Bass guitar is often the musical foundation of any track, adding weight and girth. But what if the bass guitar needs thickening? Here are five ways to do it without reaching for EQ or comps.

In most of these cases it will require you to play the same part in again, or of course use one of the many audio to MIDI convertors found both in DAWs and plugins. However before the DAW some musicians were doing this to great effect simply by being great players.

Sinewave

Sometimes consider the original building block of sound, yet often maligned as boring and uninteresting, the sinewave is a great tool to thicken up a bass guitar part. The sine wave has no harmonic content, this means that when filters are applied, the only thing that happens is that the volume is reduced, otherwise it remains unchanged in character.

On some occasions this means that a sinewave synth part played under the original bass guitar is perfect for adding weight but not adding any further character. Try it out, when done well it adds something to the bass which is only noticeable when you mute the track.

Here’s an example using a funk bass part that’s quite thin. A sine wave part has been added to thicken up the bass when it plays the second time around. What’s also quite interesting about this technique is that if you listen on small speakers, for example a laptop, you can’t hear the low sine at all.

Organ

Moving up the tonal complexity a little more, the organ is also a great option for thickening up bass.

The percussive nature of certain organ timbres and the pure tone really lends itself, not only as a bass instrument, but also as a great way to add some interest to a bass guitar part.

A great example of this is on the Bob Marley song Lively Up Yourself from the album Natty Dread. Given that this was made using tape, this has to be played in by the musicians, and they nailed it.

Kick

A common sound used in lots of modern pop and Hip Hop is the 808 bass sound. Effectively repitching the kick drum sound from a Roland 808 and using it as a bass part.

However, way before the world discovered this there is a cool trick for giving a bass guitar part some extra thump which was commonly used.

It’s simply a case of making sure the kick drum and bass guitar land on the same beats. To be honest it’s been the way a lot of solid bands have worked for years, live or recording.

When mixed together this creates a nice punchy bass part. Sometimes this can get a little over the top so a sidechain is used on a compressor to duck the bass part when the kick hits. It’s worth experimenting with this technique as it’s proved to be effective on some of the biggest hits of the last few decades.

This technique doesn’t lend itself to every song and style, but when used well it really does work. Check out Roxanne by The Police as an example.

Synth

A popular way to thicken bass guitars, and particularly prevelant in the late 70s and early 80s is putting a synth part under a bass guitar. Again, this means playing the synth part in again, but by taking the trouble, it can add an extra dimension to the sound.

In the example below of She Bop by Cyndi Lauper, there’s in fact three basses being used, we have it from the man who was there - William Wittman. It’s bass guitar, fuzz bass, and a Prophet V bass.

Another good example of the effect is found on Level 42’s Something About You. In this case, it’s a slap bass and a synth.

A third great example is Cars by Gary Numan.

And of course… more Bass Guitar

It would be remiss of us to talk about layering bass guitar without talking about layering in a second bass guitar. Perhaps the most iconic of these is Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side. Played by musical legend Herbie Flowers it features both a double bass and a fretless Fender Jazz bass.

However, it would seem from an interview Flowers gave in 2005 that the reason for this was far less musical than some may think. It is claimed that he did it because as a session musician he would receive double payment because he had played twice. He got the grand sum of £17 for the session.

If you want to double up bass then consider doing more than simply recording the amp and DI. Consider playing a finger then pick part. Like vocal doubles, the minor timing differences between the part will add some size to the part.

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