Is this tapping or something else?

[darshman]

If this belongs in the tab section, I apologize- I kept thinking back and forth on which one to put it in. But the song "Microphone Fiend" by Eric B and Rakim has this nice riff that plays through the whole thing and the tab here:

http://www.azchords.com/e/ericbandra...bs-120627.html

doesn't sound like it when I play. At least, part of it could be that I don't have the rythm down very well. But when you hear the track, is it tapping? My favorite band, Dragon Ash, samples the riff on "Deep Impact", and their bassist: Ikuzo Baba, plays it live on higher frets and strings with popping and sliding.

[tswd]

Is this the version you're asking about?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oracJP6kIWY

On there, it doesn't sound like it's played with a bass. I might be wrong, but to me it sounds like a keyboard. If that's the case, tapping might get you closer to that sound.

In this video, at the beginning of the song they use the real sample. Notice how different it sounds when the bass player starts playing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe1FL...elated&search=

[darshman]

Aw man, the main live version of Deep Impact was deleted not too long after I posted this, but that other one you posted works too. You could hear him playing the riff more clearly since the audio wasn't scrapped as bad. But in the original track of Deep Impact, they speed up the sample of Microphone Fiend (drums + bass portion) and Baba's able to play it and make it sound like the original during live performances. And yet when I try going off of that tab, it sounds nothing like either version.

I'll try it on a keyboard though and see if that's what they could be using.