Bass on "let's dance" by Bowie

[Ross76]

Hi guys,
I've been struggling lately with finding out how to get the specific "synth" like sound used on the bass from the legendary track "Let's dance" by David Bowie. I've tried gates, filters, etc but I can't seem to find it.
Could you help me with this? I would appreciate it a lot.
Have fun!

 

[jerry]

Have you tried a pick? Rojas was/is a pick player.

 

[Big John66]

A Spector NS-2, a pick and super clean technique. Rojas is a master.

 

[OldDirtyBassist]

No offense to Rojas, but they should've used Tommy Shannon on that track.

 

[Dbassmon]

No offense to Rojas, but they should've used Tommy Shannon on that track.

Oh really? Exactly how many more copies of Lets Dance would Bowie have sold with Shannon on bass instead of Rojas? This is why you were not asked to produce this track.... no offense!

 

[smeet]

There's definitely either an auto filter on the bass in the verse, or it's being doubled on a synth.

 

[jerry]

No offense to Rojas, but they should've used Tommy Shannon on that track.

I love Shannon's body of work, but I disagree, Rojas kills on that album! China Girl alone is worth the price of admission. IMHO

 

[OldDirtyBassist]

Didn't Stevie Ray Vaughan play guitar on that song?

 

[smeet]

Yeah, I think that's considered Stevie's breakout into stardom.

 

[Stick_Player]

Hmmm... Power Station, Bob Clearmountain, Fairlight CMI... By the time this was recorded, the Fairlight could lock to a SMPTE track.

Probably very little "bass guitar" or just a tiny component.

The kick sure sounds "Bob Clearmountain Replaced Drums"-like. And sequenced. All the drums for that matter.

 

[Ross76]

There's definitely either an auto filter on the bass in the verse, or it's being doubled on a synth.

Thanks for the advice, that's the kind of advice i was looking for. Although the concept is easy, i can't find a delay that sounds good enough to doubble it. I'll try to use a delay + filter together to see if it works better.
Also i'd like to duplicate the track to send it to a synth. I need the bass to trigger the synth..is it possible?

 

[Ross76]

Hmmm... Power Station, Bob Clearmountain, Fairlight CMI... By the time this was recorded, the Fairlight could lock to a SMPTE track.

Probably very little "bass guitar" or just a tiny component.

The kick sure sounds "Bob Clearmountain Replaced Drums"-like. And sequenced. All the drums for that matter.

Yes, the Fairlight CMI looks like what i'm looking for. Now for the big questions? how can i achieve to get that sound by using plugins (i can't afford hardware)?

Thanks for lot for your comments guys.

Really appreciate!

 

[Milk]

Its kinda funny to me how many pop tracks that I liked the bass on I later found out years later were done by respected musicians (or they later became one). This (and the whole lets dance record, it's kinda minimalistic basslines really but very good), the bass on those damn Wham! songs (Deon Estus). I used to just assume they were all no name studio players forgotten in the mists of time so I never even bothered finding out.

 

[silky smoove]

I had no idea that SRV played the guitar on this. Very un-SRV type playing, but it's great to see that he was actually a pretty versatile player.

 

[OldDirtyBassist]

I had no idea that SRV played the guitar on this. Very un-SRV type playing, but it's great to see that he was actually a pretty versatile player.

Stevie said in later interviews that he just pretended he was Albert King for Bowie.

 

[OldDirtyBassist]

Its kinda funny to me how many pop tracks that I liked the bass on I later found out years later were done by respected musicians (or they later became one). This (and the whole lets dance record, it's kinda minimalistic basslines really but very good), the bass on those damn Wham! songs (Deon Estus). I used to just assume they were all no name studio players forgotten in the mists of time so I never even bothered finding out.

Deon is one of the greatest bassists ever imo. There's footage of him leading Marvin Gaye's band at a rehearsal on youtube around 1983. Marvin isn't sober but sings the magic.

 

[cabcreaser]

Didn't Stevie Ray Vaughan play guitar on that song?

Stevie played the solo, Nile Rodgers played the funky rhythm guitar. Nile co-produced the record with Bowie.

Keep the notes short and precise and you'll get close to the vibe of the track. The space between the notes is the most critical part to nail.

 

[jasonmack]

Now and again I play in a Bowie tribute outfit and I use an MXR M288 octave pedal with everything set to about 1 o'clock to mimic the "Let's Dance" tone. The pedal's tone is right synthy and it's a fair match. I wouldn't say it's a cheap way to get the tone, but it's not crazy expensive, plus the pick you're gonna need is only 33 cents.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Stevie played the solo, Nile Rodgers played the funky rhythm guitar. Nile co-produced the record with Bowie.

You sure that's not Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar?

 

[cabcreaser]

You sure that's not Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar?

He did not play on any track on that record (though he's great too and did the tour I believe). All guitar on that record is Nile or Stevie.

From Musician mag:

MUSICIAN: You assembled an entirely new group of musicians for the record. How did you select the personnel?

BOWIE: The guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughn, denotes where I was coming from in terms of putting the band together. (drawls) He’s from Austin, Texas! Plays in a blues band down thar! When I saw him a year ago or so at the Montreux Jazz Festival, his trio was the support act for somebody like Muddy Waters. Stevie is just dynamite-he thinks Jimmy Page is a modernist! Stevie’s back there with Albert King. He’s the wiz kid.

Also, I wanted to have a little relief from the guys that I usually work with. I wanted to try people that I’d never worked with before, so that I couldn’t predict how they were going to play. They didn’t have much idea of how I worked in the studio. And as I hadn’t recorded in two years, it seemed perfectly natural ’round about now to try new people. Nile picked up most of the rest of the band for me: Omar Hakim from Weather Report; Carmine Rojas from Nona Hendryx’s band; Stevie and Nile played guitar, and that was the nucleus.