Is there a difference?

[bluewine]

My band plays Buddy Miles "Them Changes" I don't play the bass line anywhere near the recording, I play my bass lines on the originals we play too.

I don't think I've created anything in either scenario.

Blue

[mellowinman]

Who wants to write a song, putting in the key elements, but leaving out the bass line, and seeing how many different lines he gets by posting it on this forum, and having people compose their own?

I think that might be interesting.

[Joe Nerve]

Originally Posted by mellowinman

Who wants to write a song, putting in the key elements, but leaving out the bass line, and seeing how many different lines he gets by posting it on this forum, and having people compose their own?

I think that might be interesting.

Id love to do that, but couldn't get to it till the weekend. If nobody bites before then ill be happy to oblige.

[P-oddz]

That's a great idea! I would love to try that as well.

[the yeti]

^ agree that would at least take this out of troll tread* territory (IF that's where it is).
all i have to do now is figure out a recording setup by this weekend and i'm in.

*thread

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by the yeti

^ agree that would at least take this out of troll tread territory (IF that's where it is).
all i have to do now is figure out a recording setup by this weekend and i'm in.

I like mellowinman's suggestion as well, though I likely won't participate because I dont often TB from home.
However, I wanted to say that though the thread topic is a bit inflammatory and could have been made as a troll post, the posters following this thread have done a good job of not letting it go that way.

*of course, we're only 26 posts in at this point

[Nomadskills]

Originally Posted by scottbass

And most importantly:

Why does it matter to you if there's a difference?

Why does anything matter to anybody on an internet forum?

Originally Posted by lfmn16

Yes. Nobody on talkbass whines and crys when you are in an original band.

Playing note for note vs making your own line for covers has been discussed TO DEATH in a lot of threads. Did you search to see what has already been said before you brought this up again? Are you bringing something new to the conversation or are we just going to rehash the same tired arguments?

Did you even read it? This has less to do with cover bands and more to do with original songs that you didn't write.

[deepBassie]

Interesting topic.

I play in a band that does originals and covers. In my situation, a good chunk of the covers are songs that I've never heard before. I love playing bass, but I'm not a great encyclopedia of song knowledge by any means. I make it a point not to "youtube" the covers to hear what the bass line is "supposed" to sound like. This allows me to maintain a certain sense of creativity when my guitarist brings in a new song. Learning and playing covers is much more fun for me this way. So, for me, there is almost no difference between creating a bassline to an original song vs. a cover song that I've never new existed. However, it's always a bit of a letdown if I eventually hear the cover tune because then the "correct" bassline gets permanently etched into my brain and inevitably pieces of it will find their way into how I play the song.

[EddiePlaysBass]

Originally Posted by deepBassie

However, it's always a bit of a letdown if I eventually hear the cover tune because then the "correct" bassline gets permanently etched into my brain and inevitably pieces of it will find their way into how I play the song.

I play in a blues rock cover band. At one point the singer suggested we do Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer" in the Warren Haynes version. I know both artists but had never really heard the song. One of the guitarist told me the chords, we started jamming it out and voilà. To date I have not heard the original, and when I presented our version to a befriended bassist, he suggested I don't listen to the original cos he liked my line and was afraid that I'd end up reworking it to sound like the original.

[bradjonesbass]

Originally Posted by EddiePlaysBass

I play in a blues rock cover band. At one point the singer suggested we do Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer" in the Warren Haynes version. I know both artists but had never really heard the song. One of the guitarist told me the chords, we started jamming it out and voilà. To date I have not heard the original, and when I presented our version to a befriended bassist, he suggested I don't listen to the original cos he liked my line and was afraid that I'd end up reworking it to sound like the original.

I do that with 90% of the tunes I play in one band

[kozmikyak]

because in the cover band, even if you make it your own, you are restricted somewhat by perceptions of what "the original" was.

For the song to be recognizable as a version of the original, there are certain signature points of the original that must be included. One could rewrite the lyrics, melody, chords, and bassline, but then you wouldn't really have the same song but a new work inspired by the original.

You can push modification of the original pretty far if you're artful about it, but there is always the "box" that one is working within.

In an originals band, you can either be in the same situation as above (the band already had "the original" worked out, you're replacing an existing bassist, or were shown an example). OR, you could be in a situation where you're co-writing the song. Your choices in the bass line directly affect "the original".

To illustrate, what happens when you co-write an original song, then some other band covers your song? I've been in that circumstance a few times (just local small-time stuff, but cool nonetheless). You had control over "the box" within which the covering artist has to work to pull off "the same" song.

All songs were original once.

Different? yes. But the ability to "reform, rearrange" a bass line and "co-write" a bass line are both required in an originals band, it's not all one or the other. And both these skills are valuable in their own right, one is not better than the other.

[MatticusMania]

Nice post, kozmikyak!

[deepBassie]

Originally Posted by kozmikyak

because in the cover band, even if you make it your own, you are restricted somewhat by perceptions of what "the original" was.

For the song to be recognizable as a version of the original, there are certain signature points of the original that must be included.

Totally agree with this if you know how the original cover tune sounds. For me this is often not the case due to the obscure (to me anyways) nature of the covers my guitarist brings in. However, I must admit it's obvious that I am indirectly effected by the "box" (signature points) that defines how a cover progresses via the guitarists interpretation of said cover. That being said, relative to me not knowing if the box defines an original or a cover, it's all the same when it comes to the bass line creation. Not sure if this answers part of the OPs question or not.

I gotta admit, though, there are some cover tunes out there in which the bass needs to hit the signature points pretty much the way the original artist laid it down (think Brick House, for example).

[ChrisB2]

The original question was not about co-writing, but about just playing "your" line... whether it be an original song or a cover. Of course, when worded that way, it's easy to see that there is no difference.

Either you wrote the song or you didn't. If you wrote the song, there is a difference. If you didn't, there isn't.

This is a question??

[lfmn16]

Originally Posted by Nomadskills

Did you even read it? This has less to do with cover bands and more to do with original songs that you didn't write.

Yes I read it. If this was your point you should have been more clear.