Roger Waters of Pink Floyd

[pigsonthewing]

I know this thread exists, but it has turned into a thread about his personality. I know he may not be the nicest fellow to some people, but he is one of my favorite bassists, if not my favorite, and I want to know what other TB'ers think of his bass playing. Some people say he's not good, but I've listened to Pink Floyd for a long time, and all I hear bass-wise are excellent bass lines that sound perfect in the songs...what do you guys think?

[Oric]

A lot of those bass lines were played by David Gilmour in the studio- the fretless bass lines definitely were.
Not to say of course Roger Waters is a bad bass player, earlier Pink Floyd has got some excellent bass lines. Just listen to the beginning of "One of These Days" - that bass part is actually both Roger Waters and David Gilmour playing at the same time, and it's really cool. Roger just got more involved in the songwriting and singing aspect of the band by the time The Wall came around.

[pigsonthewing]

Originally Posted by Oric

A lot of those bass lines were played by David Gilmour in the studio- the fretless bass lines definitely were.
Not to say of course Roger Waters is a bad bass player, earlier Pink Floyd has got some excellent bass lines. Just listen to the beginning of "One of These Days" - that bass part is actually both Roger Waters and David Gilmour playing at the same time, and it's really cool. Roger just got more involved in the songwriting and singing aspect of the band by the time The Wall came around.

Yeah, I know that later Roger would start singing only while performing The Wall, and I heard that David did play the fretless bass on "Hey You"...but I'll check out One of these days, I've heard it before but never really paid attention haha

[4-string]

Roger Waters makes Gene Simmons look like a competent bassplayer.

I LOVE his singing, his songwriting, I am a big fan of PF, but RW on bass fails to impress me in any way. The flats/P-bass/pick tone doesn't help.

Still, I could listen to Pink Floyd all day, and to be fair, what he does supports the songs.

[pigsonthewing]

Originally Posted by 4-string

Roger Waters makes Gene Simmons look like a competent bassplayer.

I LOVE his singing, his songwriting, I am a big fan of PF, but RW on bass fails to impress me in any way. The flats/P-bass/pick tone doesn't help.

Still, I could listen to Pink Floyd all day, and to be fair, what he does supports the songs.

Gene Simmons?
haha well a lot of people would agree with you...
but still, I love the bass on Dark Side of the Moon,like on Time
I don't know, I just think simplicity is better sometimes.

[zombywoof5050]

I like Roger Waters' bass playing very much. Simple yet tasteful.

[Hamrhed]

Originally Posted by 4-string

Roger Waters makes Gene Simmons look like a competent bassplayer.

Name one bass line that GS came up w/ that even comes close to Money? Thats not a Gilmour line, either. David is given way too much credit for playing bass in Floyd- even though he is a great musician. Roger was perfect for them- and thats coming from a Guy Pratt fan

[rational baze]

Technically not great but one my favourites too.

Check out his tone here starting around 7.37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2hFZ8KnsSo

[BassScum]

What I like about the Pink Floyd basslines is not the complexity, but the tone and feel for the song. Perfect example of how simple can sometimes be perfect. However I do mostly prefer David Gilmours studio bass playing over Roger Waters. If you watch the Live in Pompei video Roger Waters sounds excellent, great tone.

[Lester4string]

Roger doesnt play like a madman like Wooten, Miller, Claypool, etc. That doesnt make him any less of a bass player, and truthfully I think its a good thing. Over 10 years ago I started playing bass, and found Pink Floyd songs extremely easy to learn. They are solid, simple basslines that fullfill the bottom requirements of a very layered and diversely harmonic band.

We all need some place to start, and having heroes like Entwhistle or John Paul Jones when you are a kid makes you feel like you can never attain that level of greatness. Plus its fun to take the simple PF basslines and Funk em up a bit.

[iamthebassman]

As soon as I saw (yet another)thread about R.Waters' bass playing, I wondered how long it would take for someone to bring up D.Gilmour, didn't have to wait long, it was the first reply.
Anyway, listen to the bass playing on the first album, DG wasn't even in the band, there's some cool playing, and personally I love a Ric bass tone. And I also like a "flats/P-bass/pick" tone.

[BassScum]

Originally Posted by iamthebassman

As soon as I saw (yet another)thread about R.Waters' bass playing, I wondered how long it would take for someone to bring up D.Gilmour, didn't have to wait long, it was the first reply.
Anyway, listen to the bass playing on the first album, DG wasn't even in the band, there's some cool playing, and personally I love a Ric bass tone. And I also like a "flats/P-bass/pick" tone.

That was Syd Barret playing bass on the 1st album..... Just kidding.

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by BassScum

That was Syd Barret playing bass on the 1st album..... Just kidding.

Haha, yep, probably so.

[iamthebassman]

Originally Posted by rational baze

Technically not great but one my favourites too.

Check out his tone here starting around 7.37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2hFZ8KnsSo

Yes, that section of the film is one of my faves, love that tone. I could not wait for "Pompeii" to be released, I probably watch it once a month.

[duff beer]

I read in an interview somewhere where David Gilmour said that although Waters was a great songwriter, he really wished that he would have spent more time on his bass playing because he lacked in that area.

[lousybassplayer]

thats also coming from David Gilmour, an incredible musician. It's not from an amatuer wannabe rock star like me who hones his chops to way beyond RW's levels only to play for myself in front of a mirror.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by pigsonthewing

I know this thread exists, but it has turned into a thread about his personality. I know he may not be the nicest fellow to some people, but he is one of my favorite bassists, if not my favorite, and I want to know what other TB'ers think of his bass playing. Some people say he's not good, but I've listened to Pink Floyd for a long time, and all I hear bass-wise are excellent bass lines that sound perfect in the songs...what do you guys think?

I agree, while he's no virtuoso, his basslines are tasteful and fit the mood and context of the songs, many of which he wrote, which I believe is his true strength as a musician. As a lyricist peering deep into the human psyche, he's one of the best in pop rock music.

Also, I never thought about using phasing and flanging on a bass until I heard Roger Waters do it.

[Bruins29]

Originally Posted by Lester4string

Roger doesnt play like a madman like Wooten, Miller, Claypool, etc. That doesnt make him any less of a bass player, and truthfully I think its a good thing.

So then nobody is a lesser player then guys like them? I like Rog and all and we just had a thread about this. As many stated he was a solid player that wrote some really cool lines. However even Rog himself said he was not that great a bass player so I wonder why people get all bent out of shape when others say it.

[NKBassman]

Originally Posted by BassScum

What I like about the Pink Floyd basslines is not the complexity, but the tone and feel for the song. Perfect example of how simple can sometimes be perfect. However I do mostly prefer David Gilmours studio bass playing over Roger Waters. If you watch the Live in Pompei video Roger Waters sounds excellent, great tone.

That pretty much sums it up right there.
+1

[pigsonthewing]

well the reason for making this is because the other one's got into his personality and david gilmour's involvement and I just want to talk about Roger Water's PLAYING.