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?

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

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!

Hey Justin -- more questions on the writing world

do you find that most producers have patience to work-on-it-as-you-go when it comes time to record? I realize that time is money and there is a certain expectation of a player to just come in and kill it but, I guess, i'm wondering if you've run into situations where you did the homework but still show up at the session with nothing but a sliver of an idea. In a producer's mind is it the end of the world or "time to call someone else" when the player needs some help?

Do you get so many opportunities because you just do and because you don't need coaching?

Yeah, most producers do have the patience for that, because 30-60 minutes spent on something is usually time very well-spent.

If the producer starts to bug out about the clock and begins to feel it is the end of the world, he or she has not earned the position of producer to begin with. They have no business being there. Part of their job is to sometimes slow things down so something cool can be created.

I get a decent number of opportunities because of that exact reason, I suppose. It's usually something quick and inspired (I tend to react on my first instinct), rather than coached or grinded over. If it's coached or grinded over, then I was probably the wrong call for that particular session.

JMJ

its good to hear. i've had the luxury of playing in bands with people who are relatively established producers. films, other artists' work was coming and the relationship was so established already, it was the same working relationship and the time and care was there.

i'm starting to get some calls from other producers, as a result, and some of the work is daunting. very busy electronic demos and they want live bass??? it takes a lot of work

how do you react to stuff like that? all the melodies are taken up, no distinctive beat to grab onto. unsure of how the straight footballs are going to play through in the producers mind?

could you shed some light on the Air sessions? did you ever run into stuff where you heard the demos enough that you said "i don't hear live bass in this" but they did?

Hmm, I don't know exactly how to react to that busy kind of track without hearing something...that can get tricky, but I think most of the time in my situation, if they're calling me in there, there's usually SOME room in the track for a bassline, or at least some bass "noise".

Air - I always heard bass on the 10,000Hz Legend stuff before I got my hands on it. There were rarely demos, just tracks that were started from beats, or nothing at all.

JMJ

To throw my worth in the pot, we use Ableton Live to record stuff, and then send live packs around. If the bass line or guitar or whatever has been demoed, you can solo it, or as I like to do, turn it off! I can easily understand why this approach wouldn't work for everyone, but for us, it is heaven! Trying to write a new album right now so in the thick of it!

really great that you're taking the time, justin. i really appreciate it

oh .. by the way ... my question originally stemmed from freaking our over an upcoming session (that was busy busy electronic) .. the session happened over the weekend and the guy was totally cool .. worked the stuff out, he had some ideas and we used a lot of stuff that I came up with THERE on the spot(i.e. not what i was "rehearsing" on my own the week previous). anyway .. just throwing it out there. thanks again for taking the time, JMJ.

sure thing.