Using 16th notes for effect

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by atheos

The only "rule" is to make the song sound like what it should in your and your band mates' opinion.

Really, you can do whatever you want and it sounds either good, bad or something in between. Of course you might want to aim for what sounds good, duh. But the decision is yours and your band mates alone.

I can't say I disagree with any of that.

[Scot]

If you don't already do so, I suggest you record your band practice, live gigs, whatever. When you listen back, try to listen with your "producer ears" and not your "bass player ears". In fact, try to imagine that you're not the one playing the bass part and you're just the producer for the project. In other words, you have no kind of emotional attachment to the bass lines or any of the other parts. You're just interested in the whole and how all the parts work together to support the song/vocals/melody/solo(s). You're flurries might sound perfect if placed in the right places.

[Slax]

I second recording practices... it's a great thing.

Also, I tend to get "the look" from my band members too when I try something different that didn't pan out. I'd say there was probably nothing wrong with playing the quick fill, it might have just been a little out of place that time for the song. Thus the look from the guitarist and him not noticing it in past songs.

I doubt I said that completely coherently, but hopefully the idea still got across.

[nothumb]

but do you think anyone got anywhere by following the formula and doing the thing that everyone else thought was the right thing to do?

yes.

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by nothumb

yes.

I guess you are right. Then again you are talking about a different context to the one I am talking about. To be more specific, I was referring to getting anywhere in terms of being innovative and having a sense of identity as a musician rather than the obvious commercial and material connotations being implied by your response.

Clearly too, I made a distinction between the two motivations anyway, so you are taking my comment out of context.

[ishouldbeking]

Originally Posted by Scot

If you don't already do so, I suggest you record your band practice, live gigs, whatever. When you listen back, try to listen with your "producer ears" and not your "bass player ears". In fact, try to imagine that you're not the one playing the bass part and you're just the producer for the project. In other words, you have no kind of emotional attachment to the bass lines or any of the other parts. You're just interested in the whole and how all the parts work together to support the song/vocals/melody/solo(s). You're flurries might sound perfect if placed in the right places.

yeah, that's a good point about recording. whenever a video pops up of us online i'm always really curious to hear what works and what doesn't in our performances. at the moment we don't have a way to record practices, but i can see the value in doing so. last time around when we made a record we discovered lots of bits and pieces that either worked fantastic or were holding the songs back, and the appropriate changes were made at that time. now i'm just trying to stay ahead of that, so our live shows can be as good as possible.