Ryan Martinie Style

[f'nar f'nar]

Ok, I just bought a new mudvayne DVD and I'm fascinated by how Ryan's bass sounds on stage, the only problem is they focus on that talentless guitarist alot so I cant tell how he plays it.

His tone sounds very percusive, alot like where you to slap a detuned four string, only i can see by the glimpses of Ryan that he doesn't slap alot on stage. From what I have observed its finger style. So does anyone know how i would get that low percusive tone?

[Figjam]

He plays fingerstyle a lot with a crunchy overdriven tone. He also has a unique fingerstyle technique where he can get a percussive sound by hitting the strings with his fingertips.

[Puarija]

A lot of the sound of the "bass" is actually the bass drum too. I noticed that after studying it a lot, because I was interested in Ryan's tone as well. And he plays a combination of fingerstyle and slap. He's a very percussive player in general. He certainly doesn't have a "soft touch" on his instrument.

A lot of his tone comes from the fact that he plays a Warwick Thumb (that midrange bite is absolutely unmistakeably Warwick Thumb tone... I've owned 2 of them and when I got my first one I said "Wow, that's where Ryan Martinie gets his sound!")

And it *is* a detuned 4-string. They play in drop D, but then a half step down to Db, Ab, Db, Gb

Are you referring to the All Access to All Things DVD? I agree they didn't focus much on Ryan. From that DVD, I think their singer is an arrogant jerk, and they focused on him for most of the footage. I also share your opinion that their guitar player doesn't really do a whole lot to prove that he's anything special. Mudvayne's sound is all drums and bass.

[Joe P]

Originally Posted by Puarija

...A lot of his tone comes from the fact that he plays a Warwick Thumb (that midrange bite is absolutely unmistakeably Warwick Thumb tone...

Oo - that's what I want: 'midrange bite'. Y'say that W. Thumb is the unit for that, huh?

Whenever I've tried a Warwick I've thought they felt so weird to play - like the strings are made of lead or something. ..And they hardly make any sound at all without an amp. I pick up so many basses at music stores, and all the warwicks just stand out to me as feeling really different to play - espcially for the right hand.

Is that the general consensus?

Joe

[Figjam]

I think they feel unique, but not in a bad way. And about the lack of sound unplugged , maybe the strings were just dead.

[bass element]

Originally Posted by Puarija

A lot of the sound of the "bass" is actually the bass drum too.


And it *is* a detuned 4-string. They play in drop D, but then a half step down to Db, Ab, Db, Gb

Are you referring to the All Access to All Things DVD? I agree they didn't focus much on Ryan. From that DVD, I think their singer is an arrogant jerk, and they focused on him for most of the footage. I also share your opinion that their guitar player doesn't really do a whole lot to prove that he's anything special. Mudvayne's sound is all drums and bass.

whoa, a couple things here:

when was the singer an arrogant jerk? lol i dont remember that in the dvd.

depending on which dvd he is talking about, ryan is either using a 5 string or 4 string detuned thumb.

A lot of the bass u hear in the music is not necessarily the drum, but they are tightly intwined together. one should be able to tell them apart if listening closely.

and i dont see how u guys r calling the guitarist lame. he's really creative and pretty amazing and some of the stuff he comes up with. i think he shows most of his talent on their first debut cd, L.D. 50. I thinkryan does his best bass work on that cd as well. And their drummer is absolutely amazing. very creative and tight with ryan.

[f'nar f'nar]

Originally Posted by Puarija

And it *is* a detuned 4-string. They play in drop D, but then a half step down to Db, Ab, Db, Gb

Are you referring to the All Access to All Things DVD? I agree they didn't focus much on Ryan. From that DVD, I think their singer is an arrogant jerk, and they focused on him for most of the footage. I also share your opinion that their guitar player doesn't really do a whole lot to prove that he's anything special. Mudvayne's sound is all drums and bass.

Thanks for the tuning man, I've been getting really annoyed with all these tabs on the internet with 'Tuning ? Steps Down' and whatnot.

ANd Yeh, it was All access to all areas, top dvd. I think that even off stage they didnt focus on ryan and the drummer enough. I mean, before i saw that movie i had no idea what the band members where like, and they where always just talking to the singer! They would have got alot more out of the dvd if tehy had have talked to ryan more, why? Cause ryan seemed like such a nice cool guy, and he's far more talented on the bass than the guitaist is on that gibson or the vocalist. RYAN RULES!

Hahaha, anyway, warwick thumb you say? I've played one but I wasn't allowed to fiddle about with the amp. Maybe next time i'll say im looking for an amp and i own a warwick tumb. Or... just buy one.... meh.

[gstbass]

Finally someone recognizes Ryan as a good bassist!

He definitely loves Warwicks. I've seen him with a wide variety of them.

By the way, I use a 4 string tuning of (low to high) B F# B E for Mudvayne tunes. I hear he started as a jazz bassist, but I'm not sure.

[Tyler Hole]

Originally Posted by Figjam

He also has a unique fingerstyle technique where he can get a percussive sound by hitting the strings with his fingertips.

From watching him and trying it myself, it's not so much him hitting it with his fingertips as it is him hitting the string against the frets.

[bass element]

Originally Posted by gstbass

Finally someone recognizes Ryan as a good bassist!

He definitely loves Warwicks. I've seen him with a wide variety of them.

By the way, I use a 4 string tuning of (low to high) B F# B E for Mudvayne tunes. I hear he started as a jazz bassist, but I'm not sure.

dude, theres been so many Ryan Martinie threads on this forum, im surprised u havent seen them yet. he's pretty well known around here.

anyways, ive posted a thread a while back that has a completely accurate list of all his gear and tuning and whatnot. check it out.

o, and yea he started of in a jazz metal fusion band called broken altar. at least that was his current band before he joined the 'vayne.

[bass element]

Originally Posted by f'nar f'nar

Cause ryan seemed like such a nice cool guy, and he's far more talented on the bass than the guitaist is on that gibson or the vocalist.

i'm pretty sure that the guitarist and vox r talented.

i think their first dvd is better, Live Dosage 50, live in Peoria.
its them with the make up and stuff. the sound is a lot better, as well as the camera angles.

i need to get ahold of that Dig dvd that they did. im not completely sure what all is on it, i guess its just the music video for dig. but i hear it has different camera angles where u can watch each band member seperately the whole video or sumthin.

[Tyler Hole]

Originally Posted by bass element

i need to get ahold of that Dig dvd that they did. im not completely sure what all is on it, i guess its just the music video for dig. but i hear it has different camera angles where u can watch each band member seperately the whole video or sumthin.

I got it last year for xmas. It's the video, plus you can follow anyone in the video you want and it also has the making of the video. Pretty cool to watch.

[Puarija]

Originally Posted by Joe P

Oo - that's what I want: 'midrange bite'. Y'say that W. Thumb is the unit for that, huh?

Yes.

Originally Posted by Joe P

Whenever I've tried a Warwick I've thought they felt so weird to play - like the strings are made of lead or something.

It may have been tuned too high, causing a lot of tension and not letting the strings move much. It also could have had a poor setup with high action...

Originally Posted by Joe P

And they hardly make any sound at all without an amp.

I've played a ton of basses, and I've owned 6 Warwicks. IMO, they have more tone without an amp than any other bass I've played. As said already, the strings were most certainly dead.

Originally Posted by Joe P

warwicks just stand out to me as feeling really different to play - espcially for the right hand.

Is that the general consensus?

I wouldn't say that's a general consensus at all. A whole lot of people love the feel and playability. Give them another chance, with a proper set up and some fresh strings and I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Originally Posted by bass element

when was the singer an arrogant jerk?

I thought he was an arrogant jerk about every time he was on camera. Always acted like he was too good to be filmed, like it wasn't money in his pocket!

Originally Posted by bass element

A lot of the bass u hear in the music is not necessarily the drum

I'm not saying the bass you hear in the music is the drum. The bass you hear is bass. But the clicky-ish attack on the notes which sound like they are coming from the bass are mostly coming from the bass drum. Check the DVD out again and listen to the drum soundcheck. In the mix, that bass drum sound is what's giving the impression of a crazy bass attack.

Originally Posted by bass element

i dont see how u guys r calling the guitarist lame. he's really creative and pretty amazing and some of the stuff he comes up with. i think he shows most of his talent on their first debut cd, L.D. 50.

Creative or not, he's by leaps and bounds the least creative guy of the three instrumentalists. I don't really think he's very creative at all though. He has an awful lot of parts where he throws a delay on a high note, then plays the note below it, then back up, then back down (maybe not exactly this, but similar simplistic stuff). He does that sort of thing a lot, which is fine, I'm not knocking it. I just don't call it creativity, that's all. By the DVD, he seems like a very cool guy and I'd like to hang out with him.

[Tyler Hole]

Originally Posted by Puarija

I'm not saying the bass you hear in the music is the drum. The bass you hear is bass. But the clicky-ish attack on the notes which sound like they are coming from the bass are mostly coming from the bass drum. Check the DVD out again and listen to the drum soundcheck. In the mix, that bass drum sound is what's giving the impression of a crazy bass attack.

If your talking about the one where they are on tour then you can definently tell that that sound is coming from the bass drum, especially since Ryan's tone doesn't stick out as much (IMO) as it normally does and the fact that you hear it loud and clear during the soundcheck.

[bass element]

Originally Posted by Tyler Hole

If your talking about the one where they are on tour then you can definently tell that that sound is coming from the bass drum, especially since Ryan's tone doesn't stick out as much (IMO) as it normally does and the fact that you hear it loud and clear during the soundcheck.

im possitive that the clickety noise is at least half of the bass sound. ive read a couple different articles in magazines where he clearly states that thats one of his kind of trade mark kinda things. like i mentioned before, i dunno if it was in this thread or not, its part of his tap/slap style. i dunno if any of u guys have LD 50 the cd, but on a track called Under My Skin, he has a solo slapbass break down where u can hear that bass attack perfectly.

im not saying u guys r wrong, im just pretty sure that thats part of his individual sound.

i do kno wut u mean about the drums onthe soundcheck tho, so thats definately a possible explanation of the sound. i just dunno...

[Tyler Hole]

I think it all comes down to either the live sound or the studio sound. Live, like on the tour DVD its the drums for sure, but I know what your saying about Under My Skin and how you can hear it there. I think on studio wise, it's more Ryan, but live wise it's more the drummer.

[bass element]

[quote=Puarija]


I thought he was an arrogant jerk about every time he was on camera. Always acted like he was too good to be filmed, like it wasn't money in his pocket!


QUOTE]
haha, i dunno man, he seemed alright to me. i thought he was pretty funny with some of the stuff he said behind the scenes and during the making of the video where he was doing wardrobe lol. he seemed guinuinly nice to his bandmates, to the interviewers and to the fan at the end.

i just dont see where u think he was being a jerk.

[Tyler Hole]

Originally Posted by bass element

i just dont see where u think he was being a jerk.

+1 I haven't seen it...

[bass element]

Originally Posted by Tyler Hole

I think it all comes down to either the live sound or the studio sound. Live, like on the tour DVD its the drums for sure, but I know what your saying about Under My Skin and how you can hear it there. I think on studio wise, it's more Ryan, but live wise it's more the drummer.

exactly. thats totally wut i just thought. there must be some kindof sound switch up between the two for live stuff. i kno for sure that ryan's studio setup is different from his live one, even down to the action of his strings. so yea, u r probably right about that.

[Puarija]

Originally Posted by bass element

exactly. thats totally wut i just thought. there must be some kindof sound switch up between the two for live stuff. i kno for sure that ryan's studio setup is different from his live one, even down to the action of his strings. so yea, u r probably right about that.

A lot of things can be done in the studio, too. It might be an after-effect, like a midi trigger making his tone like that on the CDs, and the same sort of trigger on the drums live. Who knows, all I know is it sounds sweet.