How to get a progressive rock sound?

[Crit222]

I'm curious to know how bassists like Justin Chancellor come up with some of the insane bass lines for they're progressive songs. Now, if you can give me more examples to amazing progressive rock bassists, I wouldn't mind checking them out, but sadly, I know very few. I guess what I'm asking for more than anything is, is it more knowing a lot about theory, or more about having an imagination?

[Red_Sox_1]

Geddy Lee, Chris Squire. Listen to how the bass parts interact with the music. You'll pick up on what they're doing if you listen and play them enough. Of course, there are a bunch of guys to choose from, but those two are as good as they get.

[Sublab]

try thinking out of the box. have your drummer or drumcomputer loop a 4/4 pattern or something fairly simple to start with, and you just close your eyes and let go of that 4/4 feel. Just use it as a reference and then dominate it with your feel for rhytm. Don't try to be fancy at first. Make sure you don't forget to pick up those notes that are odd timed and mix them with the reference beat. If your drummer is any good he'll pick up on your odd notes and bang, you both are off to something that can either keep growing into something quite Tool like which is obviously a shame, or into something your own. You can't really play wrong if progressive is what you want, it's all about how you make it feel. It's about the tension. If it's just the right tension, you're on the right track. Anyway, just my findings.

Good luck.