The Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club part 23

[Bakkster_Man]

Originally Posted by iceboxbass

This is my non-playing week . But our play list is,

Trading My Sorrows

Do you play that one with the arrangement using double stops?

Originally Posted by kevbethphx

Not sure if anyone has recently asked or discussed effects in this thread, but I am curious if anyone one uses effects. If so, which effects and for which songs.

I run a compressor 100% of the time. I'm also usually running an EQ, but I just got an active J-bass and use that for light overdrive on songs with more of a rock tone. I also occassionally use a Bass Big Muff when I have a solo part.

Usually, though, my effect is a Small Stone phaser. I use it a lot when playing double stops or on more sparse arrangements. Being a 4 piece I will sometimes use it to give a bit of a synth bass sound when the WL wants that but needs to be playing something else on the keys.

[praisebass]

Bass > Tuner > Amp

[Jhengsman]

Originally Posted by Bakkster_Man

Do you play that one with the arrangement using double stops?

.

That is how my predecessor played Trading My Sorrows. When I took over it caused our leader a bit of discomfort that my skill level and hand strength was not able to handle it so i found my own way. Neither the double stops or the Israel & New Breed bass lines.

I could probably do it now but with a six piece band, at full strength it isn't necessary

[Bakkster_Man]

Originally Posted by Jhengsman

That is how my predecessor played Trading My Sorrows. When I took over it caused our leader a bit of discomfort that my skill level and hand strength was not able to handle it so i found my own way. Neither the double stops or the Israel & New Breed bass lines.

I could probably do it now but with a six piece band, at full strength it isn't necessary

How's the action on your bass? I was always getting massive cramps and could really only play the song twice a day during rehearsal before my fingers would seize up. I just got a new bass that's properly set up and it's a night and day difference, I could probably play it all day now. I'm guessing it's the thinner Jazz neck and lower action so I'm not needing to work quite as hard.

[khutch]

Originally Posted by kevbethphx

Not sure if anyone has recently asked or discussed effects in this thread, but I am curious if anyone one uses effects. If so, which effects and for which songs.

I don't use any at church. I have a Pandora Mini I have played with at home. Most of the time I would not know what to do with it at church although some of the effects could be useful for some songs, I suppose. Our worship teams pretty much always include a synth player though and the synth can supply most anything that is needed, and plenty of things I cannot imagine anyone ever needing! If you have something you want to use then I would suggest trying it at rehearsals and letting your team give you feedback on it. One of our bass players uses a multi-effects pedal all the time but I would have to ask her what she uses it for since I haven't heard her do anything I could attribute to that pedal. I imagine it has a tuner function and it is quite possible that is all she uses it for based on what I hear. As with most things I would say let the Spirit and your worship leader/team be your guide.

Ken

[OHBandit]

Great set list today at church. I played and sang B.U. Vocals.

Our God
Filled With Glory
Jesus Paid It All
Like A Lion

Anyone here from Cincinnati area?

[c_maj]

Had a great time this morning. When my Pastor got up to preach, he said he felt the need to spread his spiritual wings and flex on the devil. He went on to say, "You know, like back in the day when cars had carburetors... back in the days of the true muscle cars, like the GTs and Camaros... when you'd pull up to a red light, put it in neutral and rev the engine a couple of times to let everyone around you know what you had under the hood..."

So what did that mean to me? LET THE "BOOSHING" BEGIN!!! I set my effects box to "octave lower" for a single, double and triple "BOOSH". And the congregation went wild.

While Pastor continued speaking, I kept my volume low while sliding my fingers between the 1st and 3rd frets to imitate an idling engine (I down tune (CGDA) btw) and every time he said "rev the engine", I'd cut loose.

Concurrently, the sound guys turned my volume aaaallll the way up in the house, so not only could you hear the "BOOSH", you could feel it as well.

Hubby walked out of church with his chest puffed out b/c the brothers kept high-fiving him and saying, "Man, your wife sounds suh-weeet!" I think there's going to be some really happy dentists in town this week... as I think I may have rattled a whole lot of fillings/crowns/bridges loose. Since it's all in the Name of Jesus it's all good!!

[HereIGoAgain]

Originally Posted by Bakkster_Man

How's the action on your bass? I was always getting massive cramps and could really only play the song twice a day during rehearsal before my fingers would seize up. I just got a new bass that's properly set up and it's a night and day difference, I could probably play it all day now. I'm guessing it's the thinner Jazz neck and lower action so I'm not needing to work quite as hard.

I have a jazz bass, and I can do root-fifth-octave barres without much trouble. A proper setup makes all the difference. In fact, a so-so instrument with a great setup will outplay a high-end instrument with a poor setup.

[HereIGoAgain]

Originally Posted by c_maj

Had a great time this morning. When my Pastor got up to preach, he said he felt the need to spread his spiritual wings and flex on the devil. He went on to say, "You know, like back in the day when cars had carburetors... back in the days of the true muscle cars, like the GTs and Camaros... when you'd pull up to a red light, put it in neutral and rev the engine a couple of times to let everyone around you know what you had under the hood..."

So what did that mean to me? LET THE "BOOSHING" BEGIN!!! I set my effects box to "octave lower" for a single, double and triple "BOOSH". And the congregation went wild.

While Pastor continued speaking, I kept my volume low while sliding my fingers between the 1st and 3rd frets to imitate an idling engine (I down tune (CGDA) btw) and every time he said "rev the engine", I'd cut loose.

Concurrently, the sound guys turned my volume aaaallll the way up in the house, so not only could you hear the "BOOSH", you could feel it as well.

Hubby walked out of church with his chest puffed out b/c the brothers kept high-fiving him and saying, "Man, your wife sounds suh-weeet!" I think there's going to be some really happy dentists in town this week... as I think I may have rattled a whole lot of fillings/crowns/bridges loose. Since it's all in the Name of Jesus it's all good!!

Did you also get to run "wide open" on stage? I'm at a loss for words as to how cool this is. Have to give your church props for innovation.

[kevbethphx]

So I ran sound this morning and the group played:

Hosanna (Praise is rising)
Holy is The Lord
Here in Your Presence (I love the Bass solo in this)
10,000 Reasons

All in all, went well despite a rough start and some flying by the seat of our pants.

I am on Bass next Sunday and waiting to see what the line up is. Interesting thing, we are setting up some monitors to supplement the IEM system so we will see how that goes..

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by kevbethphx

Not sure if anyone has recently asked or discussed effects in this thread, but I am curious if anyone one uses effects. If so, which effects and for which songs.

I ask as I am slated to play next weekend (2/17).

Thank You ALL!

Here is my current board. The Chorus is on all the time. I use the Hematoma (the black pedal) on about a third of our songs. I love the grit!

I use the BMS on about half the songs, when we need a nice, synthy sweep, and where the bass would normally be either subdued, or out completely.

The Phaser is used in conjunction with either the the Hematoma or the BMS to add to the sounds that those give. There is nothing quite like the sound of distorted bass with a slow phase sweeping through it. I often use it at the end of faster and/our bigger songs (think "Marvelous Light", "Arise", "All Creatures #2", Hillsong's "Hallelujah", etc.). I use it sometimes by itself, when I am playing up high in quieter passages.

The Qtron is used to augment slap, or funky sounds. I love it on "Lord Reign in Me", "Those who Trust", and "Trading my Sorrows".

I want to add another overdrive pedal to the mix. Something lighter to add some dirt, but not add a ton of buzz. I'm also looking into adding a flanger, but that won't be used much in church.

[sasred]

Originally Posted by c_maj

Had a great time this morning. When my Pastor got up to preach, he said he felt the need to spread his spiritual wings and flex on the devil. He went on to say, "You know, like back in the day when cars had carburetors... back in the days of the true muscle cars, like the GTs and Camaros... when you'd pull up to a red light, put it in neutral and rev the engine a couple of times to let everyone around you know what you had under the hood..."

So what did that mean to me? LET THE "BOOSHING" BEGIN!!! I set my effects box to "octave lower" for a single, double and triple "BOOSH". And the congregation went wild.

While Pastor continued speaking, I kept my volume low while sliding my fingers between the 1st and 3rd frets to imitate an idling engine (I down tune (CGDA) btw) and every time he said "rev the engine", I'd cut loose.

Concurrently, the sound guys turned my volume aaaallll the way up in the house, so not only could you hear the "BOOSH", you could feel it as well.

Hubby walked out of church with his chest puffed out b/c the brothers kept high-fiving him and saying, "Man, your wife sounds suh-weeet!" I think there's going to be some really happy dentists in town this week... as I think I may have rattled a whole lot of fillings/crowns/bridges loose. Since it's all in the Name of Jesus it's all good!!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me your church records the sermons & puts them online. I want to hear this. Link please. Here's another hi-five, sister to sister!

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by c_maj

Had a great time this morning. When my Pastor got up to preach, he said he felt the need to spread his spiritual wings and flex on the devil. He went on to say, "You know, like back in the day when cars had carburetors... back in the days of the true muscle cars, like the GTs and Camaros... when you'd pull up to a red light, put it in neutral and rev the engine a couple of times to let everyone around you know what you had under the hood..."

So what did that mean to me? LET THE "BOOSHING" BEGIN!!! I set my effects box to "octave lower" for a single, double and triple "BOOSH". And the congregation went wild.

While Pastor continued speaking, I kept my volume low while sliding my fingers between the 1st and 3rd frets to imitate an idling engine (I down tune (CGDA) btw) and every time he said "rev the engine", I'd cut loose.

Concurrently, the sound guys turned my volume aaaallll the way up in the house, so not only could you hear the "BOOSH", you could feel it as well.

Hubby walked out of church with his chest puffed out b/c the brothers kept high-fiving him and saying, "Man, your wife sounds suh-weeet!" I think there's going to be some really happy dentists in town this week... as I think I may have rattled a whole lot of fillings/crowns/bridges loose. Since it's all in the Name of Jesus it's all good!!

This is so. much. win!

[english4bw]

Originally Posted by praisebass

Bass > Tuner > Amp

There's already WAY too much going on effects wise on most worship stages, in my opinion. My bass is the only clean signal that seems to cut through the soup sometimes. Only difference in my setup is: BASS > TUNER > REDDI > AMP

[bassman314]

Originally Posted by english4bw

There's already WAY too much going on effects wise on most worship stages, in my opinion. My bass is the only clean signal that seems to cut through the soup sometimes. Only difference in my setup is: BASS > TUNER > REDDI > AMP

In Your Opinion... Some people like having effects. Others don't. Don't begrudge those of us who like having options on their tonal palette.

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by bassman314

In Your Opinion... Some people like having effects. Others don't. Don't begrudge those of us who like having options on their tonal palette.

And likewise, lack of effects doesn't mean a single boring tone. There's a lot of variation available with on board active EQ or passive tone, pickup selection, right hand placement, fingers/pick/slap etc.

I'm all for whatever works for you. I've used effects, at the moment I'm all about the tone of the bass without effects, but I'm not someone who insists that effects are without merit.

I read a blog yesterday titled 'Beware the Purists, Lest They Kill Your Innovation'. Sometimes experimentation fails, but I'd rather try and be wrong than remain stuck in a rut.

[SoVeryTired]

Well, I had a fantastic weekend of music with Carlos Whittaker. Sad to see him and the family heading back to Nashville today (if our latest batch of snow doesn't close the ariports!). The praise and worship concert on Friday night was electric (and not just becasue we had two electric guitars!), the creative coaching day on Saturday drew quite a range of people and gave me some valuable practical actions, and worship yesterday morning was intense.

The thing I love about this guy is that both times he's come to our church, he hasn't come to promote himself. He'll maybe do two or three of his own songs but also mix in plenty of our usual material so that the congregation aren't left observing. And he'll throw in two or three sentences here or there to explain what we're singing and why, so that someone who's never been in a church would still have some idea what's going on. In short, he's a worship leader rather than a performer.

[steve_rolfeca]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

And likewise, lack of effects doesn't mean a single boring tone.

...I'm all for whatever works for you. I've used effects, at the moment I'm all about the tone of the bass without effects, but I'm not someone who insists that effects are without merit.

...Sometimes experimentation fails, but I'd rather try and be wrong than remain stuck in a rut.

All true.

I'll add two thoughts:

1. The place for failed experiments is generally in rehearsal, not during a Sunday service!

2. Over the years, I've observed two distinctly different main reasons for using effects. One is an interest in more varied sounds, and the other is simply to "rev up" a lackluster tone.

Players in the first group are always going to want to use effects, and more power to them, as long as they're used tastefully. I don't use any at the moment, but that's because of context, not because effects are inherently bad.

I've noticed that players in the second group often dump their effects (or at least most of them) after an equipment upgrade.

I'm curious about Caeman's recent decision to forgo his big pedalboard. Was that driven by finances, gear upgrades, or a change in philosophy?

[caeman]

Philosophy.

I examined what I really wanted for a sound and I learned that I like the tone of my Gretsch G2202. It doesn't need an overdrive pedal. And in the churches I am playing, the resulting sound of my clean bass seems to reinforce the music really well. My sonic goal is to sit IN the mix and support my role.

I tend to play with a light touch. I like to turn the level up so I don't have to touch the strings very hard. This leaves me a lot of room with my Gretsch for dynamics. I can slap and pop a string, vibrato (the classical way, not string-bending).

In my particular situation, going minimal has worked.

[brianerwin]

I would really like to play at church, however, our director/band leader has a very nice setup that he uses all the time. He has a laptop computer with MIDI programs in it and he has the best setup I have ever seen. He incorporates drums, bass, strings, organ and the piano with all the toys sounds he needs.
This guy has mastered the MIDI system and is the dean of the music department at our
local university. He did his thesis on using the MIDI system in music.
Not to mention he is the nicest person. I have the most respect for him.
As for Sundays, I am in the band playing my first instrument... The saxophone.
It is just awesome being part of the music program at our church.