Duran Duran Bass TABs

[t77mackie]

First on the list, (Waiting for the) Night Boat


~19:50

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The bass was a little lost in the mix in a couple parts so I had to use some artistic license and there's probably a couple little differences here and there. But for the most part - this'll do the trick.

Enjoy!

-mac

 

[SturmUndDrang]

Right on. How many of these are you going to do?

 

[obimark]

Freaking sweet!~!! Bass harmonics so cool, JT was way ahead of his game. If I can put a request "Sound of Thunder" is another classic as well as "Anyone out there"

 

[t77mackie]

Yeah, Sound of Thunder started playing after I listened to Night Boat for the last time and I said, "Hmmmm..."

I had no idea ancient DD would be such a hit. Neat!

 

[hernameisrio]

This thread makes me happy. Thank you!

 

[t77mackie]

Moving on...

Sound of Thunder


@ 25:16

Played with a pick. And an Aria Pro II SB bass - one of the all time greatest tone basses ever. Chunky!! This is a very fun song to play...

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Yeah, OK, so there's a lot going on here. Lots of different techniques and styles and JT's usual dose of nuance and finesse. There's disco gallops and octaves along with some nice Chic inspired R&B grooves.

There's a couple little odds and ends that I wasn't sure about because of mix problems. But I refuse to look on the net for help 'cause.... IDK, I'm crazy I guess. I don't want to plagiarize my plagiarism. See the Rehearsal notes for these instances.

Key signatures: Yeeeaah.... about that... I really have no idea what's going on in the key department in this song. DD seems to like to change keys on a whim - in this song and others. Plus it looks like JT likes to crowbar in notes that are out of key - or not, I'm really not sure. Like I said, I have no idea... Best guess. Maybe I'll do another, "What's with the...?" threads.

Any input is appreciated - let me know of any typo's or corrections. Requests are always welcome.

The world spins so fast that I might fly off. Enjoy!

-mac

 

[obimark]

Dude you are my new HERO!!! Nice one.
JT is the man and now you are too! IMO- SOund of Thunder is mostly in E Minor for the main song, since most of the main notes hit in there. Then it modulates up to F# minor for the outro. The pre chorus part of C to Bflat to F seems to be a key change from the E minor parts.

ANother for your list one day is "Faster than Light", deep B-side cut with more A-playing.

 

[t77mackie]

Holy crap! Is that all it takes?



Anyone Out There later tonight.

After that methinks it's time to move on from the 1st album.

I'm thinking View to Kill 'cause I pretty much already know that song by heart, but it's probably already been tabbed a hundred times.

Lemmie go consult with Ol' Grandaddy.



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[t77mackie]

Is There Anyone Out There



^The video is a tad sharp so adjust accordingly...

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Some good stuff in this song. JT starts with a pick and ends pizzicato. There's some harmonics in the tune and in the outro he plays some pop / pop bass. My TAB software doesn't have appropriate symbols for slap / pop so I used the "V" upstroke symbol as a replacement for pops.

Enjoy.

 

[obimark]

It amazes me how tasteful JT is, at times he plays very simply, but he also is not afraid to play pretty busy at other parts. One of the greats for sure.

thanks for another great tab.

 

[BritFunk]

Wow.

The very first song I ever learned on bass was "Save a Prayer". I followed that with "Rio", "Last Chance on the Stairway", and pretty much the entire Rio album. Notorious was probably my single favorite album by Duran Duran and remains one of my all-time favorite albums by *any* band.

Sincere thanks for the transcriptions - this stuff is still among my favorites to play!

----
Kurt

 

[t77mackie]

A View to a Kill



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Elegant. JT's got some delay mojo going on here. I wasn't about to transcribe all the notes the delay is playing so I'll leave it up to you to decide how to deal with that. I also added a little spice to a couple fills. The vanilla ones are still there first time around.

Don't forget to do the 'chicken head bob' when playing those ascending octave runs!

Enjoy!

-mac



--= Edit
Updated.

 

[SturmUndDrang]

View to a kill, bars 20 & 24 seem odd. Not saying they're wrong, it just seems strange to have a dotted 8th followed by an 8th and then a dotted 8th rest.
Grace Jones was cool in that movie. She had some great albums with Sly and Robbie too.

 

[obimark]

View to a Kill always seemed off to me for the bass parts because of the delay effect - the only parts that seem to open up and sound like Bass are the chorus parts, believe the delay is off on those. Actuallty what JT plays on the live version is a better part (at least more clear to hear) He plays more eight notes in the verses and may even use a pick.

 

[t77mackie]

View to a kill, bars 20 & 24 seem odd.

Thanks. I'll take a look when I fix the key sigs.

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Sumbutch.. you're right. I think I wrote it the way I have played it for years - apparently I've been playing it wrong. It's a super minor thing - JT plays more staccato and mackie plays that passage a little more legato. Good catch.

 

[hover]

Thanks, from one Wormtowner to another.

 

[t77mackie]

Yeah! Wormtown...

Stupid Hollywood people are clogging up downtown with all their movie-making...

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I updated View. I'm hoping those key sigs are right. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to that kind of thing. But it seems DD is doing some interesting modulation. I love how they transition from the different keys seamlessly and with such style!

Thanx, guys.

-mac

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View to a Kill always seemed off to me for the bass parts because of the delay effect

Yeah, totally. I watched a recent live version of this song and JT's delay sounded like a$s. I can't seem to locate that video though. It was in a small live setting - like a Storytellers type of thing. I get better results by mimicking the effect with my fingers or a pick.

 

[hover]

Yeah! Wormtown...

Stupid Hollywood people are clogging up downtown with all their movie-making...

Yeah, Bradley Cooper can bite my poo-

Ok, I'll stop there.

 

[SturmUndDrang]

Interesting edits.
My impression after listening is the rhythm is more like 16th note, 8th note rest, 16th note on beat 3 and then simply 8th note rest followed by 8th note on beat 4.
Or beats 3 & 4 of bar 20 could be 8th note, 16th, 16th tied to - 16th, 16th 8th note. If that makes sense

 

[t77mackie]

Interesting edits.
My impression after listening is the rhythm is more like 16th note, 8th note rest, 16th note on beat 3 and then simply 8th note rest followed by 8th note on beat 4.
Or beats 3 & 4 of bar 20 could be 8th note, 16th, 16th tied to - 16th, 16th 8th note. If that makes sense

Let me see if I interpreted your comment correctly:

There's 3 examples there - mine is the first, and your suggestions are the second two.

When I play the MIDI track of my transcription it sounds pretty close. It's tough because JT is playing a tad behind the beat I think.

Number two sounds like a$s. Number three is the same as number one - the only difference is the two 16th notes tied together as opposed to one eighth note.

Lemmie know if I did that right.

There's a couple other instances of that riff in the song I missed and did not update. Adjust your playing accordingly.

We'll get to the bottom of this...