Bass/Guitar Performance Visuals....What do you do?

[Rib 13]

This thread isnt about actual bass techniques; its about what you may do to spice up what you look like onstage to create excitement or action. I didnt know where else to start this thread......Do you play over the top of the neck? Do you sling the bass around you on a strap? Is there a certain way you hold it or beat on it with your fists at key times? This is the stuff Im looking for

This thread is for those who believe that Performance and visual entertainment (i.e. the "show" in "showbusiness") is just as important as the playing part so, please, if that isnt for you I kindly ask to leave snarky comments at the door. Thanks in advance

 

[JonathanPDX]

Victor Wooten is a real master of using technique in performance. Years ago I heard him say the reason was to make sure the performance translated to the people at the back of the room and not just those in the front who could see his hands clearly.

Spinning the bass around is very dangerous and MANY people (including Vic) have had catastrophic failures that resulted in major damage, so if you go that route be careful, reinforce everything, and do a lot of practice with a backup before you start throwing your main instrument around.

Personally I do most of the things you mentioned, save throwing the bass around my back. Strumming, striking, playing over the top of the fretboard with one or both hands. Sometimes I'll loop a part, then flip the bass "up" toward me so the rear of the body/neck is facing the audience, and pretend to play on the wood side while the loop is running.

In an ensemble I'd always take care to learn some signature guitar or melody parts, and double them, usually while standing near the other player or making eye contact so the audience can clearly see we're playing the line in unison. How you make eye contact, where you stand on stage, and even how you hold your bass can all add up to having stage presence, or not.

 

[Rib 13]

Victor Wooten is a real master of using technique in performance. Years ago I heard him say the reason was to make sure the performance translated to the people at the back of the room and not just those in the front who could see his hands clearly.

Spinning the bass around is very dangerous and MANY people (including Vic) have had catastrophic failures that resulted in major damage, so if you go that route be careful, reinforce everything, and do a lot of practice with a backup before you start throwing your main instrument around.

Personally I do most of the things you mentioned, save throwing the bass around my back. Strumming, striking, playing over the top of the fretboard with one or both hands. Sometimes I'll loop a part, then flip the bass "up" toward me so the rear of the body/neck is facing the audience, and pretend to play on the wood side while the loop is running.

In an ensemble I'd always take care to learn some signature guitar or melody parts, and double them, usually while standing near the other player or making eye contact so the audience can clearly see we're playing the line in unison. How you make eye contact, where you stand on stage, and even how you hold your bass can all add up to having stage presence, or not.

Thanks. One thing I do is a "double finger slide" when doing a B(5ver) or E String slide: I put two index fingers over the top of the neck and slide in opposittie directions - the right hand does the actual slide; the left hand does nothing and is just for show.

Paul Stanley said something similar: He had a friend that had bought one of the first video cameras in the early 70s and he said that little factoid made a giant difference in what would happen to KISS. He said that he saw that he was dancing/shuffling onstage and that everybody looked good to the front of the room but they looked miniscule in the back so the takeaway was to exaggerate all the moves - make them bigger...This video below was helpful to this thread's query and is full of ideas

 

[Pacman]

This thread isnt about actual bass techniques; its about what you may do to spice up what you look like onstage to create excitement or action.

You're right, it's not.

Moved to Miscellaneous

 

[Oddly]

Performance visuals? Excitement? Stage presence?

You know this is a bassist forum, right?

We stand at the back, dressed in black.
Maybe, in an occasional moment of deepest passion, nodding our heads.

 

[Michedelic]

Performance visuals? Excitement? Stage presence?

You know this is a bassist forum, right?

We stand at the back, dressed in black.
Maybe, in an occasional moment of deepest passion, nodding our heads.

Yeah…

 

[turf3]

Personally I follow the Entwistle model of on-stage performance showmanship. Although not his fondness for hookers and blow.

 

[The Goldfish]

Flip the hair. Every time I make my way to the microphone to sing background or whatever, I flip the hair so I'm not singing through it and/or getting a mouthful of it. Chicks dig it

 

[Oddly]

Flip the hair. Every time I make my way to the microphone to sing background or whatever, I flip the hair so I'm not singing through it and/or getting a mouthful of it. Chicks dig it

I must try that...

 

[JMarkD]

I sit on a stool and try not to fall off. The audience is mesmerized.

 

[Nashrakh]

I sit on a stool and try not to fall off. The audience is mesmerized.

"Wow, how does he DO that?!"