What is "bass"

Base \Base\ (b[=a]s), a. [OE. bass, F. bas, low, fr. LL. bassus thick, fat, short, humble; cf. L. Bassus, a proper name, and W. bas shallow. Cf. Bass a part in music.]

1. Of little, or less than the usual, height; of low growth; as, base shrubs. [Archaic]
   --Shak.

2. Low in place or position. [Obs.]
   --Shak.

3. Of humble birth; or low degree; lowly; mean. [Archaic] ``A peasant and base swain.''
   --Bacon.

4. Illegitimate by birth; bastard. [Archaic]

   Why bastard? wherefore base?
   --Shak.

5. Of little comparative value, as metal inferior to gold and silver, the precious metals.

6. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased; as, base coin; base bullion.

7. Morally low. Hence: Low-minded; unworthy; without dignity of sentiment; ignoble; mean; illiberal; menial; as, a base fellow; base motives; base occupations. ``A cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind.''
   --Robynson (More's Utopia). ``Base ingratitude.''
   --Milton.

8. Not classical or correct. ``Base Latin.''
   --Fuller.

9. Deep or grave in sound; as, the base tone of a violin. [In this sense, commonly written bass.]

10. (Law) Not held by honorable service; as, a base estate, one held by services not honorable; held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant, a base tenant.

    Base fee, formerly, an estate held at the will of the lord; now, a qualified fee. See note under Fee, n., 4.

    Base metal. See under Metal.

    Syn: Dishonorable; worthless; ignoble; low-minded; infamous; sordid; degraded.

    Usage: Base, Vile, Mean. These words, as expressing moral qualities, are here arranged in the order of their strength, the strongest being placed first. Base marks a high degree of moral turpitude; vile and mean denote, in different degrees, the lack of what is valuable or worthy of esteem. What is base excites our abhorrence; what is vile provokes our disgust or indignation; what is mean awakens contempt. Base is opposed to high-minded; vile, to noble; mean, to liberal or generous. Ingratitude is base; sycophancy is vile; undue compliances are mean.

Base \Base\, n. [F. base, L. basis, fr. Gr. ba`sis a stepping, step, a base, pedestal, fr. bai`nein to go, step, akin to E. come. Cf. Basis, and see Come.]

1. The bottom of anything, considered as its support, or that on which something rests for support; the foundation; as, the base of a statue. ``The base of mighty mountains.''
   --Prescott.

2. Fig.: The fundamental or essential part of a thing; the essential principle; a groundwork.

3. (Arch.)

   1. The lower part of a wall, pier, or column, when treated as a separate feature, usually in projection, or especially ornamented.

   2. The lower part of a complete architectural design, as of a monument; also, the lower part of any elaborate piece of furniture or decoration.

4. (Bot.) That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support.

5. (Chem.) The positive, or non-acid component of a salt; a substance which, combined with an acid, neutralizes the latter and forms a salt; -- applied also to the hydroxides of the positive elements or radicals, and to certain organic bodies resembling them in their property of forming salts with acids.

6. (Pharmacy) The chief ingredient in a compound.

7. (Dyeing) A substance used as a mordant.
   --Ure.

8. (Fort.) The exterior side of the polygon, or that imaginary line which connects the salient angles of two adjacent bastions.

9. (Geom.) The line or surface constituting that part of a figure on which it is supposed to stand.

10. (Math.) The number from which a mathematical table is constructed; as, the base of a system of logarithms.

11. [See Base low.] A low, or deep, sound. (Mus.)

    1. The lowest part; the deepest male voice.

    2. One who sings, or the instrument which plays, base.

       The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.
       --Dryden.

12. (Mil.) A place or tract of country, protected by fortifications, or by natural advantages, from which the operations of an army proceed, forward movements are made, supplies are furnished, etc.

13. (Mil.) The smallest kind of cannon. [Obs.]

14. (Zo["o]l.) That part of an organ by which it is attached to another more central organ.

15. (Crystallog.) The basal plane of a crystal.

16. (Geol.) The ground mass of a rock, especially if not distinctly crystalline.

17. (Her.) The lower part of the field. See Escutcheon.

18. The housing of a horse. [Obs.]

19. pl. A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mailed armor) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower. [Obs.]

20. The lower part of a robe or petticoat. [Obs.]

21. An apron. [Obs.] ``Bakers in their linen bases.''
    --Marston.

22. The point or line from which a start is made; a starting place or a goal in various games.

    To their appointed base they went.
    --Dryden.

23. (Surv.) A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a system of triangles.
    --Lyman.

24. A rustic play; -- called also prisoner's base, prison base, or bars. ``To run the country base.''
    --Shak.

25. (Baseball) Any one of the four bounds which mark the circuit of the infield. Altern base. See under Altern. Attic base. (Arch.) See under Attic. Base course. (Arch.)

    1. The first or lower course of a foundation wall, made of large stones or a mass of concrete; -- called also foundation course.

    2. The architectural member forming the transition between the basement and the wall above. Base hit (Baseball), a hit, by which the batsman, without any error on the part of his opponents, is able to reach the first base without being put out. Base line.

       1. A main line taken as a base, as in surveying or in military operations.

       2. A line traced round a cannon at the rear of the vent.

          Base plate, the foundation plate of heavy machinery, as of the steam engine; the bed plate.

          Base ring (Ordnance), a projecting band of metal around the breech, connected with the body of the gun by a concave molding.
          --H. L. Scott.

late 14c., of things, "low, not high," from Late Latin bassus "short, low" (see base (adj.)). Meaning "low in social scale or rank" is recorded from late 14c. Of voices and music notes, from mid-15c. (technically, ranging from the E flat below the bass stave to the F above it), infuenced by Italian basso. Meaning "lowest part of a harmonized musical composition" is from mid-15c. Meaning "bass-viol" is from 1702; that of "double-bass" is from 1927.

freshwater fish, early 15c. corruption of Old English bærs "a fish, perch," from Proto-Germanic base *bars- "sharp" (cognates: Middle Dutch baerse, Middle High German bars, German Barsch "perch," German barsch "rough"), from PIE root *bhar- "point, bristle" (see bristle (n.)). The fish was so called for its dorsal fins. For loss of -r-, see ass (n.2).

Etymology 1

1. Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency. n. 1 A low spectrum of sound tones. 2 A section of musical group that produces low-pitched sound, lower than tenor. 3 A male singer who sings in the bass range. 4 An instrument that plays in the bass range, in particular a double bass, bass guitar, electric bass or bass synthesiser. 5 The clef sign that indicates that the pitch of the notes is below middle C; a bass clef. v

2. To sound in a deep tone. Etymology 2

   n. The perch; any of various marine and freshwater fish resembling the perch, all within the order of Perciformes. Etymology 3

   n. 1 The linden or lime tree. 2 Its bark, used for making mats. 3 A hassock or thick mat.

adj. having or denoting a low vocal or instrumental range; "a deep voice"; "a bass voice is lower than a baritone voice"; "a bass clarinet" [syn: deep]

1. n. the lowest part of the musical range

2. the lowest part in polyphonic music [syn: bass part]

3. an adult male singer with the lowest voice [syn: basso]

4. the lean flesh of a saltwater fish of the family Serranidae [syn: sea bass]

5. any of various North American freshwater fish with lean flesh (especially of the genus Micropterus) [syn: freshwater bass]

6. the lowest adult male singing voice [syn: bass voice, basso]

7. the member with the lowest range of a family of musical instruments

8. nontechnical name for any of numerous edible marine and freshwater spiny-finned fishes

Bass describes tones of low frequency or range from 16-256 Hz (C0 to middle C4). In musical compositions, these are the lowest parts of the harmony. In choral music without instrumental accompaniment, the bass is supplied by adult male bass singers. In an orchestra, the bass lines are played by the double bass and cellos, bassoon or contrabassoon, low brass such as the tuba and bass trombone, and the timpani (kettledrums). In many styles of traditional music such as Bluegrass, folk, and in styles such as Rockabilly and jazz, the bass role is filled by the upright bass. In most rock and pop bands and in jazz fusion groups, the bass role is filled by the electric bass. In some 20th and 21st century pop genres, such as 1980s pop and Electronic Dance Music, the bass role may be filled with a bass synthesizer.

'''Bass ''' describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles. Since producing low pitches usually requires a long air column or string, the string and wind bass instruments are usually the largest instruments in their families or instrument classes.

As seen in the musical instrument classification article, categorizing instruments can be difficult. For example, some instruments fall into more than one category. The cello is considered a tenor instrument in some orchestral settings, but in a string quartet it is the bass instrument.

Examples grouped by general form and playing technique include:

• Double bass from the viol or violin family (usually the instrument referred to as a "bass" in European classical music and jazz. Sometimes called a "string bass" to differentiate it from a "brass bass" or "bass horn", or an "upright bass" to differentiate it from a "bass guitar")
• Bass guitar and acoustic bass guitar, instruments shaped, constructed and held (or worn) like guitars, that play in the bass range. The electric bass guitar is usually the instrument referred to as a "bass" in pop and rock music.
• A bass horn, such as a tuba, serpent, and sousaphone from the wind family and low-tuned versions of specific types of brass and woodwind instruments, such as bassoon, bass clarinet, bass trombone and bass saxophone, etc. (less common usage)
• Keyboard bass, a keyboard alternative to the bass guitar or double bass (e.g. the Fender Rhodes piano bass in the 1960s or 13-note MIDI keyboard controllers in the 2000s)
• Washtub bass, a simple folk instrument
• Bass drum

A musician playing one of these instruments is often known as a bassist. Other more specific terms such as 'bass guitarist', 'double bassist', 'bass player', etc. may also be used.

__NOTOC__ Bass or Basses may refer to:

Bass is a surname, and may refer to:

Bass is a name shared by many different species of fish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species, all belonging to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch".

A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E–E). Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. The bass voice type is generally divided into the basso cantante (singing bass), hoher bass (high bass), jugendlicher bass (juvenile bass), basso buffo ("funny" bass), Schwerer Spielbass (dramatic bass), lyric bass, and dramatic basso profondo (low bass).