• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

For Those Who Slap

#82
JAUQO III-X said:
What is it about the technique that you like so much?


And can we see some kool vids of the technique utilized in a platform that you find enjoyable?

And can we keep this thread positive? If slap is not your thing please refrain from putting it down.
Click to expand...

just another tool for the toolbox, my friend. Anyone interested in REALLY improving their slap technique, I have some cool exercises shown to me by Randy Coven back in the late 80's when we were both Berklee students

Mike Dimin
 
#86
I love the way Tom Jenkinson has morphed the technique into his own style, this Guardian Session clip is a good close-up of his technique, the 2nd clip of 'Hello Meow live' is another aspect of thumb usefulness, the track is around 160bpm and the pattern is tricky.

 
#87
So a very long time ago I was at what must of been the first iteration of the HORDE tour because I was a big Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors fan. Listening to Mark White was really just amazing. But before SD had their set, this band I'd never heard of, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, played. My life was changed, I had witnessed a miracle of music. While rigs were moved for the SD set, Victor just stood out at the front of the stage and jammed.

I love a slap groove, what can I say.
 
#88
I mix my finger style by popping simple riffs or adding melodic licks to spice up smooth simple finger-style down-low lines (smooth jazz, R&B grooves).
I also add a little thump (slap+thumb strike ie Abe Laboriel) for runs or sections where i need a bit more booty.
Simple but tasteful slap can continue, but RESTRAINT is absolutely key!! ;)

I run the Tobias slightly biased toward bridge pickup and use expression to make simple lines more interesting. I picked that up from years of fretless playing. A fretted bass seemed a little more rigid/fixed in the fretboard hand, so the fingering hand had to get more creative. :D


(D'Angelo Chicken Grease - think Pino in this but break out a little more)

(I never slap/pop on my other basses though - mostly pick on the P-Bass/flats, fingerstyle on the fretless bass, or sometimes double-bass-style technique).
 
#89
ian_s said:
But before SD had their set, this band I'd never heard of, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, played. My life was changed, I had witnessed a miracle of music. While rigs were moved for the SD set, Victor just stood out at the front of the stage and jammed.

I love a slap groove, what can I say.
Click to expand...

Vic has mastered the art of hypnosis thru slap - BEWARE! :hyper::bassist::cool:
 
#90
I love slapping. It has liberated my creativity and it has been an inspiration beyond the technique itself.

Being so very instinct driven, slap has made me push the envelope on my other techniques. I can now play finger-style with an attack that is close to slapping, but not quite and slap with a light touch that isn't too in your face and blends in with finger-style. I now use all five fingers to slap in various configurations and my slap and pop finally sound almost even.
Slap has put me in places where the beat wasn't that familiar anymore, making my sense of tempo a lot more precise and adding variety to it. All this I owe to slap.
 
#94
"Anyone interested in REALLY improving their slap technique, I have some cool exercises shown to me by Randy Coven back in the late 80's when we were both Berklee students."

Hey Mike. I'd like to see those excercises. Have you got them posted somewhere?

Regards, Bob
 
#95
Slap bass players might be pleasing their inner drummer. I get the same musical enjoyment from a well constructed slap bass groove that I do from a well constructed drum groove. It's something about the syncopation, the space between the notes, and the interaction of the different parts of the whole that turns me on.
 
#96
i want to look into slap more, i play thrash/metalcore so it doesnt really have a place there, but it does sound cool as hell. i try it at home occasionally. and one should always try and branch out now and again. ive noticed when people pick up a bass when they arent a player they always try a few slaps ^ ^ but its when you throw the pop in that i find it really difficult.

ive realised it really is a world apart from normal fingerstyle, and im still trying to get good with 3 fingers, never mind slap :)

PS: lol that Level 42 clip is absolutely epic (theres something i never thought id say)
 
#98
trygd said:
Check this link out!



King of slap!
Click to expand...
This is a homer comment, as I freely admit to being a Level 42 fan...but slap bass or no slap bass, I see attention and respect for the music in that clip that I'm not seeing much of at music festivals these days. Level 42 were students of an art form. A lot of the current batch of young guys sound like college kids who picked their instruments up a month ago.

I like that Level 42 could all play as many notes as they did, yet hold it together and not walk on each other. Much.
 
#99
At risk of making this into a Mark King thread, which it's not...[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I found somewhere years ago, where he talks about how he thinks of and structures slap basslines. It happens to feature the same lick that's in the instrumental in the YouTube clip.
 
#100
miziomix said:
Being so very instinct driven, slap has made me push the envelope on my other techniques. I can now play finger-style with an attack that is close to slapping, but not quite and slap with a light touch that isn't too in your face and blends in with finger-style.
Click to expand...

+1.
A good bass + right strings + great setup makes all the difference !!!

Getting a good overlap between finger and slap is a lot like singing. My true voice and my falsetto voice overlap 1 octave. So convenient.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back