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VIEW FULL LIVE VERSION : Writing bass lines from demos


JimmyM
03-27-2008, 08:22 AM
When you are asked to play on a song and you're given a demo of the song, does it usually include a bassline? The reason I ask is because when people give me a demo that has a bassline on it, I find it hard to move beyond it, and sometimes they have to prod me. Give me a demo with an acoustic and a vocal and I'll come up with a pretty great line on my own. But when I get a demo with a bass already on it, all I can hear in my mind is the demo, and I think, well, that line worked out pretty well on the demo so why reinvent the wheel? Sometimes it works to cop the demo. And sometimes they're screaming at me, "If I wanted what was on the demo, I wouldn't have called you!"

So my question is do you find it as difficult to move past the demo as I do when you get one with a bassline? Any helpful hints for it?

jmjbassplayer
03-27-2008, 10:38 AM
Sure! Everyone has trouble moving past the demo if all they here is the extant bass line that is staring you in the face.

Sometimes I'll re-record the song myself, with maybe acoustic guitar and singing....the roughest thing I can throw down quickly. Then I can be free from those constraints - IF they want me to be.

It's tough, though. Usually when I get in the room and they mute the bass, I'll diverge from the original in a way they like.

JMJ

JimmyM
03-27-2008, 02:28 PM
Sounds like a pretty good idea to re-record it yourself. Then you can at least take your head out of the demo. I will try that the next time I get a demo. That's the kind of stuff I was looking for.

I like how you added the line "IF they want me to be." That's very important.

Thanks Justin!