not all, my drummer plays air bass. he is excited i can keep up with his frills and double kick (not on the same note
). if i cant mesh with the drummer then there is no point in playing with him
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
In the studio rant....Part II
- Thread starter BigBud
- Start date
not all, my drummer plays air bass. he is excited i can keep up with his frills and double kick (not on the same note
). if i cant mesh with the drummer then there is no point in playing with him
While I agree with most of the sentiments that others have offered, given this comment I think that you also may want to check your own attitude and approach. I've gotten along with most of the drummers I've played with over the years. So while you may have an idiot/jerk for a drummer, you might also be doing/saying/playing things that make the situation worse.
I recently heard a new (to me) drummer joke by the former road manager for the Rolling Stones and The Grateful Dead:
"A drummer is to music what a barnacle is to a boat".
Seriously, the studio 'team' is whacked about bass sonics, but there are some nuggets of truth in what they say. I had a studio date last weekend that 'required' me to use my 5 string. The main lick was written with a low D on the chart, and the sound the composer was looking for didn't translate/groove well by tuning down the E on a four string. He much preferred the 5-er. The date before that the producer insisted on a Fender Jazz four string no matter what (Country), although he did compromise and let me use my Sadowdsky outboard pre after an A/B test. Bottom line, IMO, was that I needed a full tool belt (at least three basses per session plus all accessories/effects), and then it's up to the cat paying me the $'s to ultimately decide what sounds 'best'. I have my preference (Turner 5 string-absolutely), but if I argue overmuch I might not get a call the next time. Just sayin...
"A drummer is to music what a barnacle is to a boat".
Seriously, the studio 'team' is whacked about bass sonics, but there are some nuggets of truth in what they say. I had a studio date last weekend that 'required' me to use my 5 string. The main lick was written with a low D on the chart, and the sound the composer was looking for didn't translate/groove well by tuning down the E on a four string. He much preferred the 5-er. The date before that the producer insisted on a Fender Jazz four string no matter what (Country), although he did compromise and let me use my Sadowdsky outboard pre after an A/B test. Bottom line, IMO, was that I needed a full tool belt (at least three basses per session plus all accessories/effects), and then it's up to the cat paying me the $'s to ultimately decide what sounds 'best'. I have my preference (Turner 5 string-absolutely), but if I argue overmuch I might not get a call the next time. Just sayin...
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
in my experience it's not that unusual for crappy studio engineers to offer unsought opinions about gear to a band coming into their studio. usually they are failed musicians who can't stand to see another band have any success at all - they'll do their best to cause chaos in every situation they encounter in order to soothe their egos for the big bag of FAIL that their life has become.
i wouldn't blame the drummer for this, for obvious reasons - for most folks i'd say they should be mature enough to not let someone else's opinion scramble their bandmates, but you know, this is a drummer you're talking about.
of course, the best way around this is to invest in the gear required to put a good studio together. then your bandmates can either pay the dough to use someone else's studio or kiss your butt to use your gear.
if the drummer does press this point then tell him that as soon as he's paying you a salary he can dictate what you play. until then, if he wants you to play on the music, he's going to have to deal with the instruments you bring. period.
i wouldn't blame the drummer for this, for obvious reasons - for most folks i'd say they should be mature enough to not let someone else's opinion scramble their bandmates, but you know, this is a drummer you're talking about.
of course, the best way around this is to invest in the gear required to put a good studio together. then your bandmates can either pay the dough to use someone else's studio or kiss your butt to use your gear.
if the drummer does press this point then tell him that as soon as he's paying you a salary he can dictate what you play. until then, if he wants you to play on the music, he's going to have to deal with the instruments you bring. period.
I've seen, and heard my share of bad 5 string players. In my opinion staying below low E too much, (just because you can) gives five stringers a bad name. I think if you use the low B tastefully it can sound amazing, and add some great dynamics to your bands sound.
I would also dig up some recordings you dig, that have great five string tone. I can think of a few right off the bat. Take those to the studio and ask that jerk engineer how in the world were they able to record these? Ask him if they have special gear, or some kind of cosmic mojo that doesn't exist at this studio. Seriously ask him, what's the trick?
I would also dig up some recordings you dig, that have great five string tone. I can think of a few right off the bat. Take those to the studio and ask that jerk engineer how in the world were they able to record these? Ask him if they have special gear, or some kind of cosmic mojo that doesn't exist at this studio. Seriously ask him, what's the trick?
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
you know, i've heard a lot of folks use the "i've heard a lot of 'x'-string players who suck" excuse as some kind of justification for bigotry towards players of non-traditional basses, and yet in my experience the -vast- number of bassists who suck do so on 4 string basses.
you never hear folks slagging 4's because of them, despite that the 4-string suckmeisters are so much more common.
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
oh, btw, i moved this to misc since this is more about ignorant idiots than it is about basses.
i had this kind of thing happen to me when we were hiring an engineer in atlanta - a guitarist, who had worked with a few name guys in the past - to help us mix down some of our tracks. he pointed out his old p bass and tried to tell me that it was the best bass sound ever, bar none.
was pretty funny. not 2 hours later, as we're mixing the tracks, he starts talking about how awesome a distorted solo sounded - how the tone was just fantastic (he thought it was guitar) and i told him it was one of my fretless 7's through a marshall jmp1. i don't think he would have believed me except one of my band's guitarists was with me verifying it, grudgingly. heh.
i had this kind of thing happen to me when we were hiring an engineer in atlanta - a guitarist, who had worked with a few name guys in the past - to help us mix down some of our tracks. he pointed out his old p bass and tried to tell me that it was the best bass sound ever, bar none.
was pretty funny. not 2 hours later, as we're mixing the tracks, he starts talking about how awesome a distorted solo sounded - how the tone was just fantastic (he thought it was guitar) and i told him it was one of my fretless 7's through a marshall jmp1. i don't think he would have believed me except one of my band's guitarists was with me verifying it, grudgingly. heh.
I'd love to know more about this "studio".
Any fool with credit can buy a bunch of gear, toss it in a room and say he has a studio. Doesn't impress me much. What's their resume look like? Audio samples of their work, etc.?
Any fool with credit can buy a bunch of gear, toss it in a room and say he has a studio. Doesn't impress me much. What's their resume look like? Audio samples of their work, etc.?
+1. Right up there with using a pick or not. Same deal with the crappy engineer - Up his nose with a rubber hose (just watched a Happy Days Reunion). I always remember which side of the board I'm on when dealing with those button mashing peanut logs. At the BBC in the 60'-70's, when you where 'coming up' as a studio engineer, you weren't allowed to touch any equipment, and were sent to fetch tea for the elders. You were known as a Tea Boy (seriously). Try that one on him next time.
- Dec 5, 2002
- 4,165
- 2,254
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Ernie Ball Music Man/Sterling By Music Man
I'm getting a sense that this is not just about string quantity.
Hope your session goes well.
My rule is that when it's MY session I'll play whatever I want, when it's somebody else's I'll play whatever they request, providing I have it or they can provide it. If there's too much opinionated jackassery going on, I'll usually suggest they find someone more tolerant of such things.
Brought a Ken Smith 5er and a Fender Jazz to a session once. The engineer insisted I play the Jazz on all but one track. At one point during playback he says, "see, that's the Fender tone I was talking about." It was the Smith.
Brought a Ken Smith 5er and a Fender Jazz to a session once. The engineer insisted I play the Jazz on all but one track. At one point during playback he says, "see, that's the Fender tone I was talking about." It was the Smith.
How did it work out the 1st recording session with the 5er? Just talked to the band manager......he said the engineer spent mucho time cleaning up the bass track because there was a clicking every time I touched the strings. I was running direct to the board....no amp......I didn't hear all that in my phones.......Jez...I'm beginning to dread the studio...Bud
Followed your last post. Stand strong brotha! Play for fun and keep music a passion. If they don't want your style, then they don't want you as a player. Shed the dead weight and go find your band. This one doesn't seem to be the one for you.
that is pretty much the eq, , the tech doesn't look to worth the hassle and the clicking doesn't have any relation to the bass being a 5'er, is the nature of the stingray and the ceramic active pups, if you brought up a 5 pass p with flats you'll not have this issue if this is a issue at all, usually the clicking disappear in the mix, is the ray sound if they don't like the sound is another matter
Exactly. Someone can be an amazing, tastful player on any bass regardless the amount of strings, and you could have some kid that's banging away on a 5 string like Fieldy. I understand that's got to piss off engineers. If that was me I would just set up a room mic instead of running that crap into the board.
If that engineer doesn't know the difference then he doesn't get out much.
