Is Slapping out of style?

[Lo end PUNCH]

People embrace dreck all the time... usually the more popular something is, the worse it is in regards to innovation, art, etc... Look how popular American Idol is still, does that mean these people are great, innovative, genius artists? Just saying.

Proves my point even further. Just saying.

 

[BassSlave]

I think he is trying to say that it is an uncontrollable technique, which means that you are still correct in stating that you can play across the entire dynamic spectrum of music whether it be loud, soft, fast or slow and the many variables in between. It just means that he has not spent enough time studying and investigating the subtleties in the thumb technique as well as the countless other finger techniques used in plucking a note.

Huh? That's like saying that the timbre/tonality of a finger pluck is unpredictable.

It's possible to thump/pop at various volume levels and with varying amounts of sustain on the note. It's all in your technique.

 

[Toastfuzz]

Slap is "showy." That's why you hear kids doing it. They're being awesome.

At least you agree that its awesome (yuck yuck yuck)

Sorry I'm unable to make an educated opinion, I just like the sound of slap bass. It makes music funky as opposed to rather drab. Not that you can't play funky fingerstyle, you definitely can.

I can't tell if you're dimishing slap to just be a "showy" technique but still putting it down, or if you're just agreeing that it is the showy'er part of bass playing. All of guitar playing is showy, unless they're just funk/reggae riffing, in which case the bass is the show-off instument.

 

[realbadgroove]

That's kind of my point too, and the contribution I keep trying to make in this thread (and I am getting nowhere):

If you want to debate slap as a good or bad thing as you think of it in your own musical statement, rock on my brotha. Nobody can argue against an opinion.

But, what we are trying to discuss here is the state of slap in the modern musical scene. And, who the heck decides what's in or not are the people who are buying the records, and as a result, the people paying you as a bass player. So, with that in mind, here's where I am at on this:

• Slap is out of favor right now in pop, rock, and alternative music
• It is very common in smooth jazz and commercial music
• Many bassists who established themselves playing in the slap style are still doing so and releasing excellent recordings, some of which even sell well.

Very well put....... questions anyone