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Traxan

Why is slap/pop bass so popular in Japan?

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Maybe it's just my choice of bands, but I see more Japanese bassists using the slap/pop style than finger plucking style. In some cases, it really fits, like Ue-chan in MTH. Others make it work, like Koga in Gacharic Spin or Kiyoshi with Marty Friendman. Sometimes, it's a WTF situation, like Silent Siren, whose bassist uses it a lot and they are pop. I'll defer to VK fans for how often it is used in that genre.

 

In the US there are only two prominent rock bassists who slap, Les Claypool (Primus) and Flea (RHCP). It's popular in funk and jazz, though.

 

So where is this influence coming from?

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I guess it depends on the genre or band we're talking about. I mean, Maximum the Hormone borrows quite a bit from funk music and slap bass is also not that uncommon in nu-metal. You can basically hear it in every other KoRn-inspired visual act from the 00s.

As for a lot of pop bands, my first guess would be that said bass playing technique established itself during the city pop / disco era in the 80s which was basically western smooth jazz / (synth/future) funk with a japanese twist. Then it probably just stuck... like that other unmistakably 80s thing: putting reverb on a snare.

Edited by VESSMIER

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Most Japanese bands in general seem to feature bassists that take a more melodic approach rather than simply playing the root. They’re almost like another guitarist sometimes. I’ve always wondered why bass is treated differently from western music. 

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