Solo Bass Performance ! Help

MMFender · #1 04-14-2005, 05:01 PM

Anyone who has the guts to give a solo bass performance on stage ? you know why i am askin this ? because:
I am sick and tired of trying to form a band because it generally never worked out well + i was never free enough as a bass player in a band.
So i bought this BOSS LOOPER (the new model that records 16 minutesof riffs)
i am tryin to write BASS SONGS to perform on stage.

I wonder if someone has to be a real virtuoso kinda like Victor Wooten in order to perform solo on stage or composing NİCE melodies and tunes would be cool enough to perform ?
(of course i can slap - tap - thump etc...)

LeonD · #2 04-14-2005, 06:24 PM

You should hop on over to the Mike Dimin forum. I think solo bass is what he does for a living.

LeonD

MMFender · #3 04-15-2005, 05:54 AM

what is the web address of Mike Dimin Forum ?

chimp · #4 04-15-2005, 06:08 AM

its on talkbass forums in the pro's section. if you can come up with some thing that sonds good and can stand up by itself why not play it solo? i do jazz standards on solo bass or in duo's and trio's and quite often everyone is pretty impressed by those even though they are easy to play so you dont have to be the best damn player in the world just play with taste.

Bruce Lindfield · #5 04-15-2005, 08:31 AM

Steve Lawson and Michael Manring who are also in the "Ask The Pros" section, make their living out of solo bass - Steve runs a network of solo bass players!

ireidt · #6 04-18-2005, 04:41 AM

Not only do I play in an improv band that we loop things in ( http://www.hazardfactor.com ) but I also write solo lines with a Line 6 delay pedal. Its pretty neat. I played live once using it, ( in between sets of one of my bands ) and the crowed th ought it was nuts. just depends on what you can do with it

PM me if you need any help looping or anything.

All_¥our_Bass · #7 04-18-2005, 07:52 AM

Just noodle around and jam w/ yourself. You'll find some riffs and whatnot that you can use as a song all by itself as long as it sounds good by itself,and it doesn't have to be really complex or "a million notes a minute" as long as oyu enjoy itand the crowd enjoys it too.

Stewmc5222 · #8 04-18-2005, 09:16 AM

I perform solo once or twice a month. it lets me blow off steam since I rarely get to stretch in any of the band I play with regularly.

let me know if you've got specific questions.

from the lows,

Stew

MMFender · #9 04-18-2005, 03:16 PM

thank u all.i am so happy whit this looping technology.
it really gives the kind of freedom i always looked for.
but i wish we could save more loops (u can only save 11 loops)
by the way i am terribly sorry that i sold my line6 DL4.
does it work well with the bass? i only used it with guitar.
i will ask u more questions about this looping affair soon.
please share any looping information you got with us.

Are there any bass looped (ONLY ONE BASS) tunes i can download ?

Sandman1278 · #10 04-18-2005, 08:33 PM

look for jaco pastouris - slang, he uses infinite loop during the middle of the song

MMFender · #11 04-19-2005, 05:18 AM

sorry for the silly question but is "SLANG" the name of his song ?

johnvice · #12 04-19-2005, 05:54 AM

Last month's Bass Guitar magazine had a transcription to "The Fish" by Chris Squire / Yes. This song would be very conducive to looping. I do an abreviated/simplified version of this with my ME-50b which has about a 5 second maximum for loops.

I am contemplating getting a BOSS RX-20 (?) but I question if I would use it enough.

Stewmc5222 · #13 04-19-2005, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMFender

sorry for the silly question but is "SLANG" the name of his song ?

yes. it originally appeared in the Weather Report album 8:30. a different version of it appears in the Joni Mitchell video/DVD Shadows and Light.

I should mention that I don't use looping in my solo show. I play either totally solo or I use backing tracks that I recorded. you can hear examples of my stuff at either of these sites:

http://www.cafepress.com/subcontrabass (just click on the album and you get a list of song samples to hear)

or

http://www.myspace.com/stewmckinsey

from the lows,

Stew

MMFender · #14 04-20-2005, 05:08 AM

Stew
Waow ! You bass guitar looks scary !

i mean quite unusual.
is it easy to play for someone who is not used to it ?
i also feel like those 10 string bass guitars are some kind of combination of normal guitar + bass guitar.
Am i right on that ?
can you explain which strings are there on the 10 string bass ? Is it Low B first ?

**Steve Lawson** · #15 04-20-2005, 05:15 AM

Quote:

by the way i am terribly sorry that i sold my line6 DL4.

The DL4 works great for bass - the only processor I used at all on my CD 'Conversations' was the DL4 - it's all live recorded duets with a pianist, all the looping and processing is off the DL4. It's great. Mine broke and I need to get another one.

Steve
www.stevelawson.net

MMFender · #16 04-20-2005, 05:23 AM

sO this 10 string helps making a sound of bass and guitar at the same hands ?
i listen to ur tunes on myspace.com ! very cool !!!!
how can i download them to my pc ?

Stewmc5222 · #17 04-20-2005, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMFender

Stew
Waow ! You bass guitar looks scary !

i mean quite unusual.
is it easy to play for someone who is not used to it ?
i also feel like those 10 string bass guitars are some kind of combination of normal guitar + bass guitar.
Am i right on that ?
can you explain which strings are there on the 10 string bass ? Is it Low B first ?

sO this 10 string helps making a sound of bass and guitar at the same hands ?
i listen to ur tunes on myspace.com ! very cool !!!!
how can i download them to my pc ?

LOL

the 10 string has been called scary, unusual and a lot of other things.

it is not hard to play at all, but learning how to mute the strings is quite a challenge. I am still working on that.

it is not a combination of bass and guitar, although the highest strings are essentially guitar strings. here is how it is tuned:

C# (17.32 Hz, .195 string, nearly an octave lower than B)
F# (23.12 Hz, .165 string)
B
E
A
D
G
C
F
Bb (.011 string)

it is tuned in fourths, like a bass.

now it can be used to get very guitar-like tones if I want. I try not to approach it stylistically as a guitar player would, however. I simply concentrate on melody, harmony, and rhythm.

does that help?

from the lows,

Stew

RobertUI · #18 04-21-2005, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandman1278

look for jaco pastouris - slang, he uses infinite loop during the middle of the song

Not sure of the name of a tune, but on one of the Joni Mitchell live DVDs you can catch Jaco doing an incredible solo where he loops himself. He lays down a really funky 2 measure thing and then goes ballistic on top of it. It's pretty awesome too to see him on stage with a couple towering 8x10s behind him.

Stewmc5222 · #19 04-21-2005, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertUI

Not sure of the name of a tune, but on one of the Joni Mitchell live DVDs you can catch Jaco doing an incredible solo where he loops himself. He lays down a really funky 2 measure thing and then goes ballistic on top of it. It's pretty awesome too to see him on stage with a couple towering 8x10s behind him.

it's a very similar solo, at least in terms of structure.

small, heavy be · #20 04-25-2005, 09:54 AM

blistering technique won't hurt, but it's not substitute for musicality and strong composition. if you know some music theory, it will be pretty easy to make some amazing sounding stuff with like two or three loops and and improv over the top.
try to employ counterpoint into some simple progressions, with a rhythmic bassline, a simpler more harmonic middle voice (or two), and then strut your stuff on top. if done even reasonably well, it should drop some jaws.
good luck!