Do you ever play on bass another instrument's part?

[Tim Skaggs]

Definitely. I played in a 3 piece for years and covered all kinds of stuff on bass just to keep the feel. The most difficult was playing bass in place of the Fender Rhodes piano walk-down part between the intro and the chord progression of the verse of “Stay With Me” by Faces / Rod Stewart. The guitarist couldn’t do much with it and we needed something in there to keep time. It worked.

I also do the two notes before the two step-up chords on the intro of Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan. Those notes and the two chords are keyboard / elec. piano that we don’t have, so I play the two notes and the guitarist plays the two chords. Works quite well.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Have you found yourself in a situation where you had to replicate on bass the part of another instrument, presumably because nobody else was available to play it?

What instruments have you "covered" this way? Did you find it technically challenging? Did you have to think differently? Did you try to also modify the sound (with technique or sound process) to make it closer to the original instrument or did you just accept your bass sound for the task?

I remember playing Ain't Too Proud To Beg with my last band. At first it lacked a special flavor from the original recording.
I played mini-hints to honor aspects of the original recording that were recorded by other instruments.
I wasn't trying to sound like a sax, I was playing a fill that honored what the sax player did on the original recording.

Play the music, not the instrument.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Two instances come to mind:

- many years ago my avant-Jazz comprovisational band was a quintet, and one of our tunes had a soprano sax melody, a tenor sax counter-melody, and the guitar and Chapman Stick played a chordal ostinato… a year or so later, after our tenor sax player had left the band and I had sold off the Stick, we resurrected that composition, only now I was playing the counter-melody on 6-string bass. It actually worked out much better that way!

- much more recently, one of the bands I play in now covers Earth Wind & Fire’s “September”, and whenever our keyboard player doesn’t show up — which is WAY too often, grrrrrr — I try to cop the keyboard part for the first six bars of the intro. With varying degrees of success.

 

[Aidenn7]

synth and drums

 

[Michedelic]

I've worn out many a volume potentiometer trying to emulate a cello! In a duo I play in I've played many little intro licks to various songs. Some strummy guitar parts while the guitarist plays leads. Most recently a steel drum intro. Infinitely easier on a six-string bass, by the way.

You need a Swello…

 

[Medicine Man]

I do it all the time, if a signature melody is missing, string parts or horn licks being the most common, but it really only makes sense when an actual bass line isn't holding the pocket. I just play the line without synth/emulating the original mostly.

 

[logdrum]

When the guitar player's board went into panic mode. I turn the bass octave into fuzz and played that for a few measures and the drummer looked at me and we build it up just playing the riff and then he comes in with his solo. it almost sounded as if it was planned. I am also a horn player, I am used to doing lead melodic lines, When I first played with this band, the guitar layer asj if I can do the intro to Sir Duke by Stevie. I sure did and sometimes when the singer introduces the band when we are vamping, I'll play that whole lick. But since it's not really a RnB band, it really depends if the drummer sets it up.

Not sure if I do much signature lines for other instruments in rock cover gigs though. That's what guitarist are for, Signature bass liens yes and soloing but unless people are into jazz you cannot deviate so much

 

[Melik]

Just did the keyboard solo in Toto’s Africa on a gig

 

[pfschim]

One of my regular gigging projects is a duo and I end up doing all kinds of parts to substitute for other instruments. Synths, keys, guitar parts, melody lines, etc. are all in a nights work in that band. It's kind of part of the deal with duos at least IME/IMO.

 

[SoulApprentice]

I play in a 3 piece and we cover Strangler's "Golden Brown". The original bass line is pretty basic, while the song is heavily characterized by the keyboard's bass part...
Some time ago I even made a video of it, feel free to let me know what you think of it!

 

[LowActionHero]

Keyboard/organ parts like Thank You (Zeppelin) and Rocky Mountain Way.
Random subtle guitar parts that didn't get covered.
Wind noises! (One of These Days-Pink Floyd)

 

[Passinwind]

Sure, I play jazz heads and rock and blues lead lines fairly often. They typically would be horn parts in the jazz contexts I play in most often, but they could be any instrument or a vocalist’s part perfectly easily too. Personally, I feel that if you don’t know the melody you haven’t fully learned the tune yet. But I’m also lazy enough to not always do that unless I especially dig the melody line.

And no, I don’t make any attempt to sound like anything but a bass, but my idea of what that means is a little different to begin with.

 

[Jefenator]

Most jazz groups that cover Chameleon unwittingly stick the bass player with Herbie Hancock's synth bass part. (On the record Paul Jackson is actually doing a cool bent-note thing at the very top of the Fender bass register. Quirky little nuance a lot of people like to overlook.)
When I used to cover a lot of funk pop & disco I got a few pedals to approximate some of the sounds from the records.

 

[Jens Telemark]

Yes but never overtly trying to cop another instrument’s part. Doing trio work especially I’ll add stuff that hints at a keyboard or horn part only if it doesn’t compromise the bass part. Hearing Roscoe Beck’s approach in the early 90’s with Robben Ford was a major inspiration. I always try to stay in the realm of you don’t really notice it until it’s not there.

 

[Michedelic]

Have you found yourself in a situation where you had to replicate on bass the part of another instrument, presumably because nobody else was available to play it?

What instruments have you "covered" this way? Did you find it technically challenging? Did you have to think differently? Did you try to also modify the sound (with technique or sound process) to make it closer to the original instrument or did you just accept your bass sound for the task?

Ever since stable digital octave boxes have been available, it’s been octave up for me, primarily in trio situations, to create a faux tandem guitar sound, somewhat in the realm of Cream/Zep stuff, especially during guitar solos(plus I tried an 8-string bass, too much of a bother).

Since the Micro POG was the only one I liked that had separate wet and dry out, and I’ve moved on to the EHX Pitchfork(more versatile), I’ve devised a routing sytem so that I can send the “up” signal to separate effects(more guitar-centric)and a separate amp if I want/need to. One funny result while still using the POG, one covers trio I was in did Steve Miller’s “Space Cowboy”, and the weird overtone of that box kinda furnished a sound similar to the harpsichord on that track. Add some chorus, and…who knew?

Other than that, I’ve used the Boss SY-1 synth pedal and then the EHX Ravish Sitar on fretless(very trippy), but that was more of an effect/flavoring.

 

[L-u-A-R]

Only once I can think of, but I didn't have to. I just did and it worked.
So small I'm not even sure it's worth mentioning.

It was a very, very small melodic (barely a phrase) section that would normally have been done by keyboard.
Being so short; obviously was not technically challenging, nor did it require any noticeable difference in thinking or technique, I just played in higher register for a moment then went right back to the groove.

Wasn't necessary, but it did get a positive mention from bandmates, which is why I bring it up.
It wasn't a copy of the instrument's sound, but a copy of the job it would have done (melody in line with vocals in this case)

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Have you found yourself in a situation where you had to replicate on bass the part of another instrument, presumably because nobody else was available to play it?

What instruments have you "covered" this way? Did you find it technically challenging? Did you have to think differently? Did you try to also modify the sound (with technique or sound process) to make it closer to the original instrument or did you just accept your bass sound for the task?

Maybe not what you are asking, but if improvising a line I sometimes find myself stealing elements of the vocal part.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I've worn out many a volume potentiometer trying to emulate a cello! In a duo I play in I've played many little intro licks to various songs. Some strummy guitar parts while the guitarist plays leads. Most recently a steel drum intro. Infinitely easier on a six-string bass, by the way.

Volume pedal is your friend

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I’ve played synth parts as well as guitar lines using octave up, distortion, filters, etc.

Ditto, plus effects units with it built in starting with the ME-6B (still good), ME-8B (less good, kept the 6B), Korg G5 and the hidden gem that is the Behringer Bass V-Amp.

It's been a bit hit-and-miss with the Sonuus (compact, poor tracking) and GK-2B (volume) into pitch to MIDI and an EMU Proteus 2000 or Novation Circuit. With the former you can play flute or piano or most things as well as synth bass a plenty. I've trialed other pitch-to-MIDI options.

 

[Ignatius]

I play the sax break on “Just the 2 of us” on my bass.