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Is Slapping Over? I Think It Is.

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#83
No technique for playing any instrument is ever "over" unless the instrument itself becomes extinct. Trends come and go, so slap as a trend may be in decline, but that could reverse in one hit song with a prominent slap line.

A few years ago, BP magazine predicted that we would see the demise of the electric bass in favor of keyboard / electronic bass lines in the next 50 years or so. If that were to come true, then you might say slap is over as a bass guitar playing technique. (I'll bet the re-enactors of antique instrument playing will play slap!)
 
#84
If you want to start threads like this, you should probably focus on things that are REALLY past their prime that very few people want to hear anymore.

Things like surf music.




:D
 
#85
CapnSev said:
Has this thread been brought up a million times? I think it has.
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Thrice on the home page now.

slap.png
 
#86
I'm off to the NAMM show in a couple of weeks....I guarantee you that at least 90% of the basses in the booths will have someone slapping them. By the end of the day it all becomes one clackity sound.

I don't think of it as a bad technique, and I wish I were better at it. As people have mentioned in other threads, bass players need to play the song. If the song calls for slapping, fine. If not, don't.
 
#89
Dr. Cheese said:
(re: the Seinfeld theme) That was a preset on a digital synthesizer.
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This fact doesn't seem to keep everyone from asking me "Can you play the theme to Seinfeld?", musicians and non-musicians alike. I always say no and that answer, more often than not, is met with disappointment.

I can't play the Barney Miller theme either...I guess I suck.
 
#90
Rickett Customs said:
Sorry to say, if everyone else on earth stopped slapping, i'd continue to do so, just in spite of it.
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What he said. I couldnt care less what other bass players think (I say bass players because no one else other than bass players care/notice). Its just a fashion at the moment not to play slap, I'm sure it will be back in favour one day. But the real question is why are there so many people following others here instead of thinking for them selves? If it sounds good to you...do it!
 
#91
I get annoyed at the guitar shops too when someone picks up a bass and immediately starts beating and yanking on the strings in an attempt to slap.

I do love listening to a good, CONTROLLED bassist using a slap technique while still mantaining a rhythmic melodic bassline.
 
#92
Meatrus said:
Its just a fashion at the moment not to play slap, I'm sure it will be back in favour one day.
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It's been a "fashion" throughout 99% of modern musical history - from 1950s to today.

I think the point about slapping is that it gets you noticed - Marcus Miller admitted that he slapped so his mother could hear him on the radio! :p

Whereas in most cases people want bass lines to move them - but not stand out!

Face it - in 99% of cases we play a supportive role and slapping is for those who want to be noticed.
 
#93
JimmyM said:
if more folks slapped like larry graham in 1967, slap would go over more. it's gotten too bright and tinny. so slap on p's, slap with flats, slap without boosting treble...more people will like you and want to be your friend.
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That's my preference as well, not loving the slap designed to cut through so much, but i come from a drumming background and see slap as a percussive tool not a melodic tool.



But is this style dead, probably for now but it will be back. All it takes is one hit song or one new freak bass hero and suddenly everyone will be doing it again :hyper:
 
#95
I've been gigging for 30 years or so, and have never been asked to slap, nor have I ever had the inclination to do so. I worked in a music store for ten years, and sure enough, every guy that picked up a bass would be banging away "pockata, pockata, pockata".... Seems to me there's nothing musical about it, just percussiveness.
 
#99
Ok, once again (and as I mentioned in all the 100's of other anti-slap threads)........

Where are you guys hearing all this 'bad, horrible sounding slap bass'??? I have never heard any 'professional' band's bassist play any slap bass that sounded bad! If you guys are talking music stores, sound checks and NAMM, yeah it can get annoying but in the context of a pro performance.......it all sounds pretty good to me.

If you don't like Marcus, Victa and the like, then please stop listening to them and critiquing them! They are pros and it's how they make their living! Lastly, depending on your demographic and music listening habits, slap bass is still quite prevelant in all styles of music. You may not hear it on the radio but there is a LOT of music out there (GOOD MUSIC) that doesn't see the light of day on the radio. If you want to gauge your opinion on what's on the radio.........well then, you're missing out! If you're a rock or metal head, and don't listen to much else, you don't have the authority to declare any style 'dead' especially if you don't listen to it, play it nor enjoy it!
 
#100
Its just another tool in the arsenal. Slap, fingerstyle, muted thumb, tap, flamenco style....all just tools in the arsenal. Its no inherently good or bas. The KEY thing about all of this is using whatever tool musically. Victor, Stanley, Marcus all came to prominence becasue of their overall musicianship. I have heard eachn one of these guys blow over complex chord changes like a horn player, play solo bass, and play ballads that would make you cry, THAT is why they are famous, becasue of their overall musicianship. When it comes to slapping, they also do it musically and appropriately within the context of the music.....and so should all the rest of us follow suit......IMHO.
 
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