If you’ve ever been to a concert or a dance and stood next to the speakers, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ve felt the bass of any song pulse through your chest. It feels like the bass is pumping inside you, like your body is one with the music. It’s thrilling to say the least. (If you haven’t felt this, you haven’t lived. Get out from the rock you live under and go to a concert!)
We Millennials have outdone ourselves trying to achieve the ultimate bass experiences. Bands and DJs are exploding in popularity because they have that certain bass drop that everyone’s thirsty for. People put money into the search by paying for certain songs and remixes on the Internet, or getting subwoofers for their car or buying the most expensive headphones for a better bass sound.
Whether it be a string bass, electric bass, a beat from the kick drum, a low tuba or trombone, or an electronic keypad that gives you bass, the low driving force of songs from any genre is the bass. The thick throb of the bass is universal: Tribal music, club music, orchestra music, theatrical music, country, pop, rock, R&B, alternative, jazz, oldies, Latino, bluegrass, soul and tons of other genres of music need bass in some form to keep it moving, to support the melody and to keep your attention.
The question I’m most interested in: Why? Why does so much music require bass? Why do we feel the way we do when the bass drops, when the rhythm takes over our spirits?
1. It all started with your mom’s heartbeat
There are studies out there that argue the source of our love for low, steady, motivating sounds is our mother’s heartbeat that we heard in the womb. This beat is a crucial factor in our development. Our mom’s heartbeat was the first bass beat we heard and it’s stuck with us since!
2. It gets us moving (or twerking if that’s your thing)
Why do so many different cultures hit a drum or another object to make a beat as a custom? To dance. Why do Miley Cyrus and Beyoncé use so much electric bass? To twerk. And for those of us who aren’t as flamboyant in our movement, it’s hard to hear the bass and not at least feel your head begin to bob.
3. It sets the mood or tone of the song… and your day
If the bass is bumpin’, I would bet that so is your attitude. If the bass is slow and sentimental, you feel the feels. Scientifically, music releases dopamine in our brain, and most of this dopamine is released because of the low tones and beat the song brings to the table.
4. It gives any song depth and it supports other sounds
In music, hitting rock bottom isn’t all bad (pun intended). The bass lies at the bottom, but it brings the sounds floating on top together. You can’t hold water in a bucket without a bottom, so how could you have a song without bass?
5. It determines if you’ll like a song
There’s a lot of pressure on the bass in any song. How irregular the beat is, how intense it sounds, and the tempo of the beat are fundamental elements of music. When a song is catchy, the beat gets stuck in your head first, then the melody and lyrics follow. So if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
