Recorded nuances that you consider "definitive"

Alvaro Martín Gómez A. · #1 03-12-2006, 12:10 PM

Hi everybody.

I came up with this question because after listening to Beatles' "You Never Give Me Your Money", which is one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs, I "concluded" that one of the reasons why I like that song so much is because of the 16th-note sextuplets on the high A note that Paul McCartney plays during the song's last section ("1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, all good children go to heaven"). I mean, I like the tune a lot, but if those sextuplets weren't there, I think I wouldn't enjoy that song that much. So that's what I'd like to know: Is there any recorded bass nuance that you feel as "definitive" for you to like a particular song? What I mean with "nuance" is: Not a lead part, not a whole line. Just think as when you're listening a song for the first time and you say: "Hey, what happened with the bass there? Sounds cool!". Thank you in advance for your input!

peteroberts · #2 03-12-2006, 03:23 PM

very generally speaking, if I hear cool vibrato or a nice gliss it catches my attention. Kevin Gilbert's 'The Shaming of the True' has a couple (City of the Sun, Smash)

Sometimes it's an effect. RHCP's 'Sir Psycho Sexy' comes to mind.

Papersen · #3 03-12-2006, 06:24 PM

I personally tend to focus my attention (unintentionally) in some of the dynamics involved in the technique, such as staccato and/or muted notes.

The first two things that came to my mind were Geddy Lee staccato playing, mainly during his Wal era, when the articulation of his notes was even more audible.

The second was Michael Manring playing "Sugar" in the Bass Day 98 video. His use of dynamics with his Zon Vinny are really tasteful.

Captain_joe6 · #4 03-12-2006, 06:36 PM

I really like the super-clear sound that Phish achieves in "Guyute" (album: The Story of the Ghost). Its got a lot going on for the whole thing and some of the timing stuff is just neat. Not just the bass but the whole band weaves together so well, and whoever that is on bass (I'm too lazy to look it up right now),well, i just love it.

dharma · #5 03-12-2006, 07:48 PM

Great thread.

Matt Till · #6 03-12-2006, 08:04 PM

I think Genesis has some of the best examples of what I'd call "subtle dynamic lifts," where they will transition into another section by making a dynamic build that is so subtle and so smooth, that a non musician might not appreciate it.

"One For The Vine" is a perfect example (off Wind and Wuthering), they lift the verses into the chorus, they work visually with sound. Unreal.

**Blackbird** · #7 03-12-2006, 08:32 PM

Gotta go with those little things in the harmonies sung by the Beach Boys, the suspensions and resolutions, the little half step movements at the end of song sections, like the end of the bridge of "Surfer Girl" going back into the last verse, or in "Wouldn't it be Nice". It's what makes their music, really.

In the Beatles, the part I love is the build up to the high note in Hey Jude and the rest of the song.

jokke_v · #8 03-13-2006, 05:57 AM

Porcupine Tree - Heartattack in a Layby
At 3:08 there an almost trumpet sounding fretless mwah that sounds absolutely amazing. The song is great, but this is the little extra detail I'm waiting for when I'm listening to the song.

Matt Till · #9 03-13-2006, 08:55 AM

Heartattack is an amazing song, there is so much power behind it without being in your face. It is probably my favorite Porcupine Tree song, amazing amazing amazing.

tZer · #10 03-13-2006, 01:01 PM

My replies are more about the combination of parts and sound.

John Entwistle's tone in the song, "Who are you?" - when mixed in with the rest of the band it is just solid and 'normal' but when isolated, you hear the multiple demensions to it - sounds like there is a pick attack, some sort of 'coloring' and combo clean with grit sound that is just amazing.

I have always been fascinated at the tone/sound/technique of Chris Squire on "Roundabout" - I am assuming that sound is an amalgam of his unique tone, the pick and his upbelievably tight integration with Mr. Wakeman's left hand - Just try to reproduce it... baffling!

Also, again a similar sort of sound, but John Paul Jone's tone/sound on Achilles last stand - with it's galloping, picky, compressed thing. Again, another tone, sound that I find really cool and probably as much a reason that the songs they are in have such an original and interesting overall presentation as anything.

And I believe I could go on and on... I need to think a little more about this one... I'll be back!

--tz

I am back already!!

Benjamin Orr's part right before the final, "Just what I neededs" in "I guess you're just what I needed" - his bass has this really cool, punchy, pumping tone and combined with the little phrase he plays, it is a bass part I listen for every time I hear that song!

Oh yeah... and of course the bass riff in Aerosmith's "Walk this way" - the riff that is played just after, "Just gimme a kiss" and during the little guitar solos - the slide up to the riff and the riff sound so cool and even though it is not a super compliced riff it is really hard to duplicate and capture all the nuances. Great lick!

lolaviola · #11 12-29-2009, 07:38 AM

old bump
I like the end of ZZ Tops Cheap Sunglasses where the band slows down... very cool.

lunarpollen · #12 12-30-2009, 12:21 AM

There are far too many I can think of.

JumboJack · #13 12-30-2009, 11:42 AM

Wanton Song.In the main riff where the only thing heard is the snare hit on 4.Love that.

santucci218 · #14 12-30-2009, 11:49 AM

changing tempos always sounded amazing to me. Most band just don't do that stuff now a days, and its great to hear in music.

Protest The Hero - Bloodmeat, for example.

Sonicfrog · #15 12-30-2009, 12:00 PM

Another Kevin Gilbert reference. From the Toy Matinee album, toward the end of the song "Jenny Ledge" Patrick Leonard adds an extra layer of keyboard synth to the song. It's there for just the one phrase, and it's subtle, but man, it just perks you up the first time you notice it. It's just so damned tasty it makes you smile!

PS. The whole album is filled with brilliant basswork by Guy Pratt, who was also the bass player for Icehouse, and now works with David Gilmore.

Jim Nazium · #16 12-30-2009, 12:50 PM

Here's one: on the Pete Townshend song "Give Blood", which features a wicked groove played by Pino Palladino, there are some fretless fills at the end of the bridge that just make the song, for me. The tone, the phrasing ... it just gives me chills.

groooooove · #17 12-30-2009, 02:31 PM

not a bass thing, but if you listen closely to early meters albums you can her zig grunting. its actually really thug..

MakiSupaStar · #18 12-31-2009, 01:17 AM

I forget which song, but the banjo and sax solo on Beach Boys - Pet Sounds. Of all things, banjo and a sax.

The hammond organ line in Bob Marley's - Mr. Brown.

The smooth way Pink Floyd Echoes creeps in and fades into the whale sounds and then how the bass comes driving back out of it to close the song.

Just a few off the top of my head.

One Drop · #19 12-31-2009, 03:58 AM

The variations and fills Nathan Watts plays on 'I Wish' knock me out every time.

Jamerson's ghost notes, syncopations and conga like embellishments usually leave my jaw slackly hanging in awe.

MNAirHead · #20 12-31-2009, 04:18 AM

Daydream Believer --- at the end they left in a blatantly sour note... kind of makes the entire tune.

B3s (police siren)-- I spend tons of time wired into headphones. I'm not sure if it's intentional there are a ton of tunes that have a B3 that sounds exactly like a police siren. I can't tell you how many organ players have pulled me over.

Ambient Trash - For some reason I'm a fan of rawish recordings. The new Jamey Johnson recording you can hear glasses clinking, whispering, drumsticks dropped, footsteps etc. It adds a very valid dimension to the recording.