Bass and Drum Interaction....

[Matt Till]

is one of elements...

wait...

is the main element that makes a bassline great. Some joker could be playing 1/64th notes at 299 bpm with their toes, and it would be "impressive." But... so what... big deal... what else ya got.

Bass is an instrument made to interact, no matter how far we advance into bass playing, how much it's evolved, no matter how far we get from I-V-I-V it still is a bassist is at his finest when he comes home from school and his report card says, "Plays well with others." Note under it... "... especially drummers."

I've jammed with drummers before, where it was just bass and drums and near the end of the jam, I abandon melody and concerned myself with rhythm and varying degrees of intensity and it was some of our best/weirdest jams. But... melody is good... especially when it comes to addition of other instruments.

But to cut to the chase, the reason I wanted to start this thread... "Walking on the Moon" by the Police. So simple and sparce but the bass and drums sound like a machine, but a very fluent natural grooving machine of sorts. A flunatgrobot if you will.

On the other end of the spectrum of tight bass and drums, Prong's later stuff is incredible, in fact industrial music is a great example of perfect rhythm interaction, for that is what it is. Imperfect in some cases, but always purposely and well though out.

Every Police song, the bass and drums are like that, but Walking on the Moon is my way of starting this thread. What are some of your favorite bass AND drum riffs. Where the bass and drums are so tight, the rest of the band could layer anything on top and it would still work.

(I don't know if this has been done, but it's a very important topic, and I'd like to hear some more really inspiring bass/drum work. Specific recordings please, I know Geddy Lee and Neil Peart work together, but you could highlight a favorite where they just really click)

Another really great example actually, "Crazy Legs" by HedPE (They are a guilty pleasure of mine. )

[keb]

Sting is the absolute master of that stuff! He makes a 3 or 4 note bassline or riff sound like god. I've been listening to a lot of earlier Police lately, and I love that really stripped down, powerful approach they had then. I wish I could write and play in those terms without suddenly feeling the urge to spazz out while playing.

[RicPlaya]

Bonham and Jones
Moon and Entwhistle
Baker and Bruce
anything Motown
there's a ton

IMHO the newer rock don't move me as much and I'm a younger guy as far a drumming and bass playing go. There are a few bands. I think Alien Ant Farm has good drumming and bass playing, Incubus, old Tool, to name a few.

Currently I have been getting into Jazz and that's simply the best for drumming and bass playing IMO. It's a whole different level than even some of the best rock, but not to say rock, blues, etc isn't cool and has good examples.

[superbassman2000]

Originally Posted by RicPlaya

Baker and Bruce

yeah, i was going to say those guys...they are really amazing imo, if you have ever heard any of their live stuff...i love it...


anyways, i think as far as new bands, i really like the commerford/Wilk combo (RATM). they make a good, tight rhythm section.

[Matt Till]

Ric... In terms of bass drum interaction, I actually disagree. At least in the terms I'm thinking of. I have the utmost in respect for the style, but I don't know, a lot of the time in the traditional jazz sense, it's a walking bassline over a ride/hi hat/occasional snare thing. Which is cool/hard as hell, and they do lock in... hmm. I don't know, I just don't think it's the greatest example of bass and drums working as one, though they do create their own machine of sorts.

I can't speak in terms that are words that are good.

[I-Love-Ratm]

Timmy C and Brad Wilk
Incubus
Jamiroquai

[Lyle Caldwell]

Old Al Green is phenomenal. The Wailers. The list goes on and on...

[RicPlaya]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Ric... In terms of bass drum interaction, I actually disagree. At least in the terms I'm thinking of. I have the utmost in respect for the style, but I don't know, a lot of the time in the traditional jazz sense, it's a walking bassline over a ride/hi hat/occasional snare thing. Which is cool/hard as hell, and they do lock in... hmm. I don't know, I just don't think it's the greatest example of bass and drums working as one, though they do create their own machine of sorts.

I can't speak in terms that are words that are good.

I see where your comming from. What I like about jazz (and there are thousands of examples) in comparison to rock is that throughout the whole tune the beat/groove evolves. In rock your looking at really structured music, verse - chrous- solo- chorus - bridge - outro stuff like that. Playing that is still fun for me but after 2 years of being in a band I can pretty much break down a tune both bass and drums in less than one hour. But in jazz the tune is constantly evolving, the drummer and bass player are keying off eachother and also the other instruments and expanding upon the tune as they go. In one song a bass player can play seven different grooves or riffs to the same part, the drummer the same. I really enjoy that level of interaction, and when I compose original rock tunes it give me tons of ideas to apply to traditional rock music. I played drums before I became a bass player so to me I really like the loose format in which to play to. But then again I agree with your position as well, there can be something magical when the bass and drums come together and create a beatuiful ryhthm part to a rock tune.

I also listen to gospel, R&B and blues which contains more structure to the music but also has flavors of jazz so it has the best of both worlds IMO.

[Adam Barkley]

Saddest Song - Morphine
Is it a Crime - Sade
When the Levee Breaks - Led Zep

[Matt Till]

Yay, recording examples!

This is more what I had in mind. Ex. Bonahm and JPJ are great... my favorite example of them being great: "When the Levee Breaks"