erm rate my slap technique?

[BrandonBass]

Ive been playing for like 3months and recently been experimenting with slap..still cant slap fast though, but heres my attempt...feedback welcomed

And also I cant seem to get a decent tone outta my bass....or is my technique?

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...636F02349A6C7D

[lemur821]

You're coming along fine. You just need to smooth it out and work on your thumb technique a little. Try moving fast but pulling up short so your thumb flies into the string due to its own momentum while the rest of your hand stays still.

[BrandonBass]

mind explaining how to be more smooth?

Yeah, i think i need to work on my slap technique....but I see people like louis johnson and flea smacking is hard and their hands flying everywhere, is it badto do that? Its better to fling my hand as little as possible right?

thanks for the input

[morf]

Nice, you practiced

Which RHCP song is that?

[BrandonBass]

Originally Posted by morf

Nice, you practiced

Which RHCP song is that?

can't stop, baby

[morf]

I hope you didnt just call me "baby" there

All jokes set aside, one little piece of advice if thats ok, try and really get into it when you play the line. I think you still concentrate too much on making it sound good and it loses that "natural" feel it should have when you do that. I have this problem too for slap/pop lines, but working on it really made me see improvements, and much faster than I thought.

[Chili]

Originally Posted by BrandonBass

mind explaining how to be more smooth?

Yeah, i think i need to work on my slap technique....but I see people like louis johnson and flea smacking is hard and their hands flying everywhere, is it badto do that? Its better to fling my hand as little as possible right?

thanks for the input

i wouldnt say its better to fling your hand as little as possible, like louis johnson says, if you just feel like letting your self go wild, let your self go wild, dont always feel you have to be right up against the bass, just relax your arm and hand and thumb, it might take a while to get used to, but once i started relaxing, it made a huge differance

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by BrandonBass

mind explaining how to be more smooth?

Yeah, i think i need to work on my slap technique....but I see people like louis johnson and flea smacking is hard and their hands flying everywhere, is it badto do that? Its better to fling my hand as little as possible right?

Smooth will only come with practice. There's no trick to it other than being able to execute the technique easily.

I don't think you necessarily need to play as efficiently as possible, but you do need to have control over what you're doing. Wave your arms all you like, as long as you can hit the strings like you need to.

[BrandonBass]

since you guys say i have to relax, which muscle do u use to rotate your arm?

after an intense slap session do u get tired and stuff

[The_Ryst]

I hear the pops much more than the slaps. Not sure if that's just the recording or your technique?

[iplaybassguitar]

Originally Posted by BrandonBass

mind explaining how to be more smooth?

Yeah, i think i need to work on my slap technique....but I see people like louis johnson and flea smacking is hard and their hands flying everywhere, is it badto do that? Its better to fling my hand as little as possible right?

thanks for the input

depends on what you want...if you wanna get good at just basic slap like what flea and louis play then sure, wail away...but victor wooten is big on "economy of motion". meaning that everything he does, he tries to do it will the smallest amount of movement...for example, if you want to play something REALLY fast, and your wailing away, your gonna waste a lot of time slamming your hand way away from the bass and having to bring it back again...tis better to use less motion, then you will be ready for the next note ten times quicker.

[BrandonBass]

Originally Posted by The_Ryst

I hear the pops much more than the slaps. Not sure if that's just the recording or your technique?

so should i like slap harder? cause ppl ask me to slap light and spring away from the string....:-/

[morf]

slapping harder doesnt mean the slap will sound better. Slap light but efficiently, using the bone on the side of the thumb to give thump to the sound, its hard to do though I have trouble doing it without thinking.

[EADG mx]

Slapping hard sounds like shit, imo. Light and compressed is the way to go.

I am also a believer in the economy of motion. Why make things harder on yourself?

[tZer]

Sound good - keep going! Do you have a book or some other reference you are using to get your technique in shape? And where is that metronome or drum machine? Nothing brings out the funk like having something groove against.

Here are my critiques:
1. Sounds a bit forced - slap should have a "natural reaction" feel that sounds like something that just falls outta your hands. What I heard hear sounded like, "Ok, I gotta thump... ok, now pluck pluck... ok... thump again..." instead of "hear ya go baby! thumpita pluckity, pluck!"
2. The tone sounds really middy... I am not sure what sort of amp or eq settings you have going there but an 'old-school' slap setting usually has the mids dialed down, the lows and the highs dialed up. Also, if you are using a bass that has a bridge and neck pup, favor the neck.
3. Slappin' it harder will make you sound like Flea - punk-slappin'. Slappin' it lighter and more crisply will make you sound like Stanley Clarke. You need to decide which flavor you like. If you are a Flea-bee - then learn to beat the crap out of your bass... If you are a Clarke-bar, it's all about the touch, baby!

And finally - I highly recommend this book:

Before "Slap It!" I was like, "Man... how they hell do you do that?"

After "Slap It!" (and I mean literally after a few hours with it) I was like, "Here is how you do it!" and I had my fellow bass-playing friends all wondering how I went from "white and uptight" to "slappin' it like I was born doing it!".

As a matter of fact, I just re-bought the book the other day and am eagerly awaiting it's delivery. I can't find my first one and I want to get back into the woodshed on those amazing exercises!

[morf]

lol @ the white and uptight comment, thats signature material right there man

I should really buy that book too.

[Jazzman23]

if you watch flea when he's playing a really fast slapline (listen to some old-school chilis), his thumb is barely coming off the string for his strikes. You can go much faster that way.

Although, flinging your hand all over the place looks really cool

[BrandonBass]

Originally Posted by tZer

Sound good - keep going! Do you have a book or some other reference you are using to get your technique in shape? And where is that metronome or drum machine? Nothing brings out the funk like having something groove against.

Here are my critiques:
1. Sounds a bit forced - slap should have a "natural reaction" feel that sounds like something that just falls outta your hands. What I heard hear sounded like, "Ok, I gotta thump... ok, now pluck pluck... ok... thump again..." instead of "hear ya go baby! thumpita pluckity, pluck!"
2. The tone sounds really middy... I am not sure what sort of amp or eq settings you have going there but an 'old-school' slap setting usually has the mids dialed down, the lows and the highs dialed up. Also, if you are using a bass that has a bridge and neck pup, favor the neck.
3. Slappin' it harder will make you sound like Flea - punk-slappin'. Slappin' it lighter and more crisply will make you sound like Stanley Clarke. You need to decide which flavor you like. If you are a Flea-bee - then learn to beat the crap out of your bass... If you are a Clarke-bar, it's all about the touch, baby!

And finally - I highly recommend this book:

Before "Slap It!" I was like, "Man... how they hell do you do that?"

After "Slap It!" (and I mean literally after a few hours with it) I was like, "Here is how you do it!" and I had my fellow bass-playing friends all wondering how I went from "white and uptight" to "slappin' it like I was born doing it!".

As a matter of fact, I just re-bought the book the other day and am eagerly awaiting it's delivery. I can't find my first one and I want to get back into the woodshed on those amazing exercises!

No man Ive only learned my techs from the net. I dont think i can get my hands on this book since it requires for me to buy over the net and i dont hav a credit card. Any exercise you can post? thanks man

and yeah, my modded yamaha attitude is kinda mid heavy. I just tried cutting the mids and boosting low and high and made to clips. see if it sounds better

cant stop - http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...B5F4641A9268E2

suck my kiss - http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...9315752BC165E0

But I find that cutting my mids my finger tone wouldnt cut through....so i cant have the best of both worlds?

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by BrandonBass

so should i like slap harder? cause ppl ask me to slap light and spring away from the string....:-/

Not harder, but smarter. Did you try what I suggested? Really, it works great. You've got to get moving fast. I do it with a wrist spin. You've also got to stop and reverse your direction of travel very quickly so as not to mute the string (which seems to be happening in the clip). You can't stop and reverse your whole hand quick enough, so you've got to stop the bulk of it a little early, but keep your thumb loose so it can keep going and hit the string on its own.

[mario mendoza]

Sounds a'ight. keep it up. Not sure that "suck my kiss" is slapped tho....