I KNEW IT! You're talking about the live version right? I always thought it was me who made a mistake counting it back in while listening to it.
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Do "Pro-Bassists" Ever Mess Up?
- Thread starter organworthyplayer337
- Start date
I KNEW IT! You're talking about the live version right? I always thought it was me who made a mistake counting it back in while listening to it.
Interesting topic... I just played out live for the first time in 8 years (not counting worship gigs, but that's a totally different vibe)... and I was the singer... AND we only had 2 1/2 rehearsals... AND I was a lot more seasoned and musically skilled than the other guys (which was the first spot where we went wrong 
) I bricked a LOT of notes.... but thankfully I had many years experience of playing out, and all I got were complements afterward. I even forgot in the heat of the moment most of the lines to the verses of Gimme Shelter... which, if you know the song, means I forgot all of about 10 words... I just laughed it up and sang about forgetting the words, and the audience rolled with it. So, as many others have said before... it's about how you recover, practice certainly helps, and not losing your cool but laughing it off all make for a better performance. And, as someone else said, YOU (and maybe your fellow bass playing friends if they're watching) will notice the bricks, but the audience might notice if you draw attention to it. Own your mistakes, call it jazz (even if it's speed metal) and it's all good. 
) I bricked a LOT of notes.... but thankfully I had many years experience of playing out, and all I got were complements afterward. I even forgot in the heat of the moment most of the lines to the verses of Gimme Shelter... which, if you know the song, means I forgot all of about 10 words... I just laughed it up and sang about forgetting the words, and the audience rolled with it. So, as many others have said before... it's about how you recover, practice certainly helps, and not losing your cool but laughing it off all make for a better performance. And, as someone else said, YOU (and maybe your fellow bass playing friends if they're watching) will notice the bricks, but the audience might notice if you draw attention to it. Own your mistakes, call it jazz (even if it's speed metal) and it's all good. 
Yeah, it does happen. But the best way to limit it is... practice practice practice; the bassline, the song, and the whole show.I was just thinking as I was wastching some live performances (on SNL, Late Night... etc) and listening to the bass lines closely and it all sounds pretty darn perfect to me.... it makes me wonder, is there some sort of magic potion out there that allows a player to play a song perfectly?
If so, I sure need some!Cause it's never happened to me before!!!
I know the stage mix is good when you hear a bum note or chord and all three of you look at each other wondering who made the mistake. Usually somebody's facial expression (embarrassed smile) tells you who it was, but sometimes you can be sure you hit the right note....... but you didn't.
I feel you Mediocrity Man. That is why I said it is expensive. Time is not cheap. I struggle with the same issues. working to put one through college while dropping one off at first grade. I am in three different bands playing three different instruments. That being said, I can either be really good at one or get by on all three. I chose to work at being good but right now get by on all three. Ha, Ha.
^^^This. That's how I got MY start (as they say...) too, 3 - 6 nights a week playing clubs. Play 4 hours a night, practice in the club during the day 2 - 3 hours most days, not much to do sitting around the motel room so you jam and practice a few more hours a day, several days a week, weeks on end. Couple of years of that and you can pretty much play in your sleep. Ah, the Good Old Days...
Using dead flat wound strings on a Beatle bass.
As long as Roger Federer can hit an air shot, a professional bass player can mess up. Also, on live videos,overdubs are often made. And it wouldn't surprise me if the same was true of 'live' TV shows for future broadcasts.
Obviously practicing more generally means fewer mistakes, but I think there is an element of brain wiring/personality type involved as well. There are some players who are just machines (and I mean that in a good way): They just seem to make very few mistakes. Sometimes they are not even necessarily great musicians.
I know one guy who plays in a number of classic rock cover bands: Nice guy, but He's kind of a hack: he often does't play the original baseline to the songs, just generic chord-root kinds of basslines, and does't have a particularly good ear, he just learns his songs by looking at tabs or chord charts off the internet. Improvising is out of the question.
That being said,a guitar player friend of mine who plays in a band with him says that he has never heard the guy screw up-he may not play the exact right baseline, but what he does play works, and he nails it every single time, and that is why he gets so many gigs with classic rock bands.
Now, I do not have that "no mistakes" thing going on, but I still make my living playing and teaching music, because I can do a lot of different things: I can read music, improvise, things up by ear, and play a lot of different styles of music. My guitar-player friends comment on the difference between us was "Yea, you play clams now and then, but you're still a way better musician than him: people know they can hire you for any kind of gig, and throw anything at you on a gig, and you'll make it work, and play some really cool stuff too. He's super consistent, you could break a 2x4 over his head and he probably wouldn't miss a note, but not as much fun to play with; his lines aren't particularly interesting, they just work, and he doesn't do well if we change anything about the song".
Obviously, being a consistent player and a flexible player are not mutually exclusive; the point is that different musicians have different strengths. Les Claypool is a great player, but isn't particularly consistent-but his gig doesn't require him to be. The players who get gigs with TV shows definitely need to have the consistency thing.
I know one guy who plays in a number of classic rock cover bands: Nice guy, but He's kind of a hack: he often does't play the original baseline to the songs, just generic chord-root kinds of basslines, and does't have a particularly good ear, he just learns his songs by looking at tabs or chord charts off the internet. Improvising is out of the question.
That being said,a guitar player friend of mine who plays in a band with him says that he has never heard the guy screw up-he may not play the exact right baseline, but what he does play works, and he nails it every single time, and that is why he gets so many gigs with classic rock bands.
Now, I do not have that "no mistakes" thing going on, but I still make my living playing and teaching music, because I can do a lot of different things: I can read music, improvise, things up by ear, and play a lot of different styles of music. My guitar-player friends comment on the difference between us was "Yea, you play clams now and then, but you're still a way better musician than him: people know they can hire you for any kind of gig, and throw anything at you on a gig, and you'll make it work, and play some really cool stuff too. He's super consistent, you could break a 2x4 over his head and he probably wouldn't miss a note, but not as much fun to play with; his lines aren't particularly interesting, they just work, and he doesn't do well if we change anything about the song".
Obviously, being a consistent player and a flexible player are not mutually exclusive; the point is that different musicians have different strengths. Les Claypool is a great player, but isn't particularly consistent-but his gig doesn't require him to be. The players who get gigs with TV shows definitely need to have the consistency thing.
Of course they do. They just practice more because that's what they do for a living. Some more than others. But yes, they mess up.
- May 20, 2002
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There is a lengthy montage of Prince goofs on YouTube. Check it out! Made me feel better about screwing up now and again. Truly happens to the best...so a low lifer like me is in good company!
+1
I was involved in a live compilation record in the early 2000's and nearly every band if not every band (I can't remember everything.....it's getting worse with age.
) had to go into the studio to clean up things here and there. There were plenty of pro players involved in the mix as well. Don't get me wrong, the unaltered recordings were good and I'm sure it sounded fine in the moment live but when you hyper analyze it on tape (especially when the engineer does....) you will hear things you need to clean up.Did I mention my bass playing was spot on though?
