Is having a "nice roll" underrated as a bassist?

[Spectrum]

"When all are one, and one is all
To be a rock, and not to roll."
- Led Zeppelin

I don't know what this means, either, but the lyrics are still awesome.

 

[Killing Floor]

I get it. Shuffle on a guitar and grooving a bass line are a little different but not that much. Lots of people play bass and guitar but not many are very good at both. I can play bass competently (or at least confidently) and I can make notes and chords with guitar in alignment with the notes and chords shown on stave but it sounds more like shoving a toolbox down the stairs.
I’d take that as a compliment.

 

[nightchef]

I have no idea if what "roll" means to me is what it meant to the audience member in the OP, but I thought the remark made sense. It's about the microdynamics and micro-phrasing that good bass players have intuitively in their hands. It's hitting the note with just the right degree of attack, at just the right time and in just the right place on the strings, and then letting up on it at just the right moment. It's setting up your fingering as you go so that you always have the next note set up to hit cleanly. It's doing all these things so smoothly and surely that it doesn't sound like you're sweating those details, but just feeling the line and the way it moves the music forward. And when you do all these things, it makes the listener move their body in a relaxed, rolling kind of way, hence the word. I think it comes out best in grooves with a swing or shuffle feel, though it could also be a quality of a straight-8 beat with a player who has a bit of inherent swing in their touch.

To me the ultimate example of "roll" in a bass part on a pop record would be Leland Sklar's magisterial track on JT's "How Sweet It Is".

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Back in the '50s every parent understood this.

 

[Killing Floor]

I use glass when I have beer. I also like rolls with lobster or as a butter-to-mouth delivery system. A salmon hand roll is quite delicious. Sometimes I get on a roll, but I don’t know if it’s a bass roll.

Yes, musically speaking I get it. Salmon skin rolls can be a nice treat as well. Trust the chef. That’s my best rule at a sushi joint.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

One night doing a live gig for my dad's band an audience member told me "you're a good bass player, you have a nice roll." That always stuck with me because I'm definitely not that flashy as a bass player. My dad who's a guitarist and I jam with a lot often picks up the bass and even though he's basically taught me everything I know about music theory and a way better guitarist than me; he can't even hold down a nice simple do do do blues bass roll like I can it sounds too choppy.

It just kinda baffles me how that works. Everyone thinks thumping on one note for the rhythm is like falling off a log and takes no skill but my dad who can play "Skuttle Buttin" note for note on guitar, can play a lot of surf and rockabilly stuff can't capture the organic roll I can get on one note.

Maybe he said “Role” not Roll meaning placement in the ensemble…..

 

[Swampish]

Not familiar with the term "roll" as it pertains to bass, but the connotation seems to imply groove or being locked in. Either/or, it is ESSENTIAL to being a good bassist. Also, it's probably only underrated until you no longer have a good roll at which point you stop getting compliments. Being locked in, having good groove and holding down the rhythm is what it's all about, in my opinion. Everything else is gravy, which, yes, can also give you rolls of a different type.

 

[mr80htz]

@Cadillac_Mike : Roll = groove + presence. Many don't know what it is because they don't have it. Definitely underrated!

Always savor audience compliments, roll on, and enjoy playing!

I've played a real long time and have what you described a 'roll' to be. Never heard of the term. Maybe it's regional jargon

 

[badinage]

Caused regional confusion as Southerners tried to figure out why Foghat had a "Rock and Biscuit" as cover art:

 

[BOOG]

The key to a nice roll is folding the paper at an angle and an even grind of the flower.

 

[Carl Hillman]

My dad... can't capture the organic roll I can get

Tell him he can get them at Kroger.

 

[SLPimp]

Do you mean the pocket?

 

[LBS-bass]

Do you mean the pocket?

From other posts in here I'm guessing he's talking about swing, which is a nice skill to have but doesn't apply to everything. Groove or pocket would include being able to swing when called for, so maybe that's it. Others have said maybe this is a regional term.

If someone came up to me and said I "had a nice roll" I would assume they'd said "role" and start talking about how much fun it is to be the rhythmic bridge between drums and chording instruments. I would not know that they meant something else.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

From just the title I thought it was “you need a tummy cut on your bass”.

 

[Altitude]

I went 7 pages deep on “roll” on the urban dictionary site and found nothing relevant. I guess it could be somebody’s nounification of “that’s how I roll” and I suppose I sort of get the meaning intuitively. But never heard it before.

Sounds like a compliment though, so there’s that.

 

[Wisebass]

Beertime

Am I too late for a bagel joke?

Uh, what’s a roll?

A bagel without a hole! Rolls were invented and brought to Murica by German immigrants.

=> Can't play hooompah, hooompah music without eating at least a dozen (buttered with pickle and

slices of meat sausage or cooked bacon, see below)

Roll or bowl a ball

Or throw it?

Keep a roll in a dry place for a week and you can play hardball!

Maybe he means you need to go on a diet.

That's where bagels come in!

A true american product! Sell a roll with a hole and ask 50 cent more.

The hole has zero calories! Guaranteed!

may the rolls be with you

Wise(b)ass

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

One night doing a live gig for my dad's band an audience member told me "you're a good bass player, you have a nice roll." That always stuck with me because I'm definitely not that flashy as a bass player. My dad who's a guitarist and I jam with a lot often picks up the bass and even though he's basically taught me everything I know about music theory and a way better guitarist than me; he can't even hold down a nice simple do do do blues bass roll like I can it sounds too choppy.

It just kinda baffles me how that works. Everyone thinks thumping on one note for the rhythm is like falling off a log and takes no skill but my dad who can play "Skuttle Buttin" note for note on guitar, can play a lot of surf and rockabilly stuff can't capture the organic roll I can get on one note.

Nah it's rated just right.

 

[Nev375]

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'. Keep those doggies rollin'...

 

[logdrum]

A Nice Roll is a nicely formed Bidi or joint. with no need for a pre-made cone or grinders. No lumps and firm and even circumference and density throughout. Plus points if you can do this in a car while going down a washboard gravel road.

So based on that would mean the ability to lay down solid bass lines that are even and fat, without needing a compressor or other effects (no cones or grinder ) Plus points if you can deliver even if the guitar player or drummer are rhythmically challenged.

 

[swarfrat]

Swinging isn’t something every player does well or naturally. And I, too, have noticed that this includes players with far more training and knowledge of theory than I have. It think it allows me to punch above my weight class in the musical company I keep.

Count your blessings.

It ain't just swing. That's one of many feels. Inappropriate swing is called lilt and it can drive people up the wall. The organ grinders monkey swings. And yet... I've heard people who cant stop to playing straight time when the tune requires it