Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[ugly_bassplayer]

ths discussion about the technical aspect of punk bands was me talking about the bands i saw around me when it was new 77-83, and how the movement was anti-technical and sloppy. talking about bands that are the third generation as better technically is what i see as being the difference.

maybe people were thinking i said punk sucks cause they can’t play, which is not what i thought i was doing.

I didn’t take like you said « punk sucks ».
You’re absolutely right that some bands are terrible players. Then some are absolute killers.

What I liked about that « thing » was that music wasn’t for the « elite ». You could just be any kid in his basement and say.....damn,.....if they coud do it, why can’t I have fun with my friends jamming away in a basement? Fun....isn’t that the most important thing?

That’s exactly what happened to me with the Ramones, they kicked my @$$ to go out and just play your soul out.
Then came actually learning to play the bass and try to get better every day. I was the bass music nerd coming back from school and going straight to the bass, eat, more bass then go skating with friends. (And other activities teens do.....cough cough,......)

My 2 cents.

 

[steubig]

imo, at some point punk, like rock before it, became a career choice, not an anti-career.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

imo, at some point punk, like rock before it, became a career choice, not an anti-career.

Yep, the underground becoming mainstream....same with hip hop now.
Hip Hop was all about lyrics and social commentary, rebellion, story telling.

Now.....well....its mostly garbage (not all of it of course). Chuck D and KRS must be major Peeved by the ignorance of some of todays kids in the game.

 

[monsterthompson]

It’s true of most things.
It didn’t exist.
It existed, but nobody knew what it was.
It existed and people categorized it.

Once it became known and categorized it became a beaten path to follow. People follow leaders and paths.

 

[steubig]

people can make money, mostly business folks trying to cash in, imo.

and i agree with the comments by @ugly_bassplayer and @monsterthompson.

i probably should have said “establishment” and “antiestablishment,” not career.

 

[monsterthompson]

ths discussion about the technical aspect of punk bands was me talking about the bands i saw around me when it was new 77-83, and how the movement was anti-technical and sloppy. talking about bands that are the third generation as better technically is what i see as being the difference.

maybe people were thinking i said punk sucks cause they can’t play, which is not what i thought i was doing.

The stunning thing to me is how so many stories don’t seem to reveal the musical development of some artists. You’ve got kids who came from backgrounds without instruments and could barely play, yet they developed foundations for a genre. I’m curious where the development came from. Was it all their ears, was it help from producers, was it some childhood education we don’t know about?

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

The stunning thing to me is how so many stories don’t seem to reveal the musical development of some artists. You’ve got kids who came from backgrounds without instruments and could barely play, yet they developed foundations for a genre. I’m curious where the development came from. Was it all their ears, was it help from producers, was it some childhood education we don’t know about?

Care to inquire about an artist or band in particular?

 

[lordradish]

All the metal heads in the ambient thread

Back to the depths of hell, the lot of you.

 

[emjazz]

I love the old punk bands that couldn't play. I feel like it was just a way for them to express themselves, about how they felt during that time. So great. We get so hung up on playing our instruments incredibly well these days and many times forget to express any message or feeling at all...it's just playing really well. We could learn a lot of the punk scene back in the day.

 

[lordradish]

I liked metal, but I was a dorky prog head in the 80s. I was probably the only kid in my school who even knew what Tangerine Dream was, too. As a prog head, I looked down on most punk as music for people who wanted to look cool but couldn't be bothered to learn how to play their instruments worth a damn. Lot of time has passed since then and I have a much more open mind about lots of types of music now, and have a lot of punk and post-punk love now, but I still dislike laziness disguised as rebellion or coolness.

THis more or less sums up me, with the caveat that I was the prog dork in the 90's, and still have zero punk or post-punk. Just not my thing - probably my least favorite kind of rock, to be honest.

 

[lordradish]

too young to be a hippie and too old to be a punk.

plus i was into the whole jazz/fusion/funk thing when punk/new wave hit. but i did end up seeing a fair amount of punk shows due to having friends/family who were into it. from my place, the whole scene seemed to be pretty open, but anti-technical. it often seemed more sociological than musical a lot of the time.

Yeah. I think that part of my thing, being a progger/fusion guy before all of this ambient stuff corrupted me was that punk was basically rebelling against the exact things I really liked about those genres.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Yeah. I think that part of my thing, being a progger/fusion guy before all of this ambient stuff corrupted me was that punk was basically rebelling against the exact things I really liked about those genres.

The punk police sucked. I just didn't even pay attention to them....losers anyways.
Listen to what you like.
You should have seen the faces I got when I was jammin Mingus and Bill Evans in my discman with a Bad Brains shirt on.

 

[monsterthompson]

Care to inquire about an artist or band in particular?

I don't now that I need a full education, as I'm sure plenty of info exists online if I want it...
But for example:
Rat Scabies from The Damned. His life didn't exactly seem to provide for early development of technique and chops behind the kit.
The Cramps are fresh on my mind, since listening to the podcast on them.
Didn't Dee Dee and/or Johnny Ramone buy a guitar at a store and carry it out in shopping bag because he didn't want to or couldn't afford a case? I mean, what was the rest of life like for someone like that, and how would you find a way to practice, let alone know what to practice?
Glenn Danzig is clearly a capable multi-instrumentalist, but it isn't a thing that comes up about him.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

I don't now that I need a full education, as I'm sure plenty of info exists online if I want it...
But for example:
Rat Scabies from The Damned. His life didn't exactly seem to provide for early development of technique and chops behind the kit.
The Cramps are fresh on my mind, since listening to the podcast on them.
Didn't Dee Dee and/or Johnny Ramone buy a guitar at a store and carry it out in shopping bag because he didn't want to or couldn't afford a case? I mean, what was the rest of life like for someone like that, and how would you find a way to practice, let alone know what to practice?
Glenn Danzig is clearly a capable multi-instrumentalist, but it isn't a thing that comes up about him.

How about no computers, cell phones and social media to wast your time on???

Spend the entire day jamming and trying to learn your instrument. Then read a book.
Time was invested very differently. I sure am glad I had my major « woodshed » period before this facebook crap.

I owned one pedal and one bass for about my first 10 years, an old beat to crap tuner. So most of my time was actually spent on playing the bass. Not trying to get likes of our jam session on instagram.

 

[steubig]

I love the old punk bands that couldn't play. I feel like it was just a way for them to express themselves, about how they felt during that time. So great. We get so hung up on playing our instruments incredibly well these days and many times forget to express any message or feeling at all...it's just playing really well. We could learn a lot of the punk scene back in the day.

this is the challenge for me: how to play with abandon and control, technique and emotion. (i think one can do both.)


lifelong quest here.

 

[monsterthompson]

How about no computers, cell phones and social media to wast your time on???

Spend the entire day jamming and trying to learn your instrument. Then read a book.
Time was invested very differently. I sure am glad I had my major « woodshed » period before this facebook crap.

I owned one pedal and one bass for about my first 10 years, an old beat to crap tuner. So most of my time was actually spent on playing the bass. Not trying to get likes of our jam session on instagram.

I suppose the drummer stories are what I find most interesting. They needed space and could easily annoy others around you. It wasn't like some squatter punk could just easily have a kit in a studio. Where did they store it? How did they get it? How did it not get stolen? How did it get transported to gigs? (backline, I'm assuming).

 

[steubig]

The punk police sucked. I just didn't even pay attention to them....losers anyways.
Listen to what you like.
You should have seen the faces I got when I was jammin Mingus and Bill Evans in my discman with a Bad Brains shirt on.

yeah. i was playing jazz and r&b gigs at night, listening to bands like the clash and x before i would head off the play in the university orchestra.

 

[Spectrum]

THis more or less sums up me, with the caveat that I was the prog dork in the 90's, and still have zero punk or post-punk. Just not my thing - probably my least favorite kind of rock, to be honest.

To me, post punk are the punks who learned how to play well, and new wave were the punks who learned how to make money. I like both.

 

[steubig]

lol. some truth to that.

there were also the artrock punks, who could play, but nt make money.

 

[emjazz]

this is the challenge for me: how to play with abandon and control, technique and emotion. (i think one can do both.)


lifelong quest here.

You and me both my friend.

Edit: I'm so tired of my "lines" that weren't created intentionally...or I guess my musical habits. More aware of them each day.