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Always just like the record?

#21
mambo4 said:
wouldn't the bass tabs for a Doors song be blank? :D
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Funny that you say that- I played bass in a Doors Tribute and there's a bizarre situation where one is required to play 'note for note' - besides the bass guitar parts that are more often than not on the studio albums (and they are fun parts to work on - Jerry Scheff's (LA Woman) and Harvey Brooks (Soft Parade) parts are a joy to play, and even the 1st albums for example have tic-tac bass parts accentuating the key board parts) I also handled the left hand keyboards parts. I thought it peculiar to recreate Doors live performances note-for-note that were obviously jams and improvisations. But it's part of the tribute game.

As a bass player you can get away with a lot more, than say the guitarist. The key is to make sure you give the impression you do exactly as the record and noone notices the difference :)
But besides doing tribute bands, i like to play exactly what I feel like playing, at the moment I play it - its is what makes music fun, IMO.
 
#22
To me, it's like cooking. You can try to cut corners and change a recipie to whatever you think will work but sometimes when you do that, the food tastes pretty bad.
The cook that does that convinces him/herself that it tastes good..........
 
#23
The funny thing is the Doors never had a FT band member bassist- but there is SOME GREAT bass playing by Scheff and others on many, Doors songs.
Touch ME is a sweet bass line, as is "Strange Days" (see great tab in bass player) LA WOMAN, Changeling, the list goes on and on.
I don't care for covering the parts that were played on Keyboard bass exactly- as they are stretch type lines that just don't "fit right" on the bass fingerboard and KILL your hand after a while.
 
#24
I have been accused of this, like its a bad thing. funny though, I never learned it lick for lick, just listened to the tune and played the feel of the tune. Maybe the others need to learn the tune exactly to see I did not....eh Its all about the feel of the tune and playing the right notes anyways.
 
#25
Just my opinion but, I think that 99% of an audiance would not know if you were not playing note for note. But I can bet you that 99% of an audiance can tell if you are not playing the right notes or are out of tune. I am 49 and have been playing for 2 years and I have problems getting my fingers to move as fast as they did when I was 18 so I have problems with some songs and just try to get as close as possible
 
#26
4001 said:
To me, it's like cooking. You can try to cut corners and change a recipie to whatever you think will work but sometimes when you do that, the food tastes pretty bad.
The cook that does that convinces him/herself that it tastes good..........
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Not playing it note for note is not cutting corners. Music is a living, breathing, changing thing. The recording captures a single performance of the song and may never be played that way again.

Even when playing written parts what's on the page is open to interpretation. There are dozens of recordings of Bach's Cello Suites out there. The players all read the same music and they all sound subtely different.
 
#29
mambo4 said:
wouldn't the bass tabs for a Doors song be blank? :D
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Only for the first album. All their other albums had bass.

There are a handful of songs we do that are fairly close to the originals, but most of them we change up, sometimes considerably, sometimes a little. The fans of my band love it that we change stuff up, so that's what we do.
 
#30
Gaius46 said:
Not playing it note for note is not cutting corners. Music is a living, breathing, changing thing. The recording captures a single performance of the song and may never be played that way again.

Even when playing written parts what's on the page is open to interpretation. There are dozens of recordings of Bach's Cello Suites out there. The players all read the same music and they all sound subtely different.
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Well, I'm assuming....that most working bassists playing in clubs are playing music that dosen't require playing things note-for-note. Good for them.
I like watching musicians play things precisely. I have no interest in playing music that I can 'get away' with deciding which notes I will change to my taste and 'improvise' over.

Ahh, to each their own. Do what you want to the songs you cover. If I see a Rush tribute playing their version of those songs, I walk out. It's happened and it's an insult to the real band.

We're living in a world that seems to be less concerned about details and would rather be happy just doing the minimum and get away with it because it's just too much work to do things the right way...it might discourage and humble some. It might make someone want to quit. Well, it that is the attitude, then quit. Go play your video games and win using codes that others earned playing it the right way to get them, why bother trying to get to level 13 when someone else can do it for you??.
Cut corners, nobody knows the difference and you didn't have to put in one more minute trying to just attempt to play the song right. Too much work.
Hope the builder of your home didn't cut corners either. You won't notice. It looks good on the outside....
 
#33
If you've got time, learn them. Even notate if possible. Then commit them to memory. Slowly forget them on the gig and play what works with that group, at that tempo, on that night. If the rest of the band isn't playing it exactly like the record your part might not work anyway.
 
#35
Jungy said:
Sorry. Yes in my opinion. I Meant it all in fun. I haven't played a whole lot of covers, mostly originals so just my experience of what I have done.
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Nobody really knows when you improvise on your original music unless everyone has the tune memorized. Then at that point, you might want to stick to the original recipie.

Hey, it worked for KFC so far.......once they start messin' with the recipie watch their business go down.

And I don't mean extra crispy either...:smug:
 
#36
cjac9 said:
If you've got time, learn them. Even notate if possible. Then commit them to memory. Slowly forget them on the gig and play what works with that group, at that tempo, on that night. If the rest of the band isn't playing it exactly like the record your part might not work anyway.
Click to expand...

OK. Now that is more sensible. AT LEAST make the effort to learn the song as it was meant to be played first BEFORE making it your own to toy around with and possibly destroy. That way, if the band wants to do that then you can at least say that you know how it's supposed to be played and then proceed with their 'version'.
Hey as long as the club serves beer and the people keep drinking it and you provide some songs that chicks can dance to, 'it's all good' right?

Local cover band gig mission accomplished.
 
#40
4001 said:
Nobody really knows when you improvise on your original music unless everyone has the tune memorized. Then at that point, you might want to stick to the original recipie.

Hey, it worked for KFC so far.......once they start messin' with the recipie watch their business go down.

And I don't mean extra crispy either...:smug:
Click to expand...

I was referring to my limited experience of covers. Anyway, in some circumstances improv will work, others maybe not as well.
 

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