Prominence of Tetsuya's Bass, theories and thoughts
Last week I asked for everyone’s thoughts on Hyde’s change of voice in 2011. This week I want to know what you guys think about the role of Tetsuya’s bass in L’Arc’s music over the last five years. It’s a lot harder to hear Tetsuya’s bass these days in not only albums but also in live performances, so here are some theories for you guys to consider.
1. Tetsuya’s bass is not as necessary as it once was. When L’Arc first began they were clearly a four piece band, even when recording. That is to say what they played live was not that much different to their recordings. Tetsuya’s role as the bass player was thus extremely important as the band would have been thin on sound without heavy melodic basslines. As the band now has a host of people who can contribute in terms of keyboards and even orchestral arrangements, Tetsuya is no longer forced to make his bass so prominent.
2. This is a variation to point 1. Tetsuya’s bass playing has been pushed out by the desire to head in new directions of music which requires emphasis on different instruments and sounds. Whether he himself wanted to head in this direction is unknown but his bass is replaced more and more by other instruments. I would be very disappointed if this point was true as some of L’Arc’s older songs were so good because of the presence of his bass playing counter melodies to Ken’s guitar.
3. Hyde has often expressed his embarrassment at some aspects of L’Arc’s older catalogue and has made clear his excitement at their newer music. This can be seen clearly with all the new additions to L’Arc’s older songs when they are being played live such as the new intro to Ibara no Namida and the use of strings in the intro to Forbidden Lover. Tetsuya’s bass may be getting overrun by the need to “fix” older songs.
4. Bad mixing. I don’t really agree with this theory as the focus on Tetsuya’s bass has been diminishing for a while now so I don’t think it was a one off mistake or anything. It has been happening for a while now.
Please give me your thoughts everyone! These are only a few ideas and it would be great to hear more. I have never been to a L’Arc live so I can’t judge the sound of his bass in that regard so for you guys who have been tell me more about it. I’ve seen DVDs but those would be influenced by later mixing as much as the albums.
1. Tetsuya’s bass is not as necessary as it once was. When L’Arc first began they were clearly a four piece band, even when recording. That is to say what they played live was not that much different to their recordings. Tetsuya’s role as the bass player was thus extremely important as the band would have been thin on sound without heavy melodic basslines. As the band now has a host of people who can contribute in terms of keyboards and even orchestral arrangements, Tetsuya is no longer forced to make his bass so prominent.
2. This is a variation to point 1. Tetsuya’s bass playing has been pushed out by the desire to head in new directions of music which requires emphasis on different instruments and sounds. Whether he himself wanted to head in this direction is unknown but his bass is replaced more and more by other instruments. I would be very disappointed if this point was true as some of L’Arc’s older songs were so good because of the presence of his bass playing counter melodies to Ken’s guitar.
3. Hyde has often expressed his embarrassment at some aspects of L’Arc’s older catalogue and has made clear his excitement at their newer music. This can be seen clearly with all the new additions to L’Arc’s older songs when they are being played live such as the new intro to Ibara no Namida and the use of strings in the intro to Forbidden Lover. Tetsuya’s bass may be getting overrun by the need to “fix” older songs.
4. Bad mixing. I don’t really agree with this theory as the focus on Tetsuya’s bass has been diminishing for a while now so I don’t think it was a one off mistake or anything. It has been happening for a while now.
Please give me your thoughts everyone! These are only a few ideas and it would be great to hear more. I have never been to a L’Arc live so I can’t judge the sound of his bass in that regard so for you guys who have been tell me more about it. I’ve seen DVDs but those would be influenced by later mixing as much as the albums.