Creating great basslines...

[Joe Nerve]

Been thinking a lot about this lately. I'll be going into the studio soon with some pretty talented dudes, and I have some concerns.

I've got lots of studio experience. The majority of it has been with my own songs, or when I was working closely collaborating in The Nerve! About a third of the work I've done has been for other artists, their material, usually creating parts on the spot. Sometimes the outcome is great, more often I wind up playing things I wish I had done differently. I don't particuarly like working like this, I don't feel I do my best work in these situations, and it just recently occurred to me why that is. I'm putting it out here to hopefully kick it around a bit and get others thoughts.

I believe the best bass lines come out of something that more often than not takes the original song structure to an entirely different place. With The Nerve, if the other main song writer came up with something, it was usually lyrics, a melody, a loose structure, and some chords. I then went nuts with it and created something completely different, and the guys usually loved it. That's why we lasted around 14 yrs. When I write my own music, if I come up with a bass line first, the guitar will usually wind up being something entirely different that compliments it. Or if guitar came first, the bass will work off that. The vid below is a good example. Wrote the bass first, then guitar. (http://www.youtube.com/joenerve)

I find that when people work on their own material and start putting songs together (like the situation I'm headed into) they almost always have something in mind for the bass. Whether it's conscious or not. If I get creative on them, it's almost bound to completely change up their original idea. Bigtime. And I find most people aren't too open to that. So I feel I'm stuck sticking to the roots, being really careful with the creativity, and trying my best to read their minds. I want to break out of this somehow.

Most people know the deal when The Beatles recorded "Something". George fought Paul wanting him to play simply. And it's a great thing that Paul won. I'm sure there are lots of instances of this happening.

Anyhow... I've got lots of thoughts on this topic, but I've put out enough to hopefully get some of you to chime in.

How do you approach going into the studio cold? What's your thoughts on all the above? How do you work best and create your most awesome basslines?

Edit: I'm not talking about shredding or overplaying. I'm talking writing really complimentary parts like the stuff Zeppelin, Motown, and lots of classic stuff were made of.

[LaklandBass]

Id say just try your own thing first and see what they say.
I always tell bands that ill do whatever they need. If theyre picky thats fine but I need directions since im not psychic.

[Chrisk-K]

My approach is, "If I can sing a bass line, it's a good one."

[bwest9]

Great topic.

I try to get recordings -however rough- of the material before I record. I want to digest it, let it incubate, feel it, before I even pick up the bass in response. Otherwise, an on the spot reaction is a hit or miss deal, and I dont like that either. I've got to hear it first before I play it, but I know that's not always possible.

[bwest9]

Originally Posted by Chrisk-K

My approach is, "If I can sing a bass line, it's a good one."

Thumbs up!

[JimmyM]

i've done the on the fly thing many times before, and honestly, i love it and welcome the challenge. sometimes it prevents me from thinking of lines that would screw a song up. sometimes i play something that i thought sounded like crap only to have everyone else say they love it. sometimes i knock one out of the park and sometimes i swing and miss. i honestly don't care if i'm personally gratified by it as long as everyone's happy, and i can usually make that happen more often than not.

don't know what to tell you other than the usual stuff you already know...serve the song as much as possible, put some energy into your playing, and have fun with it.

[mikerophone]

i like when another player's idea changes the song. i think it gives life to the music in a way that normally doesn't come about when ideas only come from one person.

[cjmodulus]

time for a bit of shameless self promotion here:
http://www.last.fm/music/Another+Bol...night+Crashers
one of my bands recorded this cover a while ago (btw, I didn't name the band or album, thank goodness). I took a really basic bass part for the verse, and as the song went on I improvised more. I'm really proud of how it turned out (except for the solo, I need to work on that). There's nothing wrong with improvising, it makes the music feel more alive. Then again, there are situations where improv doesn't work, and if the artist or band you're recording for has a bass part in mind, I'd try to stick to that. the key thing for me is to make the bass part fit the song.