Is this possible

[Jorojin]

Hello all

Let me start off by saying that I do not play bass but I do love music. Songs can mean a lot to people, they can become iconic to life situations. With that said, my purpose here is to ask if it is possible for someone to transcribe an opening bass line with notes. I have searched around the internet and all I have found are tabs that use numbers on the staff. I want actual notes. Is this possible? The story: my wife and I started dating back in the 90s. Our first kiss was laying on my bed in the dark listening to the radio. The song Alien by Bush came on and she rolled over and laid it on me. Since then, this song has become symbolic for us. Sometimes I will play and she will look over and smile while we remember. Anyway, I would like this to be my next tattoo. I would like to get the intro bass line, like the first eight seconds, to this song on my forearm. Sorry I am not musical capable and I hope it makes sense what I am asking for.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[TDSLaBassiste]

PM me with the tab and I'll see what I can do. Might as well put the last four or so years of theory to work, right?

[Bisonzone]

cool idea

if you are unable to find what you are looking for here, or on other forums you can try getting or downloading a sheet music book from bush. That is i am assuming you would like the tattoo to resemble a sheet music measure, thatd be a little more decorative than a few random note letter names on your arm, hahaa.

most artists will have a sheet music book along with their albums, most artists that is.

yes, i have a lot of songs like that engraved with me. Thank God for music and the women to help make it go round, right?? hahah

[bassteban]

A guitarist bud has the last 5 or 6 notes SRV played before he died tatted on his arm. Pretty cool I think

[PlayTheBass]

Wow, what a cool request. Alright, I played it into my notation program, and this is, I think, the best way to show it. It's kind of an interesting bit of music because there definitely different ways to notate it, since there are two voices going on in the bass.

The "4/4" is optional, as it would be correct to leave it blank. (You could also have a "C" there, for "Common time", if you wanted a C.)

Before you get the tattoo, let's make sure everyone here double-checks these notes!! If you end up getting it done, you've gotta post a picture for us.

[PlayTheBass]

And just to be clear, only the first two measures would be the tat, as I just stuck 3 blank measures (with the little black rectangles) in there to keep the first two from stretching out too much.

[Jorojin]

Wow Thanks so much for the responses guys! It is much appreciated.

TDSLaBassiste:
I found tabs for the intro here http://www.guitaretab.com/b/bush/2676.html

Bisonzone:
I have looked around for sheet music but, as I said, I am not music literate and am not sure where I would need to start/stop. There is a specific stopping point I would like. I found a couple places that I could buy or download the sheet music to the album.
Download: https://store.payloadz.com/details/1...-songbook.html

Buy: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/...-Stone/2989082
If I were to buy the sheet music, would it be easier to find the help I am looking for? I dont mind shelling out the money if it gets me the tattoo I am wanting.

PlayTheBass:
Wow! Thats exactly what I was hoping it would look like. Thanks so much for your time. I am glad you mentioned double-checks. I was trying to think of a way to inquire about that without hurting the feelings of anyone that helps me. Its on me forever and I want to make sure it is correct. I want any random bass guitarist to be able to play that eight second intro bass line off my arm.


And when I get it put on me, I will definitely post some pics for you guys. I am also still working on placement. I have an ambigram using her name on the inside of the same forearm. I am thinking about putting it on the outside edge of my forearm from my wrist to my elbow. The ambigram is pretty cool too. My wife is an art teacher and I had her design it. She drew it out and I took to the tattoo artist and he put it on. Any ideas or comments on placement would be appreciated as well. I would like to eventually sleeve the arm so I think thats where I would like it.

Again, thanks a lot for the responses. I look forward to hearing more and if the sheet music would be a major help, I will look to buy it if someone doesnt mind helping me with where I should end the line I am looking for. I have an mp3 I cut to end where I want the tattoo to end if that helps as well.

Thanks!

[PlayTheBass]

Originally Posted by Jorojin

PlayTheBass:
Wow! Thats exactly what I was hoping it would look like. Thanks so much for your time. I am glad you mentioned double-checks. I was trying to think of a way to inquire about that without hurting the feelings of anyone that helps me. Its on me forever and I want to make sure it is correct. I want any random bass guitarist to be able to play that eight second intro bass line off my arm.

You're very welcome. I was talking about this request at the dinner table last night and the wife and teenage kids all agreed this was so cool!

I didn't look at any other source when I transcribed it as I trust my ears way more than I trust internet tabs. Accurate tabs are hard to come by out there.

Now that I look at your tab link above, and see it has this:

G |---------------------------------------------------------|
D |---11-----9----7---9--7--2---4------4-----4-----4---4----|
A |-0-----0-----0---0-------0---0---0-----0-----0----0---0--|
E |---------------------------------------------------------|

G |---------------------------------------------------------|
D |---11-----9----7---7---7--9--4----4---4---4--------------|
A |-0-----0-----0---0---0----0--0--0---0---0----------------|
E |---------------------------------------------------------|

That is more the guitar part. More than half the notes are wrong for the bass part!

Unfortunately, sheet music often doesn't have accurate bass parts either because they're written by and for piano players.

Hopefully enough people weigh in here that you can feel totally confident about it.

[Jorojin]

So, its been awhile. I have been in contact with a couple transcription websites. One of them got back with me last night and sent a transcription. Now, I need to find someone that can read sheet music and play bass. Anyone willing and able to help me out?

[PlayTheBass]

So you got a tab and you want to see the notes?

[PlayTheBass]

Or is it piano sheet music and you want the bass part extracted?

[Jorojin]

Its a bass transcription. Its sheet music for the bass guitar. I was just looking for someone that can read sheet music and play the bass to make sure that it is correct.

[PlayTheBass]

Oh, gotcha! Can you post it?

[frizzle]

Transcription of the first 2 measure attached.
I'm sure it's correct, but as I told the topic starter: this is going to be a tattoo, so let's get it triple checked

I know you could transcribe it in 2 voices, but this is much more readable IMO.

[Joe Nerve]

+1 on the checking. I'd get someone who doesn't know the song to play the part and make sure it's what you want. I'm not one to trust anyone else's ears but my own.

[Jorojin]

Thanks for the check, Joe. I also have to say that frizzle has been amazing with his help and I cannot thank him enough. I live in a college town and there are a couple music shops in the area. I cannot wait to find someone to play it for me so I can hear it with my own ears. I look forward to getting this put on me!

[PlayTheBass]

Originally Posted by frizzle

Transcription of the first 2 measure attached.
I'm sure it's correct, but as I told the topic starter: this is going to be a tattoo, so let's get it triple checked

I know you could transcribe it in 2 voices, but this is much more readable IMO.

So it looks like you and I agree on the notes, right, frizzle? And Joe checked them out, so that's three votes.

My transcription above is in two voices because that's really what it is, but perhaps at this point Jorojin can start going for what look he wants in the notes. If it was my tat I would definitely go for the 2-voice version to make it as accurate as possible.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by PlayTheBass

So it looks like you and I agree on the notes, right, frizzle? And Joe checked them out, so that's three votes.

My transcription above is in two voices because that's really what it is, but perhaps at this point Jorojin can start going for what look he wants in the notes. If it was my tat I would definitely go for the 2-voice version to make it as accurate as possible.

I didn't check them out. Was agreeing they should be checked out. I don't read music. Played by ear all my life.

[tekdiver500ft]

I played both versions, and to me, MacDaddy's looks better as a tattoo. They both have the same notes, so either is correct, but correct enough? I don't know. It seems that I heard Dave playing Frizzle's version (letting it ring) in a YouTube concert recording, but the album seems to be MacDaddy's version.

[Jorojin]

What do you mean that neither are correct enough?