Bass 🐟 vs Bass 🎸

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From the brains behind brainson, it's Smash Boom Best. The show for people with big opinions. Hi, I'm Molly Blue, and this is Smash Boom Best. The show where we take two things, smash them together, and ask you to decide which one is best.

Today is a real base off of Bass, Bass, Bass, if you will. Listen closely because we're pitying bass against Bass. That's right. Bass guitars, known for bobbing rhythms and low end licks, and Bass fish, those shimmery swift swimmers in lakes and seas.

Here to make some noise for team bass guitar is podcaster and host of weirdly helpful and care and feeding, Zach Rosen. And making ways for team bass fish, we've got science Friday hosts for a lickedman. Yes, team bass, these fish are off the hook. And here to judge this fishy and threaded frucus is Emma from Austin, Texas.

Emma competes with her marching band, works at a magic camp where she teaches kids how to do magic, and tries out a new recipe every other week. Hi, Emma. Hi, Molly. Okay, so I want to hear about this magic camp.

How old are the kids your teaching magic to? These kids range anywhere from elementary to around 15 years old, and I get to help teach them interesting new trick illusions and how to make really cool magic puppets.

“That is so cool, so how long have you been doing magic for?”

I've been doing magic about three years, I always keep trying to learn new things, so it's

always growing. That's so cool. So what's the first kind of beginner trick you would recommend for kids who are interested in doing magic? I would say a good illusion magic is always a fun one to learn, like a slight of hand

with a deck of cards, because everyone always has decks of cards. That's really cool. So I feel like maybe your skillet, slight of hand, I be related to your musical abilities, like you compete with a marching band, so what instrument do you play? I play clarinet for marching band, and then recently I've been doing auto saxophone

for jazz, so I do think that there's a little bit of a correlation. You got to wiggle those fingers so fast. Oh yeah. What's your favorite song you play in marching band right now? My favorite song, I really like a lot of John Cole Trains music.

He is a jazz player, and he's one of my favorites right now. That's really awesome. Well, we're so glad you're here. We'll base when the race, or we'll bass make a bigger splash, let's argue it out.

The first here are the rules of the game.

Every debate consists of four rounds, the declaration of greatness, the bike around, the sneak attack, and the final six. After each round, our judge Emma will abort points to the team that impresses her the

“most, but she'll keep her decisions top secret until the end of the debate.”

Listeners, we want you to judge too. Mark down your points, as you listen, at the end of the show, head to our website, smash boom.org and vote for whichever team you think won.

Absolutely. You got it. Let's slap bass. That it's time for the declaration of greatness. In this round, our debateers will present a well-crafted immersive argument in favor of their

side. Then they'll each have 30 seconds to rebut their opponent's statements.

We'll flip to coin, and Flora, you're up first.

Tell us why these super swimmers are awesome. Winners. Okay, y'all, there are a few things I know to be true. Rambos are delightful, pizza is the perfect food, and bass. I'm talking about the majestic, acrobatic, elegant fish, demand are respect and admiration.

And look, I have a first-fin experience with them. Let me take you back to my salad dish. As a kid, I spent summers with my grandparents in a little cabin on a Lincoln Inn. It was not fancy, but it was my favorite place, and my favorite thing to do there was to go fishing.

We'd wake up before the sun was out, grab a few black licorice from the candy jar, and get into a metal robot with a little upward motor attached to it and steer it right to the weeds. That's the corner of the lake with the Willie Pads, and that is where the largemouth bass lived.

You'd want to cast a top-butter lure right at the edge of the pads. That was the spot. Then you'd sit there and you'd wait and wait and wait till all the ripples from the splash disappeared, and then you'd twitch that lure ever so gently, so it looked like a minnow flopping on the surface.

Now, look, you had to get all that choreography just right, because if you didn't, you'd

never catch that lunker of a bass.

“They're too smart, so that's how I got to know these fish, sitting for hours, hoping I”

could fool them, and usually not succeeding. But bass are so much more than a worthy, angular adversary. They've got amazing variety, they're tricked out with cool abilities, and they're great parents. Let's dive in.

This is a name shared by a ton of different fish. You've got the classics, like largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, spotted bass. But there are also stunning ones like the Georgia Red Eye Bass, with Ruby colored eyes and bright orange fins.

The rare gold in largemouth bass, that's jeans make it look like swimming lemonade, or the pretty peacock bass, which can have bright green orange and gold scales with a spot

on the tail that looks like an eye.

I mean, come on. Paging the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we need a bass exhibit. Who made this beautiful work of art? Vincent Van Gogh? Vimeine?

I believe it's a fish, my dear. It's divine, it truly puts the art in aquatic, fill up the bathtub, honey, I'm taking it out. So they're fancy, they make a splash, but they also have super senses.

Like a lot of fish, they have something called a lateral line. It's this line of special cells along the side of their body that can detect stuff, like small vibrations in the water. This sensor can act like an alarm, letting a bass know when a predator is on the way, even if they can't see it.

It can also help them locate their dinner when the water is murky and hard to see through. And bass can learn.

“There's research that suggests they recognize fishing lures they've seen before and remember”

to avoid them. I have lived this one. Oh, wait a minute. So the bass might be swiping left on my lures. I can't believe I'm being outsmarted by a bass.

Believe it. And if that's not enough reason to love them, check this out. Bass are supremely devoted dads. In a male large mouth bass is ready to start, a little fishy family. He will build a pizza-sized nest at the bottom of the lake.

And if it's a good nest, a bassy bay will come and leave some eggs. Then guess what? That is on duty. Bass dads can spend weeks skipping meals to protect their nest from predators. Once the eggs hatch, daddy bass will swim around keeping those baby fish safe as they start

to grow.

“Meanwhile, bass guitars famously never have kids and if they did, I think we can all”

imagine how bad they'd be at parenting. Dad, I need some advice. I had a fight with my best friend, which I do. What? That's not helpful at all.

So let's recap. There were the adversaries, their natural beauties, their super sensors, and dedicated

I think the choice is obvious. For the wind, choose the fin. They are officially the best. Incredible.

“I can see that little bass, sipping out of his number one dad mug.”

Emma, what stood out to you in Florida's declaration of greatness. I knew there was a lot of fishes that had bass in it, but I didn't know there was a peacock bass fish, which really intrigued me. And with the sensors, it's calling the lateral line, I didn't know that either. So much good info there.

Well, Zach, it is time for your rebuttal. You get 30 seconds to tell us why we should pass on bass and your time starts now. Well, you might not have understood what that bass said when I was like, "Don't. Don't. But I heard exactly what it was saying.

You said, "Talk it out with your friend. I'm a good dad." And actually, you might not know any basses that are good dads, but there are some very devoted bass players who are dads. Try flea, for instance, the basses of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“Do you know any anglers who have cool names like that?”

There's also like Bootsie, what a cool name. Finder Cat, sting.

The most famous fisherman that you've never heard of have names like Kevin Bill, Rick and

George. What'd you like to say anything in return? Yeah, you don't, Zach. I feel like I have some fish to fry. I feel like you're just, you're not hooking into the alluring glory.

That are bass fish, and look not everybody speaks bass like you, you and flea. Oh man, okay, hold on to those Woody remarks. We're going to come back with more debate right after this. Today's episode is sponsored by every plate. Every plate is the affordable low stress way to cook great meals while also balancing

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Ditch the dinner time dilemmas with every plate. cast to get 2.99 per meal on your first box plus 10% off for a month. Ditch the dinner time dilemmas with every plate. Mass. Mass. Mass. Mass. Mass. Mass. Mass. Mass. Back to bass and bass. We just heard about bass, the fish. Now let's hear about bass, the guitar. Zach, it's your turn to tell us why these guitars are superstars.

Anyone with ears can hear why bass is ace. Like, hear that groove. That is the sweet thump of the bass guitar. Makes you want to bob your head up and down, right? Bass guitar looks pretty similar to a regular guitar. It just has a longer neck and four strings instead of six. The strings are much thicker too, which helps make that load thumping sound, also known as bass. It's that low hum you feel from lower deep notes on

any instrument. So bass guitar has a very low deep range, but it still offers plenty of variety. It can be real funky. Help drive a punk song or even scout.

“Ever hear a fish scout? Me neither. Bass is low key. Sometimes it might even take a second to pick out a song,”

but that's because it's a team player. Like, check out how it pairs with drums on Queens, another one bites the dust. Or how it drives, tame and paulas, the less I know the better. Settle. But once you start hearing it, you can't stop.

In terms of history, bass guitar is a recent but revolutionary instrument. Before the bass guitar,

musicians use big, heavy acoustic instruments, like the upright bass, to play super low tones.

hard to move around, and weren't that loud. This all changed when electric instruments burst into

“the world in the 1930s. As bassy blues music became more popular, the electronic bass guitar”

was perfected with its official invention in 1951, right when rock and roll really took off. Electric bass, help rock and roll sore, which dominoed into Motown, funk music, and countless other genres. It fundamentally changed music since its invention. No matter the genre, bass really is the glue of any song. It links all the parts and holds the song together. Sometimes basses like a drum, adding rhythm or beat to a song.

But bass can also help with the melody or tune of a song. Bass is the Hanuman Tana of Instruments, because you get bass of both worlds. Unlike Hanuman Tana, the bass is not showy. It's the cool, calm, collected cucumber of the band. Say you're at a show, and there's a band with a drummer, looking razor-focused with their tongue hanging out, trying to keep the pace for the whole band. The singer is center stage,

twirling their hands as if to cast spells, la la lying away to the audience. While the guitarist is, let's face it absolutely milking it with a shredding solo. But the bass player, they're chilling in the corner, just grooving. No ego, just the best haircut, the coolest fit, nodding their head along, laid back, but steady. Effortlessly holding it all together, so the song doesn't totally fall apart.

And bass just isn't about peak vibes. It's about science. Research suggests that humans use lower pitch sounds to keep the beat in music, and were more likely to notice a mistake with low notes, rather than with higher pitch notes. So biologically speaking, bass needs to be on point to keep the show going. It's truly the heartbeat of music. Can a bass fish match that biology? Or the groove?

That range or that rhythm? Me thinks not. Who gets first place? It's got to be the bass.

You can't argue with that cool and groovy declaration of greatness. Emma, what's set out to you about Zack's argument? I really like how you can keep the tempo, and with a bass,

“you have to not make a mistake, because you can hear the lower notes. In order to do this,”

you also have to keep tempo. And I thought it was really funny how you brought up Hannah Montana, because that is, that's a classic. Absolutely. All right, Flora, it is time for your rebuttal. You get 30 seconds to put the bass in its place, and your time starts. Now, well first of all, Zack fish can scatter. They scatter a lot. I think anyone who's in counter to fish or has a fish thing knows that they are scattered central. So look, I think

your argument needs a tune up. First of all, bass guitar is just a regular guitar with fewer strings. It's like an upright bass but smaller, and bass is having the best haircut. I think we all know that's not true, Zack. Come on, come on. This is really a debate over the beauty,

beauty, and the world. We are always reaching to make that a few times. You know, I'm not going

to fret. I'm just going to hold it down. Stay grounded. Excellent. Excellent. Well, Emma, it is time to award some points. Please give one point to the declaration of greatness that you like to best. And one point to the rebuttal that one you over. You get to decide what makes a winning argument. Did one team bring the facts? Did another team have better stories? Did one team make you groove? Did one team make you think a word your points? But don't tell us who they're going to.

“Have you made your decision? I believe so. Excellent. Zack and flower. How you feeling so far?”

Thank you. I feel confident. Like a six pound small mouth bass. Put it rolling the leg. It is time for a coic break to your strings and cast your lures. And we'll be right back with some more smash boom best. You're listening to state of debate home to rage in rhetoric and awe-inspiring argumentation. What's up, debate fans? Taylor Lincoln here with my man from another fan Todd Douglas. Oh, hey, Tay, are you ready to rumble because we are late for the big game?

We were originally going to go to the medium game, but Todd's magnets took us to the big game. And now we're living large unlike the two fans we just passed. Oh, yeah, those two were in the middle of an argument and one of them kept using a logical fallacy. A logical fallacy is a

Woo, I can't wait for this game. It's going to be so epic. Oh, you can say that again,

Fran. I always love the season opener, the fans, the food, the fresh cut feels. Oh, nothing can beat it.

You got that right, Sam. Except the field hasn't been freshly cut. It's turth. What? Artificial grass. What, you're telling me they replaced the real grass with fake grass? Ah, that's bogus. It's going to ruin the game. Well, there are pros and cons that are for sure, but that doesn't

“mean it'll ruin the game. Fake grass is terrible. It ain't right. It ain't natural. The only way”

you can play a real game is on real grass. We're going to need a flag on that logical fallacy. Yeah, Sam's argument was a textbook example of the appeal to nature fallacy. That's when you argue something must be right just because it's natural. Just because the game isn't taking place

our real grass doesn't mean it'll be bad. Well, we got to get going if we want to make the big game.

See you next time on. Stay up to date. Smash boom. Best. You are listening to Smash Bill Best. I'm your host Molly Bloom. And I'm your judge Emma. And we love getting debate suggestions from our listeners like this one. My name is Sullivan and I'm from Wilmington, North Carolina. My debate idea is rain versus snow.

“A stormy showdown. I love it. We'll check back in at the end of this episode to see which side”

Sullivan thinks should win. And now back to base versus best. Get ready for round two. It's the micro round. Zach and Flora. You will each get three chances to make a micro argument backed by a cool fact. Flora started things off last round. So Zach, you're going to go first this time. Let's hear your first base fact. Well, Flora said bases have four strings. Most do, but in 2022, a YouTuber made a 69 string base guitar breaking the world record for most strings

on a base guitar. Well, okay. Well, that is a toughy base guitar. Here's what I'd say.

Base guitars are support instrument for the rest of the band. The American black bass. I'm talking about the small mouth and the large mouth bass. They are the apex predator. They are the top of the food chain, the lead guitar of the pond, not the background rhythm section, the lion of the lake. Well, legendary music producer Quincy Jones begs to differ Flora. The guy who helped make Michael Jackson's thriller reportedly said quote without the fender base. There'd be no rock

in roll or no motown. The electric guitar has been waiting around since 1939 for a nice partner to come along. It became an electric rhythm section. And that changed everything.

“You know what changes everything for the creatures that live in a pond or a lake and apex predator?”

Let me tell you what I mean. These baths they eat the stuff you'd expect like crayfish, snakes, frogs, but they've also been known to chow down on, wait for it. I'm a bird's turtles, mice, musk rats, even bats. Who needs an apex predator when you can have a base pecs predator? Here's a base mystery, the legend of the funk machine, an electric base with a golden starburst pattern in the word funk carved into it. It was owned by James Jamerson, who was the basis

on all the classic motown records. Steve Wander, the Supreme's Marvin Gaye, they all recorded with Jamerson. And you've definitely heard his base. If you know the song "My Girl," do do do do do do, or you can't hurry love. Those low notes all thanks to the funk machine. Sadly, the guitar was stolen in the 1980s and no one knows what happened to this legendary instrument. It's a lost treasure. Maybe someone chucked it in a lake or something.

And some bass is just rocking out. This is the heavy hitter. I know you love magic. Bass fish have the ultimate magic trick. I know you know this, but we have to call it out. These fish live underwater. That is an insane superpower. The base guitar can't do anything without us. The base can't do anything without us. It just sits there. Meanwhile, these fish can do something we can't even dream of doing. They live in a completely different world.

Whew, those are some really, really good facts. I learned a lot. Emma, what grabbed your attention in that whole parade of facts? I really enjoyed learning what bass eat. That's not just in their own area, but also birds and turtles, but also I loved learning about Quincy Jones and the fact

sorry to say that only one of these sides can get a point. The criteria are totally subjective

“and totally up to you. Have you made your decision? I have. Fantastic. Hold tight.”

We'll be right back with more debate after this. Want smash boom best without the ad breaks? Join Smarty Pass and get an ad free feed of this and all the other brains on universe shows. Plus you'll get to do virtual hangs with me and the crew

and discounts on merch. Sign up at brainson.org. Thanks. We are back and it's time for our third round.

The super stealthy sneak attack. This is our improvised round where debaters have to respond to a challenge on the spot. Today's sneak attack is turn the tables. Flora, we want to know if a bass fish were an instrument, what kind of instrument would it be and why? And Zach, if the bass guitar were an aquatic animal, what would it be and why? Let's hear about a bass inspired musical instrument. All right. If a bass were an instrument, it would be the clarinet. Not just because Emma and I

play the clarinet, but because the clarinet has incredible range, just like bass. It can do

so many things in a band. It can be the solo star. It can be hanging in the background. It can eat the muskrat. It can eat the crayfish. That is why the bass fish is a clarinet. I'm just picturing a clarinet now eating a muskrat. Very good. Zach, let's hear about a bass inspired aquatic animal. Well, you know, we gotta go with an electric eel. They generate electric current and they can like shock you with their cool, with their cool voltage. They hunt with electricity. They defend. They navigate.

And, you know, they are like the coolest under the sea creature that can just hold it down under the water. Very good. Those are really excellent answers, both of you. But Emma, it's time to pick opener for this round. Did you make your decision? I think I did. Oh, okay. Then let's move on to the last round. It's time for the final six. In this round, each team will have just six words to sum up the glory of their side. Zach, give us one last riff for the bass guitar. No bass.

No heartbeat. No breath. Very nice. Flora, it's your turn to sell us on the wonders of this watered

weather. Fancy, super sensing, data-licious underwater breathers. Amazing. Mmm, very, very good.

“Oh, you guys are really good at this. I am sorry, Emma, but you have to make a decision. Please”

award a final point to this final six. Emma, have you made your decision? I have. Oh, excellent. Tally up those points Emma. Are you ready to declare one team the smash boom best? I believe so. Oh my gosh, okay drum roll, please. And the winner is Bass or bass the guitar. Oh, wow. That was so heartbreaking. That's when they read the wrong movie at the Academy Awards. That was the, yes. That was a warm baby moment. Thank you.

I've been mixing them up this whole taping. So Emma, what did it? What pushed it over the edge for the bass guitar? I think that it was all of the facts in the micro round with the interesting parts that I didn't know, and in the rebuttal with the red hot chili pepper. Well, you did it. Yeah. Flora, I genuinely want to go fishing now. After hearing the story about you growing up in Maine, it is a beautiful counterpoint of, you know, jamming with your friends

“in the garage is great, but like having some solitary time out on the lake, I think we could all”

use some of that. I certainly can. I loved your passion for these for the fish, and I learned a lot, and I love bass now in a way that I genuinely didn't before. Right back at you, I feel the same ways that I can't wait to listen to music. I was hating on on the bass, but it's all the

I cue something up. Well, that is it for today's debate battle. Emma Crown, the bass guitar,

“the smash boom bass, but what about you? Head over to smashboom.org and vote to tell us who you”

think won. This episode was produced by me, Molly Bloom, Santa Totten, and Mark Sanchez. We had sound designed by Rachel Breeze and Mark Sanchez. We had engineering help from Jake Perlman and our

announcer is Marley Foyer Worker Auto, and we want to give us special thanks to Austin Cross and Taylor

Kaufman. Flora, is there anyone you'd like to give a shout out to today? I'd like to shout out my

“grandmother who taught me how to clean a fish. And how about you Zach and your special shoutouts?”

The biggest smash boom bass fans in the world, my children, Noah and Amie and my wife here and our puppy Yuki. Oh, and how about you Emma and your special thanks for shoutouts? I'd love to shout out my family, my mum, my dad, my grandparents, and my two brothers, Pike and Jack, and all my friends who helped me through this. And one more special shout out

to my amazing debateers, Zach and Flora, and the wonderful host, Molly Bloom.

Ah, Emma! Just making me blush over here. Okay, before we go, let's check in and see who

“solve and think should win the rain versus snow debate. I think snow would win because we're lots”

of fun things to do in it. Like snow ball fights, building snowmen, and lots of fun sports. If you're between the ages of 13 and 18 and you'd like to be a judge, or if you're any age and you have an idea for a knock-down drag-out debate, head to smashboom.org/contact and drop us a line. And if you're a fan of the show and want to keep it going, head to smartypass.org to subscribe. We'll be back next week with a new smash boom best episode, seaweed versus peanuts.

Bye-bye! See you later, bye-bye! Oh, bad luck with the rest. It's a smash boom best. It's a smash boom best. Does this make sense? Uh, as much as this entire episode makes sense. [laughter] Yep! Uh-huh! Excellent!