I'm doing a 3 video series of instructional videos with MVP video on metal bass.

After watching the VERY few i could find that were based on hard rock / metal, i thought they were really lacking.

There are tons of videos for funk, jazz, and more traditional styles, and a million metal guitar videos, but metal bass is'nt really covered.

The few i've seen seem to be really beginner level videos and start with such basic info as how to string your bass, etc.

I couldn't find anything advanced. Even intermediate videos seemed to be very rudimentary.

I have a pretty good layout for 3 videos. Among other things we'll be covering

4,5,6,8, and 12 string bass
Right hand and left hand techniques
2, 3, and 4 finger plucking- picking
effects
Scales, composition
Slap plucking and strummming
Alot more.

If you were to get a video on metal bass, what would you like to see, or think is lacking in what you've already seen?

I would go no higher than a 6 string, I havent seen to many 8 and 12 string metal bassists. And in my opinion, if you can play it on a 4 string you can play it on a 12 string.

I'm a finger style player and there are a lot of techniques that i still need to learn or perfect ie. 3finger 2string strumming(Cliff Burton), Artificial harmonics(again Mr. Burton). The 3finger 2 string strumming I understand and I can do a little bit of it and I know most of it is just doing it in practice. Artificial harmonics still elude me, I have been playing for 6 years I still cant figure out how to do them on a bass.

I would also venture into different ways of accomplishing picking counts ie. doubles, triplets, quads, double picking.

sweeping would also be a place to venture. I am not a big fan of sweeping but i know a lot of power metal and black/death metal guys are really into it.

How to accomplish playing tones is another thing to know. From my experience in playing, playing at the bridge or neck produces different tone, which I hope people with any experience knows this. Playing at the bridge gives off what i call a smiley tone and playing at the neck gives what i call an O tone. This is the bast way to explain the Smiley/O tones, saying AAAHH!! with a smile is very open and full, now while saying AAAHH!! with a smile change your mouth to a circle and listen to the tone change from AAHH!! to OOWW!! Now when you play at the bridge you get a smiley tone, very open and full. When you play at the neck you get an O tone. When you need an open, full tone play at the bridge, when you need a dark deep tone, play at the neck. A lot of Black Sabbath's bass lines were played on the neck to give off a deep dark sound.

you should skip that stuff about the basses with more then 4 strings, if they need to be taught the basic they shouldn't be playing mor ethen a 4 string

Yeah, id atleast skip anything above 5 really, cos its pretty rarely used. 6ers arent so uncommon, but id stay at 5 if not 4.
Picking techniques and palm muting would be nice to see, but you already mentioned that, so good luck. I really dont know what to add:I

Thanks for the thoughts. As it's a 3 video series I'm going to keep the 5,6 and 12 strings in as I'm not sacrificing anything. It's not like if i take them out, something for 4 will be lost.

This isn't a basics series. That stuff is covered all over. I have a video already that shows beginner stuff. This is to be a more in depth series for guys who really want to progress and have things to work on for a long time, not just learn the video in a week. I don't think there's enough of that.

5 string to me seems essential anymore. I wanted to add the 6 as there are some good 6 string bassists in metal and I would like to inspire guys to stretch out and test the boundaries of the bassist role on metal.

8 and 12 aren't used often and I think it's a shame. The section they are covered in isn't about technique. It's in a section about sounds and alternatives. I use 12 alot and it's crushing. If your into harmonics, the ones you can pull out of those are insane.

All good comments and ideas. Thanks guys, keep 'em coming:)

I think all to many people wonder "How do I get as fast as SO and SO from BLAH BLAH!! " So a good instructional on how to use a metronome would probably be pretty sweet.

To be honest, theory would be good as well, like what sets metal apart from other genres, also talk about some influential bassists (Geezer, steve harris, cliff burton, and maybe martinie as well) but just a little bit, talk about different techniques (as others mentioned) and how they are used. Also, maybe different styles (because of many types of metal) such as trying to get more of a groove (ala. White Zombie) or more of a brutal fast paced feel (ala. Slayer). Maybe a *little* on downtuning. And definately talk about rhythm, and especially, soloing as well, nothing better then a metal bass solo.

My 2 cents:

1. 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12 string bass
No harm if you don't blow too much time on it, but doesn't sound particularly helpful.

2. Right hand and left hand techniques
Good.

3. 1, 2, 3, and 4 finger plucking- picking
Extremely important - you should spend lots of time here, with specific exercises to bring these skills along and up to speed

4. Effects
Same as #1.

5. Scales, composition
Good.

5. Slap plucking and strummming
Good.

For whatever it is worth:

I find Most videos very lacking. Very few people have actually released videos that are effective. IMHO, to be effective, a video has to do all of these for every topic:
- Illustrate the technique
- Provide Multiple exercises to build the technique
- Provide a non-trivial example of the technique (i.e. not a 3 second wank but a significant section of a song)

Ok, maybe that was 4 cents.

....boobies


:eek:



:hiding:

Sbassman,

Good stuff, thanks. I agree on the videos. That's why i want these to be these best I can produce. Not only will they have much better production quality than most, but will be as comprehensive as i can get across.

There will be full song sections to work with. Some with guitars and some with drum tracks.

All examples will be played at slow speed,and yes I mean SLOW not dragging and out of time, but still to fast to be played along with by someone learning, but actual slow with a click to hear all nuances and get the timing down.

After the example will be the audio tracks for practice.

All techniques will have drills for co-ordination and then full song style examples to apply in real world context.

Your guys input is awesome. Much appreciated.

And as far as the boobies, practice the video, get to be badass, then the boobies are plentiful!

Personally I would love to see a metal video focused on:
2-3-4 finger RH technique
Sweeping
Tapping
Harmonics (such as pinch harmonics and how to APPLY them to metal)

I'm assuming it would be trivial for me to mention that you really need to focus on the application to metal. Probably show how they can apply to various types of metal....seeing how Slayer, In Flames, Arsis, Zero Hour and Death are all quite a bit different from each other.

As mentioned, you may want to mention influential metal bassists to shine light on some suggested listening. Players I would mention:
Alex Webster, Steve Digiorgio, Troy Tipton, Steve Harris, Geezer , Cliff Burton, John Myung, Juan Alderete.

Hope this helps! Post something on here when it is released, I'll surely buy a copy!

Something i thougt might be a good idea is to explain different set ups for different tunings. We all know that alot of metal bands tune down, not all but alot. Explain why using different gauge strings and setup(action, string height/spacing) are important. Which brand of basses give the most ideal sounds for newbies. Just an idea.

application of slapping and tapping in metal if you are into that stuff

So, what's the timeframe for this video? Gonna let some of your TB brothers get it gratis or heavily discounted? :)

Just wondering, with 8 and 12 string, do you mean like the one that have 1 bass string and then a thin one right next to it, like pairs, or the "normal" type with 12 bass strings ?

The time frame for the 3 videos completion is looking like about 6 months to get it manufactured and available at retail and the website.

I'm looking into some alternatives to hard copy sales like streaming video by chapter and subscription service.

We'll see how it goes.

I'll definetly be posting some pieces here for my Talkbass friends and offering discounts, etc.

The 8 and 12 string sections are the doubled style, not individual strings. I've played up to a 7, but don't do it frequently enough and if you do the 6 string chapter it will translate well to 7 and 8.

Heck I'd like to see the following covered in any bass book:

1. Building a counterpoint line to the guitar riffs (ala JPJ and the guy from Pearl Jam)
2. Bass solo creation (incl. tapping and chord playing) from drum and guitar tracks (not a chord chart, although that may be useful also)
3. Full coverage of time signatures other than 4/4 3/4 such as 12/8 7/8 and 6/8, ect, with examples of driving metal basslines in each time signature (ala Tool / Dream Theatre)

I'd pay for a book that had that type of stuff. As you can tell, I'm mostly focused on trying to write basslines from guitar/drum tracks and getting interested in writing some stuff outside a 4/4 sig.

Speed and accuracy at high speed are the 2 major issues encountered by beginner metal players.
I believe it deserves a big chapter in your book, including warming up properly (ALL metal players once found themselves with no energy left after 2 songs), playing slow to learn playing fast, decent concert diet (lots of water and carbs) and 3+ finger playing.

Personally I would love to see a metal video focused on:
2-3-4 finger RH technique
Sweeping
Tapping
Harmonics (such as pinch harmonics and how to APPLY them to metal)

I'm assuming it would be trivial for me to mention that you really need to focus on the application to metal. Probably show how they can apply to various types of metal....seeing how Slayer, In Flames, Arsis, Zero Hour and Death are all quite a bit different from each other.

As mentioned, you may want to mention influential metal bassists to shine light on some suggested listening. Players I would mention:
Alex Webster, Steve Digiorgio, Troy Tipton, Steve Harris, Geezer , Cliff Burton, John Myung, Juan Alderete.

Hope this helps! Post something on here when it is released, I'll surely buy a copy!

i agree with this post 100% i would like to add steve harris/maiden to the list of bassists / bands

Just wondering, in what form is these instructions gonna come? Dvd? Book?
Its good that your willing to put in how to fit in slap and other techniques in metal.

Any updates:P?

I play metal, but don't learn metal. :p