Aston Barrett

[jmcdan3]

Discuss his gear, tone, set-up, bass lines....everything you possibly know of this guy. Ready. Set. Go!!!!

[COOL AND DEADLY]

okay, "Fambly" is almost always seen playing a Fender Jazz. He plays finger style, anchoring his right thumb on the corner of the neck, playing between the neck and the first pickup. I've seen many different rigs and heads. Ampeg, and some old pics with Acoustic too, as well as others. I don't think he ever incorporates any effects. His basslines are the standard for reggae, he also tutored the second most famous reggae bassist, Robbie Shakespeare. Lines are simple sounding rhythmic and repetative. Family does more variations than most reggae guys, but never ever gets out of the pocket or alters the groove.

[bassist15]

Fender Jazz bass with Flats...Also used one of Macca's Hofners early on ...Mostly saw him using Acoustic 360/361. One of my biggest influences who played a very melodic groove. Also a very good teacher ...his student was Robbie Shakespeare . Family Man and his brother Carlton were one of the tightest rhythm sections i've ever heard.

[JmJ]

Family Man uses Eden amps and cabinets and is supposedly working with them to develop a signature line.

[MR PC]

I enjoy his interview on Bass Player TV very much.

[jmcdan3]

this a HUGE and BRoad question but anyone please talk about his note choices. when a rhythm guitarist of the wailers plays a chord progression in 4/4 palm-muting every chord for 4 beats, what are some common approaches to notes does he use? scale degree or not? i would imagine that the fifth is a vital part of his sound. it also seems as though his playing can be rather syncopated and is ahead of the beat.

[COOL AND DEADLY]

There is a book of Bob Marley's songs transcribed for bass. It can help you with the scales and intervals. He does use lots of fifths and octaves. Reggae in general often has repeated fifths, and as in every type of music ( more so with reggae ) the rests are every bit as important as the notes. Here is a bit of trivia for you liner note heads: "Concrete Jungle" by Bob Marley features Robbie Shakespeare on the bass.

[Dig Wilbur Ware]

Listen and feel. Those rests are some of the best "setups" you'll ever hear.
What a meditation.
If you're ever concerned about "overplaying," he's your ground.

[One Drop]

My all time biggest inspiration and more than anyone the sound I try to emulate in a lot of my musical situations, not only reggae.

To add to the great posts above, he also uses a Sansamp to warm up his DI send from the WT800 to the house, and he combines a miked feed from one of his 410XLT cabs.

I've heard his stage tone on a few occasions, and better or worse house mixes. He gets a bit of overdrive, enough to charge the leading edge of his notes with some growl when needed, and his notes are very shaped, using a lot of left and right hand muting. He gets a lot more punch than most modern reggae bassists.

He mostly plays very far towards the neck, usually with the sides of his fingers, and he anchors his thumb at the bass of the neck most of the time.

Obviously a big part of his lines are the notes he doesn't play and the rests, and his lines are usually heavily syncopated. He follows the vocals very heavily on most tracks, and is melodic both in in the sense that he plays off the singer, and also often creates extremely catchy little melodies within each song that stand alone beautifully in dub mixes of his riddims without vocals. He leaves a ton of room for the other instruments and for the vocals.

He describes his playing in two ways, that I feel are very true and are worth thinking about for any bassist:

One, he compares playing a bassline to painting a picture; different notes and tones have a strong emotional component and he uses these to set up a soundscape that functions in 3D, one of the dimensions being colour if you are so inclined to experience them this way.

The other is the vocal quality to his playing. He says first, you can't play a line unless you can sing it; this has been invaluable for me when learning or creating lines, and second, he also actually sings through his bass, much like Lester Young sang through his tenor. If the sound is good enough at a Wailers concert, you can hear the vocal quality to his lines, they really do sound as if they are a very deep voice singing. His playing functions on so many levels that belie the simplicity of his lines, you only need the heart and the ears to hear them. Smoking enough ganga before and or during a show helps me somewhat...

His tonal ideal is the upright bass, and he says he tries to sound as much like one as possible. Despite the massive lows he produces, his sound is extremely transparent and the slight growl in his attack and the roundness of the notes he produces do sound a lot like an upright, especially through a good PA, or if you can hear his amp tone. His notes are pregnant sounding and want to burst out of their confines.

In terms of timing, he often plays well behind the beat or right on top of it, often in the same phrase, which gives him even more expressive range using tension and release, so important in reggae, IMO.

I've seen a lot of reggae bassists live over the last 25+ years, and none has come close to getting such a huge but clear and natural and unprocessed sound as him. He is unique and a wonderful musician (he arranged most of the Wailers recordings through the '70s, and his contributions to sessions like Augustus Pablo's King Tubby Meets the Rockers and Rockers Dub (just a fraction of his output, of course) sessions are unsurpassed in reggae.

As you can see, I like Fam's playing a bit...

[taterlog]

Nice.

[Dig Wilbur Ware]

"One Drop," deeply felt and well-written. I would hope similar passion and reverence exists over at the various drum/percussion boards for Carlton Barrett. What a difference it would've made had Burning Spear hired both brothers for the "Hail H.I.M" sessions! Or Lloyd "Tin Leg" Adams...

Swiss Alps, huh? Are you blessed with deep, Jamaican-style drummers there -- or do the beautiful surroundings make up for it? I can only imagine Familyman being played LOUD and deep up there, carving new grooves through the mountains.

Jah Live.

[loendmaestro]

Originally Posted by Dig Wilbur Ware

Listen and feel. Those rests are some of the best "setups" you'll ever hear.
What a meditation.
If you're ever concerned about "overplaying," he's your ground.

+1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

[Toronto Bassist]

So does Aston play on all of the Bob Marley albums? That is, if I pick up a Bob Marley CD (or two, or three, or...), is there a chance that I'll get home and find out that OOPS Barrett doesn't play on that one

[One Drop]

Thanks DWW, I'm sure Carlton Barrett is equally appreciated. Together they were incredible, weren't they?

There are a few great drummers here, young guys that really groove, (reggae is huge in Switzerland) but I don't get a chance to play with them much as the rock cover band I play with takes up a lot of my spare time.

Toronto Bassist, almost everything from the Lee Perry produced sessions in the early '70s (these are many of the Wailers' finest moments, IMO) through the Island discs has Family Man playing bass, AFAIK. I can't remember the circumstances around Robbie Shakespeare doing the Concrete Jungle session.

[rodl2005]

did Aston Barrett play the bass on the studio/single version of "is this love" ? that's one o' my fave bass lines & songs!

[jomahu]

if you can, pick up 'family man in dub.' awesome album.

[bassist15]

Robbie played on Concrete Jungle because at the time Familyman was his mentor and would bring him to sessions and this time Familyman asked Bob if Robbie could play. Its all on the Making of Catch a Fire DVD.

[Bassosaurus]

Originally Posted by Toronto Bassist

So does Aston play on all of the Bob Marley albums? That is, if I pick up a Bob Marley CD (or two, or three, or...), is there a chance that I'll get home and find out that OOPS Barrett doesn't play on that one

Not if it's robbie shakespeare instead!

[four2oh]

love for Family Man!

Hi

I made a lesson on Aston Barrett if anyone's interested then check it out

http://sites.google.com/site/bristol...me/lesson-pdfs

Cheers