MH FEATURED POLL #45: What do you think is the most/least important instrument in a band?

[beni 2149]

What do you think is the most/least important instrument in a band? Poll idea suggested by kamisama-senpai himself, @Zeus!
 

To submit a poll for the MH POLL OF THE WEEK, P.M. @beni with your poll question, choices, and state whether it's multiple choice or not.

[lichtlune 915]

If we're speaking about the standard 5 member band I'd say rhythm guitar is the least important when you consider all the 4 member bands. If I had to continue I think vocals are next. Plenty of bands have had shows without their vocalists before. Where as other instruments you need a backing track or something. 

 

As for which I think is the most important instrument? That's a much harder question to answer. I guess percussion/bass is what gives most songs their punch so I'll say that. I couldn't choose one or the other.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Neolicht

[doombox 4421]

I can't vote in the poll because I would need an "all of them" option. I don't think any one thing is more important, even if I have a bias for one thing over another it wouldn't sound good if the instruments with it didn't work in its favor. Everything has to work together for me, personally.

[Chi 2624]

For least important I voted for rhythm guitar. I like a lot of 4 member bands with only 1 guitarist and it doesn't bother me if it's not there.

 

For most important and I do not have a proper explanation I voted for drums. lol I pay attention to drums a lot...

 

Of course this is if we are talking about "5 member rock band" or "4 member rock band"

I could've voted for violinist or keyboardist but these are usually less standard

I couldn't imagine BIGMAMA without a violinist!

Edited May 9, 2016 by seurong

[TJK. 27]

It all depends on your perspective, but I won't dance around it.

For me, bass is very important, but I don't really feel one outshines the other. Besides, bassists rarely get enough attention. 

As for the least, I'd say a theremin, but it worked for Star Trek.

 

[eiheartx 1310]

The least important: bass.

The most important: depends the music style. Guitar mostly, or synths/orchestrations. it could add a real value to the song.

[Pretsy 1343]

6 hours ago, doombox said:

I can't vote in the poll because I would need an "all of them" option. I don't think any one thing is more important, even if I have a bias for one thing over another it wouldn't sound good if the instruments with it didn't work in its favor. Everything has to work together for me, personally.

Basically this even though it all depends on how members UTILIZE these instruments in the first place.

 

Therefore, they are equally important, but means of utilization and execution may rule out or emphasize particular instruments in the arrangement.

[Bear 1817]

I don't think there's a single instrument that's more or less important than the others in general as it's all about how the band want to sound, how they write their music and so on.

[TetsuAkira 289]

8 hours ago, TJK. said:

It all depends on your perspective, but I won't dance around it.

For me, bass is very important, but I don't really feel one outshines the other. Besides, bassists rarely get enough attention. 

As for the least, I'd say a theremin, but it worked for Star Trek.

 

 

I FOUND THE BASSIST GUYS

[nullmoon 784]

Bass and drums are essential for overall rhythm so I would consider them the most important although not always the instruments that stand out. 

 

Guitars are more there for character and awesomeness

[peffy 3568]

For me, the vocalist is the most important. I can forgive an instrument player who is not quite perfect (if I even notice at all), but if the vocalist has a voice I don't like, or if they are off key in a bad way, or if their delivery is boring, etc, I just can't listen to the band at all.

And if there's no vocalist, I'm not interested in the first place.

 

I voted "unlisted" for least important, but my real answer is "it depends". Some bands could drop their bassist and you wouldn't even notice, while others heavily feature their bassist. Bands that have violinists should feature violin in most of their songs, otherwise why do they even have a violinist in their lineup?

 

(By the way, if we wanna be grammar nazis, the question should probably be "most/least important MEMBER in a band", since the options are people's job titles..)

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

I'm having difficulties choosing as I think they're all equally important too, if we're talking about a standard 4-5 member rock band. But I voted drums for most important and rhythm guitar for least important. The drums bring the foundation of a rock band and it would seem really empty without one. As for rhythm guitars, a band can work just as well without one.

 

If not for a standard rock band, I'd vote synthesizers as least important. I prefer hearing the basic instruments than the synthesizers.