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Fancy stuff.

Which is better?

  • Nothin' but groove for me.

    Votes: 85 30.8%

  • Fancy tricks are better.

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • I like both, in moderation.

    Votes: 163 59.1%

  • Tons of both, crammed together into a complete mess of a bassline.

    Votes: 26 9.4%
  • Total voters
    276
M

MikeyFingers

Aug 1, 2005
1,817
4
Long Island, NY
#1
I was just wondering, how do you guys feel about bass "acrobats"? The guys like Vic Wooten who just fly all over the place with fancy million-note-per-second solos all the time (don't get me wrong, Vic can groove beautifully, I'm just making a point). I've seen a rising number of bassists who can go insane with tapping and lightning fast slap runs, but never just calm down and hold a solid groove. What do you prefer?

edit---this should've been in the Technique Forum, can a mod move it for me?
 
#2
I prefer people who can do both. I could not give a crap about the bass player from Darkness, Smashing Pumpkins, Chumbawumba, DMB (yeah, he may have 'improved' , but what a wate of a spot) and a slew of other bands where the bass player is just there. Who cares? Granted sometimes these guys don't know when to hold, the majority can groove just fine when they need to.

So I would much rather listen to a skilled player rather than the worse-than-run-of-the-mill players that grace almost every corner of mainstream music these days.
 
#3
i like the acrobatics, but in small doses. I like Jaco, but i really don't want to hear the forty or so other bass players who are convinced that they are the next Jaco. same with all the other guys. i think that wooten is awesome, but i don't want to hear a hundred more bass players playing the same wooten licks.
 
#5
jeff schmidt said:
Expression lacking means is a dream. Means lacking expression is wankery.

IMHO.
Click to expand...


Oooo, man that summed it up right there!!!

I agree with Lamarjones, most guys I see/hear talking about "groove" don't, they are just there. Not really doing anything to support the groove, they are just a non-contributing part.

I come from the Will Lee school, make it happen, be a part of it, your driving the bus, make everyone else get on. And when you do get a chance, blow like it's the last solo your gonna take.

But, on the other side of the coin, I still dig guys like Alain Caron, Marcus Miller & Victor Wooten. Man can they go!!!
 
#9
i'm always impressed by virtuoso technique, but that wears off after a few minutes... wheras a fantastic piece of music, simple or complicated, will stay with me and affect me forever

erm... how can I put it? i'd never fall in love with a display of incredible technique, but I might fall in love with the music it generates :) or I might think it's a masturbatory waste of time.. either way it's the music, not the technique i'm responding to

I spose it's like the difference between admiration & love
 
#11
I like it to be balanced. This is why I like some of the Bass Extremes stuff (Vic Wooten and Steve Bailey). Both are awesome players but more importantly, they're great musicians, And when they come together and make music, I think it comes out great. CHeck out their song "A Chick From Corea". Perfect example of what I mean. Some great fast runs, but lots of nice melodic stuff too. The way they work together sounds awesome, one of them laying down this awesome 7chord pattern, the other playing a killer melody over it. That's what I love, a little of each working together beautifully.
 
#13
I like people who can do a fast slappy poppy technical passage or fill... but have some taste and a little bit of sense of boundary.

I see local bassists on occasion who slap and pop all over the neck and wonder why they get a crappy sound check HAHA

I don't like to masturbate all over the fretboard. I prefer to play with a pick and just follow a groove. I don't feel the need to stick out. I just want to complete the music I'm involved in. I have more fun that way :)
 
#15
I have to totally disagree. I think Bass is the MOST interesting solo instrument.
It sounds so much richer and fuller than a traditional guitar. The instrument is one of the newest mainstream instruments in music and I love it's potential. We don't even really know what it does yet. Does it replace the Upright? Is it a guitar? Is it a percussion instrument? Is it a melody instrument. The answer is, of course, yes. All of the above, and more.

I think there is a lot more experimenting to be done... Bass as singer/songwriter accompaniment. Multiple bass arrangements where percussion, chordal harmony and melody are handled by different basses.

The instrument is just a bit over fifty. There are tons of people alive today who saw the thing be born. I can't wait to see what we do with it.
 
#16
Platypibri said:
I have to totally disagree. I think Bass is the MOST interesting solo instrument.
It sounds so much richer and fuller than a traditional guitar. The instrument is one of the newest mainstream instruments in music and I love it's potential. We don't even really know what it does yet. Does it replace the Upright? Is it a guitar? Is it a percussion instrument? Is it a melody instrument. The answer is, of course, yes. All of the above, and more.

I think there is a lot more experimenting to be done... Bass as singer/songwriter accompaniment. Multiple bass arrangements where percussion, chordal harmony and melody are handled by different basses.

The instrument is just a bit over fifty. There are tons of people alive today who saw the thing be born. I can't wait to see what we do with it.
Click to expand...

Feel free to disagree. For me, bass is about the least exciting solo instrument that I've heard.
 
#17
^Perhaps you've just never heard a really good bass solo? I don't know what you're basing your opinion on, but I've met people who said the same thing. I changed their mind with 2 songs, both Jaco. One was his solo in "Port Of Entry" from Weather Reports' Night Passage album. The other was his solo in "(used to be a)Cha-Cha" from his self-titled album. If you haven't heard those, check 'em out. Both are extremely kickass bass solos, among my favorite.
 
#18
MikeyFingers said:
^Perhaps you've just never heard a really good bass solo? I don't know what you're basing your opinion on, but I've met people who said the same thing. I changed their mind with 2 songs, both Jaco. One was his solo in "Port Of Entry" from Weather Reports' Night Passage album. The other was his solo in "(used to be a)Cha-Cha" from his self-titled album. If you haven't heard those, check 'em out. Both are extremely kickass bass solos, among my favorite.
Click to expand...

Don't care for his tone, playing, or style. I recognize his talent, but his music does nothing for me.
 
#20
hey, im new around here, so i thought i'd throw out my opinion...

bass solos imo can be really cool sometimes, but to me it is not a solo instrument , thats what a guitar is for, it has a b and an e and it can get all those notes, and it was made w/ soloing in mind. Whereas a bass to me has been that groove ,and rock , if you pull that out from something, its gonna fall down you know? so i guess i gotta go for both, as long as the solos and stuff are in MODERATION!
 

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