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Bass Lines - Simple vs Sophisticated

#81
tom_t said:
This is probably genre and your skill dependent question, but when you compose your bass lines are you trying to keep them simple with some fills here and there or you want it to be as sophisticated and technically challenging as possible?

What your band mates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
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It depends on what the song needs! Some songs or parts of songs need a simple repetitive bass line that defines the song. Others need sophisticated lines to make the song sound good. Never play fast sophisticated lines just to show off how good you are (bass solos excepted) - it rarely compliments the song.

Listen to some of the stuff that Lee Sklar has recorded over the years or watch him play at those award shows that often have him playing bass. He plays what the song needs and puts in tasteful fills in all the right places at all the right times. Some of them are slow and some of them are fast and complex. He's genius at it and he makes it all sound good.
 
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#82
For a long time I just used roots, 3rds and fifths. And usually as quarter notes. (walking bass)
Now i am gaining confidence I am including transitional notes from one chord to another, and the timing is highly variable... a bar might start with a dotted half note (root) then two sixteenth notes (5th and 3rd) followed by the same pattern in the new chord for the next bar. But as a bass is not usually a lead instrument, I try to stay with the triads, and only occasional incidentals. Do you consider that complex or simple? considering the role that the bass plays in music, to vary far from the triads would risk turning the music into chaos.
 
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#84
tom_t said:
This is probably genre and your skill dependent question, but when you compose your bass lines are you trying to keep them simple with some fills here and there or you want it to be as sophisticated and technically challenging as possible?

What your band mates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
Click to expand...
I take cues from the melody and chord changes to build a bass line that compliments the song. That can be simple and complex in the same song at different points. I try to avoid idealogical constraints to how I ‘should’ create a musical part. I always try to consider what it will take to maintain a natural groove that suits the melody and lyrics. These days I’m playing almost 100% original songs. Our band has three good writers and there can at times be a period of development before I’m satisfied that I’ve got it right.
 
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#85
I've always been a "busier" bass player. At band practice, I'll usually try out a "busier" lines than I would actually play live at a show.

I've been playing bass now for almost 25 years. It doesn't pay my bills and I do it for fun. I find busier lines fun so that's what I usually end up playing.
 
#86
tom_t said:
This is probably genre and your skill dependent question, but when you compose your bass lines are you trying to keep them simple with some fills here and there or you want it to be as sophisticated and technically challenging as possible?

What your band mates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
Click to expand...
I'm in two bands. With the synth pop, I play bass with some simple and some more complex lines. I sing lead and play bass with the punk metal band. The songs are faster than the pop band at 180bpm, and I play complex lines, enough to get us called 'Rush play punk'.
 
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#87
tom_t said:
This is probably genre and your skill dependent question, but when you compose your bass lines are you trying to keep them simple with some fills here and there or you want it to be as sophisticated and technically challenging as possible?

What your band mates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
Click to expand...

you answered the question for yourself: it depends on the genre and what the client(s) expectations are. Even though I dont do near as much studio work as I used to, the best thing about our modern digital environment is that I can lay down all types of basslines and alternate basslines that can be cut/edited into something they like
 
#89
I play more busy (a bit) on my own tunes, because the bass is more exposed in the format. When I'm playing for other people, with beats and keyboards or whatever, I have a deliberate tactic of playing as few notes as possible, and making sure each one sounds good and means something.
 
#91
tom_t said:
complex - that’s the word I was looking for.

I know that there’s a lot of pro players that play simple lines and they make quite a life of it.
Most of the time I too have a feeling that simple line fits perfectly into song but always have an urge to add or “improve” something.
Click to expand...

This trap is why young drummers give all drummers a bad reputation
 
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#92
tom_t said:
What are your bandmates expecting of your lines if you are in a band?
Click to expand...
the right note at the right time for the most part. after that: they want/need me to 'lead' the accompaniment to what they're doing (a melody, a solo, section soli, etc.).

for some tunes: i try different things at rehearsals until i'm satisfied that i can do those things (above) tastefully. IME, playing the right feel for the arrangement is more important than whether the bassline might be considered "simple vs. complex."
 
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#93
This is actually a huge question.

You have to look at:
The song
The genre
The band
The audience
And the player

First and foremost is serving the song, to me this is always the most important thing. But there are several ways to serve a song so the other areas start coming in to play.

I'll use myself as an example. I once played for a death metal band. Classically in death metal tremolo picking is used on guitar and bass. I don't play like this. So while I (the player) could write to serve the song, meaning I was writing in a way that sounded good and was correct, I wasnt serving the genre as I wasn't doing what was the norm, I wasn't serving the band because they wanted tremolo picking, and i wasn't serving the audience because I wasn't playing in the generally accepted traditions. They found someone who played the material in the style they wanted and I moved on. No big deal.

So yeah I was serving the song but in this case that wasnt everything.

I think being cognizant of all of this across the board and not getting butthurt if what you're playing isn't want people are looking for goes a long way

I will continue to play in my style and function and if that works for someone great if it doesn't no hard feelings.
 
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#94
For me, it all just depends on what the song calls for. I'm going to approach a jazz fusion line a lot differently than a blues line. I tend to be really bored by music where I'm just pounding out eighth notes or just mirroring the guitar, so I don't really play that way, but I'd never just make something complex just for the sake of it.
 
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#97
I was in a rehearsal yesterday where I had some very different demands.

1) Taking a mellow song, sitting out the entire first verse and chorus, bringing in whole notes slowly, kick it up just a little to a gently rocking 1-5 on the next chorus, kick it up to a slightly more staccato / happy rocking 1-5 and simple turnarounds next verse, add in a trill or two next verse, and finally end.

2) Playing Moonage Daydream note for note

3) Busy, soulful, aggressive, jazzy vamping on an old, fusion-y instrumental from the 70's.

4) Working my way through a waltzy original song that starts acoustically and builds dynamically up to a pretty sizeable roar.

And more. All of these songs require me to focus on different things and that's what I do. What the song calls for is the thing I try to concern myself with. Are some of them more fun for me? Yeah, probably. The first one requires discipline, because it's not challenging. But being present with the music to make it right is enjoyable.

The second one is fun for me because I like the way it was played. I stick to the original because I don't think there's much I can to do improve it. It's a great song with a great arrangement already and the bass line totally drives that bus. It's fun to play that way.

The third one is lots of fun because nobody cares what I play and I get to groove hard with a good drummer and keyboard player.

The fourth song is another exercise in discipline, but it's a good song and a little challenging because we take a few liberties with the originally recorded arrangement.

No one way of doing this is set into stone.
 
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#98
JRA said:
the right note at the right time for the most part. after that: they want/need me to 'lead' the accompaniment to what they're doing (a melody, a solo, section soli, etc.).

for some tunes: i try different things at rehearsals until i'm satisfied that i can do those things (above) tastefully. IME, playing the right feel for the arrangement is more important than whether the bassline might be considered "simple vs. complex."
Click to expand...
100% - for church I’ll practice something that I think sounds good with the source but then at rehearsal Sunday morning it doesn’t fit with what the drummer is doing. Sometimes I just adapt, but other times it’s a conversation with the drummer to talk about what we want to do - just depends on the situation!

Another nugget is “don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you don’t get it wrong” … I’m still learning this lesson.
 
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