Is Slapping Over? I Think It Is.

[glocke1]

I think that this post was started by someone who does not particulary care for slapping, and is trying to force his viewpoint on everyone here. That is too general and bold of a statement to make. Some of us still slap, it aint dead. I don't push my "I don't like to use picks" and start a whole freaking thread about the evils of picking. Live and let live. sheesh.

I don't slap, mainly because I dont care for the the style of the sound, and I think that 98% of the slapping that is done is just way overdone and gimmicky...

However, I have heard a small percentage of people do some cool sounding slap licks...It does have its place...

 

[BuffaloBass]

DW, they must be commenting on the young hacks slapping the GC inventory I reckon. That where you find the uneducated, overdone and gimmicky ones. YouBoob is bad zone #2.

BTW, on the face of it, the OP, what a pompous thing to say, " it's over". But then again, interwebs, folks like to see themselves try to think....

+1

The Seinfeld reruns will give slap momentum and a growing perpetuity...

Hey, "Barney Miller" was the groove when I was a "yut". Dont need to slap to be funky, and funkier than Sienfeld, which actually aint funky in the least imho. (Slap dont make funk, and funk dont make ya slap.)

lastly, logically speaking, living breathing things like "techniques" NEVER die man, they morph. Its the nature of creation.

Final WORD:

So slap CANNOT, by definition die or be dead. Ever.

 

[phillipkregg]

Not if Katy Perry has anything to say about it!

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Her song "California Girls" has some tasty slap and pop in it. (on a P-bass sounds like)

 

[Roy Vogt]

Nope, far from it! This from Nashville, TN-home of Victor Wooten, Adam Nitti, Keith Horne, Chris Kent, Steve Forrest, John Billings, et. al.
Go to 3rd and Lindsley any Wednesday night for a Wooten Brothers gig. I rest my case....

 

[Stinsok]

I am working on a slap line for "Wonderful Tonight."

 

[christw]

I don't see why us youngins with good chops need to be looked down upon for using them in public!

I don't think slap is dead. I've used pop/slap licks sparingly in pop bands, metal bands, and everything in between! My latest want is to play prog rock on my Explorer and Ric and really go to town on intricate writing and yes, incorporate some slap licks, especially in very fast sections. Slap hammer ons can be quick! I think I'll be doing prog sludge with a friend. The term "prog" meaning I can do whatever the hell crazy stuff I want. I need an outlet.

I'm also one of those people who sometimes plays flashy licks in GC. If I'm trying a bass, I want to like it for everything, even the wild stuff! I don't do it for recognition. I do it because I don't want to be limited by the instrument. I want to be limited only by myself cause that's something I can always work on.

 

[BuffaloBass]

Naw man, chops speak for themselves.

 

[Scatterblak]

I'd disagree that slapping is exclusive to bass, by the way. It's a pretty commonly used technique on acoustic guitar, Ani Difranco being a good example of a player who uses it.

Check out Regi Wooten, slapping on electric guitar and playing with his brother.
Regi and Victor

 

[jazz3625tonic]

Slap or what ever it's called this decade is not going any where.

I think most players have accepted it for what it is.... showmanship but not real useful in real world playing. It's a very small percentage of people who are asked to slap as compared to those being asked to lay down a groove. I hope people don't take it wrong but Victor W. is awesome and I really dig his groove playing too but then I listen to Pino grooving hard with John Mayer or whomever it just blows me away and the folks that can't recognize that are just either lost or just infatuated with slap playing.

 

[Pacman]

I think most players have accepted it for what it is.... showmanship but not real useful in real world playing. It's a very small percentage of people who are asked to slap as compared to those being asked to lay down a groove. I hope people don't take it wrong but Victor W. is awesome and I really dig his groove playing too but then I listen to Pino grooving hard with John Mayer or whomever it just blows me away and the folks that can't recognize that are just either lost or just infatuated with slap playing.

This is a false dichotomy. Slapping a grooving aren't exclusive. The absolutely best thing about Vic's playing is that everything he plays grooves. It's different from Pino (who's a beast, too), but it's just as grooving.

 

[Rudreax]

Topics like this will always be made so long as people are foolish enough to live in absolutes when it comes to slapping. You can groove with any technique or sound if you're good enough and you know what you're doing, period. Just because some people choose to groove through slap doesn't mean the groove is going to suck.

 

[DWBass]

I think most players have accepted it for what it is.... showmanship but not real useful in real world playing. It's a very small percentage of people who are asked to slap as compared to those being asked to lay down a groove.

Umm.....Really?

I hope people don't take it wrong but Victor W. is awesome and I really dig his groove playing too but then I listen to Pino grooving hard with John Mayer or whomever it just blows me away and the folks that can't recognize that are just either lost or just infatuated with slap playing.

Who are these 'lost' people you speak of?

Boy, I just love all these 'slap bass' (but don't like or play slap) experts on this board! :scowl:

 

[Stilettoprefer]

Slap is definately not dead. And never will be. Even if it is not applicable in every musical situation it is still fun to do. If im in GC messing around i like to play flashy slap lines cuz that will impress people and tell me the limits of the instrument at the same time. And being a jazz bassist i have to slap the occasional funk tune and have fun doing it!!!

But i must agree that some people use it in completely wrong situations thinking that its cool.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

I think most players have accepted it for what it is....

showmanship but not real useful in real world playing.

What is real world playing?

I had no idea that when I utilize the technique in a real world gig that I would some how be tarnishing the gig.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I played most of my choir rehearsal slap style today. My bass is pretty mid-heavy, and slapping gave it some great presence, allowing me to cut through nicely. I also tried some palm muting, but it totally got lost among the voices.

 

[john turner]

the real question, though :

is slagging/condescending toward/whining about slapping over?

obviously a lot of folks still get a lot of miles out of -that- technique.

 

[DWBass]

I don't see anything un-musical with these! Y'all just ain't listening to the right stuff!

 

[king_biscuit]

Well done! Sounds similar to Louis Johnson's tone back when he was playing the Music Man. Not quite as bassy, but I'm listening to it through cheap PC headphone speakers. lol!

Try a better set of speakers, because it's nothing like Louis Johnson's' tone! Great playing, though, op!!

 

[IncX]

i dont know why some are ragging about slapping, when it fits in more musical situations than say - double hand tapping

 

[Psycho]

Yeah, slapping sucks, because, you know, people don't do it all that time, and aren't famous for it or anything.

That's like saying guitar solos are dead. To me, guitar solos and slapping have kind if the same concept;

Get the instrument and the guy/girl playing it noticed. Not to say slapping can't be reserved or held back, but most of the time it's a loud, flurry of notes. Sure, not every situation is appropriate for slap, but on that note you don't hear very many songs where a guitarist is solo-ing nonstop.

Slap takes talent, and I think most who bash it are honestly kinda jealous.