• 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.

Hadrien Feraud, his Phrasing and Melodic Sensibilites

G

GrindYourMind

Oct 30, 2008
173
0
#1
So I've been on a gigantic Feraud binge and no matter how I try, I cannot seem to emulate his phrasing and general sound. The really fast runs I can do (technique wise) but they never end up sounding like HIS very fast runs. I've come to conclude that the use of Symmetrical Diminished scales and all around chromaticism helps, but he straddles this line between almost completely atonal and beautiful melodicism that is well...stupefying.
I'm not trying to clone the guy, I just want to be able to evoke his style at will and I've found it much harder than other bassists. I've been practicing some octatonic stuff with a metronome, trying to bring up to his (blinding) tempo and attempting to transcribe phrases of his from Youtube. Anyone have any other tips?
 
#4
GrindYourMind said:
So I've been on a gigantic Feraud binge and no matter how I try, I cannot seem to emulate his phrasing and general sound. The really fast runs I can do (technique wise) but they never end up sounding like HIS very fast runs. I've come to conclude that the use of Symmetrical Diminished scales and all around chromaticism helps, but he straddles this line between almost completely atonal and beautiful melodicism that is well...stupefying.
I'm not trying to clone the guy, I just want to be able to evoke his style at will and I've found it much harder than other bassists. I've been practicing some octatonic stuff with a metronome, trying to bring up to his (blinding) tempo and attempting to transcribe phrases of his from Youtube. Anyone have any other tips?
Click to expand...

ill add this. while ive never heard you play, theres nothing wrong with your fast funs sounding like yours rather than his. im only learning this stuff as an exercise in dexterity. find the vocab that you like to use. he didnt even sound that out a few years ago. now its bass gymnastics with allan holdsworth sounding lines:D
 
#5
narud said:
funny, i just got through emailing a buddy a transcription im working on of a namm solo of him playing an f clef. i didnt write out the lick right before because its a pretty easy descending lydian dominant thing, but this one is a bear. im like halfway through the line.
Click to expand...

What tune is this from? I have his solo album along with the McLaughlin and Lagrene albums he's on, but don't recall anything called "Too Much Stretching."
 
#6
Bryan R. Tyler said:
What tune is this from? I have his solo album along with the McLaughlin and Lagrene albums he's on, but don't recall anything called "Too Much Stretching."
Click to expand...

haha, i just needed to name it something in sibelius. i wasnt planning on posting it. just happened that this thread popped up the same day i was writing this out.:D its from a video of him playing a white f clef i saved off of youtube.
 
#9
narud said:
. now its bass gymnastics with allan holdsworth sounding lines:D
Click to expand...

That's unfortunately how I hear his playing. It might just be over my head (actually, I know it's probably even over my listening level, much less playing level!), but I sure don't hear a lot of 'music and phrasing' in his playing (LOT's of sixteenth notes!), especially on his CD (and to be clear, I LOVE Holdsworths playing, in small doses anyway). Lot's of chops though, and I agree, that would be a dexterity workout in a BIG way.

Amazing player though, just don't dig it at all. Kind of like Tommy Kennedy on steroids, which I never thought I would get to say about anyone:D
 
#10
KJung said:
That's unfortunately how I hear his playing. It might just be over my head (actually, I know it's probably even over my listening level, much less playing level!), but I sure don't hear a lot of 'music and phrasing' in his playing (LOT's of sixteenth notes!), especially on his CD (and to be clear, I LOVE Holdsworths playing, in small doses anyway). Lot's of chops though, and I agree, that would be a dexterity workout in a BIG way.

Amazing player though, just don't dig it at all. Kind of like Tommy Kennedy on steroids, which I never thought I would get to say about anyone:D
Click to expand...

If you want to hear him in a less "reaching" role, check out Bireli Lagrene's "Electric Side" album. The first tune "Hips" is currently one of those songs I keep playing over and over.
 
#11
LOL @ the Tom Kennedy reference. I agree, although I do hear some sparkles of magic in there. I suspect I'll grow to like the guy more and more over the years.

FWIW, here's what I do with cats like this...where I hear stuff I dig, even in small doses. I just listen, and sort of absorb by osmosis, if you will. That way I pick up what I "need" in terms of inspiration, and apply it to my own playing with my own perspective (for better or worse) right from the beginning. The first example that comes to mind is Oteil Burbridge. I listened to the ARU "In a Perfect World" recording hundreds of times, yet I never sat down and transcribed any specific lines. Looking back a few years later, I probably owe Oteil a sincere apology for robbing him blind. :D
 
#12
Bryan R. Tyler said:
If you want to hear him in a less "reaching" role, check out Bireli Lagrene's "Electric Side" album. The first tune "Hips" is currently one of those songs I keep playing over and over.
Click to expand...

Bought it, and no offense, hate it. I already deleted it from my iPod and gave the disc away. Something just not quite right IMO. Again, pure IMO, but that cut (if I'm remembering the right tune) sounded like Tower of Power with the flu or something.... kind of a 'metronomic, middle of the beat' approach to gooving that just lays there for me.

Again... I only am speaking here as a listener. I wish I could even THINK about playing with that kind of skill. I'm sure Hadrien will not lose any sleep over what I think of his playing.

PURE IMO on this:)
 
#14
Bryan R. Tyler said:
Hey, it's cool- lots of people have disagreed with me in the past. As I always say, it's perfectly within your rights to be completely wrong ;) :D
Click to expand...

:D Yeah, pure personal preference for stuff at this high of a level. It's not 'good or bad', but more if it says anything to you musically or 'emotionally', and that of course can vary a lot across listeners.
 
#19
narud said:
ill add this. while ive never heard you play, theres nothing wrong with your fast funs sounding like yours rather than his. im only learning this stuff as an exercise in dexterity. find the vocab that you like to use. he didnt even sound that out a few years ago. now its bass gymnastics with allan holdsworth sounding lines:D
Click to expand...

Again, not trying to clone the guy, I just find that emulation leads to incorporation which leads to one's own voice and I've found Feraud's sound harder to emulate than most of the thunderchop soloists out there.

Also gotta get my right hand ring finger up to snuff for the Garrisonesque bubbling lines. I go R-M-I while playing normally, Th Up, Th Down, I, M while playing double thumb and all of this leads to me leaving my poor ring finger out while I play closed palm.

Oh and his tone is always like a carrot caked wrapped in butter, deep fried, dredged in powdered sugar and run through a sweet Markbass rig. It's sweet.

edit - That run from 8-16 seconds is pretty loony.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back