's got it all!
Your style reminds me of Everything Everything! Love them.
nice video
nice songs
nice bass vi
btw such music and tones reminded me of TTNG
great job ben!
Thats not fair man, way too relatable song lyrics. Also, thank you!
Yesss. More Bass VI love is always welcome.
Love this!
Years ago, I did solo gigs with a baritone guitar (tuned in B standard) because it got the guitar out of the way of the vocals. It was plenty lush sounding for coffee house gigs.
The Bass VI seems to be getting some much deserved recognition in recent years! I suck with mine but I love it and it's definitely my coolest instrument.
Love Bass VI and I'm happy to see it getting more attention. I'm still trying to throw mine into some projects! I never thought about tuning it to G, I might check that out.
I got a new band going last year or so in which our supposed bass player left early on, so instead of bringing a new one, I decided to use a baritone I had lying around and tune it like a bass VI (in my case, half step down in Eb1 standard)
That way I can combine the existing guitar and bass parts I wrote into a single arrangement while the other guitar player in the band does his own thing with a regularly tuned guitar, and when we want, we switch instrument with each other.
I feel like that's such a fun way to handle a trio, keeping the band compact and easy to manage while still having a wider sound. Nice to see other people taking a similar approach!
For those interested:
I use a Hagstrom Viking baritone with two P90 pickups (playing mainly with the neck pickup on for that fat, metallic sound) into a bass amp, sometimes with a bit of overdrive.
Despite having thinner strings compared to a regular bass, it sounds huge!
The other guitar player uses whatever guitar he has at the moment, through a guitar amp. Combined with a drummer, it's a really fun dynamic to work with :)
Love The Bass XIIs! (?)
Can we hear the full songs somewhere? Definitely lots of interesting things going on!
Ayy, those screams at the end were sick, tho! 👌
lovely everything here
Man, I need to revisit your vids. I believe I entertained a similar idea to this sometie in the past, but good to see others actually exploring it out and making good examples with it.
May you continue to be the musical Frank Zappa/Alfred Jarry/Bob Ross of our time. It's heart-warming and refreshing. 😊
These mixes are tight, Ben. The tone reminds me of this west coast 3-piece group called Floater (the album Stone by Stone)
This is sick. Drop the album!
I'd go see this band in a heartbeat!
this is a brilliant concept, honestly. i've seen drums/bass/vocals work if the bass tone is gigantic, so using some of the space for a *second* low instrument instead feels inspired. would make mixing pretty simple from an engineering perspective as well. coming from the perspective of someone who plays guitar and bass but nothing in between the bass VI seems wonderfully flexible.
Such a cool concept
I absolutely love the closing song and I’m so excited to hear more dual-Bass VI arrangements.
Also i love the new 2D versions of your Blender characters. Are you creating them in 2 dimensions or somehow rendering them from 3D models? The carrots in particular look so great 🙌🏼
i love it. the songs are really really good
Funny this comes out after I joined a band with only 1 guitarist, so I've been experimenting using chords on my bass to fill things in.
I currently play in a very fun band with friends- our setup is this:
Me on drums
Bass VI thru guitar amp
Traditional bass thru bass amp
Lead bass with octave pedal usually engaged. A lot of fun!!
Yea this is a really good idea (and now I wanna get a bass VI), would absolutely listen if you make it. I know nobody asked but personally I'd go for one bass VI, one 8 string guitar, and a drummer, I'd absolutely go for ampsims too, it's just easier in every way, be it analog or digital sims with IRs, they're too good nowadays. Depending on the project, having a synth/keys guy could be cool
Tones kinda remind me of pinback at times, which often has tons of room for vocals, so that makes a ton of sense. Very fun video
This is like type o negative without the type o negative... Peter the bass player and vocalist from the band was so big he could do all the chords people like to do on bass iv's on a long scale bass, and the guitarist played in baritone tuning to add lower midrange texture. Their secret weapon though is an incredible keyboardist, who could simultaneously double the bass parts to supplement low end, and provide melodic lines and atmosphere!
They're my alltime favorite band!
Check out the album October Rust!
Ben teasing me over here with a nonexistent left handed Squier bass VI
Sometimes I forget how talented he is in like everything related to music (the guitar riffs are crazy). Also the visuals are awesome as usual!
looking forward to the album....................................
I would love to see you redo the Zelda modes videos. I go back to them all the time.
I want to learn bass 6 now
Can we talk about how good Ben's fry scream is?
I have been eyeballing a baritone guitar for a few months now. Your video just got me to grab one of these Bass VI things. These songs are great, and I want to be in this band. how do I audition? these songs really rock.
Best I've ever heard a bass VI sound 😮
same idea as *tony* levins Stickmen, where its two guys with chapman sticks
Two or more basses is kind of my ideal setup band-wise, but having at least one Bass VI or similar in such an arrangement would probably be ideal to get more of the guitar high range benefits while still making crunchy walls of low end highly feasible.
When I saw this, I immediately thought of Bell Witch, since I knew they only have a 6 string bass (and drums) and create some of the most massive doom metal. What I only just learned after some googling is that they use multiple amps.
Been mildly obsessed with the Bass VI since Exit_International used one extensively on their second album.
Love the bass VI. check out The Evens!
Wanted to mention them too!
I want an album!
Check out the german underground band OCTO. We shared a rehearsal room with them and they are really quite special with bass/bass/drums (normal basses and no vocals though)
Would love to hear some Sweeties&Cuties vocals harmonize with yours!
Also how can I improve on falsetto? I used to be able to go high enough for my purposes, and now I sound like a blown tweeter in that range ;(
I don't have a Bass VI, but I have a Jazzmaster Baritone. I'm ready.
I'll do it
You might like pinback. They sometimes play with 2 bass guitars. Loro is perhaps the best example of this.
I love your Guitar style...but also things like "The Wave that got away"! That said, i would like to know if you know the band Echotest: Marco Machera and Julie Slick (both on bass: V , VI string in different combinations) they do Amazing things since the last decade (2015 or something like this), They go for sperimenting but also for more straight pop-indie compositions. Your Song with two bass reminds me of King Crimson background textures! And, look how It fits and we turn to the begin of my post, July also play in the Adrian Belew Trio and Marco in his solo works plays with Tony Levin (and Pat Mastelotto, Jakko Jakszick...). Check It out if you don't know them. And finnaly: i'm a big fan of the greatest art rock band of the last two decades...BENT KNEE! But also a true lover of your style and your composition. So i hardly wait for both. A new release from BK and a new release from @BenLevin ...two instead of One, It sounds good, Don't? Sorry for my band written English. Hi from Sicily (Italy).
Hi Ben! How did you learn how to scream like that??? sounds so cool
I love this for you, Ben! Not just the music but the human element has been very healthily considered. Way to adult, dude.
I've wanted a bass Vi for a long time, is there anything you DONT like about yours? I know you're a whammy bar player first and foremost but I didn't see much whammy baring.
0:53 Reason One: sick ass tax write-off
Bass VIs are the best! Did you change the strings to make it play in G better? My only complaint about it is that the low E string is too floppy normally and doesn't intonate well. I imagine tuning everything up a third might help that. I'm looking forward to getting Guitrongus soon, can't wait for Bass Sixongus!
My friend helped me set it up and he put the strings he uses on his baritone guitar on the bass VI and tuned it up to G. I had never played Bass VI in G and after switching back to Bass VI strings and tuning in E standard, I can confirm that the G tuning with baritone strings is more stable.
@@BenLevinThank you!!!
You should check out morphine. It's just bass, sax, and drums and the bass only had two strings and was played with a slide.
this goes
🙏Wonderful … You ought publish these …
3:05 …
Love it
Yeah it's either two bass VIs or one charlie hunter
Those singing heads are banger
The reverse: 2 ukuleles and death growls
You should check out the band Floatie. They do something like this
I’m in a 3-piece guitar-less band. 4-string bass only. I’m in heaven.
Nice MTG card display in the background :)
My dream band is 3 keyboardists using guitar, bass and drum libraries.
all you'd need for a gig is a couple laptops and 3 keyboard or keytars (for style.)
and... I dunno if anyone would care for it but it'd certainly look cool on stage.
Genghis tron did something similar.
So essentially an amalgam of The Cure and On Gaku: Our Sound
Ah, now it all makes sense. Any favourite colour combos or deck architypes?
Check mate!
In my solo project im always playing bassvi with single coils, all low, all super groovy
Even if you don't tour, I think your song with this instrumentation sounds great & hope you share more!
Hey man! Sick riffs, unreal vocal accuracy 🤘
I play a 30" scale baritone (Squier Vintage Modified, discontinued) and I love your voicings, tone, the mix of them together, too!
People have been sleeping on how sick these sound. Love the feel of em!
With this style of music, I was thinking I would love to hear it with uni-vibe & lightly old radio static effect on the vocals! Love the chorus-coloured chords throughout the video, too. Can't wait to hear about the potential band names!!
Also, have you thought about finding a vocal coach (paid or youtube) who specializes in opening up for a greater variance in tone? I've known a lot of people who get stuck in what feels like the only tone they can speak with, and the only tone that to them feels like singing... meanwhile, i mean, you've heard Matilda by Alt-J? SOOOO much variance potential in us!! Pls dont write this off as toxic, lov u m'deud! (That falsetto part around the decomposer was genius, imo)
...duck masks for live show? 🦆 I feel like you would rock tf outta shaved sides of head, btw!
May your quest be epic!!
I swear to god, Levin - if you make me buy a bass VI after not knowing I needed to buy a bass VI..
I wonder if Nelson Can had similar thoughts prior to making music together
Hi Ben, who is helping with the drums in your arrangements? Fantastic
i'm programming them, thank you!
@@BenLevin really? Wow.. that is insane! My “issue” is I don’t play drums, but can get away with most other rock instruments. Do you suggest learning to play drums or learning to program them?
My dream band is keyboard, keyboard, keyboard, and keyboard, maybe an extra keyboard or two.
Bass: bass synth. Chords: piano. Vocals: vocoder. Drums: keyboard drums. Extra keyboards: organ, electric piano, other synth sounds
I think my dream setup for a band would be like The Doors, guitar, keys, drums. With the keys taking care of basslines as well, you get 4 sounds for the price of 3, and ideally we'd all be doing vocals too.
Check out October Rust by Type O Negative 😎Keys, guitar, bassist who can do chords
I have a van and want to be artistically satisfied.
the text looks like the lyric booklet font in Super Furry Animals' album "Guerilla"
edit: actually this whole video has Guerilla era SFA vibes
Those tunes rip
how could you do this to me when i already desperately want a bass vi and im so broke (great video as always good sir)
Played a Bass VI in what we called a "Garage-Math" trio in college. Still look back fondly 🥲
i've always thought how baritone guitars are on a superior league of their own for tons of reasons. always wanted to do this with someone else in a band situation but there's not much experimentation in my town. not 7 or 8 strings- just a baritone guitar.
I WANT TO BE IN THIS BAND WITH YOU
I recently met that fly
kinda reminds me of Pinback!