In our days, it's almost impossible to make a good and catchy song without using bass. Check out many famous hits, no matter if it's hip hop, rock, metal, pop song. Listen it carefully. You will realize that all of them have bass. "Believer" by Imagine Dragons, "Rockstar" by Post Malone, "Havana" by Camila Cabello. These three are some songs from the top of charts and some of the best hits in 2017. Of course the whole factors that the songs were maden are playing a big role, but bass is what make us love them. Scientist explain why:
According to a study of National Academy of Scientists of USA, it is believed that bass is so important to us because our brains are wired to recognize rhythms better when they’re played at lower tones. Bass is what make us nod our heads, dance in the rythm and follow the beat.
“The low-voice superiority effect for encoding timing explains the widespread musical practice of carrying rhythm in bass-ranged instruments and complements previously established high-voice superiority effects for pitch and melody”.
Of course, bass must be in the background, and not in the center, in order to enhance the whole song.
I also searched other sources and found that one region of the brain that’s activated by listening to music we like is the primitive part of the brain that processes reward, known as the nucleus accumbens, which is surprising when you consider why humans feel pleasure. In another study, they monitored electrical activity in the brains of 35 people. The researchers played a sequence of low- and high-pitched piano notes at the same time, and every so often, the notes were played 50 milliseconds too fast. The vast majority of the people were better able to detect the offbeat in the lower tone. Then the researchers asked another group of men and women to tap their fingers to the rhythm of the same tonal sequences. When the timing change occurred, the researchers noticed that the people were more likely to modify their tapping to fall in sync with the low-pitched tone.
Bass make music and melody more addictive, more catchy, it put us in the rhythm, make our body feel the melody, prompt us to dance, and stuck with it. Ask yourself. Of all the songs you like, do they have bass in? Probably yes.
Creds to: Sara Gates