• 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.

hip hop bassists...

#41
Spinal Tapper said:
I'm really into old school hip-hop stuff...does anyone know who played the bassline for "Let Me Ride?" from Dr Dre's the Chronic album...I heard Dre played the drums on all the tracks, but not sure about the bass...anyways, sick bassline. *Never mind, just found out it was Colin Wolfe

My fave hip-hop bassist/producer currently has to be Mike Elizondo - I believe he uses a Jazz bass, Sadowsky and Sadowsky 5-string, he probably has a few actually...LOL
Click to expand...

Just saying, there wouldn't be a Chronic album without Parliament. That album hipped a lot of folks to Parliament that might not of known otherwise. Lyrics and otherwise are all about the original. They ain't trying to hide it so its pretty much an homage to George Clinton and P-Funk. Cool line on the Dre record that was built off the original. Just saying.
 
#42
DrKagemusha said:
How do you propose using the low pass filter in a hip hop ensemble?
Click to expand...

It all depends on the style of hip-hop. If you are trying to get the super low, rumbling, jeep-beat feel LP filters do it better than just using the EQ. It can also give you that deep, sorta synthy-resonant sound common in a lot of oldish school hip-hop.

It can be fun to play one note on like the the and of 4 and let it just ring (or rather rumble!) over 2 bars with a funky drum beat.
 
#46
LBass said:
This question just feels way too broad. It depends a lot on what style of hip-hop you are emulating. Kurtis Blow Vs. Tribe Called Quest Vs. Dre Vs. J-Dilla Vs. Atmosphere Vs. Lupe Fiasco are all gonna have really different bass sounds/tones (heck, even on the same album).
Click to expand...

see thats the trouble with picking a bass perfect for hip hop. you named 6 artists and out of them there is a core group of about 1,000,000 samples there all of other artists....with atmos ant seems to sample everything at the same speed and the same pitch range so emulating is pretty easy (watched a couple shows with the live band) and Brett Johnson was killin it with a jazz bass.

but you go to a cat like Dilla and those samples all came at different speeds by very different artists and i think a new school bass with a passive old school vibe is the way to go. thats why i think Owen Biddle's Callowhill was killin it. night after night with the Roots on TV this dude has to play everyones walk out theme and its all very different sounds but it rolls with the punches...not to take away from Owen though. if alot of that ability to roll with the punches was all bass and not him he wouldnt be with the Roots..i sure couldnt do it

im not a fast n funky player..slow and low for me. im not a techincal wizard. im looking for that Eric B & Rakim sounding vibe. low bass that dosent bust through the mix with highs but runs the table with pummeling lows.

keep the chit chat going though...im lovin this
 
#47
jmain said:
Just saying, there wouldn't be a Chronic album without Parliament. That album hipped a lot of folks to Parliament that might not of known otherwise. Lyrics and otherwise are all about the original. They ain't trying to hide it so its pretty much an homage to George Clinton and P-Funk. Cool line on the Dre record that was built off the original. Just saying.
Click to expand...

amen..no matter how you re record or edit or cut it up thats a P Funk album with two dudes rapping on it. true story. but it did bring what a select few people were hip to to the masses where it belonged. plus brought out some Donny Hathaway (a personal favorite) that album proved if you use a bunch of damn good tracks you can make a damn good album. my only problem is Dre used TOO MUCH of the artists...its like are you a producer or just a really good DJ with great taste..but thats another thread
 
#48
Elmo Oxygen said:
Most of the beats on that album were kind of "lacking", but then again, his wife, Allison wasn't recording (almost) all the bass and guitar. See: None Shall Pass (envelope filter + distortion = hip-hop gold!).
Click to expand...

lacking i disagree, minimalist yes. it was raw and so different than all the overproduced stuff coming out of the whole eastern conference scene. it was stripped down and more of a canvas to spill on. i

none shall pass..that whole album has such incredible sounds.
Getaway Car=game over..Period!
 
#50
it's all about the nscr5m electric upright, using a blend pedal with a
dod fx 25 in the loop, then through a dbx 120xp subharmonic synthesizer for me.
hip hop, drum n bass and dubstep musicians go nuts over it...
i use a p bass with flats sometimes too, but you just can't come close to that 41" low b string (cable!) with a normal scale electric bass.
 
#51
Hip hop has a very broad range of bass sounds to cover, so IMO one bass is not going to cover every sound heard on records, that is impossible. The source of those bass sounds are from 1000s upon 1000s of records , bass' & synths.

But I think that pretty much any descent bass is going to do the job, sounds really cliché but , it really is all in the hands.

But to answer your initial question, yes I use a Jazz bass 99,9% of the time for the past 12 years & I played every style you can imagine with it.
 
#52
D.A.R.K. said:
it's all about the nscr5m electric upright, using a blend pedal with a
dod fx 25 in the loop, then through a dbx 120xp subharmonic synthesizer for me.
hip hop, drum n bass and dubstep musicians go nuts over it...
i use a p bass with flats sometimes too, but you just can't come close to that 41" low b string (cable!) with a normal scale electric bass.
Click to expand...

i gotta say uprights brought into the modern world are cool as hell.sometimes you go backwards to move forward
 
#57
I play a P-bass with flats usually. I worked for a production company doing work for MTV and this was the kinda music I ended up doing (or it sounded like it) and I brought a P-bass with flats or a Jazz bass with flats. One of the best tones I ever got was from using my 67 P-bass with TI Flats (not their jazz flats, not sure what kind they are?) and using my fretless PJ with nordies for those big huge notes (also strung with flats)

A popular bass was my Sage too.
 
#58
GeneralElectric said:
I play a P-bass with flats usually. I worked for a production company doing work for MTV and this was the kinda music I ended up doing (or it sounded like it) and I brought a P-bass with flats or a Jazz bass with flats. One of the best tones I ever got was from using my 67 P-bass with TI Flats (not their jazz flats, not sure what kind they are?) and using my fretless PJ with nordies for those big huge notes (also strung with flats)

A popular bass was my Sage too.
Click to expand...

to me it seems like the nordy pups seems to nail that sound im looking for
 
#59
your idol said:
amen..no matter how you re record or edit or cut it up thats a P Funk album with two dudes rapping on it. true story. but it did bring what a select few people were hip to to the masses where it belonged. plus brought out some Donny Hathaway (a personal favorite) that album proved if you use a bunch of damn good tracks you can make a damn good album. my only problem is Dre used TOO MUCH of the artists...its like are you a producer or just a really good DJ with great taste..but thats another thread
Click to expand...

Definitely. There's a fine line - and sometimes not fine enough - between recognition of the sample and using the whole track. But you're right, that's another thread altogether.

I like using flats or some dead nickels on whatever and/or rolling off the tone (or highs) and often using a palm mute technique.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back